This Week in First Grade Fun

We have been busy this week. I’m too pooped to write a lot…but take a look and you’ll see what we’ve been up to.

This week we talked about the strategy of adding one to any number. I started using lessons from Mastering the Basic Math Facts. Click here to read this post, and you can find lots of freebies if you search for Mastering the Basic Math Facts on my sidebar.

I started by reading the book Mouse Count and then gave each student a plastic bag filled with different numbers of mice. They had to complete the activity sheet below by first adding one to the total number of mice, then adding two to the total number of mice.

Then they had to draw a picture to match their addition sentences. We did a quick little journal writing activity on what they noticed when you added one to a number. The student’s comments were very insightful and I could tell they got it!
   
We also played Reds and Yellows for Seven. The students tossed seven chips and recorded how many were red and how many were yellow. Repeated playing of this game helps with number sense and fact fluency.
 

The idea for this game came from Shari Sloane’s wonderful site. She played Kindergarten Yahtzee with her students. I created a First Grade Yahtzee, First Grade Yahtzee Plus One and First Grade Yahtzee Plus 2 to use with my students. These young ladies are playing First Grade Yahtzee Plus 1.
She has her shoes off because she cashed in a Stinky Feet coupon. Gotta love Mel D’s coupon system!

Students who were ready were introduced to a different version of First Grade Yahtzee Plus 1. They had to roll two dice, add the dots, then add one to the total. These students are playing First Grade Yahtzee Plus 1 with two dice.
    
We ended the week with our Fun Friday Editable Graphing Activity. The students had a ball graphing Teddy Grahams.



I didn’t snap tons of pictures this week but I will try to remember to take some shots of all the other things we accomplished.. I’ll try to get those posted soon. If you’d like a copy of any of the activities leave a comment and let me know!

The Week in Review and Lakeshore Update

Happy Sunday! Finally I have  pictures of some the things we’ve been doing in our classroom. But first let me tell you about this little baby.

Lakeshore Learning gave me the opportunity to test out Phonemic Awareness Plinko. We were all set to play this game on last Friday but we had a Back to School Pep Rally. That pretty much squashed our Fun Friday, but my students were troopers and patiently waited until Fun Friday this week. They loved it! I think this will make many reappearances for Fun Friday.

UPDATE: And if you stop by Lakeshore you can take advantage of their special offer of up to $15 off your purchase. Click on the link below to take advantage. I’m really loving their interactive white board software. I bought the Word Building one and my students love it!

Enjoy up to $15 off your purchase from Lakeshore: www.LakeshoreLearning.com/specialoffer

Math: For the past two weeks we’ve been developing number sense for all things five and six. I’m talking true number sense. I’ve noticed that my students can figure out 3+2, but if I say tell me all the ways we can make five using two numbers…at first it was like crickets. But we’ve immersed ourselves in these two numbers this week and it’s beginning to sink in. I can especially tell during Number Talks. For more on that post you can click here.

Here’s this week in math in pictures and a few words.

We completed our One Duck Stuck activity. The concept of plus one is a tough concept for some of my students. This week we’ll begin with some lessons from Mastering the Basic Math Facts and I’m pretty sure this will help my students who are struggling with this.

    

    

    

    

                          

 

Story Problems for Six: About two summers ago I bought these cute foam stickers at Target’s Dollar Spot. They worked out perfectly with our story problems for six.

         

     

    

    

Ways to Make Six

   

 

Weekly Morning Math Games:

Each morning after my students complete their daily story problem they can play a free choice math game or read. Well you know how you have those wonderful students who always play the same math game every. single. day.

They fear branching out so I had to come up with a plan of action which would make sure my students played all the great math games I had to offer. I created a weekly prescription of sorts.

My students will get one of these on their desks each Monday morning. I’ve listed their medications for free choice math games. They have to play all of the games listed on their scrip pad by Friday. If there is a recording sheet, they turn that into our morning math games basket, or sometimes they may have to turn in the game sheet itself.

Now I can breathe easier knowing that they get to experience everything. Click on the pic below to grab your free copy. I make these on both sides of the page. When they flip it over that have their games for the next week. I have no idea how to make my PDF editable…so you’ll have to write in your game titles.

Here’s a picture of my Anytime Reading door. Students have leveled text suited for them and they can read anytime there are a few minutes to spare. I’m not quite finished with it, I want to add some clip art. But the books are what’s most important.

