Reindeer & Gingerbread

Happy Sunday!  We're officially on winter break, but I thought I'd share a few reindeer & gingerbread activities that my first graders did last week.  They had a BLAST!  If you still have a few days left with your students these activities might come in handy. 

 Already on winter break?  Tuck these away for next year :)   

This cute little freebie created by Kelly Witt can be found {HERE}.  We completed this book as a class and my first graders had so much fun reading it aloud!  They just loved how it rhymed.

Later that day, we completed a step by step reindeer drawing.  Here's the video:

I absolutely LOVE Doodle Academy.  Her videos are easy for my first graders to follow and her drawings are so simple and easy for young kids to recreate.

We also completed gingerbread activities last week!  Several of the activities that we completed can be found in our Gingerbread Galore pack.  

Here are some gingerbread stories we just LOVE!

We began the week by first reading The Gingerbread Boy and completing a retell activity.

On Tuesday we read The Gingerbread Girl and completed a Venn Diagram comparing the charters in The Gingerbread Boy and Girl.  On Wednesday we read The Gingerbread Baby and my students completed a writing activity to go along with the story.  Thursday we read Gingerbread Friends and completed a gingerbread cookie tasting activity.  Finally on Friday I read The Gingerbread Bear and my kiddos made paper gingerbread people and decorated them with sequins, pom poms, and all sorts of craft materials.    

If you'd like to check out our pack it can be found {HERE}!

We hope you have a WONDERFUL holiday season! 

Matter Mania

Hi friends!  Last Friday we had a "Home Room" day which meant no pull outs for reading or other groups.  Since I had my first graders for a solid two hours, this made it the perfect day to incorporate some matter activities!  I thought I'd share with you some ideas and activities I found and I am including links as well!

I started by talking about matter and then we did a matter sort using
matter cards and the chart below.
You can find the cards {HERE}.

Next I talked about how each of the balloons in the container below hold a form of matter.  One had a solid (ice), one a liquid (water), and one a gas (air).  I passed each balloon around separately in the container so each student could get a turn feeling and guessing what type of matter the balloon had.
This idea came from adayinfirstgrade.com, but her website is down currently.
I will try and add the link later :)

Next my kiddos completed a matter sort on their own using a freebie found {HERE}!  They did so well and hardly needed my support at all!

At the end of the day as we gathered to go home, I showed this fun video by Harry Kindergarten.
I just LOVE his videos!

If you're looking for more matter activities/ideas, we've got some posts about matter 

{HERE} & {HERE}!  

And since it's almost winter, we added a new editable welcome sign to our store!

You can find this freebie {HERE}! 

Have a great week!

Happy December!

Hi It's Leslie here!  Hope your December is off to a great start!  I've been busy with my kiddos and trying to get all of our December projects complete in only 2 weeks!  YIKES!  The week after next is filled with gingerbread activities from our Gingerbread Galore pack!  My first graders just love when we have a week filled with gingerbread lessons tied into our math and reading.

I wanted to share some information about several new products we've added to or store!   

CVC short vowel cards

Each set contains:

*Lowercase letter cards a-z (use to build CVC words) 
*CVC picture cards 
Word cards that match the picture cards

I like to use these cards with my large hanging pocket chart.  My first graders can easily place them into the pockets and they enjoy matching the words to the correct picture or building the words using the letter cards.  These are put out at my pocket chart station during my Literacy station rotations.  

Erin likes to use these cards with her kindergartners using her Show and Tell Apron.  

If you'd like to check out these cards, plus more, you can find them {HERE} in the pocket chart category in our Teachers Pay Teachers store, or you can find them bundled {HERE}!  

Here's a sight word bingo set that I'll be using in my small reading groups this week and next!  It's a freebie so just click on the picture below or go {HERE}!

There are 10 individual cards so you can have up to 10 players, or have your kiddos share :) 

Enjoy!

Have a great week friends!