Monday we did a fabulous lesson that I saw on a blog that I follow and love. It is a great introductory lesson that involves schema and building connections. As we talked about our schema for monsters, I added squiggles of our "magic brain waves." We talked about dendrites, and I even showed the kiddos pictures of our brains hard at work. They loved it! After we discussed our schema, we turned off the lights and behold - our brains had been activated! We'll be adding to our schema all week long. I can't wait to do this activity before starting our others units all year.
To talk about Columbus Day, we also watched a really neat BrainPop video and sequenced the events of his exploration. I was glad to know that the kids already knew a lot about him! We even practiced our map skills to talk about his journey. We've been listening and learning because the kids remembered all about our cardinal directions!
Tuesday we continued adding to our monster schema. We used a new color so we could tell our new information. I was excited to know that everyone couldn't wait to turn off the lights and see how we had activated our schema! :) We then read There's a Nightmare in my Closet and made connections to the story by thinking up our own nightmares. We talked about adjectives and verbs to go along with our nightmares.
In Computer Lab this week, we created Kidspiration projects. We made webs of ourselves. The kids had a fun time using the program, and I was glad to see them all hard at work!
Wednesday we read There's An Alligator Under My Bed and created a Flow Map to make our own stories. The kiddos brainstormed what might be under their beds and what they'd do to get those critters out of their houses. I was excited to see how creative they were being with their ideas. We've been working hard on using capitals and periods, too!
Thursday we had Early Dismissal, so we had a short and sweet day. We researched Christopher Columbus on PebbleGo, as it was his birthday. The kids wrote their facts down on a "sail" then we created our own versions of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. They loved it!
Friday we wrapped up our projects for the critter under our beds. The students wrote their final drafts and then created their beds. We used our watercolors, and they loved it! They really tried their hardest to listen during our painting lesson, and it showed when it came time for them to do their own projects. They turned out so beautifully!
We learned all about fire safety this week. The kids learned about Smokey the bear. We were very excited to learn that he was a real bear cub! We talked about nonfiction and fiction genres while we learned about the bear's story.
We also created matchbooks with fire safety rules inside. It was interesting to see who had heard of matches before and who hadn't. Sometimes I forget how little our firsties know. It's another reason why I LOVE first grade! We get to learn so much about the world together, and it's very exciting to see those lightbulbs go off each day.
We also did monster math this week to practice addition. The kids rolled dice, added the numbers, and used those numbers to create monsters. They had so much fun and learned a lot!
Looking forward to another fabulous week! Please remember to send back your field trip permission slips if you haven't already! :)
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