First Grade, Bible, Set Six

• We have started memorizing 1 Corinthians 13 (which is different from my original plan, but I think a better choice). We will memorize verses 1 - 8a, and 13.
• We have memorized quite a few verses and passages of scripture and I like for K. and myself to review them regularly, but with the volume, it is becoming burdensome. I am trying to figure out a way to review, but have fun too.
• We made a holder that has two pockets -- two envelopes glued back to back. We each decorated one side. Then we wrote the references on pieces of pretty paper and stuck them in side one. Each time we get in the car we will pick a paper and recite that passage of scripture. Then we put the reference in side two of the packet. That should have us reviewing three or four passages a week.

• Our hymn this set is What a Friend we Have in Jesus. It is calmer than the other hymns we have sung and I was wondering if K. would like it. The accompaniment is beautiful and she really likes it.
• We started reading Joel: A Boy of Galilee this week. It is very interesting and a couple times I've read past "Bible Time" and into "Math Time".
• Now that we have been using the above method to review our Bible verses for a few weeks, I can tell you that it is working very well. In fact, K. will remind me when we get in the car that she is supposed to pick a paper for our review.

First Grade, Writing, Set Six

We've set aside Draw Write Now for this set of weeks.

• Comic Book (Games for Writing pg 182) -- we didn't make a whole book, as this style of literature did not interest K. very much, but we did get one page done. She said what the narration should be. I wrote it and then she drew the pictures, wrote the dialogue, and colored the page.
• Family Journal (Games for Writing pg 180) -- even with each of us writing about each day, they turned out differently because we have different perspectives.
• Board Game (Games for Writing pg 174) -- I gave K. a choice of using a "Laura Ingalls" theme or a "Mary Poppins" theme. She chose Laura. Our game board has 17 spaces. We chose events from all the books we have listened to. So one square might say "The grasshoppers ate your wheat. Lose $50." And the next one, "Mr. Edwards brings Christmas gifts from Independence. Win $30."
• Three Sentence Challenge (Games for Writing pg 146) -- we had as much fun with this activity as we did the first time we played it. Be sure to make your lists ahead of time.
• Rhyme Time (Games for Writing pg 64) -- this time our poem was rather nonsensical, and the rhyming pattern turned out to be: AA BB AA CC AA DD
• Acrostic Poem (Games for Writing pg 69) -- I wrote the word "AUTUMN" down the side of two 9 x 12 sheet of white construction paper. After we each wrote our "poem" we cut pictures out of old magazines. K. glued hers on the paper, while I glued mine around the edge, making a frame.
• Story Invention Game -- we used this form to decide on the characters, problem, and solution of the story. Then K. wrote the story, keeping the main idea in focus and adding details along the way. You can get this form from balloonstoryteller.com.

First Grade, Spelling, Set Six

• Did you realize that in the words grow, snow, and throw the 'w' is a vowel? When w occurs at the end of a word, it is considered a vowel letter. (It is silent and makes the o say its name.)
• Some times when "life happens" and we are short on time, I skip the final test if K. has shown through the week that she knows how to spell the words.

First Grade, Grammar, Set Six

We are starting with The Child's Own English Book "The Adjective". Here are the games we played:

• I'm Thinking of Something -- describe an object in the room and see if the other person can guess what it is
• My Grandmother's Cat -- use the sentence "My grandmother's cat is a/an (insert adjective) cat." Go through the alphabet with each player inserting an adjective that starts with the letter A. Then B, C, etc.
• Similar and Opposite -- find adjectives with meanings similar or opposite to a list given.
• Blank Spaces -- The story of Cinderella was in the book with blanks in place of the adjectives. We read the story inserting adjectives.

This week we were learning about maps, concentrating on color coding. I found a worksheet I liked at Super Teacher Worksheets. It was a map of a campground, which gave me the idea of going to the KOA website and printing out a couple maps of different campgrounds -- I found a couple that had good color coding. We finished up the week with making a color coded map of our bedrooms.

 

Now we are learning about diagrams.

• I found one of a piano and one of a shoe on-line and printed them out. The first day we talked about them.
• The next day I gave K. a drawing of an elephant and a list of body parts. She numbered the body parts, and then numbered the parts on the elephant.
• We also made a craft of a flower, and labeled the parts. I saw this one on a teacher's blog.
• We learned about Venn diagrams, and practiced with a selection of her blocks. (Red/Round; Blue/Rectangle; Yellow/Arch) You can use string to make circles on the floor.
• We also played a game on-line to practice Venn diagrams.

We review the rules we have learned this year about using Capitals and Punctuation. Then we spent the rest of the week writing a story, making sure we capitalized and used punctuation correctly. We used the game That's Good / That's Bad from Games for Writing.

This week we practiced using street maps. I pulled out our Thomas Guide and we found where we live. On other days we found where friends or family live, where our favorite park is, etc. Then we would figure out different ways of getting from our house to that location.

First Grade, Reading, Set Six

We started On Yonder Mountain by Millie Howard. The chapters are divided in half, and so she reads half a chapter each day (about 5 pages) and then we talk about it. We have been able to add new words to our "vocabulary letter" almost every day. For the last three chapters of the book, K. read the first half of the chapter and I read the last half so we could finish the book in this set of weeks.

