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| "Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle |
First Grade is finally finished! I feel both sad and happy at the same time: sad because I've had some of the same kids for two years and I'll miss them very much, happy because I think I did pretty well. I am going back to kindergarten, though, next year. I have more things for kindergarten, and I'm very excited to be going back. I made some things for first grade that my seven-year-olds really enjoyed.
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| Ladybug clock with moving hands |
These ladybug clocks were a big hit. They worked really well with the story Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle, which is one of my favorites. I also found Time for Tom: A Veggiecational Book About Time by Phil Vischer and Train Leaves the Station by Eve Merriam. I had my husband make CD's of all of these books being read aloud, and I placed them in the Listening Center. Here's the paper that my kids complete when they're in that center:
Listening Center Worksheet by Sharon A Blachowicz Dudley on Scribd
My core beliefs about using music in the classroom held true for first grade. My students loved singing and dancing to these time-related songs:
"Clock Rock" by Dr. Jean
"Match My Clock" by Jack Hartmann
"Hip-Hop Around The Clock" by Jack Hartmann
"Counting Time" by Jack Hartmann
The kids' favorite was "Match My Clock" by Jack Hartmann. He has one version to match clocks to the hour, and another for half-hour.
I pulled math groups a lot and found some excellent games on TeachersPayTeachers, such as:
Bunny Time Matching Game from Positively Learning on TPT
Both of these games were free and they worked like magic for the kids! I used to be scared of using "I Have, Who Has" games with my kids, but this seller cured me of my fears.
I made a Time Bundle of my own for TPT as well that includes worksheets, games, and two PowerPoint slideshows. The kids really liked the slideshows because they could see them, and I made it so that the numbers fly in. That way, you can ask the kids what the time is and they can see if they're correct. I also made an Alice-In-Wonderland-inspired time board game where the students roll a die, move a manipulative around the board, and say the digital time aloud based on the analog clock they landed on.
See you next time! 😄
