Ms. Elliston and her first grade class collect items from nature and around their homes, and they use their imaginations to create word problems using addition and subtraction during their Main Lesson focusing on math.
Dear First Grade,
Begin this morning with a lovely nature walk into your yard, woods, or neighborhood. As you are walking pay close attention to the sounds you hear. Do you hear the bird song, woodpeckers, or geese? Is it easier to listen when you close your eyes? On your walk, be sure to collect treasures to use in your math work.
Our morning verse to begin:
The sun with loving light,
Makes bright for me the day
The soul with spirit power
Gives strength onto my limbs
In sunlight shining clear
I reverence, oh god,
The strength of humankind
Which thou so gracious has planted in my soul
That I with all my might
May love to work and learn,
From thee stream light and strength
To thee rise love and thanks
Song: Spring is Coming
Spring is coming spring is coming
Birdies build your nests,
Weave together straw and feather’
Each one doing their best,
Spring is coming, spring is coming,
Flowers are coming too
Crocus, lilies, dafo-dillies
All are coming through,
Spring is coming, spring is coming
All around is fair,
Shimmer, quiver, on the river.
Joy is everywhere.
Verse focusing on E, A, O sounds:
See said the bee I can fly into the tree
“Ah” said the star, I’m high above you away and far
“Oh” said the gnome, my home is under the stone.
Speech: Practice your special poem
I sent each of you a special poem to work with from now until the end of the school year. Once you are familiar with your poem, you can write it in your Main Lesson book. Some of the poems are long so maybe they only write a few lines and that is okay! On the following page, draw a picture to go with the poem. Here is a pdf with more poems to choose from if your child wants to work with another poem. This is great practice for reading.
Skill Work (15 minutes): Word Sort Activity 
There are enough word sorts to do two word sorts a day. This week we will continue to work with differentiating the short vowel sounds. Print this page and cut along the dotted lines. Mix up all the words and then sort into the categories.
Math Lesson
For the last two weeks, we have been working with math worksheets that focus on adding and subtracting. Review the signs we use to add and subtract. For this lesson, we will be working with treasures found in your home or on your nature walk.
Begin
Sort your treasures into categories.
Count your treasures.
Now come up with one addition problem and one subtraction problem using your treasures.
Write down the math stories/problems.
Demonstrate, using collected treasures. Show how you know the number stories or problems to be true. Make up as many problems as you would like and record them on a blank piece of paper to be stored in the blue math folder.
End the math lesson by playing catch with a ball and counting by 2s. You (or a sibling) start with 2, throw the ball to your partner and have them say 4.
Listen to the Story
Main Lesson Book Drawing
Write out two of your math sentences on the top of the page.
Draw out two of your math sentences on the bottom of the page. (See my page as an example but fill in your own math discoveries.)
Verse to End Main Lesson
Within me lies an image
Of all that I can see
And when I have become it
My heart is truly free.
Bonus Work
Here is an optional worksheet for continued practice.
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