Pack a Bag and Let's Go First Grade!

For the last two weeks we have had a lot of fun exploring new places. First the

students heard the story "Me on the Map." Then they extended the

learning by continuing to read "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the

World." After reading the story, students went on a "virtual trip" to

China, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, and Florida viewing landforms and

collecting ingredients to create a "Terrific Travellers Trail Mix" at

the end of their journey. Students used Google maps and traditional

maps to view the places and see various landforms. They also wrote

about their journey. Next week, we will visit Kenya in Africa to see what happens when a young boy tries to bring rain to "Kapiti Plain." I am very excited about this lesson because I created quick Prezi to bring in some background information and introduce the lesson.

"On Top of Spaghetti"

Show me the number!

 

In my continuous effort to have students extend the counting sequence, I wrote a short story about a little boy who wanted to make spaghetti and had to follow a recipe. The recipe used tens and ones represented by lines and circles to show how much pasta and meatballs he should use. Students were given a number, a plate, pictures of meatballs and dried real pasta. The students then had to figure out how much pasta and meatballs they would need to make their pasta dish! 

"If I Were King of the Forest!" - Retelling Settings from "The Wizard of Oz"

 

Setting the Scene

 

Students enjoyed listening to the extended text "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." One of the tasks students completed to reflect on what we were learning was to illustrate a setting from the story and put the correct characters in that setting.

 



One is the Loneliest Number....Extending the Counting Sequence

One of the first grade Common Core standards in math is to extend the counting sequence. That standard means many things and when paired with the standard to Count to 120 starting from any number.....well you are really going to have to get creative to think of ways to help make that real for students. Then add in the standards about place value and counting by ones and tens and you are going to have a busy time!

We have begun counting using our tens and ones and have extended our sequence to 120. This week we used a variety of materials including popsicle  sticks and markers. We also used chenille stems and pom poms, which I will post later once we have completed our task. The students also enjoyed using pretzel sticks and round cereal (which later became a recess snack).

These activities are hands-on and also help your tactile learners. They may take two days to complete. One day to build your number with your materials and then a second day to have students go back and count and write their numbers. These activities are also great for differentiation. My students who can work independently loved building their number and counting on their own. My students who needed extra assistance used counting charts and our classroom place value chart to help assist them. Students were also given individual numbers to complete, thus allowing me to see were they fell on the independent or needs help range.

Once the assignment is completed they will be displayed in our hallway and commentary will be added to a few of them. The following week, students will be able to take their work home to their parents to show what they have been working on.

I also use these hands on activities in tandem with my textbook and also the use of the traditional/standard tens and ones unit bars and cubes.