First graders at Holladay Elementary are learning about winter in science (SOL1.7) and compound words in Language Arts (SOL1.6g), so today students in Ms. Schemmel’s class wrote and illustrated sentences with winter compound words. We used ABCYa! Storymaker, which is a great site for writing in the lower grades. First we brainstormed a list of winter compound words: snowman, earmuffs, overcoat, wintertime, snowball, gingerbread, fireplace, snowflake, iceberg, frostbite, evergreen, peppermint, sweatshirt, turtleneck, pullover, snowplow, etc. Next students typed a sentence or two about winter using some of the compound words we discussed. I explained how to start each sentence with a capital using Shift, put a space between each word with the space bar, and end each sentence with a period. It’s also important to explain to first graders that when they get to the end of the line, it will automatically go to the next line if they just keep typing. When they finished their sentences, they used the painting tools to paint a winter picture. I showed them how to use the paint bucket to fill in the sky and the spray can to make snowflakes. When they were finished, we saved them, and I uploaded them to CoMemories. You can see them all here.
