It's a PLACE VALUE Showdown!!!

Whenever I think of a showdown, I think of this scene right here! So, why am I talking about a showdown? Well, it all has to do with this model here!

Has your school been focusing your PD on this? I know that our school has! Almost all of our PD time has been focused on the gradual release model (GRM) which is something that we were all taught in our education classes. So with this in mind, as I have been planning, I have been diligently trying to create engaging lessons that I can incorporate this model into. Now I will be honest and say that sometimes as first graders they have a hard enough time tying their shoes and going to the bathrooms and now we want them to monitor themselves in their lessons??? So, we have been doing the GRM is small increments through our lessons. 

In math we have been working on place value. Also, if you have not seen this video by Harry Kindergarten, it is great for place value for teen numbers!

We started with making bean sticks to 10.

which we have been using to make numbers. These are great tools because they can touch and see each bean versus the rods! They have been amazing tools in my classroom. I don't think I will be going back to the rods ever again.

We also worked on making numbers with words with these easy word cards.

Click on the picture to download. 

Then we also worked on writing and recognizing numbers as ____ tens and ____ones. So, now we go back to the picture above...

Showdown! I decided to do a slightly different variation of Kagan's Showdown. If you are not familiar with the Kagan structure Showdown, you can read about it here.  I assigned a number (to make) to each team and each team member a task card:

Click the picture to download! 

I did not assign the captain-- I was the captain but in the end, they ended up self checking each other! I didn't even have to say that to them, it just came naturally. Each team was given two whiteboards/dry erase markers, a can of play-dough, bean sticks/beans, and number words. I used my Kagan timer to assign numbers but you could put pre-determined numbers cards, too!

This is a great activity if you are interested in the GRM! The kids are engaged and through all the previous lessons, they have already gone through the I do, we do, and you do! And as I mentioned before, they were able to self assess themselves through no prompting from me!!! I hope that you will try it out and let me know how it works out for you! 

The Valentine's Day that came and went...

This is the image I always get when I think of Valentine's! I know that Valentine's day is over but I was just on my sweet friend Marie's blog, The Hands on Teacher in First , reading what she did last week and thought, Hey! That's not such a bad idea! I'm going to do that, too! Please read her page to find some cuuuuttteeeee stuff and ideas on there to pin and save for next year! 

So last week was all about the L.O.V.E! We read the story

and I sang the book to my class! I swear they were enchanted! We talked about how in the story the man was trying to send his beloved a letter. So the kids in their writing center wrote letters. We talked and reviewed the parts of a friendly letter:

The writing center was to write a friendly letter. I gave them some pretty paper and some envelopes and some chose to write a letter to me and my sweet intern:

Totally melts my heart!!

Then they made these cute mail trucks to put their valentines in! One of my room moms is a retired teacher (I lub her a lot!! She is great!!) showed this and made it for me and I think it's a keeper!

It was super easy to make! So pin away! 

We also worked on my homophones center!

They loved putting the mail in the mailboxes! And of course the par-tay on Friday! Another sweet blogger friend, Katie from Teacher to the Core has got some pretty smart tips for keeping my next Valentine's Day par-tay sane! We do not write names on the cards-- just sign who they are from-- which is a great tip she gives along with others! You can read about it here! 

This month also is Dental health month! I saw something similar to this on Pinterest a while ago (if you are the orginator of this idea, please let me know so I can give full credit) but I decided to make a Guess the Smile board outside my classroom! 

My sweet mom again (DO you see why I lub her???) took their pictures (I asked her to hold a small paper with their names that I just cut off after they printed) with their smiles and then numbered them on the back according to their mailbox number (or however you want to label it that will help you stay sane!) and assigned a number to the photo. I *tried* to make it more interactive by placing some answer sheets so that kids can write who they think is who on the line. 

Click on the pic to download this for your class! The kids in the hallways have had fun trying to see who is who! 

Hope you could find and use some ideas for next year! It was fun but exhausting! Check back later for a SHOWDOWN-- place value style!!

How Can I Persuade You?

The art of persuasion! We see it everywhere! From movies, TV, writing, and GASP! our own children!

The conversation I had with my children a few weeks ago:

Child: Mommy, can I have a rabbit? Like Dr. Colosso? (If you don't know, it's this rabbit character on a teen show on Nickelodeon)

Me: Absolutely not! You will not clean it! Or feed it! Plus, they smell!

Child: But I promise to clean it and feed it. We will take care of it every day and take it in the bathroom with us. 

Me: The answer is no and my answer isn't going to change.

Child: What if we get rid of the cats and I pay you?

Me: What??? End of conversation! Go to your room and clean it!

Please tell me you've had similar conversations and someone is trying to persuade you (I'm sure you're child or the Alumni people whom I love but starting a donation at $500 and then going to $300 is no better! Sorry! Do you know what my job is? LOL!) to do something or buy something.  Well, my kiddos got a chance to persuade people to take their pets to their pet business! Yup! My kids were going to start a pet business!!!

A few weeks ago I did an author study on Marc Brown, the author of Arthur!  That's a bit of a tongue twister, eh? The class LOVED it! I myself love the character and the stories. If you don't have a good Arthur collection, you must start accumulating the books as they as a huge hit in mine. But as Sophia (from the Golden Girls) says, I digress.... and I started out with the book

in mind. I didn't want to read the book right away and wanted to grab their attention so I showed them this cute Puppies 101 video first:

I promise that you *might* want a dog after watching this cute video! So, we watched this first and then read the Arthur book and discussed the reasons why Arthur should have a pet-- how did he (through his actions) convince his parents that he was responsible enough to have a pet? We charted some ideas. 

Then I informed the students that they were going to be opening a pet business of their own and they had to come up with reasons to persuade people to bring their pets to them! They were so excited, you would have thought they were really taking care of pets! They worked on bubble maps for these!

Did you see the great prices they were offering? And then they made brochures for their businesses with their persuasive details! 

I was simply amazed at their finished projects!

Would you like to do this with your class? Just click on the brochure cover below to download the bubble map and brochure for FREE! Please be sure to print the brochure double sided. :-)

Hope you and your kiddos enjoy this writing project as much as we did! I'm always amazed at their creativity! Don't forget to enter my " Love is Grand!" giveaway on my FB! You need to "like" my status and then comment on what made you fall in love with your significant other (or if you haven't found that special someone, one trait you are looking for!). I have just fallen in love with all the comments!!! The contest ends Friday!!! <3 Good luck! Make sure you leave your e-mail addresses, too! Have a great week! 

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