Fun With Social Studies

 Hello Bloggy Friends! 

We have been in school for 3 1/2 weeks now & we are finally easing in, following procedures, in the swing of routines, and just ready to rock & roll our way through first grade! 

One of my favorite Social Studies units to teach is neighborhoods, communities, & schools. We talk about what each one is & who the leaders are for each one. 

I start the unit with a little "All About Me" tie in. We make our self portraits to introduce ourselves as part of our classroom neighborhood. I looovvve the directed drawing portraits that are in the packet from First Grade Blue Skies. You can find it here.

 Aren't they just too cute! They always turn out awesome!! 

Then we make our classroom neighborhood. This is also a little geometry tie in because it uses so many different shapes. I just love the way that these turned out. They add so much color to the back of my classroom.

We have been working through this Authority Figures  packet from my friend Cassie at Adventures in Teaching. It is perfect for teaching them who the leaders are in the community, at home, & at school. It is packed with awesome activities! 

Here is our bulletin board for leaders in our school & leaders at home. 

I hope you are having a great start, or are getting ready for a great start! 

Plants!

Happy Spring!!

I am soooo happy that all the fun spring themes have finally rolled around! 

Here's what we've been doing...

Last week we learned ALL about plants. I mean we learned about life cycle, needs, parts...you name it & I taught it! 

We wrapped up last week's learning with a little directed drawing activity.

Here's how they turned out...

 I love the variety of flower types that I got. This class has about ZERO in the creativity department so when we do directed drawings they LOVE it! 

 They are all super quiet & totally concentrating on their artwork...it has become an activity that they really look forward to. 

 Well..this week we planted our lima bean in our baggies & hung them in the window. Thank you Apples & ABC's for the cute greenhouse templates.

The kiddos are very excited to see if our little experiment will work. There was a HUGE debate about the fact that plants need soil to grow & a paper towel isn't soil. Hee hee! I guess we will have to see what will happen...

Feeling Springy!

Hello Friends!

I made it....

SPRING BREAK!!

Two weeks of blissful relaxation! 

Yippie!!

Before leaving today, I wanted to have some Springtime happiness to welcome us back after the break.

But, what?

Here's what we came up with...

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!

FLOWERS!!

We did a flowers in a vase directed drawing.

They were so into the drawing & super serious about it!

Here are some of the finished products...

I just LOVE how each one turned out! 

My kiddos were really proud of them. 

I know it is super simple, but sometimes they just like to have it broken down step by step! 

My classroom is happy & cheery & ready to greet us when we come back from our break!

I made a little direction sheet in case you want to do it with your class or even put it in a center!

Please forgive the primitiveness! ;)

 Have a great Friday!!

Let me know if you use it!!