All About Maps

Hey friends. We are gearing up for Thanksgiving around our house tonight, but I thought I'd take a second to share with you some of the fun we've had in my first grade class!

Teaching maps in the primary setting can be challenging. In my experience, it's a harder concept for the little gals and guys to grasp due to the lovely invention of the GPS. Kids just don't see real maps in use anymore. This year I tried a few new things to really give my lesson that balanced literacy tie.

We have been learning about Maps for three.whole. weeks. There is only so much I feel like we can teach little firsties about maps haha! We started our unit with a Poem and interactive read aloud.  Both of these have the vocabulary that our standards require firsties to know. 

I created this little packet that includes a poem, interactive read aloud, a booklet for shared reading, vocabulary cards, ABC order center, vocabulary printables,  and interactive notebook pages. My kiddos really enjoyed the foldable booklet during shared reading. The booklet is written on a level that they could read. We read this book several times in several different ways. First, we used it for shared reading. Then, the students read it with a partner.  

Here's a peek at a few of the  interactive vocabulary pages

Map Interactive Notebook Pages

Maps Interactive Read Aloud

I bundled my newest maps packet with my older one. You can check out the bundle!

Here's some other great read aloud for maps!

(affiliate links)

    

In math, we are practicing addition and subtraction centers. As a school, we are all working on our math fluency. My kids were not really into the whole flash card routine, so I had to think outside of the box to practice fluency.

I created these little slider cards. The kids LOVED them. I have student a pull the "ladder" up and call out the facts to student b. You could do SO many things with this. I also laminated them and the kiddos used a wipe off marker to record their own answers. 

I also made a little "Lightning Math Center". The kiddos have to try and answer as many questions as FAST as they can using the sand timer. It's amazing what a sand timer does for group of first graders!

The thing I love about this packet is it's super low prep! I printed everything on bright card stock, sent it for lamination and boom! It's done!

I'm typically not a big fan of "task cards" in first grade. But this year I have a group  that can handle them and needs something a little more challenging than what my curriculum currently calls for. I created a few little sets of task cards just for them! They are working well and are easy for them to follow but still give them that challenge that they need.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope everyone has a family filled Thanksgiving! 

Balanced Literacy Plunge

As an elementary teacher, I find that the balanced literacy approach is something that I simply cannot live without.

One approach that I've added to my day is that I try to add at least two content area centers throughout the week. We have seven stations a day, so that's pretty easy for us to do! 

My balanced Literacy routine is pretty simple. I try to incorporate as many content area centers as I can. The past few weeks we've been working on Map Skills. 

My kiddos LOVE floor puzzles! They are such a great tool to help develop important critical thinking skills. My kids do the puzzle, then complete a labeling activity. The puzzle shown is one of my favs from Melissa and Doug! 

Read Alouds for Maps

We've also worked on Rhyming Words this week. These puzzle match ups are great for reinforcing those tricky rhyming words....and they are on a little flash sale :) 

 Here are few other centers we used this week from my Winter Literacy Center Packet (also on sale!)