Pause for a Cause

As teachers it is our job to educate, to impart knowledge, to facilitate growth academically, to help children excel and succeed. I also feel it is our duty to help children develop character, kindness, and understanding for those around them. I recently was forwarded a video clip about the difference one person can make in the lives of others. Although this is outside the realm of first grade lessons, I think it is a good reminder for us to be ever vigilant about how we teach and model for children how to treat others.

Please visit the The Difference and watch, share, like. I think the message hits home for many students today and also for educational professionals lets remember to always keep our eyes and hearts open to students. You never know what they are feeling and thinking.

You Can Do Magic...

Now for the formatlities:
Common Core: CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.D.8 Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 + ? = 11, 5 = _ – 3, 6 + 6 = _.

Above is what I have to teach, the eternal question of every teacher is how to make it interesting. Well, I always try to find a way to make things fun and relatable to my students. As you have may have noticed we try to think a little outside of the box. Sometimes I use the box, and then just add my special spin. I think all teachers do and that is a great skill that we all share.

So with the help of the student teacher in my class, we made math mats. Essentially I told my students that this week, we will be looking for the mystery number. I called it a puzzle and we had to find the missing piece.

First I introduced the terms that we would be using, whole, addend, missing addend. The puzzle I told the students was to find the missing addend. We talked about counting up and counting everything "in all."

Here is  how we step through a mystery. The card above to the left shows what the mat looks like. The second card up top shows the mystery beginning. We have the whole number at the bottom and up top the known addend which is 3. I then would also write the equation on the board for them to see it using the numbers and signs: 3+ ? = 7. Then I tell them it is time to start solving the mystery. We put 3 dots for the known addend then we count up adding dots until we get to the whole number of 7. After we put our dots in the missing addend column, we count the number of dots and that should solve our mystery. Then we count the dots "in all" and check to see if it equals the whole number of 7. Then we fill in our equation sentence. We are practicing four of these mysteries a day. I did add the "d" to the end of addend, sometimes working fast catches up with you!

Update: This week I found some great worksheets that transfer what we learned and practiced on our mats in equation form. You can find them at Worksheetplace.com. There are Missing Addends to 10 worksheets that you can use as follow up practice. I cut the sheets in half so we are working on 5 equations each day.

Tell Me About it: Adjective Practice

Teaching the parts of speech can sometimes be very difficult in first grade, especially when a lot of what we do is to try to teach students to simply be able to read and write basic sentences. However, adjectives make sentences come alive and as part of the Common Core standards first grade students must be able to identify them, use them, and understand the purpose of adjectives in sentences.

Two activities that I have done in my classroom have revolved around using food items to help students understand that adjectives are how we use our senses in sentences.

The first activity involves Skittles. Students are given one Skittle and then we look at it, taste, it, feel it, and dare I say....listen to it to come up with words to describe the candy. Then students pick three of the describing words and write sentences. The last part of the activity involves them drawing a basic picture of their Skittle.








The next activity involves marshmallows. Students completed this assignment by observing and interacting with the marshmallow in the same way we did the Skittle. Except this time, students brainstormed adjectives that would describe the marshmallow instead of simple circling the words as indicated on the above worksheet. Then students drew a picture of the marshmallow. Students were also able to use a white crayon and black construction paper to complete this assignment. I could also next time have students construct a word web instead of the list to display their marshmallow adjectives.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Hi fellow teachers!

What plans do you have to start your new year off in the right direction in your classroom?