Friday, March 20, 2015

Think about it Thursday

Running out of ideas for ways to kick start your school day? Many schools are encouraging activities that allow more conversations among students; hoping teachers will take a back seat or rather a vow of silence in order to let their students weigh in on issues.

We started “Think About it Thursday” to fill this need. It turned out to be awesome! Each Thursday, we pose a question to our students and give everyone a small copy of the question to glue in their journal. 
They always have an opinion! Some students can’t decide between the choices so they pick both and justify why.

After writing, they insist on sharing. Some students even like to tally the opinions of the class. If time doesn’t allow for whole group sharing, try team share or a buddy share. Have fun! 
Click here for some printables to start you off. If you come up with any good ones, let us know!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

I Wonder Wednesday

As a kid, I remember having so many random thoughts. Things like “I wonder what my teacher’s pajamas look like,” or “I wonder what fish do all night.”  Most of the time I made up an answer, but sometimes I would try to find the real one. I started “I Wonder Wednesday” with my class to reinforce creativity and inference skills.
Every Wednesday, I give my students something to wonder about. Everyone gets a small copy of the idea to glue in their journal.  We enjoy discussing our thoughts in small groups or as a class. Some students even explore further to try to get answers to things like, “I wonder where all the plastic bottles go,” or “I wonder how chocolate is made.”  Now our week consists of Tell me Tuesday, I Wonder Wednesday, and Think about it Thursday. Lots of higher order thinking going on in first grade!
Here are some of the I Wonder Wednesday printables we like to use.