Some of what we've been doing...

I made these snowmen with numbers and Santas with tally marks. They have to match the tally marks to the correct number. They are getting so much better!

This is the key for our elf glyphs. The inspiration came from First Grade a la Carte.

Here are a few of the glyphs. The pattern came from Life in First Grade. I love it! The kids had a great time making their elves and then they answered questions using the key and looking at all of the glyphs.

We used blank charts to build numbers different ways. Some of the kids caught on really quickly. Others used beads and put one in each square until the graph was full. Then they colored the squares to match the beads they had used. They wrote the number sentence for each color combination.

Even and Odd printable

Click here to print the Even and Odd Christmas tree.

Back at it

What a week! I didn't want to start the Christmas stuff until November was officially over :) This week we've been working on "My" books- my house, my city, my state, my country, my continent. The kids loved it! Every day they were asking, "Is it time to work on my book yet?" until they finally completed them yesterday.

We talked about different land and water forms using books and making models out of play dough. Another big hit! I wonder if my elementary teachers had used play dough to explain land and water forms... maybe I wouldn't have hated social studies so much!

The first graders also worked on making fractions and comparing fractions. So far they have noticed that 1/2 and 2/4 look the same and 1/4 and 2/8 look the same.

We're working on learning about contractions. I think it's going to take a LOT more work before we get through this!

We wrote about our favorite events from Thanksgiving break for writing workshop. This was the kindergarten kids' first time through the editing process and I think it went pretty well.

Last Week Before Thanksgiving

What a fun week! Our walls were covered in turkeys and Pilgrims. I'm so sad to see the bare walls since I took everything down and sent it home with them today. Here is some of what we did:

Feather Fractions: We traced the kids' feet and cut them out. Then they picked feathers to glue on. They wrote the fractions of colors.

We read Turk and Runt by Lisa Wheeler and then discussed good places for a turkey to hide where people would not think to look for them. Their pictures were so cute :)

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Today we read I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie and used sequencing cards to retell the story. The students drew all of the things the old lady ate and retold the order that she ate them in.

We also reviewed The Story of the Pilgrims and the kids drew pictures to show what they would pack in their suitcases if they were going on the Mayflower. One drew only food :) and lots of it! Of course she is the tiniest one in the class! I love this time of year and all of the great things the kids can do!

Pilgrims writing

I am doing all things Thanksgiving this week. I made  Turkey tally matching cards for my kindergarten and first graders. We are also using them to sort by even and odd. Today we read The Story of the Pilgrims. The students wrote at least one way they were like the Pilgrims or one way they were different. For more advanced students, they made Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast themselves with the Pilgrims.

Veterans Day cards

These are the cards my students made to send to veterans. We read The Veterans Day Visitor. The kids completed rough drafts and revisions before attaching their final copies to the cards. They are so excited about mailing the cards!

Fall

Our class is creating fall trees this week based on an idea found on pinterest.com Wow, it takes forever to punch enough circles for the whole class! We read Why Do Leaves Change Colors? and the students wrote a sentence to explain what makes it a fall tree. The rest of the week we will be focusing on Veterans Day and the kids will write a thank you letter to send to veterans.

Christmas ornament pillow

So, my son decided he wanted me to make his grandmother a Christmas pillow for Christmas. Luckily, her birthday is the beginning of December so I'll give it to her then and she can use it for a few weeks before packing it away!

What you will need:

A fat quarter of a cute Christmas print

Scraps of coordinating fabrics

Coordinating ricrac

Scraps of white muslin

Fabric markers (Be sureto follow the directions to heat set)

Something round to trace

A marking pen/pencil

Fabric glue

Sewing machine and thread

Poly-fil

Needle

1. Write Christmasy words (or kids names) with the fabric markers on the muslin and cut out around the word.

2. Cut a scrap of fabric about 1/4" larger on every side than the fabric you wrote on.

3. Find something round to trace that is larger than the previous fabrics. Cut out the shapes.

4. Sew the word fabric onto the piece that is slightly larger. (I left all of the edges raw on the pieces used for the ornaments)

5. Sew the words onto the ornament pieces. 

6. Fold the fat quarter in half and arrange the ornament shapes until you like the placement and sew them on.

7. Fold the fat quarter right sides together and sew one side, the top, and the other side but leave about 4 or 5 inches open.

8. Reach into the hole and turn it right side out. Fill it with Poly-fil and hand-sew the opening shut.

9. Measure ricrac to go from the top of the ornament to the top edge of the pillow. I used a lighter to melt the edges and keep it from fraying.

9. Use fabric glue to attach the ricrac.