Character Words

We each have a Vocabulary Journal to keep our words organized

Once a week our class focuses on a vocabulary word.  This year we have been working on character words.  The word is introduced on day 1 during our morning meeting.  We come up with a definition for the word and then one student will draw an illustration to show visually what the word means.  On day 2 we will review the word and then illustrate and write about the word in our vocabulary journals.  We try to use the word all week and by the end of the week we are very familiar with it.  The words are posted around the classroom for several weeks and then placed in a scrapbook so that we can always find our words when we need to refer to them. 

These are some examples of our character words

Writing Letters

We have been working on writing letters this past month in first grade.  The students have loved writing to their friends and loved ones.  I have also been reading familiar stories and asking the students to pick two characters from the story.  They are to write a letter from one character to the other.  The students have really enjoyed this and I am really impressed at how creative they are. 

Kindness Counts!

 We had a fun time using up some extra heart frames.  I hate to waste anything, so after cutting hearts out of foam, I saved the frames.  To begin this activity, I asked every student to put his/her name on an index card and place it in a basket.  We then sat in a circle, and every child selected a card from the basket.  After reading the name on the card, each child drew a picture of that child in the heart frame.  They then wrote about something kind that the other child had done in the classroom this month.  This activity really focused on noticing positive behavior and how it influences each of us.  

Snowy Days!

Well, the snow is starting to fall again.  I thought it would be an appropriate day to show off a sample of a "Snowy Day" picture activity.  The students decorated a cutout person, complete with a hat, scarf, boots, and mittens.  My kiddos loved using the end of a pencil eraser in white paint to stamp the snowflakes.  The students then wrote about their favorite snowy day activity.

Penguin Reports



Penguin Cover



Table of Contents



I was so impressed with the Penguin Reports my students completed this week.  Deanna Jump from Teachers Pay Teachers was my inspiration for these!







Report



These reports gave the students a chance

to research and write about all of the wonderful facts they learned about penguins. 

Diagram

Mother's Day Flowers

Last Spring, our class planted grass seed in little plastic bowls.  After the grass grew, the students had a great time trimming the grass with scissors.  We also made flowers using painted green craft sticks and fingerprint petals.  The students were so proud to take these home to share with their moms!

Welcome to My First Grade Backpack

Welcome to My First Grade Backpack! This is going to be a great resource for teachers and parents who work with little ones, especially first graders.  I hope you can benefit from this blog and thank you to all of the inspiration I have received from my fantastic first graders.