Thankful Thursday

Today my class and I talked about the reason we have Thanksgiving. We have learned about the story of the first Thanksgiving, but hadn't talked about how it relates to our Thanksgiving. Today we talked about the word itself: Thanksgiving. Giving thanks.

It was amazing how many of them didn't think about the meaning behind the holiday's name. Loved seeing the lightbulbs go off as they realized.

We brainstormed things we were thankful for (no ipads, please). They were very good about being thankful for special people, places, and events. Thankfully (no pun intended), they left out ipads, computers, and i-whatevers. We sorted wants and needs, read about being thankful, and made a class book "We are Thankful: A Book of Thanks." I plan on copying the class book to send home for Thanksgiving. Next week we're going to make "A Plate Full of Thanks" to show off one thing we're most thankful for.

Click the pictures to go to my TPT site to check out these activities. Happy Thanksgiving!!

     

Click the pictures to go to my TPT site to check out these activities. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love, Mrs. First Grade

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What I'm Pinning Wednesday

Obsession 1: TPT

Obsession 2: Pinterest

You're a pin-aholic too, admit it! I could get lost on there... Thank goodness my wedding is over, because between school pins, house pins, dog pins, and wedding pins... It was just too much! Anywho... Here's a few of my favorites:

Favorite Home Pin: I'm fairly new to homeownership. I used to stick to decorating pins only. Just recently got into the home improvement type. The fireplace upgrade is on the very top of my home-wish-list. This seems like a summertime job for me and my husband! Click the picture to link to this handy homeowner's site.

Makeup: This makeup artist's name is Cara. Her website is called "Maskcara." Need I say more? Her video tips are fantastic. She transforms her face in the most unbelievable ways. In the picture below, she's showing off her "Victoria's Secret model" look.

Brady: This last pin just screams my dog's name. He is the cutest 8 month old puppy I've ever seen. And he's the reason we aren't putting up a Christmas tree this year.

Back to pinning...

Love, Mrs. First Grade

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FREE Thanksgiving Turkey Handprint Poem

Check out this FREEBIE at my TPT store...

Love, Mrs. First Grade View my profile on

Must Have Monday

This is my number one MUST HAVE.... The Scotch Thermal Laminator is the best purchase I have ever made. It makes the BEST laminated materials. You can cut them, they don't peel or bend, they last for years. If you spend your own money on one thing, this should be it. 

I cannot stop my TPT obsession...

I might need a support group...

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Writing Like Todd Parr

We LOVE Todd Parr's books. We've read Reading Makes You Feel Good, The Family Book, and It's Okay to Be Different. I love his ideas, illustrations, and the way he ends each book with a note to the reader. We modeled our writing off of Todd Parr's style... We chose a topic, wrote a different message about it on each page, and wrote a note to our readers at the end. I love the way they came out! Please check out part of one student's first draft:

Cover: "The Food Book"

One of the inside pages: "A apple is a food. I like the yellow ones."

Other pages included... "Some people eat sausages. They can be spicy"

The author's note to the reader: "Dear Reader, It's okay to like different food or have different food. Being you is being unique. You should always be proud of yourself. Love, -------"

Click here for a link to Todd Parr's website. 

Freebie Friday!

Don't you just love FREEBIES??!

MATH NAMES: This printable activity combines word work and math... Using his or her name, the child will color to show consonants and vowels. This includes several versions for the math component. You can choose whichever is more appropriate for your kiddos... Includes equations, and either number bonds or fact families.

CVC & CVCE: Today's freebie is an easy to print sort. CVC words are listed for students to read. Students add a magic E to each CVC word to change it to CVCE... Then they decide if the word is real or not. Click the picture to download. Enjoy!

New!

Click the picture to see my newest item on TPT... Long and short vowel sound word work using pictures. More than 10 pages of resources plus 10 picture sorts.

New Downloads!

Visit my TPT Store for a bunch of new downloads... Lots of them are FREE!! 

Click here to visit the one and only Mrs. First Grade TPT Store

Equivalent Equations are ready to print and go! Sorts include:

- making ten

- doubles

- doubles +1

- three addends

- add to 10, 20

- subtract within 10, 20

- tens and ones, making numbers using 10

mixed addition and subtraction

It is oh, so very Common Core aligned!!!

1.OA.B.3, 1.OA.C.6, 1.OA.D.7, 1.OA.D.8, K.OA.A.4, K.NBT.A.1, 2.OA.B.2 

6 different autumn themed word searches... Columbus Day, Halloween, Election Day, Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, and autumn. Great for morning work. Enjoy!

 

Fall themed Reading Bingo! ...I've sent this home as an optional assignment to encourage kids to read at home! This reading motivator has been very effective.

My kiddies LOVED this! Sort items that go with Halloween and Thanksgiving:

Visit my TPT Store for a bunch of new downloads... Lots of them are FREE!! 

Click here to visit the one and only Mrs. First Grade TPT Store

Strategies for Addition and Subtraction

I've been searching for posters that I can use to teach strategies for addition and subtraction... Something that would be bold, easy for kids to identify and reference, colorful, and helpful for students. I finally broke down and made it myself! Check out my posters for addition and subtraction strategies! I've just started using them with my firsties. They have been very helpful to get students to remember and ready to select their own strategy for + and -.

Includes posters for strategies such as:
- count on
- use fingers
- doubles
- doubles plus 1
- fact family
- flip flop facts
- draw a picture
- use counters
- use a ten frame
- number line
- number grid
- fingers
- make 10
- cross out
- take away