Compound Words & 2D Geometry

Happy Friday, y'all! Not sure about you but I've been working on report cards all week...but I'm happy to finally sing:

So needless to say, this week's recap is going to be short and sweet! Let's start with compound words:

Most of our literacy centres were focused on practicing identifying and writing compound words, and throughout the week we added to this little anchor chart:

They loved writing words in our pancake. 

I actually used this same idea last year as well...but as they say: if it ain't broke, don't fix it! 

FLASHBACK:

Last year's anchor chart was so much cuter!

We also repeated an another activity for our pocket chart centre that is currently my number 1 most-downloaded freebie on TpT:

If you don't already own it, click HERE to snag a copy!

In math, we continued with 2D geometry by learning about symmetry:

We used these anchor charts to practice making various shapes and figures symmetrical before trying it out on our own. I find symmetry is often quite a difficult concept for some little ones to demonstrate independently but I have to say, my firsties ROCKED it this year!

They were all about our symmetrical snowman:

...And if you're looking for some extra practice worksheets to go along with a basic geometry unit, check out this new product I just added to my little shop:

So far we've used most of the 2D worksheets as centre activities and the kids really enjoyed them...especially the "Shape Search." I've even used 2 as assessment pieces. 

I won't introduce 3D geometry until second term but I can't wait to try those out!

If you want a closer look at this pack, click HERE.

And that about wraps it up! Have a great weekend :)

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Happy New Year! (Hot Chocolate & Symmetry)

Happy New Year!!!

...she says on the18th, about half way through January...

So yes I'm a little late, but you know what they say: better late than never! 

Our first week back was a jumble of melancholy, excitement, reviewing rules & procedures, and...HOT CHOCOLATE! 

Yes, it was once again our hot chocolate week. Each morning we read Snowman Soup:

This week, we also learned about ABC order. Pocket Chart centre and Word Work 1 had kiddies practicing their knowledge of ABC order:

(from my Hot Chocolate mini-unit)

(from Cara's Back to School pack)

At Word Work 2, the kids took all of the letters from "hot chocolate" and mixed them up to see how many words they could make:

(also from my Hot Chocolate mini-unit)

Of course, at the end of the week we enjoyed describing and drinking some delicious hot chocolate with marshmallows. For a few more hot chocolatey activities you can check out the pack in more detail by clicking the pic below:

*2016: THIS PRODUCT HAS SINCE BEEN UPDATED*

(pictures in this post do not reflect the updates)

Lastly, we have been cruising through our 2D Geometry math unit, and we had some fun creating our own symmetrical paintings:

(I was just quickly and "abstractly" throwing paint on the paper when creating my example with the kids, and they ended up totally convinced that I made an outstanding African statue! ...I totally see it, though. What a bunch of smarties!)

To make our symmetrical paintings, all we did was fold a big piece of paper in half to create a crease (we also talked lots about the concept of half throughout this unit), loaded lots of paint on to one half, and then folded and pressed both sides together to transfer the paint to the opposite side. *I say you have to load on lots of paint on since tempra paint dries quite quickly, and otherwise the paint will not transfer as effectively*

All of their symmetrical designs turned out so neat and are now hanging brightly on our hallway walls!

And that's all for now, folks! Stay tuned for our week of consonant blends, 5 Senses Frankie, and an engaging "northern style" descriptive writing activity.

Manic Monday Freebie

I'm exciting to be linking up today with Classroom Freebies today for Charity's Manic Monday!!! 

I'm loving how many fellow teacher-bloggers and readers I've been able to be introduced to throughout the summer thanks to linky parties such as this one. What better way to celebrate educators than sharing resources...bring on the freebies!!!

This monday, I'm going to share a fun little math resource I created when you are teaching 2D & 3D Geometry (specifically symmetry). Find the original blog post for this activity HERE (along with some other freebies within that same post!)

I had these worksheets as an "I'm done, now what?" fast-finishers activity. It's a fun and engaging way for kiddies to practice recreating the mirror image of various shapes and forms.

DOWNLOAD THIS SYMMETRY FREEBIE!

