MEMORY BOOK

With our daily and weekly writing routines in place, it is nice to have a special writing activity that gets my firsties actually excited about writing. One way I have done this is the introduction of a Grade One Memory Book. There are so many special activities that take place throughout the year, it is nice to have a writing log to document all of them. Whether the event is a classroom party, a field trip, or a guest visitor, the students can write about their thoughts and personal experiences and have them kept in a duotang, where new writing sheets can be added as events take place. The Memory Book becomes a special keepsake in June, for both parents and the students, when they can look back at all the wonderful things that have taken place throughout the year, and also see the cumulative growth in their writing. I have included a Memory Book title page, and an example of a Halloween sheet for you to download. Happy Writing!

Memory Book Cover Page

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE A GOOD MATH GAME?

Who doesn't love a good math game? Whether you are using it to deepen your students' understanding of a previously taught concept, or to introduce a new skill, math games are fun and an invaluable part of any teacher's math tool kit. Here are several new games that I have added to my math repertoire, that I have found from stalking browsing teacher blogs, as well as one of my own that I use in conjunction with addition. Sum It Up is an oldie, but a goodie! Hope you find them useful!

The Staircase Game

From Mrs. Nieves' Classroom 

Originally Posted at Chalk Talk

 

 What Did You Roll?

From Mrs. Nieves' Classroom

Originally Posted at Chalk Talk

 

Sum It Up

Playing with a partner, students roll a set of dice, adding up the sum of their roll. The sum is coloured in on the recording sheet. A turn is missed, if that particular sum has already been rolled. The winner is the player who has each sum coloured in first.