
Fun In First
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A Teaching Blog by Jodi Southard. Jodi is a 1st-grade teacher from Terre Haute, Indiana. Through this blog, she strives to make learning fun, practical, and rigorous for all students. Her goal is to make things that are easy to prep and can take some of the stress off of you as a teacher.
Fun In First
2d ago
As the end of the year approaches, students and teachers experience various emotions. For instance, both are eager for summer break and time to enjoy warm weather. However, students know they will miss seeing their friends each day. Teachers also feel pressure to ensure students master the information needed for the next grade. So, teachers are incorporating fun activities covering essential material that allow students to work together. Since planning these activities takes time, there are April Math & Literacy Worksheets to help! Having an entire month of activities ready to go will feel ..read more
Fun In First
1w ago
Have you ever looked at the weather and cringed when many different elements may happen in the same week? For instance, snow is predicted one day, rain another, and sunshine at the end of the week. While this happens all the time, teachers know it makes students extra excited. So, whenever the predicted weather begins, all eyes focus on what is happening outside versus inside. Thankfully, teachers can incorporate Weather Activities & Reading Passages into fascinating lessons! Students will love having their interests embedded into lessons.
Weather Activities & Reading Passages&nb ..read more
Fun In First
2w ago
Learning how to write is such a complex skill. There is so much to process, from organizing thoughts to incorporating sentence structure and grammar. Students need some type of organizer to help structure what they want to say. Otherwise, they will ramble on and talk about multiple topics. Thankfully, the Write the Rainbow Writing Organizer provides an incredible tool to turn students into strong writers!
Write the Rainbow Writing Organizer
This has been the perfect organizational tool for writing in my classroom! Since students love rainbows, they are always eager to begin writing. Honestly ..read more
Fun In First
1M ago
Learning how to read requires so much time, effort, and practice. During this process, students can become frustrated and overwhelmed. Often, this is due to seeing so many words at once and having to decode them. Since teachers never want to overwhelm students, they break the reading process down into multiple steps. For instance, the Decodable Sentence Trees allow students to practice decodable words and increase fluency one line at a time. Students will love blossoming into proud, confident readers!
Decodable Sentence Trees
When students need help with reading fluently, they need acti ..read more
Fun In First
1M ago
As you begin to plan for March, your creative outlet may be running low. Honestly, this is the case for all teachers! It is hard to keep pushing through between lesson planning, preparing for state assessments, and keeping students engaged. Thankfully, most schools have spring break coming up soon to help everyone recharge. Until this occurs, the March Math & Literacy Worksheets are here to help! They will ensure students keep learning, and teachers can prepare everything needed at school.
March Math & Literacy Worksheets
These worksheets are the perfect way to have easy yet eng ..read more
Fun In First
1M ago
Learning to read can be an excruciating skill for students to learn. There are so many words, and it can be frustrating for students to learn how to pronounce them. Thankfully, caring teachers work on reading one step at a time. For many classrooms, this involves phonics instruction. Then, students progress to decodable readers and slowly add in comprehension practice. While reading is a fantastic activity, it makes sense why it can be exhausting for students! Luckily, the Decodable Comprehension Passages and Booklets are here to help beginning readers!
Decodable Comprehension Passages and Bo ..read more
Fun In First
1M ago
The winter season often creates sad feelings among students. They are tired of it being dark outside for so much of the day. Additionally, they are disappointed that they often have indoor recess. Honestly, the winter blues are real for our students! To help counteract these feelings, teachers work hard to create engaging activities. The hope is that students will have so much fun learning that they will forget about the cold, dreary weather outside. Luckily, the Winter Challenge is here to excite students!
Winter Challenge
If you’ve been searching for fun and engaging academic ac ..read more
Fun In First
2M ago
One of the best parts of teaching is being able to put a personalized touch on standards. In other words, the state tells teachers what students must learn before the end of the year but leaves planning up to teachers. So, they work hard to bring in aspects that are essential for students to learn about. Likewise, teachers incorporate elements that excite students to increase engagement. Thankfully, there are so many incredible ways to do this to help make learning fun and exciting! For instance, the Interactive Fact Folders for January are an excellent way to focus on many standards through h ..read more
Fun In First
2M ago
A day students anxiously await all year is finally here- the 100th day of school! Honestly, there is something so special about being in school for 100 days. Students look forward to counting to this number each year and celebrating with their classmates. So, teachers love to add in a few special activities to take the celebration to the next level. Thankfully, the 100th Day of School Bundle of Activities has incredible ways for students to celebrate while still focusing on academics. Students will love the themed activities to ring in the 100th day of school!
Why is this day Important?
If yo ..read more
Fun In First
2M ago
Reading is hard! It is hard to learn and hard to teach. Students become frustrated over not knowing words and having to sound everything out. Additionally, it is overwhelming to realize that it is impossible to sound out every word. Therefore, it is challenging for teachers to provide strong reading instruction when every student is at a different level. Luckily, there are January Differentiated Reading Passages to support every student’s journey to be a reader! Students will love having reading instruction at their level.
January Differentiated Reading Passages
The January differentiate ..read more