Our Poems

We finished our poetry unit with some original poems. My 1st graders wrote some amazing, deep poems. We started with just brainstorming ideas. Then made a bubble map for adjectives. They wrote their final copy and I typed them up (because I know how hard it is to read their own handwriting). We invited parents to come hear students read their poems in our own little Poetry Celebration.

So existential.

Differentiation Using Tech Tools

Posts on social media from 2020 keep coming up for me. And as challenging as that teaching year was considering the pandemic and changes for hybrid learning....I discovered tech tools that have transformed my practice.

Pear Deck--I LOVE this program. I can make slideshows for my emergent learners with sounds and sight words and for my more advanced learners with fact and opinion as well as context clues, etc. You can record on each slide so they can do it independently. We also use it to write digital stories.

https://www.peardeck.com/google-slides

WordWall.net -this is a site that you have to pay a fee for, but it is worth it for me because I use this for spelling practice. I give my students 2 different lists based on their abilities. We use the same phonics rule so for example maybe we are doing long a words group 1 might have: skate    date    late, etc. Group 2 words would be: rotate   create, etc. This site allows you to make games that will help students practice those words in a fun way. They can complete mazes and other activities.

https://wordwall.net/

Blooket-hands-down my students' favorite activity. You can create games that allow you to review skills. Here is how I use it to differentiate--my advanced students create the new games for their classmates. They revel in coming up with tricky questions and answers for their classmates.

https://www.blooket.com/

Claw Machine-you can put your students names in and it draws out a ball with a name and confetti. It actually makes my students cheer each time. The students beam when their name is chosen.

Claw Machine Name Picker

Our Cinquain Poems

We have been learning about the rainforest. I asked my students to apply what they had learned, choose a rainforest animal and write a cinquain about them. A Cinquain format is:

Noun __________

2 Adjectives _______   ________

3 Verbs ____________  ____________  __________

4 word phrase (often describing feelings)

Noun _________________

I was actually really impressed with what my students came up with. They often get the parts of speech confused.

Philosophy with Young Students-Which Came First?

We are thinking about eggs this time of year. With this activity I blow my kids' minds. :) 

We talk about the life cycle of the chicken. And then I ask my students which came first--the chicken or the egg?

Student:  Well, that's easy the egg.

Me: Who laid the egg?

Student: Oh, then the chicken? 

Me: How did the chicken hatch?

Student *scratches head*-ok so maybe it's not easy.

1st Grade Haiku

I have always enjoyed the simplicity of haiku poems. 

We read books like:

My students' poems: we stuck with the original 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable format