Sneak Peek Sunday: Week of March 9-13, 2020

Well, I know it's been awhile but I'm back. And I'm back in a classroom! It's been a crazy past month for me. Fast and furious - always something happening.One of our first grade teachers got a job closer to her house so she wouldn't have to make the long trek to our school each day. Totally get that. Our area is very spread out, and we've got teachers who live in other parishes working in our parish and vice versa. If you've ever heard about the Baton Rouge Traffic problems, they are real and here always. I have my own opinions about why but that can be another post!!!

I have been working hard on making sure the first graders aren't missing a beat. There are only 52 days of school left, so one more grading period. And only four more units. Our school is departmentalized. I have taken over for the Science/Social Studies teacher. I teach the same lesson, three times a day which is not much different than what I was doing in middle school!!

I'm bringing back Sneak Peek Sunday! I've been making materials for my classes and figured I'd share the freebies with you.


This week we are starting our Waves unit. I've broken the unit into sound and light so the kiddos aren't so overwhelmed. We will be doing sound this week, then light next week.

If you'd like to take a peek at my lesson plans, click HERE.

On Monday and Tuesday, we are finishing our Map Unit, then starting waves.

I've made some games to go into my Building BLOCKS centers.

Found a simple Paper Cup Telephone activity at KiwiCo that we will be using. Easy and to the point. 

I start every lesson with a mini lesson introducing one or two skills. Then we move into our centers. I will start pulling small groups during this time this week, to perform simple experiments. We've been working hard on rules, routines, and procedures and it's been a tough go. We are starting jobs this week, too, and I can't wait to get some sense of independence with the kids. 

I purchased Pitch Publications Sound unit and IT'S AMAZING!!! We will be using a lot of it, especially since we are at an arts school and music is a HUGE part of our day. But I did have to create some center activities to supplement our learning. 

High/Low Pitch Sort

Sound Task Cards

Guess the Sound Game - I'm gathering these small items and placing them in opaque containers, taping them shut, and labeling them 1-12. 

I have baskets for all of the centers, and I place all materials into folders and the baskets. Students spend about 20 minutes in each center (2 rotations a day, though it hasn't worked out like that yet...) and I have a bunch of early finisher activities. 

This group of students is quite talkative. They are so chatty. And I don't mind talking!!! But they can't seem to moderate their volume. There is ONE level and it's LOUD. So we are still practicing whispering at centers. I'm getting help in the classroom tomorrow, so I'm hoping between the two (maybe three) of us we can get everything done. 

If you would like a copy of the supplemental activities I've created for this week, CLICK HERE.

Have a great week!