Time PLEASE slow down!

It's that time of year...the holidays are upon us! I don't know about you, but I am certainly feeling the crunch to find the perfect balance between addressing all the material and sharing the spirit of the season with my students. Here are a few peeks at our Thanksgiving unit.

This adorable poem came from Deanna Jump. I added the food cards for the students to choose what to eat instead of turkey. This turned into a great vocabulary and visualization lesson as I added a response sheet for students to fill out after filling in the blank. 

I have always loved morning messages. This week we got really into making lists of our favorite Thanksgiving foods. I shared the pen and had students come up to the front and help me sound words out. We are also still working on mastering that /th/ digraph. 

What holiday unit is complete without an I Know an Old Lady Who .... book? After reading I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, students talked with their partner about what they would eat if they were the old lady. Even though this was an easier writing assignment for us, I took advantage of the simplicity of the project by reinforcing capital letters and punctuation, as well as spacing. I love how they came out and they really brighten up our hallway!

This last part is from before Thanksgiving but I wanted to share our first attempt at non-fiction writing. During shared reading we read about worms and worked on topic, main idea and details. Then during Writer's Workshop we constructed on a brace map (see below) where we charted our new learning. Students then used the map to help them write an informational book about worms. They loved trying to write their own "Fun Facts." 

Trick or Treat: Worms?!

This week will be the first week we really dive into nonfiction in our classroom. I LOVE teaching with nonfiction because it is always so high interest. Our pacing guide has us covering topic, main idea and details. This year, under the leadership of one of my teammates, our first graders have started composting in our garden. Although the garden is a work in progress, the composting is in full swing, complete with worms. We decided to learn more about our little worm city since it fits perfectly with our nonfiction standard. 

Over the past few weeks my students have been learning about how to use their schema while reading. I love Debbie Miller's book and always teach schema some time in the first quarter. It is a useful lesson to help students learn how to activate their prior knowledge and apply it to a new book. This week we will of course focus on our schema about worms. We will learn how our experiences composting in the garden fit into our schema about worms. I love how Deanna Jump uses her "Chit Chat" message to get ready for a unit. Here is the morning message I will introduce tomorrow, inspired by Mrs. Jump:

Today we will __gin our worm unit. We will lear_ lots of __teresting things about worms! What schema do you __ready have?

Then during our read aloud time we will begin our schema chart. Students will share what they already know about worms and I will add this information to the chart on a sticky note under "Our Schema". Students will add to this chart throughout the week as new information is learned under the "New Learning" heading.  

During Writer's Workshop we will begin our first nonfiction piece titled, "All About Worms." For pre-writing students will help me fill out this tree map and then they will complete their own version at their seat.

 

I expect students to complete one page each day. I have chosen certain skills to practice based on the nonfiction book we will read that day. For example, one day we will draw and label a diagram page because our read aloud for the day will have an example of a diagram. Another day students will fill out a "Fun Facts" page, just like the mentor text for that day. I'm providing students with a lot of support for this first crack at nonfiction, so I created a book that they will fill out. As the year goes on, students will get more say in how to create their nonfiction pieces. Here is the template students will use. I'll be back next week to let you know how it all goes. Hopefully Sandy won't interrupt any of this unit. Have a great Sunday and stay dry!

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