Science/Social Studies

 

Welcome to a day in Mrs. Southard’s 1st Grade Classroom!

My students begin coming into my classroom at 8:00.  The tardy bell does not ring until 8:15, so my students do not all come in at once.  They turn in their SPACE books with their homework and begin working on their morning work.  When they finish their morning work, they may read a book quietly while everyone else finishes.  Our principal comes over the intercom around 8:20 for the Pledge, a moment of silence, and morning announcements.

At 8:30, students go to Reading Interventions.  The entire school has Interventions at the same time.  This allows us to use every available adult (classroom teachers, teaching assistants, special area teachers, etc.).  It also allows for students to cross grade levels for Interventions if needed. 

I have a group of benchmark 1st graders.  We decided that these at and above grade level students would benefit from more Science and nonfiction reading activities.  Interventions in my classroom look different each day of the week.  On Monday, we complete a science experiment and fill in part of our Science Journals.  Since we are learning about plants this week, the students planted seeds in sand, clay, potting soil and rocks.

At 9:00, students return to their regular classrooms.  During this time, we review our skills and objectives for the day and week. 

Now it’s time for our Reading Block.  We begin with phonics.  We were learning about er, ir, and ur this week.  My students love using their own dry erase boards!

We use Treasures from McGraw-Hill to guide our reading instruction, but I like to add some extra learning opportunities as well.  We used my Meet the Bossy R Triplets unit this week to help them learn those tricky spellings.

As we move on into spelling, the students are introduced to the words and practice the words.  We also move while we are spelling the words.  Today, the students were doing pushups as they spelled their words.

We are learning about synonyms this week.  I wanted to get the students up and moving, so I gave them each a card.  Each card had a synonym match.  Students had to find their partner without talking.  I tried to include some challenging “Fancy Nancy Words” to keep increasing their vocabulary skills.

After squeezing in a restroom break, the students were ready for their healthy snack.  We have an AWESOME grant from Dole this year.  Three days a week, our school is provided with a fruit or a vegetable snack for the entire school.  Then, once a month, the students are invited to a Tasting Buffet where everyone can try a variety of fruits and vegetables while learning all about each of them.  {These pictures are from a couple weeks ago, but you can see them eating pears and spinach.  I mean…seriously, who would have thought 6 year olds would love spinach!  It is amazing how many fruits and vegetables my students are trying now!}

For our writing today, we made a list of some different types of flowers.  Then we began filling out our graphic organizer about our favorite flower.

To continue to integrate science into our reading, our fluency passages were about flowers this week.  We discussed our Power Words and read it together a couple of times.  Then the students practiced in groups of 3.  After practicing, we completed the rest together.

During stations and small group time, the students are in groups of three.  They do a variety of independent activities while I pull small groups of individuals to work with.  I pull my station activities from a variety of places.  {I will be discussing this in another “Be a Fly on My Wall Linky.}

We use Everyday Math, which I have a like-dislike relationship with.  I like that it spirals back to things, but I dislike that the students don’t master something before we move to something new.  I like the variety of skills my students learn, but I dislike that I have to supplement math facts.  I like the games, but I dislike that the workbook is soooooo boring! 

 

12:05 – 12:45 – RECESS and LUNCH

 

After lunch, we have our Calendar time.  We count money, write addition and subtraction facts, skip count, etc.  Then we read a chapter from our chapter book.

Next, the students get their Math Notebooks.  We use portions of Cara’s Calendar Companion first.  Then students get out their Math Journals and we complete a word problem.  We use our school wide strategies (on the blue cards) to solve our word problems.

As much as I love teaching science, I always feel like I run out of time.  This is why I try to integrate it elsewhere into our day as much as possible.  Today, we read “Oh Say Can You Seed?” and completed a “Plant Needs” booklet that I had from an old Teacher’s Helper magazine.

At the end of the day, it’s time to clean up and fill out our behavior charts.  These are sent home in their folders each week.  We walk students outside for dismissal at 2:40.  There you have it…a day as a fly on the wall in my classroom.

 

Here is where your part comes in.  Take pictures of a day in your classroom.  Post it on your blog, grab the button below and link up. I would love to be a fly on the wall in your classroom.

 Clipart and Fonts from this post are from the following: Kimberly Geiswin, Ashley Hughes, Cara Carroll, A Cupcake for the Teacher, Teaching in a Small Town, and Scrappin Doodles.

As I started taking pictures, I realized it was very hard to show you how I teach certain subjects by just showcasing one day. {Each day may look a little different.} So, each week I will be choosing a different portion of my day to highlight! For example, one week I will focus the entire week on teaching reading in my classroom then the next week I may do only math.  Then, I will have a different “Be a Fly on My Wall” Linky Party for each area!

 

For this week’s Linky Party, just post about a “normal” day in your classroom, grab the picture above, and link up below.