"G" Journals

Hi Friends,
It's hard to believe it is NOVEMBER already!  This is the time of year when many of us teach our students about the First Thanksgiving.  We usually include some kind of writing activity in which we ask our kids to share what they are thankful for in their lives.  Last year I wrote a post about grateful journals or "G" journals.  I thought this might be a good time of the year to share it with you again.  The original idea for "G" journals came from my friend Tammy over at Forever in First.  You can read her post about them {here}. 

I give each of my students a small "G" journal the first week of November.  I ask them to write and draw one thing they are grateful for each day.  I have them do this every day until Thanksgiving break and then they take their "G" journals home and share them with their family.  Here are some pictures:)

Here are some books I read to the class before we begin writing in our "G" journals.  As a class, we also make a list of things we are grateful for that I post on large chart paper and hang up. 

What are you grateful for this year?

I am grateful that you are reading my blog!

Halloween Writing Activity

Hi Friends,
Here's a fun writing activity that a teacher across the hall from me did with her students.  

The mummy is covered with masking tape.

The Best Part of Me

Hi Friends!
Have you read this book?  If not, I highly recommend it.
It's called The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald. 

 

 

The book has black and white photographs of the parts that children chose as their best part and handwritten essays about them.  The book inspired me to do something similar with my class. 

 

Here are a couple of my students' completed essays and our hallways display:

 

 



 





Where is Jack the Elf?

Hi Friends! 
I bought an Elf on the Shelf book last year and read it to my first grade class.  The book came with an Elf which we named "Jack."  My first graders really enjoyed the story and couldn't wait to find Jack when they came to school each morning during the month of December. As some of you know, I looped to 2nd grade with my class this year.  Well, Jack arrived yesterday and my kids were so E-X-C-I-T-E-D to see him again!  I was surprised to hear how many details they remembered about Jack.
Here's what I heard the kids saying to each other:

"You can't touch him or he'll lose his magic!"

"He's going to fly back to the North Pole and tell Santa everything you do!"

"He can see you all the time."

"Jack likes to find new places to sit when he comes back every day, so you

have to look for him."

"He's a nice Elf because he tells Santa the good stuff you do and

 just a little bit of the naughty stuff."

 

 

This year I decided to make a little booklet for my kids to draw and write about where they find Jack in our classroom each morning.  I thought this would be a great way to work on position words as well.  Here's a picture of booklet.

 



 

Yesterday morning we found Jack above the light switch in our classroom.

 



 

 This is the first page in our booklet.  I asked the kids to highlight the position word.

I didn't have the kids draw Jack because I knew it would take too much time. 

Instead, I attached a small picture of Jack on the end of a popsicle stick so they

could place Jack where he belongs after reading the sentence.

 

 This is where we found Jack this morning. 

 

 

They can place Jack in the pocket after reading the sentence.

 

I taped a post-it note to the back of each booklet to store the popsicle stick.  I also

attached the end of the yarn to the back of the booklet so that Jack wouldn't get lost.

 

Where will Jack be tomorrow?

 

 

  

What Are You Grateful For?

Hi Friends!

What are you grateful for this time of year?  If I had to name my top three, I would say my family and friends, my health, and a teaching job that I love!

Last year I was reading a blog post by my friend Tammy at Forever in First about Gratitude Journals.  She calls them "G" Journals.  You can read her post {Here}.
I was really excited about making "G" Journals for my students so they could draw and write about what they are grateful for.  I thought November would be the perfect month for my students to think about what they are thankful for.

First we brainstormed and made a list of all kinds of things that we are grateful for.  Then I gave each student their very own "G" Journal.  Every school morning during the month of November, I place the "G" Journal on each student's desk.  They draw and write one thing they are grateful for each day.  By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, their journals are full of thing they are grateful for.   I send the journals home the day before Thanksgiving so they can share their them with their family.

Here are some pictures of my students' Gratitude Journals:

  



 

 

 

What are you grateful for this time of year?

Daily Five: Writing & Word Work Activities

Hi Friends!
Today I'd like to share some new activities for the Daily Five
Work on Writing & Word Work.  I taught first grade last year and looped to second grade with the same kids and wanted to change up some of my Daily Five activities.  These activities are NOT the only writing or word work activities we do each day.  I have a 60 minute Writer's Workshop and a 30 minute Word Work block in the morning.  My Daily Five takes place in the afternoon every day of the week EXCEPT Wednesday.

Here are my Work on Writing activities:



On Mondays, students write about their weekend.  I ask them to pick one thing and write about it.



On Tuesdays, students write a letter to our Student of the Week. I collect all the letters and put them together in book form and give it to the Student of the Week to keep. 

 

 



On Thursdays, students write in their Science Journals.  I have an object for them to observe that goes along with our theme.  They draw the object and write about it.



On Fridays, students can go to our Writing Center and choose an activity there.

 











Here's how I store the Work on Writing materials:





Here are my Word Work activities:

 

On Mondays, students play a game called Roll & Write.

They roll a die, find the word for the number they rolled and write it.  The goal is to roll and write until one of the columns is filled.  That word "Blasts Off."  You continue to roll and write until all the words "Blast Off." 

 



If you don't like the idea of kids rolling dice on their desks and making lots of noise, you can cut pieces of rubber shelf liner for them to roll on.



On Tuesdays, students write their words with scented markers.  I use Mr. Sketch scented markers.  Walgreens had them on sale for $5.00 a box in August!!   I store each set of markers in a Lock & Lock container.  I got them on QVC. 



On Thursdays, students use magnetic letters to build words.
I bought some heavy duty cookie sheets for this center.  I put the letters they need at the top and they build the words at the bottom.  I used a Sharpie to divide the two areas.  I include a list of words on the cookie sheet.



On Fridays, students work in their Vocabulary Journals.  They pick 2 words from our vocabulary word list for the week.  They write them, use them in a sentence, and then illustrate. 



My students love all of these activities.  I plan to change them up as the year goes on.  I'll share some more in future posts. 

Spotlight on Writing

Hi Friends!

Today I'd like to share something new I am adding to my classroom this year.  It's called "Spotlight

on Writing."   I got this idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  I've modified it

a little, but the idea is the same.  Spotlight on Writing is a way to showcase student writing

in a more "formal" way.  All you need is a picture frame and a spotlight of some kind.

Here's a picture of what I bought at Kohl's to set up my "Spotlight on Writing" area in my classroom.

I am starting with one frame and one light, but you could do more.

These two items cost me $31.05. They were both on sale & I had a 15% off coupon.

I am SURE there is a cheaper way to do this, but I really liked these two items.

Here's what it looks like with a writing sample and the spotlight on it.

It's hard to see how nice it looks because the picture is so dark.

It looks fabulous in person!!!

So I took it outside and snapped another picture. 

Here it is.

The light is attached to the frame and it does need to be plugged in.

Here's a picture of how I attached the clip to the frame.

I plan to showcase my students' writing throughout the school year.

Now I just need to make a sign that reads, "Spotlight on Writing."

Here's a picture of the orginal idea I saw on Pintest.

You can read about it here:

http://mrsmccumbeesclass.blogspot.ca/search/label/Daily%205