What is a noun?

This lesson is focused on teaching the children what a noun is. The purpose of this lesson plan is for students will be able to identify what is a noun is. They will follow oral directions and understand the use of a chart. The materials needed for this lesson is noun chart (separated by person, place, and thing) worksheet with sentences, pencil, Schoolhouse Rock CD- “A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing”

Tell the class that we going to find out what is person place or thing. Ask, “Does anyone know what is a person place or thing is?!” If no one can answer the question I tell them it is called a noun. Then I will play the song “a noun is a person, place or thing” from the schoolhouse rock CD. After the song is over I will ask some of the students to tell me a noun they can think of. I will then write them up on the board. Once I get about seven or eight nouns on the board I will ask them to tell me if the noun is a person, place, or thing. Pass out the worksheets to all the students and explain to them that one worksheet is a list of sentences and one worksheet is a chart in categories: person, place, and thing. Tell the students to first take the worksheet with the sentences on it and ask then to circle all the nouns in all the sentences. Then tell them to take all the nouns that they circled and put each one into one category person, place, or thing on the chart worksheet. They are going to need assistance to encourage them to work with other student and to ask you for help if they did it. When the students are done with both worksheet go over it out loud with them as a class.

To assess the children I would see if the children have the ability to comprehend the directions given and complete the worksheets. This is show mastery of identifying what a noun is, following oral directions correctly, and the use of a chart with categories.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, 

it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein

Sink or Float

This is a fun science activity for children to learns about things that will sink and things that will float. Students will be able To make and test predictions about sinking and floating. To classify objects according to whether they sink or float. Recognize that every object exerts a gravitational force on every other object, and that the force depends on how much mass the objects have and how far apart they are. Share experiences and express ideas. Participate in conversations with peers and adults. Listen fully to understand instructions or hear daily messages.

The materials that are needed for this experimental activity are 5 large bowls with water in them, worksheet with a chart on it, 26 objects: empty water bottle, a full soda can, cork top, penny, nickel, a marble, seashell, tennis ball, golf ball, a paperclip, a pencil, a pen, a crayon, small twig, a sticky ball, safety pin, glow stick, a bouncy ball, packing peanuts, the top of a flower, small rock, rubber ducky, an apple, a rubber band, soda bottle cap, and a pencil eraser.

First I will explain what floating and sinking are. Then I will show the class the a youtube video about sinking and floating. The video is pretty much what exactly the experience we will do in class. I will give them the directions on what they are going to be doing. They will be picking five objects from the box as a group then go back to their tables and wait for the worksheet the y will then have to make a hypothesis if their objects will sink or float. They will record this information onto their chart worksheet. After the direction I will have all each group one at a time go up to the box and choose five different objects. The tub of water will already be set up at each of their table and ready to go. They will then wait until everyone is back at their table to start their experiments. After everyone is done trying out each of their objects we will regroup on the rug. They will bring their worksheet and each group will take turns getting up in front of their classmate and explain to them what they observed. After everyone has got in front of the class I will take one of the tubs and all of the objects and show all the children if they float or sink.

(If you have an issue viewing video here is link to youtube for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy0S1Pv0eOE)

Then to assess the student’s mastery would be observing the students to see if they can follow all the directions that were given to them verbally. Also if the children can make an educated guess on weather or not the object will sink. In addition the teacher will observe if the children can work together in groups productively.  The teacher will observe if the children understand and can comprehend what kind of object float and what kind of objects sink.

"The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new

ways of thinking about them. " ~William Lawrence Bragg

Multicultural Lesson

This lesson with include a social studies lesson along with world language lesson. This is a multiculural lesson. The children will be able to memorize and repeat how to say hello is 10 languages. They will be able to local and name each country on the map. They will also be able to identify the name of the language that is spoken in that country. The children will need to know the English form of the word hello. They will also need to know the countries that I will be going over.

I will test children to see if they know where each country is on the world map. I will ask the children if they know what languages the countries speak. This is just to see if the children have an idea of the languages they speak. When the children came into the class I will greet each child with a different form of hello. The world map will be pulled down and displayed in the front of the room with big bright stars on the countries that we are going to be going over.

We will start out by talk about all the different languages in the world. Then we will discuss the languages that we are going to learn about today. We will talk about what country each language is from. We will then start with Hello, then go onto the next language and continue. We will then local where each language is spoken. We will local it on the map.

