Nonfiction Fun

There is nothing more exciting than teaching nonfiction units to kindergarten and first grade students.  There are so many different units that can be instructed this time of year.  Some of my favorites are bats, spiders, owls, apples, pumpkins, and bones... just to name a few.

Teaching kindergarten students about owls is probably my favorite nonfiction unit to teach about.  I just LOVE their little faces when I tell them about regurgitation and owl pellets!!

I walked through our primary building and took some pictures of some nonfiction activities and lessons going on.  It was very clear that all of our teachers are on the same topics and have the same enjoyment of teaching nonfiction units.

There are so many great teaching points with nonfiction units that tap into higher levels of thinking.  Venn Diagrams are very popular when comparing apples to pumpkins and bats to owls.
 
I also noticed when I was walking around the school looking for nonfiction work that several teachers work on vivid vocabulary by using a Frayer model.

Teaching sequencing with pictures is another strategy to help students remember, especially with a fun project like this one from Stephany's Pumpkin Unit.

An anchor chart with (have, can, are) is definitely a must when teaching about bats.  Stephany's Bat Unit is an excellent resource to use when teaching about Bats.

I always use Kim Adsit's Nonfiction Chart that is in her Post-It Note Anchor Chart Pack.

I use this chart for nearly all nonfiction topics.  It is an excellent resources and is simple for my kinders to understand.

Here are some other pictures in our primary building.

 

I hope I sparked your interest and enthusiasm.  I know I am getting ready to get my lesson plans ready for pumpkin week!!

Endless Possibilities,

Stephanie 

Apple Week (with freebies) Linky

It's that time of year again.  We have started our two week Apple Unit.  There are so many different activities that I use.  There are so many free activities that it is almost impossible to get them all into one week.  That is exactly why our kindergarten team studies apples for two weeks.
Be sure to read the entire post to see other apple resources and activities that have been added to the link up.

In this post, you will find lots of free and inexpensive finds for Apple Week!!  First, I always send a letter home to parents asking for each student to bring in an apple.  Here is the free parent letter I send home to parents.

Another great find is the Apple Investigation we completed below.  I used Julie Lee's Apple Investigation Freebie.  It is available on TpT and it is FREE!!

I did purchase and use the following product by Kristen Smith.  It is such a great product with wonderful nonfiction pictures.  It is over 130 pages and full of so many ideas.  The illustrations and photos are perfect for teaching kindergarten students about apples.

My favorite part of studying apples is the faces of the kiddos when we do the float and sink apple graphing experiment.  Here are the pieces I use for the activity.  It makes an excellent bulletin board display.  (It's free on TpT.)

Stephany has an incredible emergent reader packet that I use for my kindergarten students.  Included in this packet are two emergent reader texts with both black and white and colored readers.  You get all of these readers for only $2 (If purchased today, it's on sale for $1.)  I purchased them and my kids LOVE them!!  They are perfect for one-to-one matching and print concepts.

Stephany also has Whole Class Writing Journal Covers (Apple Theme) for only $1.50.  Students choose what topic they want to write about from a variety of writing journal topics. These are great for use throughout September!  These covers can be printed and added to bound writing journals or glued to the front of composition or spiral bound notebooks. Super easy and quick prep! Keep the notebooks in your writing center for students to use throughout the season.

And if you are wanting a Johnny Appleseed Math Activity... here is one...  FREE!!

I know that there are many great "apple finds".  If you know of any free or inexpensive apple activities or resources, please link them below.  Having all apple resources linked in one place will help out so many teachers as we are always looking for fun ideas and resources in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost.

Link up your apple resources or activities below.

Endless Possibilities,
Stephanie

Fabulous Fall Freebie!

I am linking up with 2nd Grade Pad for  "My Favorite Freebie."  I created this Johnny Appleseed Mini-Unit as a celebration/thank you for making my goal on Teachers Pay Teachers for the quarter!  It's my favorite because it has a ton of great activities in it!  Fall is by far my favorite season, so I thought it would be fitting to create a fall related unit.  It's fabulous because it is 30 pages of free, free, free!  AND.... it is Common Core Aligned!  Click HERE to get it for free.

Johnny Appleseed Craftivity

 Apple Taste Testing Survey

 Real & Nonsense Word Sort

Apple Ten Frames

It also has 2 emergent readers, counting apples activity, and an apple food taste testing with sequencing.  

Go check out all of the other linked up freebies at 2nd Grade Pad and don't forget to leave feedback on all the freebies to show your appreciation! 

I plan on trying to do a freebie like this every quarter as kind of a thank you to our followers here and my followers on TpT, so make sure you follow!  

Endless Possibilities,

Stephany