A7 Open House

Today in your child’s folder we sent home an invitation to our poetry open house. Next Wednesday, April 17^th, we will be hosting our families to celebrate our study of poetry. The first few minutes will be a time to mingle and view our 6 word memoir video. Starting at 6:15 students can sign up for a stage slot to read their poetry to our audience. We would also like to invite family members to bring any poetry they would also like to share. Apple juice will be served and feel free to bring a small bite to add to our celebration!

Rain Rain Go Away

With more rain today our students stayed inside AGAIN for recess. Indoor recess makes for a long day in first grade. This afternoon we played a brain break game to get our “sillies” out. Buzz is a game where you pick a number and then how you will count to that number. For example today we counted to 20 by 2’s, round and round the circle we counted and each time we reached 20 that person called out buzz. This means they are out of the game and then we start again counting at 2. It gets pretty excited and the students who get buzzed out still love watching the game continue. Here is a picture of the final round of buzz.

6 Word Memoirs

Today we began our 6 word memoir project and I couldn't have been happier with the work the students produced! After I showed a few examples it was as if a fire ignited. One student shared a 6 word memoir he created right on the rug. Counting the words on his fingers as he spoke, the other students took this structure and used it to support their thinking. Instantly the class began counting out their 6 word memoirs. Before I knew it students were rushing to their seats to get their thoughts on paper. Below are a few examples of the AMAZING work the students created today. Later this week we will begin recording our voices in preparation to create our 6 word video.  

A7  Time Capsule

After a rainy start to our day we had a very productive afternoon. Because the playground was still wet we had to have indoor recess in the afternoon. I love hearing the buzz of our busy first graders during indoor recess. From working on their number scroll to making cards for their friends and family everyone manages to keep themselves busy. I took a fun panorama of what indoor recess in our room looks like.

After recess we created our class time capsule. We’ve been study classrooms from the past, and I thought a nice way to end the unit would be to create something that will help classrooms in the future learn from us. Each student filled in an information sheet so everyone felt that they had contributed.

I gathered materials from around the room and several students also brought in items to add. After we filled our time capsule (an old chlorine buck from my parent’s garage) we discussed when the time capsule should be opened. After MANY suggestions we decided to wait until 2024, the year this class will graduate high school. While I didn't end up burying the time capsule, hopefully someday someone will learn something about what 1^st graders were like in 2013.

Back to School, Back to Poetry

I am excited to get back to school tomorrow after a relaxing week. Tomorrow in poetry we will be starting our 6 word memoir project. I can’t wait to see the poems our class creates tomorrow. Over break I did some research on other elementary classes who did this project and found some great examples to show the class, here are a few examples.

6 Word Memoir Examples

While some of the above examples are little advanced for 1st grade I think it will be a fine place to start. Specifically we are going to start by writing 6 word memoirs about spring. I think once the students gain confidence in the structure of the poem they will run with this project.

Spring Break Fun Day #8

Jack Perlutsky is another one of my favorite poets. Read his poem “Beezer’s Ice Cream” and make up your own silly ice cream flavor! Feel free to share your flavor in the comment section so we can all see what crazy flavors you have come up with!

Bleezer's Ice Cream

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
there are flavors in my freezer
you have never seen before,
twenty-eight divine creations
too delicious to resist,
why not do yourself a favor,
try the flavors on my list:

COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
taste a flavor from my freezer,
you will surely ask for more.

Feel free to share your peom below in the comments section so I can see what great work you're doing!

 

 

Spring Break Fun Day #7

Color poems are another fun easy way to create poetry. Here are few different templates you can use to create your own color poem.

Brown

Brown is a chocolate cake and a chocolate Labrador
Brown is a chocolate milkshake.
Boxes are Brown
Brown is a feeling on a winter day,
It's mud, it's a turkey
a cow, Cocoa Puffs and a dirty pig.

Color Poem Templates:

Have you heard the sound of (color)?
(List three things that your color reminds you of)
-
-
-
That's the sound of (your color).

----------OR-----------
Have you heard the sound of (color)?
If not, then,
Can you hear the (something your color reminds you of)?
Can you hear the (something your color reminds you of)?
Can you hear the (something your color reminds you of)?
If you can,
You have heard the sound of (your color).


Feel free to share your peom below in the comments section so I can see what great work you're doing!