Teaching Writing in First Grade - Plus a Writing FREEBIE!

Do you want your students to be better writers? YES of course. Writing is the hardest subject to teach in the primary years since students are just gaining a grasp on reading. I have created the Headfirst Spring Into Writing Packets to help you teach and students blossom! Included in each packet are the following:

 

Ideas for Informative, Narrative, Opinion, List, and Letter Writing.

A proofreading sheet to teach kids how to understand your corrections and how to peer edit.

simple 

   complex

 

 

 

 

 

Pictionaries both colored and blank for students to color

 

 

 

 

Please check out these packets by clicking the link below. 

Fall Writing Pack

Winter Writing Pack

Spring Writing Pack

Summer Writing Pack

Pre-Writing Pack

Bundle

Patriotic Writing FREEBIE

Headfirst 3 - Decomposing Numbers to Make a 10 when adding to 7, 8, and 9

Hello! It's February and we are learning about regrouping by decomposing numbers to make a 10 when adding. Sounds complicated? It can be. What's the point? To teach kids about making a 10 which is perhaps the most important concept in our base 10 system! To teach this, I used the Headfirst Math Curriculum Unit 3: Making a 10 to add using numerals and number bonds.

This is what it looks like:

Adults do this regrouping in our heads. Kids, however, need more concrete learning. It is important to review the ways to make 10 before and during this unit (end of unit 1).

Also, kids need to practice 10 + single digit facts. They will eventually do this in their heads. (Unit 3)

This student is working on 5 + 9. He was having trouble so I pulled out some manipulatives to help him understand the process. We started with 5 yellow and 9 red. Then we moved one of the yellow hearts to the red pile to make a 10. Here he is counting the other part of 5 which is 4.

By this time we were doing the 10 + 4 in our heads. 

One thing I will do differently next time is that I will mix up the 9 + facts from the beginning. They got used to seeing the same numbers in the number bond as in the answer and it isn't 11, it is the parts of 2. 

Mixing them up from the beginning should eliminate them getting into this habit. Here the 5 comes first because  I wanted the 1 close to the 9 to lasso it into a 10.

After working on 9 + facts. We moved to 8 + facts.

And finally 9, 8, and 7 + facts.

At the end of the week, I put the students in two teams on the carpet. I wrote a problem on my whiteboard and they each worked it on their whiteboards. It was nice to see them helping each other with all the steps. After a couple minutes, I said markers closed and they showed me their work. I counted to see which team had the most correct and awarded that team a point. They really enjoyed it and helped each other. At the end, it was 4 to 1 so one team clearly had the concept better than the other. I sent the winning team back to their seats to do the worksheet alone while I completed it together on the carpet with the losing team. We worked on this concept for a total of 2 weeks.

I am hopeful for the test tomorrow!

Click to check out Unit 3:

Click to check out the Bundle:

Headfirst 3 - Place Value for First Grade

It's January and we are working on place value in first grade! Today in math we used whiteboards to draw quick tens and ones and numerals when shown pictures of base 10 blocks. 

After group time on the carpet, I put students in pairs and they matched up the cards. I printed these with 2 pages on one sheet so they were smaller to save cardstock.

Since students finished the partner activity at different times, I had some number cards on each group of desks and they used their own base 10 blocks to make the numbers. 

We wrapped up with a greater than less than worksheet in class.

The kids were engaged the whole time and

I heard one student say, "This is my favorite!" 

Headfirst Math win!

Click to check out Unit 3:

Click to check out the Bundle:

100th Day of School

We have celebrated the 100th day of school with a rotation of classes for the last 4 years. It is a fun way for the students to move around the building and less prep for us so that we only have to prep one activity. Here is what happened in each classroom:

My room - 100th Day of School Book

• I gave the students a pretend $100 bill and they wrote and drew about what they would buy with $100. 
• When I am 100 years old, I will...
• watch TV
• drink coffee
• babysit my grandkids
• sleep
• use a cane
• yell at people
• the list of funny responses goes on
• I would want 100 _______ but I'd never want 100 _______.
• Want
• dogs
• friends
• candies
• legos
• hamburgers
• ice cream cones
• pokemon cards
• Don't Want
• sisters
• brothers
• cats
• pages of homework
• shots
• teachers :)

Ladybug room - exercise

• The students performed 10 of each kind of exercise.

Fish room - craft

• Students were given an Ellison cutout of the number 1 0 0 and then used it to make a picture.

Owl room - food

• How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

Piglet room - STEM

• Students used 100 legos to build.

Fun times!