Student Summer Gift Tag Freebie!

Well, this is late for some of you, but better late than never, right??
Here is an editable student Gift Tag Freebie. I paired this with freezer pops and gummy worms. The kids loved it!

 I hope someone can use this;tuck it in your files for next year! Happy Summer!!

Bear-y Common Core Updated with Bear-y Good Freebies!

Wow! Two posts in one week from me. I am on a roll! :)
We start school in exactly two weeks! Yikes! Since we start on a Wednesday, I like to have the first 3 days filled with fun activities. Last year we changed our theme to bears and it was so fun! The kids loved the unit, so we are sticking with it!

Here are some of the activities we used.
First, I projected the Bears non-fiction reader and we read it as a class.

We read it one more time and had to decide on our favorite bear and why. I let students know they had to pick a bear from the text because of something they heard or saw in the text. In other words, "because it's soooo cute!" was not an acceptable answer. Then, the kids looked around the room to find the bear that was their favorite. They moved to the corner with their bear and when signaled they buddied up with a partner. When signaled again, they told their partner the reason they chose the bear.
Last year, this was pretty much an experiment. Could first graders give a text based reason within the fort three days of school? And guess what? They could!

Next, the students completed this opinion writing activity. Click the pic for this freebie!

We did lots of other fun filled math activities too.
-Making 5 with Teddy Grahams. Click for freebie!

-Gummy Bear Sorting/ Graphing

- Bring a Teddy day. We sorted our bears, measured our bears, described our bears..

If you're thinking about trying this unit out but study bears later in the year. You're in luck! I just added 4 new student readers for each bear and a venn diagram for compare/contrast. It would be a perfect mini student directed research project. Check out the unit on my TPT shop!

Squanto, the Pilgrim's Best Friend Freebies!

As we all gear up for the next few weeks of Thanksgiving activities, I wanted to share these freebies I made. My teammate and I always have a Pilgrim and Indian switch days where we each teach a different lesson about these historical groups. I always teach about Squanto and how he taught the pilgrims to plant corn. I read a story and then we make a tissue paper corn craft.

I wanted something more rigorous (buzz word!)so I created a paper for a how-to writing. The students can write the steps that Squanto taught to the Pilgrims. I also made a fill in the blank version for Kindergarten.

Then I ran across this blog called the Teacher's Chatterbox.
She had the cutest idea to make a Squanto Corn Planting snack out of Oreos, Swedish Fish and Candy Corn.

I just made a recipe for students to follow and a how to writing paper. If you want any of these freebies, just click the picture!

I also have a great unit about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag that is very rigorous. Students read a text (included) that compares and contrasts Pilgrims and the Wampanoag and then answer text dependent questions. After they compare and contrast the two groups, they write an opinion piece in which they choose if they would have rather been a Pilgrim or Wampanoag child in the 1600's and why based on evidence from the text. Click to check it out on TPT!

For a Turkey Measurement Freebie, click here!

Fall Math Mega Pack with freebie!

I just finished a pack I am so excited to use! I tend to like math centers that aren't extremely thematic so I can use them when I want. I needed some math centers for the fall that would build number sense as well as addition and subtraction concepts. I also wanted a few centers that would spiral the measurement and data domain. I set out to create a few and wound up with ten!!!! Whew! Took forever!

Here's my Fall Math Centers Mega Pack!

Included in this Pack:
Falling Leaves (5 and some more) 1.OA.6
Scarecrow Make Ten (Combinations of 10) 1.OA.6
Apple Picking (Subtract from 10) 1.OA.5,6
Harvest Time! (Time to the Hour) 1. MD.3
Odd/ Even Harvest Sort (Numbers to 20 in ten frames) 2.OA.3
Raking Leaves Place Value Compare (Numbers to 50) 1. NBT.2c
Race to 30 (Addition and Subtraction within 10--2 sets for differentiation) 1.OA.6
How Many Were Picked? Data Analysis 1.MD.4
Fall Measurement 1. MD.2
Collectin’ Acorns (Comparing numbers- 3 variations) 1.NBT.3

If you want to check out this pack on TPT, click here! If you made it to the bottom of this post, then you get a freebie from the pack. :)

Download my odd and even sort for free here.  Leave me a comment if you can use it!

 

Have a great weekend!!!

"Beary" Common Core Bear Unit with freebies!

Hi, Friends!
I wanted to share some freebies and ideas with you in case you teach about Bears during the year.

Last year, my teammate and I started the new year off with a bear theme. It was so fun! I posted a lot of freebies (click the pics) I had created and this year I made so much more because I wanted the unit to align more with the Common Core shifts.

Last year, I posted about a 4 corners activity to get the students discussing opinions. Hang the 4 bear signs in different corners of the room ( included in the freebie). The students will have to decide which bear ( Panda, Polar, Brown or Black) they like the best and discuss the reason for their choice with a partner. The student will then write why they like that type of bear. We will use the sentence frame I like ____________ because. ( Also, free!)
We will then graph these results as well during math.

 However, this year, I added a non-fiction text we can read as a class to build the students' background knowledge about each type of bear. Then I can guide them to justify their opinion using a reason from the text.

