Profession Practice - Year 1s

On my first Professional Practice I taught in a year 1 class. These are some of the activities that I completed as part of my Prac. This was a 10 day Prac.

Counting Backwards

"Ten Sly Piranhas"

The following lessons and activities incorporate Maths, English, ICT and Music.
 

 

This book is a fun alternative that the students really loved to read. There is also a version on Youtube that is sung to a tune. It's really good and offers a different way for the students to interact with the book. I used the Youtube version during the second lesson to refresh the story in students minds and also get the class engaged.

 

• Number card - These cards range from 0-20, then 30, 40 and 50. They show the numbers represented in multiple formats (numeral/ word/ picture) and also have the tens grouped. There is a magnet on the back so they can be pegged on a number line or stuck to a whiteboard. They are also laminated for durability. I used these cards for most of my lessons as they were good to just have up on the board to remind the students what the numbers looked like. I used these cards by giving each student a card and then I had the students organize themselves into a number line. I then played a Youtube video that counted backwards from twenty five. We played the clip on the Smartboard and counted down with the song. As their number was called the students had to shout out their number and hold their card up. It took a while for the students to get into it but after a few goes they really loved it.

 

 

Cut and Paste - I designed this activity twice, one uses an A3 piece of paper and the other design uses 2 A4 pieces. The students have to cut out the Piranha ponds and paste them into the correct square.

 

• Puzzles - You can download the basic puzzle design from many different places on the internet. I used a four piece puzzle so that the number could be represented in different ways. I included capital letters because some of the students in my class were having trouble recognizing that letters have upper and lower case letters which differ in shape. The students had to cut out the puzzle pieces and stick them onto a piece of coloured card. Great for practicing fine motor skills. 

 

 

• Game - Piranha Pond. This activity was used for a Maths Centre. The hard version is on the back of the easy version which allows for differentiation amongst the students. My class really enjoyed this activity. 

 

Monsters

"Bedtime for Monsters" by Ed Vere

 

 The following lessons and activities incorporate English, Art and ICT



 

• Monster Descriptions - After reading the book to the students we talked about the different ways to describe monsters. We brainstormed different adjectives on the board and then completed the worksheet below. Students were given coloured pieces of paper to write an adjective on that described the monster from the story. They then glued this on and drew an arrow to point to that particular feature. This activity allowed differentiation as I could decide how many pieces of paper the students were given. Underneath the picture students wrote a description of the monster using the words they had included.

• Monster Art - students drew a monster and attached the arms and legs with brads which allowed the limbs to move. They also stuck on googly eyes. Below are examples of the work by the students. In hindsight I should have provided the students with a drawn outline of the monster for them to cut out rather than have them draw one for themselves. However it was still an activity to students enjoyed and provided practice of fine motor skills.  

•  Wanted Monsters - This is a basic template that I found on the web. I handed out photos that I had taken of the students monsters. They cut out their monsters and glued them into the picture section. they then drew a background for their monster. They then wrote a description of their monster and placed an amount for a reward. The students especially loved talking about how much their rewards were for.

 

 

 

• Literacy Stations - Two literacy stations accompanied these lessons. The first one included ipads and a digital story that I created about monsters. For the story I created different monsters and then recorded children describing the monsters in the story. The students listened to the story and then completed the accompanying activity using laminated pictures of the monsters from the story. The second station involved two students sitting back to back. One student drew a monster and described their monster as they were drawing to the other student. The second student drew a monster according to the description they were given. Afterwards the students compared their drawings and put them up on the wall next to each other.