Writing with Play-dough

Need to get your kids excited about practicing writing sentences?

Well then bring out the Play-Dough!

We have been learning about using question words and question marks.

I had modeled writing questions for several days and now it was time for my firsties to practice.

In my mind I thought, ugh how boring is this going to be and knew I had to make it engaging.

Enter Play-Dough.

They had to write 3 questions and once they did, they could create their question marks out of Play-Dough!

I was shocked how hard they worked!

We may just pull out the Play-Dough more often.

I'm sure they would'nt mind, especially when they get to play with it after their hard work!

#letthembelittle

Toss it Up: A Versatile Game for all Subjects

Who's kids love to get up and moving?

I know mine do and boy do they need it. We require them to sit, listen, be quiet, whisper.

Lord knows sometimes it's okay to make a little noise when learning!

We have been tuned into contractions the past few weeks. 

Here is a fun way to review or even assess your students.

Prep is easy: paper, marker and something to throw (we used a bean bag).

Each student had the chance to toss the bean bag onto the paper. 

They were to read their contraction and tell us the two words that made it.

They then chose a friend.

From this activity, I could pretty much tell who my strugglers were.

My other firsties listened intently and helped their friends when needed. 

This game is SUPER versatile and could be used across any content area:

compound words

categorizing nouns/verbs/adjectives

phonics/word families

rhyming words (read and generate)

fact fluency

This may just become a staple game in our classroom!

Up Feet, Down Feet, Antonym Feet FREE Lesson

How do feet and antonyms collide you might ask?

Easily, just ask Dr. Seuss!

Left foot, right foot.

Wet foot, dry foot.

Low foot, high foot.

Are you catching my drift? This book is a fabulous introduction for teaching antonyms!

After reading, we make a class anchor chart for antonyms.

(Sorry for the glare. Chart is laminated so I can reuse again next year!)

After making our chart, I took out the 24 feet, each with an antonym written on it and laid them around the room. I must have really confused my kiddos because I got "Why are you putting out bananas?".

Yeah, they may look a little like bananas!

Each student had to pick up one foot, read the word, and find the other student who had a match to make a pair of antonyms.

If you would like to add this activity to your grammar collection, head on over to my TPT store.

I have put it together as a FREEBIE for you!

We also made a bigger than life size feet anchor chart for our learning.

So we took it a *step* further (pun IS intended) by tracing our feet.

Each pair of feet will have a pair of antonyms.

I have a feeling that won't hardly forget antonyms!

Winter Reading Challenge Freebie

Different years bring different groups of learners.

Let's just say this year my firsties need a little bit more practicing reading.

I feel consistency is one key to success so I wanted to find a way to encourage them to read over our two week winter break. I searched TpT and found a very cute challenge already created....a time saver during all of  the Christmas madness that ensued before the break! I knew it probably wasn't very motivating, especially during the exciting season we were in.

I knew I had to create a "reward" their hard work over the break so I may have bribed them by mentioning those who turned in the reading challenge when we returned would receive a prize!

What 7 year old during Christmas time isn't thinking prizes are the best thing ever...exactly!

The challenge was to fill up a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Each marshmallow was a different reading challenge for that particular day. If they brought it back filled up here is what they will get:

Time to make a S'more to go with their mug of hot chocolate!

You can find the Winter Reading Challenge HERE from More than a Worksheet.

AND

You can find my printable FREEBIE in my store HERE!