You don't need to reinvent the wheel...just customize it!

One of my goals this year was to make more interactive flipcharts on the promethean board. Last year I found myself making flipcharts that were basically PowerPoint’s. The flipcharts were not engaging my students and were lacking so many interactive and fun tools.

As I was searching the web I found a great website with pre-made game flipcharts ready for you to customize! You will find a premade tic-tac-toe board, snakes and ladders, battleship and many more!

Click Here to go view the website.

Do you have a favorite website where you can find already made flipcharts?

First Grade Database Lesson

I've come up with a few ideas for my database lesson. Let me know what you think!

• Pumpkin database: Every year we have a pumpkin day where the students conduct many math activities with their pumpkin. I was thinking that this year I could have the students enter their information into a database (with the help of parents) and then we could do some investigating. I could set up an authentic problem by saying that Cox's Farm (a local farm) is trying to figure out the measurements/qualities of the best pumpkin. I could even come up with a Best Pumpkin formula that they had to complete. I would see if the farmer from Cox's Farm would send us pictures of the perfect pumpkin or any other items. Thoughts?
• Classroom Pet Database: I am in search of a classroom pet and thought that I could turn this into a great database lesson! I could have the students work in groups to research the types of pets (fish, bird, rabbit, hamster, turtle, hermit crabs, snake) that we could have in the classroom. They would use the database that either I create or they create to find the perfect pet. I would have qualities that I would be looking for in pets (quiet, active in the day, hypo allergenic, small, odorless, wild/tame) in the database. They students would have to filter through the database to find the perfect pet! At the end we would be able to get the classroom pet! Thoughts?
• Field Trip database: With the budget cuts we are only able to take one field trip. I could have the students research 5 different places we could go. I would then have different filters such as cost, location, indoor/outdoor, transportation, interest. At the end we would go on the field trip that we found to be best. Thoughts?

I am trying to decide if I want to create the database ahead of time or have the students create the database themselves. It would of course take some time to have the students create the database but I feel this would be a good lesson in itself. 

Any suggestions?

Dalton Sherman

The Influential Teacher

Mixing literacy centers and technology

As a first grade teacher I feel like I am always being pulled in a hundred different directions. Right now the big pull is towards a new literacy program. This literacy program requires us to spend from 8:30-10:45 teaching writing and reading. We meet with small groups during this time and work with them on reading skills. While I am meeting with the small groups the other students are engaged in center work. Four children use the computer but the rest are doing other activities that do not involve technology. I would love to come up with meaningful technology activities for the students to complete during this time. I hate to not use technology for this long of a time period.

Does anyone have any ideas about how I could use technology during the centers/language arts time?