Happy Sunday everyone! I'm gearing up for the big day Thursday and thought I would share some freebies!! Besides all of the centers we'll be completing, we will also be making great use of some little hearts I snagged from the dollar bin at Target.
The first activity we'll do is a little coin count. I have 10 heart containers (because I have 10 students). Each lid has a number and inside are some coins. When I say "go," students will open their heart, count the coins, and record their answer. After about a minute, I'll say "swap." Students will have to quickly put the coins back in their heart, put on the lid, and pass the closed heart to their neighbor. I've also played different versions of this game where the materials stay (the heart and coins) and the students travel to other seats with their paper. Either way, after everyone has had a chance to count the coins in every heart, we'll go over the answers. I'll call out number 1. The student with that heart will come to the front, empty the coins, and count them. All other students will count along (I have matching coins on my SmartBoard) and then check to see if they got the same answer.
The buckets are also from the dollar bin and just a cute way to hold the hearts. Here's the recording sheet. If you would like a copy, click on the picture. It will take you to my TpT store where you can download it for FREE!
Another way I'll be using the hearts is in a part of speech sort. I have a ton of small foam shapes. So I took out some hearts and wrote either a noun, an adjective, or a verb on each one. Then I put that foam heart inside one of the numbered hearts. Obviously, I'll be removing the coins before inserting the foam heart! Just like before, each student will start with a heart. On "go" they'll open their heart and read the word. If the word is a noun, they'll color the corresponding numbered heart on their response sheet pink. If the word is an adjective, they'll color the heart red. And, if the word is a verb, they'll color that heart purple. They will also be writing the word inside of the heart on their paper. After about 30 seconds, I'll say "swap." Students will return the foam heart and replace the lid. Then they will pass the heart to their neighbor. This will continue until we have passed all 10 hearts around. Then, just like with the coins, we'll go number by number and check our answers.
By the way, I made sure to write the words on hearts that WERE NOT the same color as the answer. For example, no verbs were written on purple hearts. The response sheet for this activity is included in the download for the coin count.
Of course, another heart activity is graphing the candy conversation hearts. I'm sure you all do this, too. However, if you're looking to change things up a little, check out my worksheets! Did I mention they're free?!
There are a few questions about estimating and measuring, as well as, graphing.
Well there you have it. Some Valentine freebies for my friends :)
If you're still in need of some centers, mine are a steal at only $5.20 until Wednesday! Click on the pictures to check them out...
Have a great week and Happy Valentine's Day!
Best wishes,
In an attempt to make this a super quick post, I'm gonna get right to the point...
This is the Valentine's Day bulletin board I have done for years now. It's a huge hit around school and very easy to do. Plus, my students love thinking of themselves as little pieces of chocolate! All you have to do it make a few large hearts, snap some cute photos, and grab muffin papers. I cut a circle around each student's face and put it in the center of the muffin paper. Then I staple everything to the board. Easy as that! If you put one up in your room, I'd love to see it!!
That's all for now. Like I said... super quick tonight! I feel a cold coming on.
Best wishes,
Isn't this time of year just wonderful?! Everyone is working hard on keeping their New Year's Resolutions, school is back in full swing, and love is in the air!!
By this time in first grade, students have pretty much mastered nouns and verbs. We have moves on to adjectives, but still need some practice. It just so happens that I have the perfect activity to help reinforce some Common Core Literacy standards while incorporating a little bit of art... the Love Bug!
I begin by giving the students a black piece of paper. Then I pull out my box o' scrap paper (you know you have one) and encourage students to choose "Valentine's colors." Next I tell them they will be using their imaginations to make a Love Bug! Of course they ask what that is! I tell them I don't know because they haven't created it yet. I mention that it may have wings and it may not. It could possible have 2 legs, but maybe 3! Perhaps it has an antenna, 2 heads and a huge smile! I even say that it's possible for a love bug to have parts from many different animals! Oh, and I also mention that these sweet new beings probably don't have scary features like long claws and sharp teeth. Now that their creative juices are flowing, I ask them to begin making a body. After they will decide if their bug has a head or if their Love Bug's face is actually on the top of their body. Last, I encourage students to make their Love Bug have parts of all of their favorite animals! I suggest adding details like stripes and polka dots (made by my hole punch). A heart or 2 can usually be found somewhere, too! By this time I can hardly stop them!!
The next day, after the excitement has settled, we share our Love Bugs with each other. After, I ask them to compare and contrast their Love Bug with their shoulder partner's Love Bug. We take a few examples and move on to the writing.
The main activity we do with our Love Bugs is to write in great detail. We review what an adjective is and refer to our adjective anchor chart. Then we brainstorm a new list of adjectives that specifically describe our bugs. Last I give the students some sentence beginners. I feel like they happily complete these sentences because they are so proud of their cute creations!
This is the final result...
The sentence beginners I give them are, "This is my Love Bug. It is special because it has __________ and __________. It also has __________. My Love Bug likes to __________. I love my Love Bug!" Each blank must contain at least one adjective. It is not shown here, but I later have students highlight each adjective. Then we count and compare!
If you would like, I'll make the writing paper available for FREE... tomorrow. I accidentally left my zip drive at work. Gasp!
Finally... hot off the press!
And while we're on the subject, I've got a fabulous set of Valentine's related centers that also reinforce many Common Core standards! There's even a sorting center about adjectives! Check them out on TpT. Get them now so you'll have plenty of time to cut and laminate!
That's all for now... I want to get some blog stalking in before bed time!!
Best wishes,