I created a graphic organizer for each type of bear so students could work on finding the key details in text about each type of bear. I also added more opinion writing papers so you can differentiate and use this pack at any time during the year.

Last year I created these math freebies which are still available just click any pic to take you to the Google Docs file.

1-20 cards to practice one more/one less
(Just copy on  Brown construction to use less ink!)                
Play Bear Hunt with these cards. Hand out these cards to each student. Call out a clue such as, "Who has one more than 5?". The students with 6 would stand up. You can increase difficulty by asking, "What's two more/two less or 10 more/10 less?".


                                          One more/ one less practice/assessment
                                                      

                                  Reviewing combinations to 5 with Teddy Grahams
                              
This year I created so many more math activities! For every activity I created a more advanced game. Instead of just Make 5, I created a Make Ten as well. Rather that just including one more/ one less, I also added 10 more/10 less.  I added gummy bear sorting and graphing recording sheets, a Teddy Bear measuring record sheet and a building teen number equations game.

Hopefully you can use these freebies! If you teach Bears at all during the year, this could be a great addition to your unit. If you want to take a look at the rest of the pack on TPT. Just click the pics or right here!

Building Comprehension with Mental Images- Free Unit!

Hi Friends!
 I wanted to share a mental image unit we worked on this week that is based on the book Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller. If you've never read this book, you must! It's full of ideas and books that will help your students think and write after reading to build comprehension. This unit was developed using ideas and texts from this book.
 I have the unit plans, poems and printables for you. I haven't "cutesified" these yet but they do the job. Keep reading to find them!

Lesson 1- Our Mental Images are Different!
We start the unit by listening to a few poems. We try to figure out what they are about using the mental images created in our mind from the words in the text.

Then we make a mental image of our dream birthday cake. I pass out a post-it note to each child and they draw their mental image. We make this anchor chart for the unit. It was made quickly, don't judge. :)

 I refer back to this chart throughout the unit to explain that since we all have different mental images, authors must use very specific words to help the reader create their mental image.

Lesson 2-
 I read the book the Quiet Place without showing the pictures and have students use text clues to create mental images. They then try to infer the setting of each page.

The Best Part of this lesson: The last quiet place in the book is the place you find when you read books and create mental images to take you to far away places. Love it!!!

Lesson 3-Using Text to Support your Mental Image
 I read Miss Nelson is Back without showing the kids the Viola Swamp illustrations.We discuss clues from the text that can help us draw our image. I then have them draw their mental image of the mean substitute before showing them the picture.  The suspense drives them crazy!











Lesson 4- Mental Image Can Change While Reading

I use the Napping House to show students that your mental image can change as you read and gain more information from the text. I read the whole book without showing the illustrations and stop 4 times to let the students draw their mental image each time.




Lesson 5- Talking with Others Can Change Your Thinking

I also read the Salamander Room without showing the illustrations. I have students try to add as many details of the room as they can based on the text they hear. I stop between each page so they have time to draw. After their first drawing, we talk about how adults use Book Clubs to share with each other and the conversations can lead to a better understanding of the book. I then ask the students to confer with a partner to see if there were any details they forgot to add to their mental image. If they missed a few details, they draw them in the box on the right side of the paper.

Lesson 6- Reading Text and Drawing a Mental Image

For this lesson, I help the students read 5 different poems. The students then choose the poem that gave them the best mental image and they draw their image. 

Click Here if you would like to download the unit for free. If you can use it, let me know!!!

*** Disclaimer**Although the Common Core doesn't explicitly address mental images, we need to teach children to identify sensory language in text( 1.RL.4). These lessons give my students the experience listening to words with great language and description before we begin to really dig deep into text to identify and write with sensory language. It also is so important to teach children this skill as they prepare to read chapter books that do not include picture supports.

I linked up with Friday Flashback since this was my comprehension focus this past week. Go check out the other bloggers' weeks!

Winter Math Centers, giveaway and a freebie!

Hi Everyone!
Happy New Year!
I wanted to share my latest TPT pack and leave you with a freebie if you're still planning lessons like me! I have been sick since going on break so the time is slipping by. I'm trying to get as much done as I can before going back. I just found out I will hosting my first student teacher and have this compulsive need to get everything reorganized!!!

Here are the math centers I just created for January. I am super excited for them because I really need to push my kiddos when we get back.

If you want a copy, I'm giving 5 away to my first 5 followers who comment!   Click here to check it out in TPT!

Here's a closer look at the 3 Addend Snowman Building. I thought this was so cute! The students are going to love building their own snowmen to solve number sentence with three adddends.

Also, as promised, here's a freebie I posted in March but I don't think many people were able to get it then because I was new to blogging and apparently had this file locked. Whoops! I uploaded it to TPT to make it easier to get.

I linked up to share this freebie!

Hope you all have a restful week!

Elf Opinion Writing Freebie

I have a freebie for teachers still in school this week or save for next year.

After reading How Santa Got his Job,



I had the students fill out this elf application from the First Grade Parade.

Then we brainstormed what would make an elf desirable for hire. They came up with such adorable ideas!
Next, the students used this graphic organizer to explain why they would make a good elf for Santa.

The next day, the students wrote their final draft on this paper.

I thought this opinion writing piece turned out adorably! Click here for this freebie. Leave me a comment if you can use it!