The Daily 5 is up and running. My students can read for 20 minutes of Read to Self time…no joke. I credit that to the two great K teachers in my building who also do D5. Mrs. S. and Ms. B. you rock! Read to Someone is going well too. We’ve been able to work up to 10 minutes.

Literacy: We also started our sound and picture sorts. Using just the pictures at first really help my students focus in on the sounds. They have to say the name of the picture out loud then decide where it fits on the sorting mat. Some of my strugglers had a hard time with this, which lets me know they aren’t hearing the sounds. I made some great observations which will help in planning instructional goals for my strugglers.

   

I’m using these two books this year. The newer versions come with a CD of interactive white board sorts.

      

We played our first I Have Who Has Game. My firsties went bonkers! It was great to hear, “Hey, that’s one of our spelling words this week!” Or, “That word has the ack chunk!” I also made some great observations during this game, because some of my students were having problems blending CVC or CCVC words and this will be the focus of my first Word Study Group.

   

We also started our Star Student of the Day. It’s so much fun to see their faces light up when they find out it’s their day to be interviewed by the class.

  

Sorry for the long post…but I just had so much to share! Have wonderful week!

One Duck Stuck

Hey my peeps!  I hope everyone is enjoying their lovely extra day off. Happy Labor Day! Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before you know it.

I love math and literature! On tomorrow I’ll be reading aloud One Duck Stuck for our math morning meeting. I love this book!

Then we will complete the following activity. They will choose the type and amount of animal, then create an addition sentence using the one duck and the animals they choose. Ex: 1 duck plus 6 zebras is 7 animals in all. Great reinforcement for any number plus one. Click on the picture to grab your copy.

Then later on in the week we’ll have our Thinking Thursday activity. I’ll ask my students to figure out how many animals in all tried to help the duck. They can use pictures, numbers, or any math manipulatives they choose to show how they arrived at their answer. I love these types of activities because you can see lots of great mathematical thinking going on.

If you download please consider following me or leaving some feedback. Have a wonderful four day week! Hope to have some pictures next week of the haps in our classroom. I have 15 first graders and three (advanced) kindergarten students who join me everyday for enrichment. My two first grade team members are doing the same thing.

Now I’m going to catch up on the last two episodes of  HBO’s The Newsroom. I. Love. This. Show.

One Week Down…Can I Get a What! What!

The first week of school always drains me. I couldn’t lift a finger to type a sentence, or a word or a letter…not even an emoticon. But I have enjoyed every minute of it! I love my sweet new crop of first graders!
This summer I got a chance to sample one of these babies.

I’m sure everyone remembers my sad tale of Bertha…if you need a refresher click here. I’ve been able to store all of my school files onto this jumpdrive. I’ve even saved my morning music and writing workshop music onto this. It keeps me from carrying several jumpdrives back and forth to school and I can store all the files I’ll need for lesson planning in one location. I love it!

Number Sense Weekly Plan:
My first week flew by and I have a lovely class. I can’t wait to post pictures of what’s been going on. I have to get all my my permission slips back from parents first. This week and last we’ve been focusing on number sense. Here is my weekly plan:

Monday: The Essential Question; How can I break _______ apart? Last week it was how can I break 5 apart. This week it’s six. Students are given connecting cubes and they can break their set of cubes into two parts. Then we talk about the different ways the students broke theirs apart. We list all the combinations on a chart.

Tuesday: The Essential Question: How many ways can I break ______ apart?  The students are given a part-part mat and they can either work alone or with a partner to find all the ways to break that number we are focusing on into two parts.

Wednesday: We Complete whole group story problems using story mats. Students can share a story problem aloud while we act it out using our story boards.

Thursday: We complete a partner activity. This week we are using this.

Friday: The students work alone or with a partner to write and illustrate a story problem using the number we are focusing on.

Each day we play a game using our focus number. We’ve played Shake Those Beans, On and Off, Spill and Record, Give Me______. I try to think of easy games that the students can play independently.
This is what we used today to find all the different combinations of Six. Click on the picture to download your copy. I made it on legal sized paper…so adjust your printer accordingly.

I have fixed the link from private to public...sorry..the first week back will do that to ya:) How about some feedback if you download????


Here is the activity we did last week. Click on the picture and it will take you to the post from last year so you can download your own copy. The students had to assemble some of their cookies out of the jar and some of their cookies inside the jar.



I hope had a wonderful day! Hopefully soon I can post pictures of my wonderful students. Have a Terrific Tuesday!