Using Nonfiction Research as Enrichment

This weekend I am writing about something that I am really loving this year-

I have a guided reading group that is already several reading levels into second grade territory, so I wanted a way for them to have something to work on that is above and beyond what we would typically be doing at this point in first grade.

I started working on some animal research units that we could use that would all follow the same format. This was particularly important because I wanted it to be something that we could work on together once, but then be more of an independent activity for home or school.

For our first foray into nonfiction research, I had my kids work with a partner and pick an animal that they wanted to learn more about. The two boys picked giraffes and the two girls picked flamingos. I put together a pack with some challenging text, questions that would require text-based evidence, and additional comprehension activities.

On day one, we read the text and came up with some details to describe our animals in a web.

On day two, we re-read the text and worked on some of the short-answer questions. I had them use a highlighter to show where they found their answer in the text.

 

One of my favorite parts of this pack is the animal adaptations writing. Students are asked to describe why an animal's features are helpful to their survival. For flamingos, we wrote about the hair-like combs in the flamingo's bill and the webbed feet.

  

 On day three, they all came in with their packs finished (or close to finished)! I got a note from one of the parents saying how excited their child was to be working on this project that she hadn't been able to wait for us to do it together! 

They really enjoyed labeling and coloring a flamingo.

The true/false statements allowed me to see what they understood from their reading of the passage.

The flamingo pack includes a short writing on whether a flamingo would make a good pet. As much as I would want one, both girls agreed that a flamingo would NOT make a good pet!

 

I added a word search that included some key vocabulary related to their chosen animal. This group is obsessed with word searches!

One of the little girls even made a poster of a labeled flamingo for me to display in the classroom!

 

Since the kids were so excited and so engaged with the material, I had them pick another animal and made them some packs to work on independently.

The two girls are already working hard on the polar bear pack.

Since they blew through their first pack so fast, I added a project option to this new pack. We are going to be doing additional research online and at the library with our final goal to be some kind of project that can be shared with the class. I gave them these options: PowerPoint, poster, informational writing, or a diorama. Although they are working with a partner for the research aspect of the project, they will be completing their own project. 

I picked several options for the projects so that they could choose the one that appealed to their strengths the best. I already know that one of them is choosing the PowerPoint presentation and another loves to build, so he is leaning towards the diorama.

You can find my differentiated nonfiction units here. They are also bundled in a growing bundle.

Check out my facebook page for a giveaway of your choice of nonfiction unit!

(giveaway ends Wednesday,  February 10)

Word Family Printables Giveaway!

Well, school has been out for a couple of days and I have just finished one of my biggest projects for next year!

 

I wanted something that I could use with my first graders at the beginning of the year as morning work. One of my main criteria for was that it needed to be something that could be done independently, while giving them good practice with early first grade phonics targets. I wanted something that I could explain/demonstrate once, then let them work on their own while I work with small intervention groups.

 

Each word family has the same activities in the same format, which allows for easy word family practice.

 

 

 

There are seven pages for each word family, including: 

secret code spelling

word family sentences

word hunt

word frames

word building

spin and write

spin and say

roll and record

picture labeling

rainbow writing

emergent reader with comprehension questions

 

 

This includes printables for 28 different short vowel word families, so that should keep the kids practicing for a while!

 

I am so excited about finishing this project that I am giving away two of these bundles!

 

Check out my Facebook page to enter the giveaway! 2 winners will be chosen and emailed the printables on Friday, June 12.

Five for Friday- Giveaway, BYOD setup, and a sloth!

Good morning! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another five for Friday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have recently reached a milestone on Teachers Pay Teachers, 100 followers! In order to celebrate this accomplishment I am having a giveaway! I will be randomly selecting 3 winners to each receive a $10 gift card to TPT. The raffle ends Tuesday morning, so there will be time to use your gift card for the back to school TPT sale!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

  I was recently given five tablets as a donation for the classroom (thanks Mom!) and have been setting them up so they are ready to go! 

 

 

 

I am thinking about moving a few shelves around in my classroom this year so that I can have a small area for them behind my desk. I had a lot of problems with theft last year and want to make sure that won’t be a problem with these.

 

 

 

I am going to store them in one of these-

 

 

and have some kind of system for the students to check them out so I can keep track of who has them. I’m still trying to decide exactly how I want to manage them.

 

 

I am officially done with the first of the five required classes to get my reading endorsement! It was a TON of work, but very worth it. I'm not sure when I will be starting with the next class because I am going to be applying to a master’s degree program that starts next summer, so I am trying to get ready for the GRE.

 

I’m not really worried about the verbal section, but the quantitative…. hmm. I only took a couple of math classes in college and that was quite some time ago so I am a little bit concerned about how rusty I am!

  

 

Anyway, this is pretty much my free time for a while…

 

 

 

Have you ever wanted to completely switch the furniture around in your classroom even though you are 98% sure it wouldn’t work? That’s where I am right now. There is a HUGE part of me that wants to switch my guided reading area with my library area.

 

 

 

 

  

I am pretty sure that it wouldn’t work based on the wall displays I have in the library and the fact that the wall is almost completely windows behind my guided reading area, but I can’t seem to stop thinking about it!

 

I’m hoping that when I can get back in next week I will fully realize what a terrible idea it is and get over this urge to switch!

 

 

 

I have never been one to use puppets of any kind, but I was at the classroom store the other day and just happened to see this-

 

Sloth puppet!

 

I wasn’t about to pay the $35 they were asking for it, but I did find it on amazon for quite a bit less… it is arriving later today! I’m not entirely sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I think the fact that it is a SLOTH puppet (!) makes up for its impracticality. I am also using the fact that one of the nonfiction books I wrote for my library is about a sloth as another justification... :) 

 

Victoria