Every year I think to myself, "if only I had a little more time...with...this ...group!" Every year! It never gets easier to say goodbye to a family of first graders! We spend all year building a community and then, just like that, they are second graders! :(
For the most part, my end of the year activities are planned out and I'm ready for the big finish! Daily 5 time is running like a well oiled machine, these days! Another tear just dropped as I think of the hard work it took to get here!
Each year I end the year with a rainforest unit! It is a fun, engaging theme for students and I love it.
My kiddos are enjoy reading a huge assortment of rainforest books we have in our classroom library! I've really beefed up my collection!
I say this for every project, I'm sure, but this one is probably my absolute favorite! We learn so much about the layers of the rainforest, the animals that live there and demonstrate our learning by presenting a play to our families during the last week of school! This is such a fun way to end the year and truly is the Big Finish to first grade! The kids really look forward to performing for the Kindergarteners...they remember being the audience not that long ago!
I have rewritten a reader's theatre script every year, depending on the kiddos and personalities. I base the script off of Lynne Cherry's amazing book, The Great Kapok Tree! The kids really get into their parts as creatures from the rainforest! Over the years, I've accumulated super AMAZING costumes thanks to parent volunteers, past and present! It makes it so much fun for the kiddos to dress up like the animals!
After performing the play, the students share their interactive notebooks with families! What a wonderful way for my students to share a year's worth of learning!
Thanks for stopping by!
