Star Studded Word Work

Hello Everyone!

 Just a quick post tonight again! Gearing up for parent conferences. And a warning that pics of my kids are going to be fewer as we are in  full blown Daily 5 and guided reading group mode. I don't always think of grabbing my camera.  I do know that my kids think I always have my camera handy and can snap a pic anytime, so the quality of work is almost always high! Hmmmmm. I hope they keep it up even though I probably won't be snapping as many!!

Anyway, this week we are doing a study of the sweet little objects we see in the night sky. You guessed it...stars. We are also working hard on the s blends including sl, sp, and st. So, as you know I have to integrate, integrate, integrate!  Today for Daily 5 word work I had a Teacher Treat for the kids.  They got to choose some fun sparkly "STar" foam stickers (thank you to the mom who donated them!) to attach to black paper, and then practice their choice of st words to write in chalk.  What fun!  

Great job, kids!!

Have a star studded night!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Stellaluna Saves the Day! (and the week!)

Hello Everyone!

I thought I'd go ahead and post a few things that we will be doing in my first grade classroom this coming week in case you needed a quick printable yourself! :)  We will be finishing up our study of the night sky with one of my favs, "Stellaluna!" There are soooo many activities out there to go along with this book, but I needed a few to go along with what we were working on in ELA and math. So, tah dah!  Here's a 17 page unit with a little bit of everything, math, ELA, and science. We are working on comparative language in math, text connections and fiction/nonfiction in reading,

 s blends in word work, and observing things in the night sky in science. I think I covered everything and then some in this unit.  Here are a couple of samples!

mystery picture

This packet contains poetry, greater than, less than, mystery picture, number order, reader's response cards, abc order, st words, listening activity, anatomy of bat, and more! for your free 17 page mini Stellaluna unit, click here.
Most things are in black and white so you won't break your color ink cartridge bank!! :)

I'll be back later with a craft connection!~!  Stay tuned!!

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Splat the Cat helps us observe the night sky!

Hello Everyone!

This week we enjoyed learning about things we see in the night sky. Splat the Cat came to the rescue! His latest book "Splat the Cat, Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Rob Scotton is a sweet little story about that cute little cat's adventures at a sleep over in his back yard. Love this little guy!  After reading the story we brainstormed all the things he saw while outside at night---not everything was in the sky, but it was a good list . The kids then wrote a list of their own in their Reader's Response Journals, and got started on making a Splat the Cat of their own.  I let them choose what they wanted to write on the moon shape.  I think they turned out so cute!!  The kids did a great job listening, following directions and adding their own personalities and details. To celebrate our observations of the night sky we had fun with our third grade book buddies reading to flashlight  (starlight reading) and wearing pj's.

We also investigated how the craters were made on the moon.

Starlight Reading!

 For your free 15 page mini Splat unit, click here!

Unit contains a couple moon poems, Splat the Cat Craft Connection patterns, and Science Investigation!

Up next? Stellaluna! LOOOOOOVE this book!!

Till then...enjoy your night sky!  Come back soon for a peek into our wonder-filled first grade day!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Eat Your Words-Lucky Charms

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick post tonight...Getting ready for our annual Chili Cook-Off tomorrow! :) Should be fun!  Today we practiced our short u words during our Daily 5 Word Work time. The kids love it when I incorporate an edible component to our practice. Finding something to go along with short u was tricky! But, alas! Lucky Charms to the rescue!! I got lucky because Lucky Charms is not only an example of a short u word, but we are also learning about the moon this week and it just so happens that Lucky Charms has moon shapes! That crescent moon turned on it's end makes a great u!  Some of the kids used the rainbows and the horseshoes for u's as well! Way to go kids!

 

 For your free printable, click here!

Wish us Luck for our Chili Cook-Off!  I think we've got the best recipe!! :) Thank you, Leila's Mom!!

Have a good night everyone!

Joyfully!

Nancy

 

Catch a Small Moment!

Hello Everyone!

It is no secret that I love teaching writing to my firsties. Today we talked about how the authors of some of our favorite books write about "small moments. In her book, "Small Moments-Personal Narrative Writing," Lucy Calkins describes the action of these authors as taking a small moment of life and stretching it out to make even longer stories.  My kiddos already know that they write best about what they know--from their own schema, but today I wanted them to "catch" one of their small moments.  We donned our "safari" hats and caught some small ideas on sticky notes, made some lists,  visualized those moments in our minds, and began our "small moment" piece. We are discovering our own stories! 

Our Small Moment Anchor chart

 Catch a small moment. Picture that moment in your head. Talk about the details of that moment. Draw that moment, and write about the action!

I got the safari hats from the Dollar Tree this summer! I knew I would find a good use for them!!

Small Moment Catcher hats are ready!

For your printable of our "Small Moment" writing activity, click here

I was so excited at the amount of writing my kids did today.  Many of them didn't want to stop!  We will work hard tomorrow and the rest of the week.  I am so looking forward to conferring with each and every one of my "Small Moment Catchers!"

I hope you catch one of your own small moments and discover a story!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Candy Corn Connection

Hello Everyone!

Great week at school this week!  We worked hard on place value and expanded notation in math. This time of year I like to bring in the fun fall inspired math manipulatives...This week? Candy Corn!  We worked on the best way to count a large quantity of items and discovered that if we group things by tens and then by ones, it was a faster way to count! That led us to experimenting with expanded notation and the composing and decomposing of two digit numbers. We ended the week with a fun, quick little candy corn math craft connection. Take a peek!

practicing expanded notation

Sweet candy corn connection

For your 11 page Candy Corn Connection mini unit including craft connection patterns click here

Thanks for stopping by for a peek! Stay tuned for more fun learning!

Have a sweet weekend!!

Joyfully!

Nancy