I will name a country and the child will have to name the language they speak. Then I will go around the class and say the language I want them to say hello in. If the child is having trouble I will be able to help them and guide them right than and there. I will use an oral quiz to see if the children can tell me how to say hello in that language. I will then also give them a written quiz for the children to match up the language and the country.

Children will be able to identify each country. They will be able to explain what language they speak in that country. Then we will have a oral test and they will be able to speak hello in each language. I will have a test with test that will be just like the worksheet we went off in class. I will use the same map but it will have different numbers. They will then have to identify which country it is, what language they speak, and then they will have to speak hello to me orally.

"We must merge our traditional sense of schooling with the real 

world. What we do in school must not insult the child's past but must 

build upon his past and encourage future learning." -Sigmund Boloz

Winter

As you can tell I like to start out by reading a book to the children to start a lesson. So for today's winter lesson I would start out by reading the book "The Mitten" by Jan Brett and then we would read the book "The Hat" also by Jan Brett. The reason I would read both is because of the activity I will do with them after I read the book.

After reading the book I would take out my easel and I would introduce to them what a Venn diagram is. I would explain to them that the one circle was the details of the one book and than the other circle is the details about the other book. Then I would explain that the middle part where the two circles overlap are the similarities in the books. I would explain that this is what comparing and contrasting is. I would ask the children to compare and contrast the two stories. I would ask for the details of "The Mitten" and then I would ask the details about "The Hat". I would then ask the children if there were any details that appeared in both circles. If there was I would then erase that information and then move it to into the middle section and explain that the reason I am moving it into the middle section because is appears in both stories.

After the group activity I would have the children go back to their seats and hand out a worksheet with a Venn diagram on it already. I would have the children choose two different animals for the stories. (one animal from one story and than the other animal from the other story)

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the 

cold of winter to give it sweetness." - John Steinbeck

Thanksgiving

The day before we go on break for Thanksgiving I will have activities based on Thanksgiving. I will ask the children if they know what the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving. Then I would read the book "If you Sailed on The Mayflower in 1620" by Ann McGovern. This book is a question answer kind of book, it is also filled with factual information for the children to absorb. This book illustrates the Pilgrims first year in America. It will better explain to the children what Thanksgiving is all about. After reading the book I would ask the children if they had any further questions about what Thanksgiving was all about. I would also go around and ask each child to name one thing they are thankful for.

I would have all the children go back to their seats and I would hand out a writing worksheet. I would have them write a short story about what they would did if they were on the Mayflower in 1620 and coming to America for the first time. I would tell them to write about what they would bring, who they would bring, and why. After all the children were done writing I would ask the children if their were anyone that would like to share their story. I would have them go to the front of the room and read their story. 

After we were done the writing and speaking activity I would have a couple of fun worksheets for the children to do that have to do with Thanksgiving. This is so that the children can relax and wine down a little bit. 

I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have than to 

have things I am not able to appreciate. - Elbert Hubbard

Halloween

On Halloween I would do all the real academic lessons in the morning and then in the afternoon I would have fun things for the children to do. On Halloween we usually have a costume parade around the school so this lesson plan is for the afternoon after the parade. Since it is a fun holiday I want to make the afternoon fun so here are some of the things we would do at a class. After the parade we would come back to the room and it would be a Halloween party some of the class mothers will be there helping out. We would pass around candy.

Then to start some activities one thing we would do would require a pumpkin. It would be based on estimation. Every children would have a worksheet I made up for them with "How many seeds, how much does it weight, and how many inches around it is." Each child puts down what they think and then we will weight it, count the seeds, and measure it. This is a fun math lesson on estimation for the children and they will have no idea they are learning. For the child who guessed right or the child who guessed the closest to each question wins a prize.


After the pumpkin measuring I would have a few different fun worksheets for the the children to do like coloring pages, word searches, and unscrambling words.

Just for fun I would read them two halloween books before they left for the day to go trick or treating. I would read them "The Biggest Pumpkin Ever" by Steve Kroll and "In the Haunted House" by Eve Bunting

"May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright

Of soft and golden hue

Pierce through the future's veil and show

What fate now holds for you."

-Author Unknown

Fire Safety Week (October 7th through October 13th)

Fire Safety Week is October 7th through October 13th. During this week I think it would be appropriate to go over fire safety on one or two days.

What I would do is start out by reading a book to them "Clifford The Firehouse Dog" by Norman Bridwell. This tells a story about how Clifford saves people and puts out a fire. After reading the story each child will go back to their seats and list all the important fire safety tips and rules they know and have learned from the story. After they do that individually we will then regroup as a class and we will list all the fire safety tips and rules on a big piece of paper and will hang it in the back of the room so everyone can see it and know how important it is to remember the rules. 

