Need a way for your 1st graders to show how much they love our planet? This unit provides an opportunity to bring relevance to your students as they complete activities that show what they think is special about our world,while thinking of ways that they can make a difference as an individual. Students will think about the different environments in our world and how they are important. They will be able to decide how we can work together to make sure all of those environments stay as wonderful as they are now.
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Ok-it has been a while since my last 21 day challenge.... a little more than 21 days I think... and I maaaay have slipped a couple times, but I am pretty proud of how I am doing! I realized today that it is 21 days until my COLLEGE GRADUATION so I say it is perfect timing to get a perfect bod! :) I have made another 21 day challenge that will make me as healthy as can be - and I am ready to get started. I am sure you can find something to motivate you to try as well; even if its just that it's getting warmer outside! (I'd say that is reason enough!) It will be easy, let's gooooo! As I have completed my student teaching requirements now and am finishing out the school year as a substitute, I have been observing a ton of different activities and plans that teachers use when they are out of the classroom. I can imagine that there is nothing worse than waking up sick and needing a sub-but not having anything ready to leave for them. Since it is the season of sick days, I decided to create a way to make those sick days a little more enjoyable (if that is even possible). This unit is enjoyable for the students and takes care of the whole day of reading, writing, and math. The activities are age appropriate and follow the monster theme. Substitutes will find this easy to use since I have included a description of each activity, and directions of what to do. There is also an anchor chart to remind students how to act when you are out of the classroom! (You are welcome sub!) Take a look at the unit and let students have fun imagining you being scared away from the school day by a pack of monsters! Ok funny story- one of my fellow teacher-friends told me about one of her friends who was constantly in a spat with a co-worker. This friend did not know what it was that the co-worker didn't like about him, and he could not think of anything he had done to deserve being mistreated by the co-worker. One day- in an attempt to stop the ongoing bad vibes between them- the friend called up the co-worker and simply said "Listen, I am so sorry" without even knowing what he was sorry for. Sure enough the co-worker exploded with gratitude and relief washed over the two of them. From then on the two got along-and the friend still has no idea what he was "sorry" for. This funny story made me wonder how many people in my life I could simply say sorry to, and when I saw this quote I could not help but think of that story... so I decided to share with you! This "Time Experts" hunt was amazing! Each student got a watch that had a set time on it. The students became the expert of the time on their watch and had to think of an activity that they do at that time. The students then had to find the time experts for every other time on their sheet, along with the activity that was done at that time by the time expert!
I am nearing the end of my time as a student teacher, and as I look back on who I was at the beginning of this semester, I do not even recognize that person. I have grown so much, and learned so much. I had many triumphs as a student teacher, and many times, I was able to teach and produce lessons that were beneficial to my students-but not always. Those times when my lessons bombed, or I was not prepared, or I simply did not organize my thoughts efficiently- those are the lessons that changed me as a teacher and a person. I learned from those times more than anything else, and as I realized my mistakes I was able to reflect and modify in order to create something better for the next go round. I just wanted to share my thoughts as a reminder that we "fail" for a reason. We are not always perfect and that is a GREAT thing, because perfection does not allow for growth. I am excited to see what growth comes from my "failures" and I know that I will never stop developing as an educator. Just imagine the possibilities we could open up for ourselves and our students if we only taught them that failure leads to learning, and modeled that we can all grow as we learn together. At our school carnival this year we had a teacher auction to raise money. Students placed bids on teachers that they would want to spend an evening with. It was up to us teachers to come up with an activity to do with our students on that evening. First grade came up with "Painting With a Twist". This fun place walks you through a chosen painting from start to finish, and you get to walk away with a masterpiece all in one class! All paintings turn out AMAZING and it is cool to see the personal twist that everyone puts on their work of art. The painting we chose was called "Reach For the Stars" and we had an awesome time with our winning students as we each painted a picture side by side. I highly recommend spending an afternoon or evening at one of their locations! See if there is one near you!
We are concluding our rock unit with ROCK DAY here in first grade. Each student brought in a rock and I have provided them with materials to use to create a pet rock. Along with their pet rock students have activities to complete and will use those activities to create an "About Me" poster for their rock. Activities include a birth certificate, and acrostic name poem, a story about their rocks magical powers, comparison activities and even time and money activities to tie in our math objectives for the week. This afternoon we are using food to create each type of rock. FUN FUN day!
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AuthorI'm just an Elementary Nerd sharing my excitement for the classroom! Blogs to check out:Weekly Updates:Favorites:Archives:
November 2017
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