Five for Fraturday (Including a FREE Super Bowl Craftivity)

A little late the party, but that is just how I roll.  (You can ask my poor husband.)  After a 12 hour day yesterday, I figured Five for Fraturday was totally OK.
Here are a few things that have been going on in my class this week . . .

Number 1

I started prepping for our spelling art project for next week.  I planned on using my Super Bowl Friends pattern.  Once I opened it, I realized it needed a little update.  Now that I made some changes and put together some samples, I'm ready to prep for my kids and share with you.

If you would like a FREE copy of my Super Bowl Friends Craftivity, you can click on the picture below.  (This simple pattern includes a spelling practice page, a Super Bowl prediction page, and a Super Bowl Sunday writing page.)

Number 2

This week we learned about Martin Luther King Jr.  We read about him and discussed his bravery.  Students wrote about him and made a cute craftivity to display their dreams for a better world.  My young learners did a great job.

CLICK HERE for a FREE copy of this activity.

Number 3

We incorporated MLK into our math time as well.  We did some work with place value and expanded form.  I put together this partner activity where we matched numbers and expanded form equations.  The kids did really well, but we still have quite a bit more work to do with expanded form.

(I've also linked this activity as a FREEBIE.  If you're interested in using it with your students, click on the picture below.)

Number 4

It may not look like much but, I've finally gotten around to making early finisher totes.  I've always wanted these kind of "dessert activities."  However, finding the time to put them together just never seemed to happen.

At this point, the totes consist of math activities.  I found some of them at Amazon (published by Scholastic).  I am also using dice games and geoboard activities from Jennifer at First Grade Blue Sky.

I found these adorable totes at target that fit perfectly on an empty shelf.  Dice games go in the blue.  Everything else goes in the green.

I'm really excited to see how these activities work out.  I'm also curious to know how long it will be before I have to change them out or add to them.  But for now, I'm at a good starting point.

Number 5

We just wrapped up our second week of work with R-controlled vowels.  AR was the focus this week.  A go-to the resources we've been using to practice R-controlled vowels has been my Words at Work packets.  

I've been working on these packets since this summer.  I'm trying to put together a consistent set of anchor activities for all of the main phonics skills we hit in first grade.  They have been a great supplemental resource for my students.

If you would like more details about my R-controlled vowels Words at Work packets, you can click on one of the pictures below.  (Also, be on the lookout for the Words at Work R-Controlled Vowel Mega Bundle.  Putting all these activities together into one neat and tidy packet is next on my list.)

I guess that's about it, except for a big thanks to Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting Five for Friday each week.  It's always so fun to read about what is going on in other classrooms.

Make Way for MLK: A Free Learning Packet and Book Recommendations

Time certainly flies when you out of school for extreme temperatures, snow, and ice.  Our first week back from Christmas vacation was super fast (2 days).  Which, I cannot lie, was a great way to get back into the swing of things.  Of course plans were out the window.  But we were able to fit in most of our New Year's activities.

Next up the 100th Day of School and Martin Luther King Jr.  Our 100th Day of School is on Friday and I still have not finalized the activities we are doing.  There are so many fun and clever ideas to mark the 100th Day, I'm having a hard time choosing.

As for Martin Luther King Jr., I have a few activities and books ready to go that I think the kids will really enjoy.  Some of the activities my firsties will be doing are in my new packet, Make Way for MLK:  A Martin Luther King Jr. Freebie.

(CLICK HERE for a link to the free activities below.)

This packet includes two literacy centers and two math centers (both with recording sheets), as well as a writing craftivity. 

One of the math centers provides practice with addition facts.

The other one works with time to the hour.

One of the literacy centers allows students to practice sorting sentence by type (asking or telling).

The other literacy center works with rhyming words.

My favorite part of this packet is the writing craftivity, I have a Dream Just Like Martin Luther King.  With the pattern, you can have your students create a MLK peek over or you can have them make one that looks more like themselves.  Either way can work.

There are also some really fabulous books about Martin Luther King Jr.  My First Biography: Martin Luther King Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer is a great choice for early elementary students.  The story is very simple and the illustrations are appealing.

The other biography I recommend is National Geographic Kids:  Martin Luther King, Jr. by Kitson Jazynka.  Like the book above, this one offers basic biographical information about King.  However, this text goes into more detail and uses actual photographs.

After reading these biographies, we will take a little closer on the March on Washington and the I Have a Dream Speech.  We March by Shane Evans is a book I found this summer.  It follows a family as they join the 1963 March on Washington.  The illustrations are very engaging as they focus in on individuals that were at the historic event.

My final recommendation is I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.   The content of this book is King's famous speech and the illustrations are outstanding.  My copy (from Amazon) also came with a CD of the speech, very useful.

There are certainly many more activities and books that you can use for your study of Martin Luther King Jr.  I hope some of these suggestions can be of use to you as you plan for MLK learning in your class.

Have a great week.

MLK Day Is On the Way and So Is a FREEBIE

Our first week back to school has come to an end.  My first grade sweeties were more like first grade sleepies.  They were so worn out all week.  At dismissal, this afternoon, I looked down and three of my students were laying on the sidewalk with their heads on their backpacks while waiting for their rides.  If they can make it through one more week, they will get a well deserved three day weekend thanks to our Monday off honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK day is an opportunity to learn about a very important American.  My bachelor's degree is in history.  Any time I can work history into my first grade curriculum, I am a happy lady.  I created a language arts activity just for this occasion, The Martin Luther King Jr. Sentence Scramble.
Click on the picture below for your own FREE copy.

A  tried her little hand at the scramble.  She is in a pre k readiness class and not quite ready to complete this activity by herself.  But with a little help from daddy in the reading department, she was able to figure the sentences out.  She loves doing "big kid" work.

The activity includes eight sentences to mix and unscramble, as well as two recording sheet options.  The clip art is from Melonheadz.

For my class, I plan on printing enough copies of the sentence cards for the students to work on this activity with a partner.  You can also use it as a literacy station.  This sentence scramble is a great way to practice sentence order and expose your students to Dr. King.

Happy Friday!