I picked up the book The Reading Corner: Ideas, Games, and Activities for Individualizing Reading by Harry W. Forgan from a "free table" at a support group meeting. It has some really neat ideas and so I am using the activities it has for teaching Comprehension Skills.

• The first thing is learning to pick out the Main Idea.
• Find the M.I. -- take index cards and write four or five sentences. One of them is the main idea and the others are supporting details (put them in random order). Read the sentences together and have your child pick out the main idea. Here is an example:
• Ann puts on boots.
• Ann is ready to go out in the rain. (main idea)
• She puts on a raincoat.
• She puts on a hat.
• Category Tic Tac Toe -- play as regular tic-tac-toe, however you must prepare the game board ahead of time. In each section write three things that go together (dress, pants, blouse) and leave space for a fourth item. Before a player puts their X or O in a space, they must tell the category (clothing) of the items and add a fourth item (skirt).

 

• Main Idea and Details Hand -- I traced my hand on a sheet of paper. We read a paragraph in the reading book -- I had picked the paragraph out ahead of time. We discussed the main idea of the paragraph and wrote in on the palm of the hand. Then I had K. tell me the details in the paragraph and write them on the fingers. The main idea was that the children formed teams and built snow forts. Some details were that Sarah was on Jonathan's team, they made snowballs, they wore mittens, etc.
• Give Me a Name -- I found nine pictures in old magazines and cut them out. Then I wrote a main idea for each picture on an index card. I laid the pictures and cards out and had K. match them up.
• This week I had two pictures and had K. come up the the title for each.

First Grade, Math, Set Six

Games, activities, books, and web sites that enhanced our learning:

• I divided our Triangles into five sets of about 11 cards. Each day we review one set. If K. can get through the set before the timer goes off (2 minutes) then she gets to put a sticker on the calendar. The sticker seems to be enough incentive to get her to try; each set of cards seems to be small enough that she doesn't get an "this is going on forever" attitude; the 2 minutes seems to be short enough to challenge her, but long enough to make it possible.
• Reviewing Place Value:
• We played Three Pots (Games for Math pg 152)
• Using UNO cards, we each took three cards and made them into the largest number possible. I had put a marshmallow in a small bowl. The person with the larger number got to take the bowl. The person with the bowl on the last turn (when we ran out of cards) got to eat the marshmallow. This also reviews Greater Than and  Less Than. Another day we played, but made the smallest number possible.
• 10 More/Less and 100 More/Less:
• I wrote a 3 digit number on a piece of paper. Then I flicked the spinner. K. had to write the number it told her to write (either 10 more or less or 100 more or less). Then it was her turn to write any 3 digit number and spin. Then I wrote the new number. I discovered I needed to pull out the manipulatives as she didn't remember how to figure out the new number.

• Reviewing First/Next/Last and Before/After:
• Find a Penny (Games for Math pg 52) review "before" and "after"
• I took some pictures I had glued on circles and spread them out. I picked one (picture of dog getting a bath). I said, "First, Bowser went outside. Next, he played in the mud. Last, Susie gave him a bath." Then it was K.'s turn to choose a picture and tell a little story using the words "first, next, last". Listen for errors. For instance, once K. said, "First, Sally and her mom went to the hot dog stand. Next, they got some raisins." That sounded a bit weird to me, so I asked where they got the raisins. She told be they got them at home. She revised her story.
• Addition
• If You Were a Plus Sign by Trisha Speed Shaskan -- a fun book that talks about different kinds of addition problems
• Animal Word Problems Starring Addition and Subtraction by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson -- right now all we did was read some of the word problems and solve them, but the book goes into the different methods of solving word problems. This will be a book to use more thoroughly another year.
• Addition Made Easy by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson -- this is a really good book, and I'm thinking about buying a used one. It explains the different properties of addition, explains regrouping and carrying, it goes into rounding, money, time, and word problems. This book is in a series called Making Math Easy.
• Here are links to a couple fun addition games
• Addition Invasion -- this one is a "see how fast you can do it"
• Pizza Pizzazz -- I really like that you set the problems you want to practice
• We worked on renaming in addition problems all week (week 4). We started out using the mat and working each problem with manipulatives, and by the end of the week she did need (or want) to use them. We just did about six problems each day.
• Adding and Subtracting Book 2 by Ann Montague-Smith -- This is a really good book. It is colorful and fun. Each page has an activity or game to increase your child's understanding of addition or subtraction. We did the activity on one page of this book each day this week. I wanted to renew it and use it during our break next week, but there was a hold on it -- so I've requested it again.

