Five for Friday Linky Party- January 9

I have decided to start joining up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's weekly linky party!  I love seeing what other teachers are up to in their classrooms and lives.

I live where we can't count on snow in winter.  I'm always excited when we do get some of the white stuff!  I love how the students get so excited, and now that I have two kids of my own, I of course love how much joy they can get out of it.  We got snow for one day this week, and then it warmed up a LOT and melted away within a few days.  There was a short window of time that worked for a quick toboggan ride around the neighborhood.  

This was the first week back after our Christmas break.  I had a fantastic week with my kiddos.  First grade is such an exciting year.  The growth the students make developmentally, academically, and socially is amazing.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Greater-Than-Less-Than-1626974

This week we worked on greater than and less than in math.  The students enjoyed the pocket chart activity I created.  We also watched a few short youtube videos about greater than and less than.  We completed a few cut and paste pages from my greater than and less than packet as well.  

Our "Special" book of the week was "The Hat" by Jan Brett.  We did a 3 day reading sequence and did a few oral activities with it.  We did a vocabulary study on three of the words.  I kept this chart posted up throughout the week, and it is moved to another highly visible spot for all of next week as well.  

We also read the books "One Winter's Day" and "One Snowy Night" by M Christina Butler.  They are wonderful books to read in conjunction with The Hat.   All three of the books include a hedgehog, so we did a quick discussion about hedgehogs (which invariably turns into a discussion between the difference between hedgehogs and porcupines! It was nice to diverge from the traditional comparisons between "The Hat" and "The Mitten."  The pictures of the animals in The Hat are available on Jan Brett's website.

 Here is a video of "One Winter's Day." Here is a list on Amazon of books by M Christina Butler. 

I started Guided Reading this week.  It was a really successful kick-off.  The students were excited to try something new, and one student even said, I actually LIKE this!  (He seemed a bit shocked with himself.)  

I do Daily Five in my classroom, but we have been doing it in a modified way so far this year.  I assign the students to their activity and they are rotated through.  Our goal is that we will be able to switch to student choice in February.  I think we will be able to do it!  

I have been using this smartboard choice chart by Smart Kinder Kids and it is fabulous. The students love how easy it is to read, and I love how easy it is to switch student names around.  Goodbye pocket chart sign up!!

I'll leave you with this picture of my daughter watching the snow fall after our outing (and hot chocolate of course!)