Non Fiction Writing Unit

This is one of my favorite units of study to do with first graders! Their enthusiasm steps up a notch when they are learning about an animal of their choice. And during this time of year... they definitely need a little enthusiasm boost!!! I start off by showing them 4 animals (this year we did alligator, dolphin, shark, and cheetah). Then I give each student their own fact sheets describing the animal's characteristics, habitat, diet, and extra facts. They learn to highlight and take notes. Then they write sentences for each category ("Heading"). Then we go into minilessons that help make their books look like real nonfiction books- creating catchy headings, using bold words,drawing a diagram and labeling it, using photos, writing captions. We also read a ton of nonfiction books that model these minilesons. Here are some photos... I'll post pictures of their books when they return from being "published"!!

Nonfiction Anchor Chart

This is one of my favorite minilessons.  We talk about how to "jazz up" our headings.  We discuss how to make it fun, make it sound like a song (home, home in the sea), and use alliteration (their favorite... such a big word!!)

I Have My "Eye" on You!

Just a little cute Valentine's Day idea for everyone....  I L*O*V*E googly eyes so this one is one of my favorites.  I plan to glue it onto the cover of a card and have them bring it home to someone special!!!  Those holes will have to be made smaller when we actually do this next week because the size of them are annoying me!!!!

Tooth Fairy Letter #3!

So this time we were visited by the littlest tooth fairy of the land.  Since our printer is broken, I could not create a printable...  Here is a picture of the teeniest, tiniest tooth fairy letter....

And here is the "body" of the letter:

Hello!  I'm Teeny Tiny Tina Marie
I'm the smallest of
the tooth fairies.

I'm from a faraway land
I'm as small as a grain of sand!

I heard that while you were eating a snack
Your tooth fell out,
but it will soon come back!

It will be hard to drink and eat,
but do no worry... you look oh so neat!

I have to go.
I'll miss you so...

Love,
Teeny Tiny Tina Marie



Character Ed Sample and Year Long Unit Posted

My school requires us to do character ed throughout the school year and have lessons related to the Character Counts themes (trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, caring, citizenship, and fairness).  Check out my year long lesson plans and activities related to read alouds at my TPT store!  There are 2 suggested book titles for k-2 per month with suggested lessons, activities, and/or crafts linked to the read alouds...That's 20 + lessons and activities!!!

Since Martin Luther King Jr. was remembered and celebrated in January, we read a book titled, The Crayon Box That Talked.  We read the book and compare/contrasted to a similar poem (click here for sample).  Then each child illustrated a crayon to show how each one is unique.  We then displayed them in a "classroom crayon box."  I like doing this for MLK day, but the same project can be used in the beginning of the year to show how each child is different, but together we make a great team!

Click on the above picture to go to Character Education Sample (The Crayon Box that Talked)

The Crayon Box that Talked lesson/idea/activity!



Click here to see my year long Character Education Unit at TPT!



Month by Month Thematic Writing

January's Words... Isn't that penguin just the cutest???

2 Options for Written Response

At our writing station I have 2 choices for the students: work on writing from writers' workshop time or write using the thematic writing words and stationary.  Most of them use the thematic writing words and write such creative stories!

I have created 10 thematic writing pages for 10 school months (September-June).   Each month has a list of words for students to use when practicing writing. They can use the thematic words provided to help them write sentences, paragraphs, and/or stories related to each month.  I have also included three different response sheets to use depending on the developmental stage of your students.

Click Here for a Free Sample (January)

Click Here To Purchase The Entire 10 Months from TPT

Buddy Reading!

I am loving the Buddy Reading station during my literacy station time!!! I have always been petrified of Buddy Reading, but the Daily 5 has helped me so much!!! I was always nervous that the kids would be talking about recess or their new shoes, but that is definitely not the case this year... yeah!!! Here are two pictures. One is the anchor chart we used in the beginning of the year. The second and third pictures are of two buddies reading together. Since they get to read anywhere in the room, they may not be able to see the anchor chart. So I took a picture of the chart, laminated it, and each student has one in their "book bags." They also use these cards to QUIETLY look for a buddy to read with. They simply hold it up to show that they are in need of a buddy. I love it so much that if my firsties finish their work early throughout the day, they are allowed to buddy read... I would have never done that other years!

Personal Narrative Writing Unit

We just completed our personal narrative unit during writers workshop time. Since first graders LOVE to tell stories about themselves, this was an easy unit to do!!!  We started the unit by reading a ton of books by Ezra Jack Keats and Donald Crews to model and guide my minilessons.  We also read some books that had clear, descriptive settings (I love using Owl Moon for this).
Below are some pictures. The first shows our anchor chart that includes some of the minilessons. The second shows one student's plan before he started writing. We talked about how writers "zoom in" on a small moment and stretch it out like a movie. So they drew "scenes" from their movie. Then they used their writing plan to help them write their stories. The plan was very helpful because it kept them focused. 

Now their stories are off to be laminated and made into books!  I can't wait until we have out writer's celebration when they return!

Anchor Chart

A Student's Writing Plan (I can't rotate it...ugh!!)