Check Out our Bio Poems and Portraits

Students finished writing their Bio Poem this week and they will now be moving on to animal research!  

Yes, their writing is amazing but look at these portraits!!  Can you believe first graders did these?!

I absolutely LOVE kid's artwork and also LOVE that I don't have to give too many directions.  I showed them they'd be finishing the other half of their face and we talked about symmetry.  Then they went off to work.  

Here are the finished ones.

I'll be adding the rest here as students finish them up so check back.

Learn More About a Friend by Writing a Biography

Last week students interviewed a friend in class that they didn't know very well.  They had interview questions and then wrote a biography, which is now a class book.  This packet is at my TpT Store (Biographies) if you're interested!

Here they are at work.

This week students will be writing a Bio Poem and will pick an animal they'd like to research!

All About Me

Last week we began a new form of writing-informational writing!  What better way to start then to start with what we know best?  Writing about ourselves!!

Students created some rainbow writing where they had to write about what made them unique.

Students also learned about adjectives.  They created a self-portrait and then added labels describing themselves.  Here they are.  I LOVE seeing the artwork my class does!!

We look pretty good hanging out in the hall!

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

I always love doing this lesson with my students.  Even though it's messy and takes time the kids absolutely love it!

We first write the steps on "How to Build a Snowman."  Once completed I tell them I have a recipe they're going to follow to make their very own.

First, we read through my steps.  Then I reread them and the students used a highlighter to highlight the sequencing words.

Working in groups, students followed my directions.  Mixing powdered soap, adding water SLOWLY, and stirring until they got a doughy consistency.    Finally, they each made a snowman and decorated them once dry.

Here they are.

How To Decorate a Tree

We completed some "How To" writing this week.  Students wrote how to decorate a tree and used sequencing words.

Here's their work and JUST so you know this is a FREEBIE along with some other writing activities at my TpT Store (Holiday FREEBIES).

Informational Writing

We've begun looking at informational writing more in depth.

Students have completed Investigations all year and have enjoyed that process.  Last week students spent time writing about themselves.  They wrote about what made them special.

This week we talked about biographies.  Working with a buddy, students interviewed each other.  After their rough drafts were complete they filled in their final drafts today.

Here are some kiddos at work.

You can check out my Biography Writing at my TpT Store.

Next up...looking through informational texts for nonfiction features. Students will also be picking an animal to research.  We'll wrap up the year by writing animal reports!

Gobble...Gobble...Turkey Investigations

Students get so wrapped up in their science investigations.  We've spent the last week learning more about turkeys.  Kiddos have also been writing turkey facts on feathers to help build our class turkey!

The kids began making their two page spread.  For this investigation, I color copied some of the pictures from the books we've read. Students were able to use them in their work and weren't consumed with how their pictures came out.

I introduced two new text features-captions and definitions.  Kids practiced using them in their investigations.

Here are some examples.

Look closely!!  Robert photobombed the pic!

I'm so proud of their hard work!

Would You Cook a Turkey for ONLY 16 Minutes?

I ALWAYS love this writing activity.  We talked about how this was a form of informational writing. They wrote the steps on how they would cook a turkey!!

After the read aloud, they began writing.

This was done as an interactive writing piece.  A student would write the step on the chart paper while the rest of the class helped with the spelling and then wrote on their own copy.

We also made these cute coffee filter turkeys to add to our writing.

I'm not sure if I would want to eat turkey at their house.  The cooking time ranged from 15 minutes to  87 minutes.  I know I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my break off sick!!

How to Carve A Pumpkin Informational Writing

It always amazes me to see how many students have helped to carve a pumpkin at home.

I brought one in and the kids helped to carve and write the steps. The BEST part was getting all the pulp and seeds out.  Of course they squealed with delight as they described the wet, squishy feeling!

This is when I introduce sequencing words.  We made a list of them on the board before we began writing.  Once I gave a few examples they were able to make quite the list.

As you can see in the picture below our pumpkin even got a little sick and threw up some of his pulp.  The kids were laughing hysterically.  Before he went home with a kiddo I made sure he was cleaned up well!

S'mores on a Rainy Day

I handed this paper out and once the kids saw the title my room seemed to settle right in.  I even heard, "I love this type of writing!" but I'm sure it's because they knew they'd be making an ooey gooey s'more.

We wrote the steps on How to Make a S'More.  It always amazes me that some kids have never made or tried one before.  Today was their lucky day and mine because they're quite yummy!

Here's an example of the writing we did.

Since I couldn't get a campfire going in my classroom, we went to the microwave and heated them for 15 seconds. Here are pictures of the sticky situation!

The plate even tasted good!

Two Page Informational Spread

Now that's a post title!  We've been learning a lot about informational text and how these books are set up. Students have been learning about diagrams captions, maps, and other ways to display information.

We've been learning about turkeys this week.  GOBBLE, GOBBLE!  I thought this would be the perfect time to have kids display the information they learned in a two page spread.  Here's the book I use.

We talked about borders and how they could be effective in sharing information.  Working with a partner, they created a border.  They came up with great ideas.  Some drew turkey prints, while others drew eggs, or turkeys.  Once they created their borders we looked at the book again and how Jim Arnosky displayed the information in his book.

Let me just say having a color printer at school is A-MAZING!  I didn't want the kids stressed out over making the illustrations so I printed some of his illustrations in color and found some images online.

Students did have to include one diagram in their informational spread.  I had one student tell me turkeys were hard to draw.  Of course I agreed and he quickly came up with a solution.  The hand turkey...now who doesn't remember making those in school?

Each group picked four pictures and worked as a team on how they wanted to lay out the pictures.

The solution...the famous hand turkey!

I then met with each group to go over what information they planned on sharing.  Let me tell you, they learned A LOT about turkeys!!  I also helped them by making the lines on their spread to keep their writing organized and together.

I think for our first time doing this they came out really well!!