And, let me tell you, the results were too stinkin' cute/flat out hilarious:

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you again :)

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Now go visit Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies to stuff your pockets with some more great freebies!!!

100 is A LOT!!!

So I took a blogging vacation and skipped last week...this picture about sums up my life these's past few weeks:

So get ready for a two week catch-up post! Here goes:

Last week we talked all about consonant blends. I wish I did this earlier in the year because after just the one week, I noticed an improvement in some of my struggling readers. I will definitely introduce blends earlier next year but, for now, better late than never!

Throughout the week, we filled up the whiteboard and our blender (read more about the blender at Tales of a Teacherista) with words and beginning blends. The kiddies were awesome at this! They loved coming up with words for each blend and I was impressed with how many they thought of. Whenever my mind went blank, my smarty-pants kept shooting out more and more blends! By the end of the week, we had filled up our blender with lots of scrumptious blends. We "mixed it up" and enjoyed a SMoothie feast!

My Investigation Station activity reinforced the concept of consonant blends with picture/blend puzzles:

(click HERE for your FREE copy!)

In math last week, we finished up 2D geometry with some shape and symmetry centres. One centre had a stack of blank paper, attribute blocks, and crayons. The kiddies had to use their knowledge of shapes along with their imaginations to create something out of any 2D shapes:

They turned out pretty cute!

One of the symmetry centres I created was just a fun way to practice their spatial sense. They did a surprisingly awesome job (some of the pics were quite detailed!):

(click either pic above or HERE for your FREE symmetry worksheets)

LOL...Oh, that Super Mario kills me every time! Too cute.

Our next math unit is beginning basic addition and subtraction. To get a feel for where my kiddies are, we began the unit with this fun little introductory watermelon math problem:

After talking about the problem and pulling out familiar math words, we worked first in partners, then as a whole group, to solve the problem:

After solving the problem, we did a fun little craftivity to reinforce beginning concepts from Cara Carroll's Ready, Set, Learn! pack:

Tres cute!

And now, for our 100th Day of School festivities!!!

I started off the day by giving my kiddies a challenge: Do you think we can read 100 books in 1 day?! Throughout the day, the kiddies added one tally each time they read a book. Well, I have the smartest onesies in all of NWO so obviously we not only met, but exceeded my challenge! We used this anchor chart to practice our tally skills and counting by 10s; each cloud was to have only 10 tallies but we read so many books that we had to add even more!!

During our writing block, we wrote about what we would look like and about what our life would be like if we were one hundred years old. Oh.My.Word. Some of the answers I got had me on the floor:

"If I was 100 years old, I would be soooo tall. I'd touch the sky. My head would be fat. My eyeballs would be huge, too. My hair would go all the way to my butt. My dresses would be 100 feet tall."

"If I was 100 years old, I would be very fat. I would wear pink glasses. My hair would be very light blondey-brown."

"If I were to be 100 years old, I would live at Princess Court (an old age home here in town). I would have grey hair. I would have a husband. I would drink tea. I would be a grandma."

I also have a future "crazy cat lady" in my bunch: "If I was 100 years old, I would play with my cats." The little darling went on to tell me that she would have 100 cats. HA!

"If I was 100 years old I would play chess every day."

"If I was 100 years old, I would live with my mom."

"If I was 100 years old, I'd be living under my table. I would be so old I wouldn't get up."

"If I was 100 years old I would sit in a wheelchair."

...And the grande finale:

"If I was 100 years old, I would live in a swamp. I would drink tea. I would lay in bed feeling like I'm going to die." HAHA!

Boy, we make up a silly bunch. This picture confirms it:

We tried to wear 100 things, we made 100 fruit-loop necklaces with groups of 10, we made 100 hats, and had more than 100 laughs!

And, I'm sharing this last photo to prove that the Grade 1 teachers still had a smile on their faces despite a day that was 100 kinds of CRAZY!!

(P.S. LOVE this lady! My grade 1 partner in crime, the infamous Mrs. Montgomery, aka the one who puts up with my "when in doubt, ask Stacey, she'll know" motto haha ...who also gets credit for making those fabulous shirts with 100 rhinestones...always rockin' the bling!!!)

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

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