Hello everyone! I’m writing this post with a little added pep in my step. Not only is it Friday, that already helps motivate the masses, but it’s the end to the last full week before Thanksgiving break. Can I get a woohooo?! I do love Thankgsiving, all of the food, festivities, and oh yeah the food but I am also excited to have a little break to relax and recharge. It also will catapult us right into the holiday season which I can’t wait for. There’s just a magic in the air when this time of year rolls around. Before we all celebrate and reflect on what we’re thankful for, here’s a little highlight reel from my week!
This week we focused on inferring in first grade. It’s an incredibly difficult concept so I used some PD opportunities (Pinterest) to find some ways to make it relevant for my students. I came across Babbling Abby‘s amazing idea to let the students investigate the contents of my purse in order to make inferences about the type of person I am. I combined her idea with Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade’s anchor chart and recording sheet to create the lesson.
After finding my umbrella, day planner, bag of pens, lip gloss, car keys, iPhone, and Christmas magazine, my students did a great job inferring what these items said about me.
Some of my favorites are from above, “Mrs. Yannuzzi is a person who likes to write. Does not like to get wet (when walking her dog Roger).”
Who couldn’t love this one’s inference about me after finding my lip gloss and iPhone?! “Mrs. Yannuzzi is a person who likes to be pretty. She likes to text to her girlfriends.” Too funny! I even had one students say, “Now we know the REAL you!” Oh first grade, you’re too fun!
We continued our inferencing practice with some of our favorite book characters; Elephant and Piggie! We read through Mo Willems’ book My Friend is Sad and paid close attention to the pages in the book that had no words on it. Do we skip over pages just because there are no words to tell us what the author is trying to say?! No way! We used our schema and the clues from the pictures to help decipher what Mo Willems was trying to tell us. My SMART board drawing of the scene from the book was just too embarrassing not to share! My sweet students assured me that it really wasn’t that bad! Recording sheet can be found from Susan at her blog, Thank God It’s First Grade.
We started using Reagan Tunstall’s fantastic math rotation board starting this week and it has been such a lifesaver when it comes to organizing math centers. I wanted a way to practice current and previous concepts at a separate time of the day than our whole group math investigation and instruction. Reagan’s math rotation board has been the best and most effective way to organize groups and transitions. I only have been doing one rotation a day so by the end of the week, I will have met with each group once and can use Fridays as a catch-up or review day to meet with struggling students who may need extra support. Check out her board here it’s fantastic!
Do you ever have those teaching moments where you just don’t give your students enough credit? I am going to be honest here, I did this week. We were in the middle of independent reading and I was doing a sight word assessment with one of my lower kiddos at the guided reading table. I popped my head up in a huff because of the noise level coming from the carpet. I was all prepared to let out a loud “SSSSHHHHHH!!!!!” when I realized what the noise really was. Two of my littles realized they had the same Pete the Cat book in their book boxes and decided to join together to buddy read the book together WITHOUT any prompting from a teacher! I stopped dead in my tracks and was so elated I had to celebrate right then and there. I realized that I need to work on giving my students so much more credit. They really are an awesome group! #thankfulteachermoment.
I LOVE directed drawings! Kid art is so sweet and the step by step directions have proven as a great way to show each student how successful they can be. We started these sweet turkey drawings yesterday afternoon and haven’t had a chance to finish them just yet. I can’t wait to see how they turn out once they’re all colored today! Of course, I had to share another shot of my drawing from the SMART board. I have my students follow along with me as I draw on the board. It shows how to do each step but also makes it clear to them how it doesn’t have to be perfect! It’s all about trying our best! Find these drawings at Art Projects for Kids here.
Today we have the teacher turkey trot before school. I like to run but have been out of commission lately so I’m super nervous for how this will go! I think my approach will be the walk/occasional run to stay in the game. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and are beginning to sit back and contemplate a plan of attack for next week’s Thanksgiving feast!
Thank you SO much for stopping by!
1 Comment
I know what you mean…whenever I hear an unexpected burst of noise I try to remind myself to count to 5 and figure out what's going on before the SSSSHHH comes out…more often than not they are just excited about something they read and want to share it, which is so great!