It's Friday!!!!

I don't know about you...

BUT I AM EXHAUSTED!!! :) I'm sure you all are feeling the stress of the first few weeks of school in these primary grades. I wanted to share some more of the activities we did this week. This week was very successful! We filled it with not only routines, but ice breakers, energizers, and hands on activities to engage these first graders all day! Take a look at some of our other first week items...

Chrysanthemum Bubble Map 
How many of you use Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes at the beginning of the year? It's a great book, isn't it? We use it over and over again throughout the year as a mentor text. The first graders relate to it so well. We first use it during the first few days to start that team building comfort of the children. We discuss how special Chrysanthemum felt because she had such a special name. We then transition it into a class meeting and discussion about what kinds of things make us special and unique. The first graders partner up with each other and tell what makes them special. This way they get more than one idea and get to know each other and feel more comfortable. After the moving around, I fill in the bubbles with four things that make me special. The students then fill out the bubble map with their partners with things that make them special. Some draw, some write, and some do both. It's accessible to all!

Hopes and Dreams for First Grade

For those of you who follow the Responsive Classroom Philosophy, this is a must. It's an easy way to set those expectations by using the student hopes and dreams. We start by discussing why we come to school. The first graders come up with come great ideas! We chart it on the Smart Board or Chart Paper. The next day, we go back over the list we made and discuss how we could hope to achieve all or some of the things on the list, but we elicit one hope or dream for first grade from the students. That also gets charted. _____ hopes to _________. They fill out a speech bubble and draw their picture of themselves from the first day of first grade. Then have them glue the speech bubble to the picture and back with a 1/2 piece of construction paper. I post them in the classroom for students to revisit regularly. The next day, we take those hopes and dreams and tie them into one of three expectations set for the class. 1. We take care of ourselves. 2. We take care of each other. 3. We take care of property. Virtually every rule you've ever made on a list or contract fits into one of these expectations! It truly puts it into kid friendly language that they can understand. Instead of a list of 'no's - like no hitting, kicking, yelling, hurting etc...you set a positive tone for the students. We then focus on how can we take care of ourselves, each other and property? I take pictures of students who are doing those things and put them on the expectations chart. It's posted in the class for the year. They own it and love it! Try it! It works!

This is a 4 page tiled poster!

Don't forget about our easy to use Alphabet Flip Cards to Review Letter sounds. We use a sound pack with just the letters to intervene, but use our flip cards to help tie a picture to those letter sounds. There is one animal picture for each consonant and two pictures for each vowel sound. We do a 1 minute quick review during transition times or snack or whenever we can fit it in! They help and they are cheap!

Have a peaceful restful weekend! Stay tuned to looking to next week! It's time to start blending letter sounds to make words; at from Phonics Workshop starts next week! I'll repost materials and lesson plans!

Christine :)