Gung Hay Fat Choy!

     My first grade team and I are taking our students on a journey around the globe to learn about the oceans and continents.  So far, we've taught about North America, Europe, and Antarctica.  With only 61 days of school left, we better get moving if we're going to finish the tour!
     This week, we introduced Asia, with China being the focal point, and celebrated Chinese New Year.  They l.o.v.e.d. learning about the firecrackers, the dragon, the parades, the feasting, the red envelopes of money, the chinese alphabet, and most importantly, that it symbolizes a renewal.
     To start off, I re-visited our world map and reviewed what we'd covered already and then labeled Asia and China.  We looked at an Atlas and discovered that Russia is actually on two continents (I never realized).  See?  We all learn something every day!
     Since we have only 3 days to cover this, I went straight to my big book called Lion Dancer, a non-fiction account of a little boy named Ernie and his experiences getting ready for the new year.  The fact that he learns two languages and has to go to school on Saturday is not lost on my students!  They also loved learning that most of them were born in the year of the Rooster.

photo by amazon.com

     I then used a GLAD strategy called "10/2" and let them turn and talk to each other about the story.  Then I asked questions about it, and what I love about getting this training is that if someone can't answer a question, a friend can tell him/her the answer and then that student can in turn answer the question.  It seems like such a simple thing, but one that I had never used before.  It gets them ALL talking on topic!
     The next day (today, actually), I taught a poem my colleague found online.  I don't even know who it's by, but it was a lovely short and simple review of Chinese New Year that rhymed and had tons of phonics and sight words for them to hunt for and find.  After they read it again later today, I let them choose what they wanted to draw...fireworks, lions, red envelopes, or "I could teach you how to draw a dragon."  That was a bit hit!
     To go along with the theme, we made red Chinese lanterns by folding a piece of construction paper in half the long way, cutting slits (not all the way through).  I gave them a phonetic Chinese alphabet so they could write their name on their lantern in Chinese in gold crayon.  When all that was done, they rolled it into a cylinder to be stapled and hung up with string.

     They're all "kid made," meaning I didn't help them much, and beautiful.  Beauty, is truly, in the eye of the beholder.  When they were done, they wanted to write in their journals in Chinese...THIS is why I love first grade.  While some of them did that, I read Dragon Dance.  What is it about lifting a flap?
   

photo by amazon.com

     Tomorrow, to wrap it up, they will hear another story called The Dancing Dragon, which is folded accordion style and will be one long dragon when it's finished, and given a fortune cookie.  I know they'll love it.  Next week, we will get into Komodo dragons, pandas, and bamboo... Whew!

photo by amazon.com

     

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

February in First Grade

     I love February in First Grade, mostly because it's a turning point.  Most of my students have become readers and they can write a sentence or sentences on a topic.  Since my GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) training, my students, I believe, have learned to love learning.  I hear, more and more, phrases like, "I LOVE Martin Luther King, Jr.!" and "I LOVE the presidents!"  I don't believe I've ever heard anyone exclaim that before this year.
     I've found two children's books about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln that I cherish and that really make these two beloved presidents come alive for children.  Not only do the kids learn a lot from these two books, but I learned a little something as well.  George Washington actually had very bad dental problems and lost his teeth while he fought the Revolutionary War!  Since children in first grade are in the midst of losing their own baby teeth, they can relate.  The timeline at the end of the book, along with pictures of his false teeth, only adds to their fascination.

photo by amazon.com

     Another book I really like is called Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers.  It's about a little girl named Grace Bedell, who wrote to Mr. Lincoln about growing whiskers.  The back of the book has a photo of her actual letter.  This book also brings to light the issues of equal rights (they gasp at the fact that women couldn't vote!) and are appalled at the idea of slavery.  They also get a glimpse of what life was like before tv, cars, internet, and cell phones!

photo by amazon.com

     I sometimes feel bad that I make them genuinely care about these historic figures and then they get the bad news:  they're dead.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot.  Abraham Lincoln was shot.  At least George Washington died of natural causes (I think).  

     But on a lighter note, I taught them how to draw each president, mounted the drawings, and then they wrote sentences about each one.  I gave them the first sentence to copy, then after they discussed as a group what other facts they remembered, I had volunteers tell me some facts they might like to write for their second sentence.  I wrote those on the board.  

Here are some samples:

    I cut gray paper to 8" x  6".  I used gray so white crayon would show.  I also had visuals of both presidents and I talked a little about how artists use colors to show shadows (the picture of Washington had hints of purple and blue in his white hair).  When I was a new teacher, I got Art for All Seasons by Evans and Moore, which had a lesson on drawing Lincoln and Washington, which is very easy to follow.  This is the version I have:

photo by amazon.com

     

     Another great book I have, that's on a lighter note and fun for the kids, is Abe Lincoln's Hat.   My students really liked the notion of putting important things up inside a stovepipe hat, so they got to make a hat to wear and write what they'd put in their own hat.  I loved the responses...my stuffed bunny, my mom and my legos, and "my shrink ray, so I can fit all my toys inside."  Awesome!

photo by amazon.com

     And then there's Valentine's Day...

Base Ten Blocks

     This may seem obvious to everyone else on the planet, even people who aren't teachers, but this week, after having taught place value for I don't know how many years, I finally had the light bulb go on in my own head.

I try to throw in related questions...is this number odd or even?  How do you know?

      While the kids used their own manipulatives, green foam base ten blocks and workmats, I could model the same number on the board big enough for them all to be able to see.  I used to draw the tens and ones, but it took sooo much time out of the learning, so today I made myself a large set from one piece of green construction paper.  I had a roll of magnetic adhesive tape so it was easy (even though I ended up having to glue stick the allegedly adhesive tape to the back).  Please ignore my dirty white board...
   
Here is what my kiddos did at their desks while I was fooling around at the board:

Ahhh, meticulous!

     To manage all this stuff out on tables, I have the ones and tens in plastic crayon boxes and before we start, I remind them all about grabbing and I have them sort the tens and ones into the separate sides.  They each have their own mat and pen and are told their finger is the best eraser of all, just wipe it off when you make a mistake or need to start over.  We spent 45 minutes building numbers today.  It was great!