We started first grade (or Year 1, or Form 1B) last week.
I've chosen to use M.B. Synge's On the Shores of the Great Sea as our history spine. The first two stories in On the Shores of the Great Sea ("The Home of Abraham" & "Into Africa") were also about Abraham. I'm also using this as our Bible reading schedule, which meant that our first Bible story also happened to be about Abraham (Genesis 12:1-5).
Prior to reading "The Home of Abraham," I pointed out the Euphrates River and Iraq on a map in an atlas. (We used a National Geographic Kids World Atlas). I also made a list of the proper nouns in the chapter (Abraham, Chaldeans, Euphrates, Eden, Terah, Sarai, Lot, Hebrew). I read one page at a time. Gemma's narration was something like, "Abraham's father was Terah, and his wife was Sarai, and his little nephew was Lot..." That made me chuckle.
She also said that Abraham "crossed the flood," referring to this passage:
He crossed it and became known as the Hebrew - the man who had crossed the river flood - the man who came from beyond the Euphrates.
It was a pretty good beginning narration.
For "Into Africa," I again started with the list of pronouns. Gemma saw the names and said excitedly, "I see words from the last story!" I pointed out places in the atlas (Asia, Africa, Syria, Iraq, Euphrates, Egypt, Nile). Then - and this was something I had completely forgotten to do with "The Home of Abraham" - I told her to listen closely because I was going to ask her to tell back what she heard. Until she gets into the habit of narrating all of her lessons, I think reminding her that she will be narrating is probably a good idea. Because I told her this, she asked if I could read one paragraph at a time. Sure! I liked that she understood that she would be able to give a better narration if she narrated more frequently. Finally, I had her draw while she listened.
For "Into Africa," I again started with the list of pronouns. Gemma saw the names and said excitedly, "I see words from the last story!" I pointed out places in the atlas (Asia, Africa, Syria, Iraq, Euphrates, Egypt, Nile). Then - and this was something I had completely forgotten to do with "The Home of Abraham" - I told her to listen closely because I was going to ask her to tell back what she heard. Until she gets into the habit of narrating all of her lessons, I think reminding her that she will be narrating is probably a good idea. Because I told her this, she asked if I could read one paragraph at a time. Sure! I liked that she understood that she would be able to give a better narration if she narrated more frequently. Finally, I had her draw while she listened.
The picture is Abraham, a hot sun with no rain, a camel (the animal that looks like a horse), a sheep, Abraham's tent (behind the animals), a pyramid (lower left), a river (along the bottom of the page), and corn (grain growing next to the tent).
I made her first 1st grade drawing lesson How to Draw a Camel. Here are our camels... 😊
No comments:
Post a Comment