President's Day Activities Two

So, here are a couple of things we're doing in First Grade this week to celebrate the old presidents. 

First, we read a couple of books about Lincoln and Washington and documented our learning (the kids LOVE this.)

Lincoln’s Log Sorting Center

This week I wanted to incorporate President's Day into my reading workshop, so I made this little center. President’s day theme? Lincoln’s cabins. The idea is pretty basic.

Students sort “logs” onto Lincoln’s “cabins”. Once they fill a cabin up with logs, they’ve built it! (And, wowie-wow-wow are Firsties proud of themselves after they’ve “built” a cabin!! Ha!)

Pre-Sorting



Post Sorting

Here are some example sorts.

 

Compound Words V. Non-Compound Words



Long E Words and Short E Words

What I love about this center is the variety of sorts you can make to differentiate for different kiddos. I stuck to sound sorts when I made my cabins, but you can also make syllable sorts, type of speech sorts, computation sorts, even and odd number sorts, and all other kinds of sorts with this pattern.

Want to make your own? Here’s how.

First, print this pattern (click the pic to download). It is UGLY.  But, I promise it will turn out okay.... Just trust me on this one :)  

  I know it is ugly!!!!! See explanation below.  

 (I was totally afraid to cutesy this pattern up in case I lost the sizing of the craft sticks. They were a TOTAL nightmare to trace! Hence the lack of loveliness...)

To improve your cabins, I suggest adding some Cabin Bling. I just added a door and a window to mine because I am an underachiever, but that shouldn’t prevent you from going wild!!! You may also want to laminate your houses for durability.

After you’ve made your houses, program craft sticks for whatever skill you want your kiddos to practice.  Math, reading, whatever.  You also want to create labels for the houses (e.g. “Long E Words”, “Short E Words”).

To store this center, I put all of the sticks for each sort into a different labeled baggie. Then, I pull specific sorts for different kiddos who need work on different things. Or, when I’m feeling crazy, I just put out all of the baggies and the kids can sort whatever two groups they feel like. Before sorting the kids like to "shuffle" the sticks- translation: dump all of the sticks on the floor and swirl them around like there's no tomorrow. Then they get down to sorting business and once they’re done, the sorting sticks and labels go right back into the baggies. EASY!

Storage

                          

President Mobile

So I totally wish that I could take credit for this super cute idea, but I can’t. It was entirely the mind-child of my brilliant and adorable colleague, Mrs. Shackelford. 

My class hasn’t actually done this activity yet, but here’s how I plan on doing it. First, the kiddos are going to make their mobiles (glue a presidential silhouette to each side of a heart- EASY!!!!).

Then, the kiddos will sort statements about each president onto to either side of their mobile, gluing them to the mobile tail. Simple and cute. And who can’t use a little simplicity in their life?! Here's what it looks like when it's done (one pic of each side).

Any big plans for the Presidential Weekend?  I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I plan on catching some zzz’s. (Can you tell my mind is already on the weekend!?!?!?!)

Have a FABULOUS Wednesday!

Mrs. Thiessen

President's Day Activities

Alrighty, so while I was in the process of planning for President’s Day next week, I thought I’d share a couple of the things I’m working on.

President Venn-Diagram




Click the picture to download the pattern for this activity. Each paper has directions regarding what color it should be printed on. The only paper that needs to be resized is the Venn-Diagram itself. Just blow it up to 11x17 and print it on white construction paper.  I suppose the only thing left to explain is George's hair... it's just two cotton balls glued smack-dab on both sides of his face. EASY!  (p.s. The patterns were homemade, so they're a little unpolished. SORRY!)



What President’s Day isn’t complete without the old George v. Abe Venn Diagram?  Hence this buddy. I added a little crafting component to make it hallway-worthy. If you’d like the pattern for the presidents, just click on the Venn-Diagram picture to download it!!!!!

Persuasive Writing

I figured it was high-time I got my kiddos working on persuasive writing, so next week the kids are going to write persuasive “essays” stating why they should be elected president. Should be an absolute hoot. I cannot wait to read what they write!!!!!



 So, what are YOU doing for President’s Day? I'm eager to hear!

Finally, I have a couple more presidential things I’ll try and post later in the week (once they're finished, that is...! Ha!) 

Have a Marvelous Monday!!!!!

Mrs. Thiessen

And P.S….. Happy Valentine’s Day!