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Five for Friday!

February 6, 2015 2 Comments



Even with a snow day Monday and a delayed opening on Tuesday there was so much learning going on this week!  Can’t wait to share my snapshots from the week through Doodle Bugs Teaching’s linky party!


This week was ALL about the moon!  We read about living and working in space, different astronauts, and completed science experiments showing how craters form on the moon.  We kicked off our study with a little “Moon Phases Rap,” by Flocabulary.  If you want your kids jamming out all week, this is the perfect song to do it!


We moved right along in reading using A Day in First Grade’s awesome mini-readers and follow up activities.  I’ve been really trying to improve on connecting reading with social studies and science and these activities definitely fit the bill!

We capped off our moon study today with a very exciting experiment. I posed the question, “Why are there craters on the moon?”  We recorded our predictions on the SMART board and some of my smarties were right on!  After we discussed the possibilities we read a part of Gail Gibbon’s The Moon Book and discussed how the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere like Earth so meteors hit the surface and cause holes also known as craters.  
We then took it upon ourselves to form craters on our OWN moon.  The kids LOVED dropping rocks onto our “moon” and seeing the craters form.  There was a lot of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1…Blast off! being heard throughout the room.  I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Our first graders hosted a Kindergarten class during writing workshop.  We were asked to help launch their How-To writing unit since my firsties are experts on this kind of writing!  We read some of our favorite How-To read alouds, discussed what How-To writers do, and shared our published writing!  My littles did a fantastic job teaching the kindergarteners what how-to writers do.  I was.blown.away.  It’s amazing what happens when you hand over the reins to your kids.  They really see themselves as writers now and take so much pride in their work!  We are all writers with so many stories to tell!  Thank you Lucy Calkins!

To continue to try and teach more thematically, I have been creating supplemental social studies and science units to go along with our Journeys Reading lessons for the week. Next week our cross-curricular connection with the story, The Big Trip is about Lewis and Clark’s journey.  I want my babes to fully appreciate the connection so I designed these activities to take it to the next level.  I can’t wait to see the learning that takes place! Check out some of my packets at my tpt store .  Do you teach using themes? How do you make it work?

As my fav Law and Order episodes usually go, the case is closed!  My mother-in-law got us this great DNA kit for Christmas.  My husband was tired of me telling everyone who asked that our pup was a “Beagle Mix.”  Apparently, that’s not a breed…who knew?!  So now it’s official…our Rodge is a Beagle, German Shephard mix!  I wish I could say I told you so to my hubby but I always thought he was a Beagle Golden Retriever mix.  Oh well, I’m still always right about everything else ;).
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

2 Comments

  • JD's Firsties February 7, 2015 at 1:30 am

    We are right in the middle of writing non-fiction books… I'm loving the new unit by Lucy Calkins. I'm always amazed by the quality of writing the kids are capable of and how invested them become in their books.

    • Jayme February 7, 2015 at 4:21 pm

      We're doing the same unit now and the kids are doing such a fabulous job! With our moon study I have so many space experts that they are writing up a storm! I love that they have so much pride in their work and take it so seriously! Happy writing!

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    Welcome!
    Welcome!
    Hi! I’m Jayme! A former elementary teacher turned stay at home mom sharing toddler activities, mom tips, and educational resources to help you learn and play with your children. I believe in the power of PLAY and creating meaningful activities for you and your little ones to enjoy together.

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