Another thing I would have the children watch this video about all the important fire safety tips and rules. I know it is an old video and it seems corny but it has a lot of good information for the children to watch and understand about fire safety. http://youtu.be/3JqWpGGARjc

Then to close fire safety lessons I would have a little fun activity for the children to do. It is a little puzzle. They have to fill in the blanks of fairy-tale titles then place the correct letter with the number thats underneath that letter to spell out the fire safety tip. The tip is "Get outside, stay outside!"

"Don't let your dreams go up in smoke - practice fire safety." -author unknown

We're Going On A Leaf Hunt!

To start out the Fall season I would read "We're Going On A Leaf Hunt" by Steve Metzger. This book is about three children that are going on a leaf hunt and find all different colors leaves. This book is just like the book "Going On A Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen. It has the same concept with the rhythm, repetitive text format and great sound words. Children really seem to like this book it is fun and they really get into it. This lesson plan would focused on number sense and counting.

Introductory Activity: I would invite all the children onto the reading rug so I can read them the story “We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt”. I would ask the all the children if they have ever gone on a leaf hunt. If some of the children say yes I would ask them what they saw and what was different about the leaves. I would also ask them what is different about the leaves now then from when it was hot out. Then I would read them the story and ask them if they wanted to go on a leaf hunt.

Main Activity: I would explain to the children that we were going on a leaf hunt. Each child gets three lunch bags. We are going to go outside and you guys are going to collect as many leaves as you or as many as you can fit in your paper bag. I would tell them that I would like for each child to grab two orange leaves and then as many other colors as they want. Ask the child to count their leaves as they put them in their bags. Stop at 10 – make groups of 10 and then have the child count the leaves by 10s. I would have all the children put on their coats and hand each child a paper bag. We would go outside and collect the leaves.

Follow-up Activity: This activity will begin when we come back into the classroom from collecting our leaves. I would then place the five labeled buckets on the ground. Each child will then go to their sit and with their paper bag filled with the leaves. I will then instruct them to separate there leaves by color. After all the children are done separating them I will have each child individually go to the rug where the buckets and out loud count how many of each color leave they have. Then on the board we will have a chart with the colors and have each child write the number of leaves they have for each color in the correct column.

Evaluation: I would have five different children come to the front of the room and dump out the bucket of leaves and count one of buckets of colors out loud. Then I would write down how many of each color leaf we have and after all are counted I would ask the class which color did we have the most leave of and which one did we have the least.

"Falling leaves hide the path so quietly." -John Bailey

Back to School

So since it is September I thought that it would be appropriate to start out with a lesson plan that has to do with the first day of school.


I would start out by having all the children come into the classroom and get settled. After the class is settled and we are ready to go I would start out with a handout that has to do with their summer. I would have them write one thing that they did over the summer and then draw a picture corresponding with the story. I would then ask if any of the children would like to volunteer and share what they wrote about. I would also share what I did over the summer as well.

I would then do a little ice breaker activity with all the children. I would have a bucket with small pieces of paper with questions on them. Each child will have to pick one piece and then we would go around the class and have everyone answer their question on the page including myself. This will help everyone get to know each other a little bit more and start to get more comfortable with each other so we will begin to form our little community. 

Another thing I would do on the first day is reading the book "First Day Jitters" by Julie Danneberg. It is a good story to start the first day with because I know everyone including myself will have the jitters. After reading we will discuss the story. Then I will have the children go back to their seat and pass out the handout about "First Day Jitters". They will then have to write about their experience with first day jitters. After everyone writes about it we will then have voluteers go around and read their story out loud to the class if they want to. I will also tell them my first day jitters. When we are done reading out loud to the class with have to draw a picture that corresponds with their story.

There are just some of the things I would do on the first day of school. Hope you enjoy! Have a happy school year!

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge,
and not knowledge in pursuit of the child." - Georg Bernard Shaw

Hello and welcome to my blog!!

I am Becky and I will be blogging about fun, exciting, and creative activities and lesson plans to do with first and second graders. I am currently a student at Kean University going for a degree in K-5 special ed with a content area of english writing.  On my blog I will be sharing with you activities, lesson plans, pictures, possibly some videos - all educational things that you can do in the classroom with first and second graders. 

Please feel free to comment on any post with your experience with any of the activities you have done or if you have done an activity I post about I want to hear how your experience went with your class! I hope to hear from you. 

"Teaching creates all other professions." ~ Author Unknown