First Grade, History, Set Six

Resources we used:

• Look Around a Medieval Castle by Clare Hibbert -- this book takes you on a tour through the Krak des Chevaliers. The Krak is in the present-day country of Syria. It was originally an Arab fortress, the Krak became the headquarters of a holy order of knights called the Knights Hospitalers. I hadn't planned to read any more books about castles, but this one was so well done, with interesting photos, drawings, and descriptions that I decided we need to read one more!
• Crusaders by Joanne Jessop -- this book has great illustrations, easy-to-understand information, and covers crusades from 1095 to 1291
• Ghana, Mali, Songhay by David Armentrout -- we looked at this book a little in the last set of weeks, but this time we are reading the whole thing.
• Ancient West African Kingdoms by Jane Shuter -- After reading the page about the silent trade system between the Berbers and the Wangara (which is all we used this book for) we decided to play it. Now it is a game K. wants to play again and again.
• A Medieval Cathedral by Fiona Macdonald -- tells about how cathedrals were built. It has large and colorful illustrations.
• Early Discoveries by Gerry Bailey -- we used this book to find out more about stained glass windows and we did the craft on page 43 (actually we are still working on them because we are letting the glue dry between adding each color).
• Magna Carta by C. Walter Hodges -- this book isn't really for young children, but it has a lot of drawings and explains the why and how of the Magna Carta simply enough that I could re-word and simplify the concepts so that K. could understand them.
• China by David Armentrout -- this book gives a simple overview of the history of China.
• The Mongols by Robert Nicholson -- this book is more illustration than text, so it is great for young children. It covers from where they live to their homes to their clothes and food and more. In fact, a couple times this week we've read about or someone has mentioned the Gobi Desert and K. lights up right away because she knows where it is.
• The Adventures of Marco Polo by Roger Smalley -- this is a graphic novel and I don't generally like comic style books, but this covered the travels of Marco Polo quite well and kept K.'s attention.

First Grade, Science, Set Six

Here are the resources I recommend using for learning about the Grasslands:

• A Walk in the Prairie by Rebecca L. Johnson -- this book has great photographs and drawings and is written for younger children. It takes you through the seasons on the prairie, introducing you to a variety of animals and plants that live there. The prairie is located in the United States, from the Rockies to Illinois and Southern Canada to Texas. The book is part of a series called Biomes of North America.
• The Wide Open Grasslands: A Web of Life by Philip Johansson -- this book talks about grasslands all over the world. It has a good map on pages 10 and 11.
• Hiding in Grasslands by Deborah Underwood -- a book about camouflage
• Grasslands by Cathryn Sill -- this book has great illustrations and very little text, making it ideal for young children
• Grassland Mammals by Elaine Landau -- a good book for young children, it tells about grasslands and then about African elephants, prairie dogs, giraffes, aardvarks, and kangaroos
• What are Earth's Biomes? by Bobbie Kalman -- I wish I had found this book back at the beginning of the year. It talks about the differences between biomes, habitats, and ecosystems, and then has a few pages about each biome: forests, grasslands, deserts, tundra, marine, and freshwater.
• Prairie Food Chain by Kelley MacAulay -- we were able to use this book to figure out some food chains

For learning about specific animals, we made a list of animals K. was interested in from the two books listed above. Then we went to the library and checked out books about each animal. We found it much easier to get the information we want this way. Most of the books are okay, but here are some that I would recommend:

• Zebras by Melissa Stewart
• Coyotes by Julia Vogel -- this one as "Fun Facts" on almost every page
• Fox by Jinny Johnson
• The Friendly Prairie Dog by Denise Casey
• Prairie Dogs: Animal Prey by Sandra Markle
• A Rhinoceros Grows Up by Anastasia Suen
• My Life in the Wild: Cheetah by Meredith Castain
• Sandhill Cranes by Lynn M. Stone
• Elephants by Martin Schwabacher

Literature or Picture Books:

• Prairie Friends by Nancy Smiler Levinson -- this is "An I Can Read Book" about a girl who lives in Nebraska wanting another girl to play with. It takes place back in homesteading days.
• Saving Samantha by Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen -- this is a true story about a farming family that finds a fox pup with a broken leg. They raise it and then return it to the wild.
• Buffalo Thunder by Patricia Wittmann -- story of a family traveling west in a covered wagon. The boy wants to see buffalo and one day there is a buffalo stampede.
• Phantom of the Prairie by Jonathan London -- about a black-footed ferret

First Grade, Fine Arts, Set Six

• George Fredrick Handel
• George Handel by Mike Venezia -- this is a biography written to keep the interest of young children
• Hallelujah Handel by Douglas Cowling -- this is a fiction book about Handel's concern for the orphans of London. He was involved in raising money for the first orphanage in London.

Evaluation of Set Five

• Bible -- we completed learning Luke 2:1-20 and Kimmi earned her $2 for saying it perfectly, without any helps. We went ahead and finished Little Pilgrim's Progress and will start another book with Set 6.
• Writing -- K. seems tired of the books we were using and so I'm changing things up a bit so we are again working together.
• Spelling -- K. is doing well with her spelling words.
• Grammar -- we had fun learning the parts of a book and playing games to review nouns.
• Reading -- K. enjoyed reading The History of Flight. Next year I think we will read more of this type of book.
• Math -- we got away from playing games and math became a bit boring, so we will be getting playing more games in this next set of weeks.
• History -- we really enjoyed reading Ivanhoe and Robin Hood.
• Science -- we were able to use some of the information we learned about rivers and lakes when during our vacation.
• Fine Arts -- K. is enjoying listening to the music cd's