Students filled in their graphic organizers while we were reading the following books aloud to them. We stopped frequently for discussion and to clarify any questions. They were really great about asking questions and then the teacher who wasn't reading aloud would look up the information online for the students. We also have inexpensive goldfish in our room (which is part of our science curriculum as well) that students could observe. This was very helpful when it came to understanding how fish breath and the function of gills and fins.
For this writing project, we had students edit theirs and a peers first draft together. This is a new experience for them, and it was hard for them to grasp the concept of writing something twice (a grueling task for first graders!). To make the experience meaningful, the kids came up with reasons on why we should edit our writing and make two copies: - To make it neater and nicer - To fix your mistakes - To help you learn the information better by writing it twice
Since this was so new, we all edited a paragraph that Mrs. York wrote for us before the students edited their own writing.