2-D Shapes

This was our first week back from Spring Break and we have been reviewing our 2-D shapes.  After they all had a good understanding of the attributes we practiced making our own shapes using toothpicks.

This project used a ton of toothpicks-about 30 per student-so make sure you get the big box.
It also used a ton of glue ;-) which is to be expected!

This was great for the kids to do because it's different than drawing or using pattern blocks.  It really challenged them, especially the hexagon.

If you want a copy of the shape labels, click on the picture below.  Some of my kids could squeeze in the 2D Shapes header, some couldn't-it really didn't make much of a difference to me.

Next we made Shape Monsters-which they loved!  I let each student pick whatever shape they wanted and then they had to trace their shape onto construction paper.  They turned out really cute.

After they made their monster they had to write about it.  They had to tell me what shape they chose, how many side and corners that shape had, and also give me a real-world example of that shape. 

Both of these ideas were from Mrs. Wheeler's page-if you'd like a free copy of the Shape Monster sheet, head over to her blog.

Have a great weekend!

Easter Activities!

One of my favorite books to do at Easter time is The Easter Egg by Jan Brett.  Her books are always full of good messages and the pictures are, of course, beautiful.  After we read this story I give each student a very large white egg which they get to paint however they choose.  I use a 12x18 piece of white construction paper for each egg.  They really love this project because they get to use their watercolors which we don'st use all that often.

 

 This is a spider web egg - can you see the cute little spider hiding at the bottom??

After their egg is complete I have them write about their egg.  Some students choose to describe the way their egg looks-others like tell me a little story.  

They really make a bright, colorful display in the hallway :-)

For a fun Easter math activity we spent an afternoon sorting jelly beans.  I used just the old fashioned Brach's jelly beans and filled a little cup for each student.  I think it took me 3 bags and I have 23 students.  At this point in the year they have done a few activities like this and are used to a format that is similar for our daily calendar math pages (click on the link to grab them for FREE), so they are able to do this fairly independently (silent cheer)!

Of course, once they have finished I like to look over it briefly but then, finally, they get to eat their jelly beans.

Click on the picture for a FREE copy of our two-page Jelly Bean Sorting sheet.

All in all it was a nice way to end our week before Easter and Spring Break!!

March Rainbows

With spring officially around the corner we needed to brighten up our room a little.  What a better way to do that then to make Name Rainbows!

The idea is pretty simple-the students write their name in the cloud and then the rainbow is made by using an adjective to describe each letter of their name.  It gets a little tricky for some of the letters so usually after about 5 minutes I help them out by looking up some good describing words online.  

There is a pre-writing sheet that I use below.  After doing this activity without a sheet one year, I realized that having the students organize their name/words ahead of time REALLY helped :-)

Click on the picture below to get a free copy of the pre-writing and cloud sheet.

100 Days of School

We have made it through 100 days of school, folks!  It's a pretty big milestone in first grade and we did a ton to celebrate!

To start the day off my students worked on writing 100 different words.  They loved getting to move around the room to see and write different words.  They worked on these little booklets all throughout the day :-)

Next, we made 100th Day hats.  They had to decorate their hats with one hundred things.  I set up four different stations around the room where students rotated through dot markers, stamp markers, mini stickers and sequins.  When they finished I had them count out their groups of ten to 100.  

 I love that they were helping each other count!

After that was the most exciting part of our 100th Day celebration . . . the fashion show.  This was absolutely hysterical and the kids had so much fun.  I laid out a red carpet (made from red butcher paper) and put on some fashion show music.

They took the opportunity to dance the entire way down the carpet

The kids had all made t-shirts at home with 100 things on them and this was their chance to show of their design.  

 

Even the teachers got in on the fun!

I found this great idea on Pintrest . . . but lost a few stars throughout the day :-(

In the afternoon we took the numbers 1-0-0 and turned them into something else.  Their ideas were great, of course.  We had everything from a lawnmower to a snowman to a dinosaur.  They really came up with some creative ways to use the numbers!

 

Overall it was a great 100th Day Celebration!