Number Patterns with Tops and Bottoms, Realistic Fiction Writing, and The Empty Pot

Hello Everyone!
We had one of the best number sense weeks we've ever had! We worked very hard on number patterns up to 120. Because we were also in the middle of a plant unit in science, I decided to use "Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens, as a theme for some number pattern activities as well.   I have shared my Tops and Bottoms unit before, but I've added this math component for you to download and print.  Here are a couple of pics.

If you are interested in trying these activities with your kids, CLICK here for the printable download.

The unit also includes a huge measurement component!!!

For the past couple of weeks we have also been busy trying our hand at writing realistic fiction pieces.  We are following Lucy Calkins fairly closely.  As inspiration, we are reading a lot of realistic fiction literature, and I think the kids are getting the hang of it. I put together a mini unit with posters, planners, and checklists.

Here are a few pics.

Here's the link to the printable !!!

Finally, this coming week we will be working on author's message in stories.  I chose "The Empty Pot" by Demi.  It is such a lovely story about honesty and bravery. If you have not read this yet to your kids, do it now!!  I put together another little mini unit to accompany this story.  The unit will help kids see the value in such a piece. 

I am so looking forward to using this with my kids this week!!

Here's the link! CLICK HERE!!!

 

Well, that's all for now!!!   I hope you have a wonderful week that is filled with the JOYS of watching your kids learn!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Joyfully!

Nancy

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Celebrating Spring with POETRY!!

Hello Everyone!!
Well, spring is here!  I love springtime in Texas!  Things warm up so quickly and all the signs of spring are evident!  Ahhhhhhh! Now, I know so many of you are still in the throes of old man winter, but spring is on the way.  Hang on!!  To help you feel a little better, how about some poetry celebrating spring? We started our four-week unit on poetry in reading and writing this week. I love how much kids love poetry!

Kids learn so much through poetry.  Our  unit will help teach all about the different types of poetry and help them read and analyze as well as write their own!  I highly recommend gathering as many poetry anthologies as you can and sharing as many selections as possible.  Along with enjoying the tongue ticklers, be sure to discuss the author’s message, tone, and purpose for writing.  As kids get into writing their own, discuss with them the same analysis ideas about their poetry!

This week we started with sensory poems. With spring as our springboard along with a good piece of literature for motivation, the kids did a great job writing sensory poems!!

Kids wrote a rough draft of their spring sensory poems.  We edited and published in a rainbow shape! I love this project and have done it for the last few years.  It feels like springtime in our room!!!

I am sharing our poetry unit once again with a few additions.  The unit includes examples of many different kinds of poems, templates for kids to try them on their own, creative ways to publish each poem, and final copy anthology pages. It is now about 105 pages of poetry power!! 

If you have a desire to climb the poet "tree" and need a little unit to get you started, 

You can simply CLICK HERE to get your printables.

My little poets are looking forward to the next three weeks, and so am I!!!

As always, please let me know of any typos or problems with anything!  

I appreciate your stopping by this little window of wonder!!!  

Have a great rest of the week!!

Joyfully!

Nancy

firstgradewow@gmail.com

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Owl Open House and a Little Fiction/Nonfiction Fun

 Hello Everyone!
I am coming to the end of my Spring Break already! It was wonderful to have time with my family.  We got to spend a little bit of rainy, cold time down in Galveston---I have been known to sit on the beach in the rain!!  I just love the sound of the surf---relaxes me!!!
But it's time to get back in school mode!  I want to share a bit of how our owl unit turned out.  We were able to do so many of the activities from the owl unit I shared a while back, and display some great work for open house! Here are a few pictures!

We've been working on adding dialogue to our writing, so we decided to add some speech bubbles to our Owl Babies!

 

We ended up using bananas and Bugles for our owl snacks!!

We made some cute owl bags to hold all of our owl work.  Patterns are in the updated unit!

We had fun exploring feathers!!

We learned so much about and through the owl unit!! 

If you need a very comprehensive unit on owls CLICK HERE!!! :)

If you grabbed it a while back, go ahead and re-download.  I added a bit and fixed some typos!! :)

This coming week we will be working on the features of nonfiction text. I've updated that unit as well. It is so important that kids understand the difference between fiction and nonfiction and how the authors have specific reasons for their work. We have worked hard on the parts of fiction stories, so spending time comparing the two genres is valuable.  Here are a few pics from my updated unit.

I will gather as many books as I can that are similar in topic, but obviously fiction and nonfiction. We will do picture walks and text feature walks as we sort, compare and contrast. We will work on retelling each genre and going on scavenger hunts!!

If you think you can use this mini unit, PLEASE CLICK HERE for the free download.

Ok!  I know, short and sweet, but I need to take some time to enjoy these last few hours of my break!  Off to watch a movie with my sweetie!!! Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great week---I know some of you are on break this coming week!!!  Enjoy!!!

I'll be back soon!!  We've got some fun St. Patrick's day activities planned!

Joyfully!

Nancy

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