First Graders HEART Mo Willems

We have been busy working on an author study on Mo Willems {he's famous for the pigeon books}.  My little firsties fell in love with his books after we read Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!

This one book led my little readers asking for more Mo Willems books and how could I deny them?  So...we read every Mo Willems book from the school's library and read them again and again and again.  We compared characters and author's purpose among the books.  After reading Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.  I came across this helpful drawing tool from an old issue of Time for Kids magazine {glad I saved it!} it helped the kiddos perfect their pigeon illustrations {so easy, by the way!}  OK, now I can't find the picture of the drawing tool from Time for Kids {as soon as I find it, I will make a link for you...sorry about that.}  Here are a few pigeons drawn by my little firsties...

 {love}

 {love}

{love}

So, then my kiddos got busy writing a new version of Don't the Pigeon... {they did such an awesome job!}  We actually turned their writing into talking pictures using the site, blabberize {this is a great tool for digital storytelling and it's free!}  If you want to see or hear our talking pigeons, visit our classroom blog HERE

Mo Willems has an offical website with some super duper games and activities, visit the Mo Willems site. 

I scored big when I came across this little number at This and That Library blog...

{click on the image to make pigeons out of cardboard tubes/rolls}

{Here is an example along with two DVDs that went along perfectly with our study.}

Although, Mo Willems is famous for his pigeon books, he also writes many others.  The next two characters Piggie and Gerald {the elephant} were also loved by my firsties.  

{You have to check out the Piggie and Elephant Dance Game...your kids will love it!}

Oh, one more pigeon art goodie...pigeon hats...love them!!

And lastly, I found two great files to use at the SMART Exchange to use on the SMARTBoard...I love free stuff! 

Sharing with Parents

I wish that I could always capture special moments in my classroom by pulling out my camera, but we all know that is just not going to happen unless it is planned.  I maintain a blog for my kiddos and their parents and I enjoy posting slideshows, videos, and photos of my kiddos so that their parents can see what exactly we do in our classroom on a weekly basis.  I typically use Animoto {loves}, Slide, and Smilebox to create goodies to share with parents.  We recently completed "The Raisin Experiment" {I do this experiment every year!} I scored big when I found a sheet designed for this experiment from What the Teacher Wants {love these girls!} This time, I used the sheet from What the Teacher Wants {I like it better than the one I created a while back.}  We discussed this experiment in more detail than the simple video I made using Animoto.  I post little treats like this and my parents are so appreciative since they are not always able to volunteer in the classroom and witness first hand the craziness of first grade. 

Check This Out!

I was introduced to Triptico by our awesome technology specialist, Mrs. Wit {thanks, Mrs. Wit!}  Take a look at this blog entry that talks about Triptico.  Triptico is a free desktop application that actually includes 14 different gadgets that will work well on an interactive whiteboard. The gadgets include timers, word magnets, team scorers, student magnets, and more. Before you can download the app, you have to create an account and choose a username. Next, you will receive an email with your password. (I found my email in my "junk" folder.) Then you can go back to the site, login, change your password, and download the app.

Spelling Activities

If you are looking for a spelling activity for your firsties to complete independently, you could use Wordle to create a spelling collage of words.  My kiddos love this site and it is very user friendly for our little firsties.  Also, if you have a SMARTBoard, you may want to consider checking out Spelling City if you haven't visited this site.  I usually have a game from Spelling City ready to go on my SMARTBoard so that it gets my little ones motivated to complete their morning seat work before we are ready for our calendar/morning meeting activities.  Enjoy! 

Math Activities in the Morning

We have been learning how to tell time in math, I have a few little firsties that really needed to have some extra one-on-one time, so in order to find that "extra" time I decided to set up three 10-minute centers in my classroom this morning.  I arranged my students into three groups and each group traveled to a center for ten minutes.  One game that I have been using in my classroom that last few years in Stop the Clock {if you haven't come across this game, your kids are going to love it!}  I introduced how to play using the SMARTBoard and we typically start our math session with a few rounds before we start our lesson for the day.  Kiddos love trying to beat the winner from the previous day.  So again, one center was playing Stop the Clock using our laptops. 

The second center was playing Time Flies {love this game} created by What the Teacher Wants.  My kiddos really enjoy this game and ask to play it at recess {ummm, of course you can practice telling time during your recess!}

{I told you they love it!}

{My kiddos like playing boys against girls.}

Lastly, the third center was an independent worksheet to show me what they know.  Using these three quick centers allowed me the time to work with my kiddos that needed some extra one-on-one.  What math centers do you use in your classroom?