Character Traits

Our last unit before break was Character Traits.  I have been meaning to post this for quite some time but I was so busy with end of quarter testing, and then I got sick with strep throat just before Christmas (which I'm just now beginning to get over).  I created several activities that I thought I'd share.

First we discussed physical, or outside, traits.  We listed the physical traits of several characters on chart paper (sorry, forgot to take pictures).  A couple of great read-alouds for this were Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon and Moosestache. We also did these sheets:

 

 

 

Click here to download

Click here to download

The, the students designed a creature. I downloaded several coloring pages of aliens/monsters from the internet and had the students color them.  Then, they filled in this sheet describing their creatures' physical traits.  I wish I had some pictures of the finished product.  They were adorable.

Click here to download

Then, we began talking about character traits.  We had a specific list of trait words to work on.  We did several T-charts listing the trait and the evidence from the text or pictures.  I made this worksheet as a checkpoint to see who was "getting it."  (I read these aloud to them.)

Click here to download

Click here to download

Most students were doing well at identifying traits, but weren't being specific with their proof from the text, so we did several examples of being specific and then did this sheet. 
 
In the end, only about 60% of my students were proficient/advanced on the post-test.  Not great results.  So, the other half of my class gets to go over it all again in small groups! 

Hopefully someone out there can use these.  Enjoy!

Reading Buddies

I seriously need to get better at posting on here.  I don't know how people find the time to do it every day!  They must be better at time management than I am.

Every Friday, my class gets together with a 5th grade class to have "reading buddies." Each first grader is paired with a fifth grader who listens to them read.  The kids (both 1st and 5th) LOVE this time and look forward to it.  Plus, it's a nice break for me because the 5th graders are really doing the teaching. 

This week, we decided to do something a little different.  Recently, our school purchased subscriptions to raz-kids.com.  Each student gets a log-in and I can set what level they read at.  Then, the site gives them books on their level to read.

We have a set of laptops that the school shares and I've never used them with first graders before, but I've wanted to get more technology in the hands of my students.  So, with the help of the 5th graders, my students were able to learn how to open them, turn them on, and get to the raz-kids website.  Then, the first graders read the online books to their buddy for the remaining time.  It was an awesome way to introduce the laptops and the website to my firsties!  Here are a couple pictures. Enjoy!