Frogs and Toads Informational Unit

I am so excited to share an engaging unit my class has been immersed with the past week. Frogs and toads are the perfect subject matter to engage first graders and incorporate important informational learning. We have used the informational coloring book to learn facts about frogs and toads. We have compared frogs and toads with a venn diagram and have used the cut and paste life cycles and diagrams to check comprehension from information learned from the book. Of course there must be an art portion of the unit and the students had a wonderful time creating their cut and paste frogs. Check out the unit below! You can get it here!

Check out the Frog Art Here. It is also found in the Frogs and Toads Unit.

We have enjoyed writing about frogs and toads while comparing and contrasting facts learned. This unit has been a perfect accompaniment for our fiction Frog and Toad study using the wonderful works from Arnold Lobel… more on that soon!

Happy Teaching!

Common Core Math!

Happy Sunday!

Common Core math has been a big shift from what many educators and parents have been used to in the past. I have personally embraced the shift towards a deeper understanding of mathematical practices and welcome the shift towards assisting students to build a strong number sense. As a student, I could have benefitted from this style of teaching. I was one of the students that wanted to know "why" when learning mathematical algorithms.

My district has adopted the Engage New York curriculum and it has been interesting to see how one particular curriculum has been designed to meet the Common Core standards. I see both positives and areas for improvement with the program. I have really enjoyed the engagement pieces of the program. There are many fun games and activities designed to engage students and practice skills. For some areas of the program I have seen a need for additional practice of skills. To meet my students' needs I have created supplementary materials and have incorporated these materials into my daily routine, as necessary.

I strive to create lessons that incorporate a hands-on and interactive component. I have created many cut  and paste activities to meet the Common Core standards and they have been very engaging and helpful for my students. When I show my students the cut and paste activities there is always an audible "Yay!" from the children.

Check out some of the activities below!

Click here to get the Related Fact Number Bond Cut & Paste.

Click here to get the Related Fact Cut & Paste.

 Click here to get the Missing Addend Match Cut & Paste.

Click here to get the True or False Expressions Cut & Paste.

Click here to get the Domino Related Facts Activity.

Happy Teaching!