Happy Days in First Grade: Bats & Spiders Oh MY!

I'm no fan of creepy crawlers and animals of the night, but I have to admit, they sure are fun to learn about with my firsties! Throw in some nonfictional and fictional literature with writing and arts and craft, even the squirmiest students will definitely be caught in the learning web! :)

A fun activity that we do is that we start out with some nonfiction text paired with fictional stories. Afterwards, we create a t-chart and compare our findings. This is always so fun as it is interactive and involves a whole-group discussion on what is fact and what is fiction. As I am recording the students' findings, I am also highlighting correct capitalization, punctuation, and spacing along with sounding out the letters for additional spelling practice.

Afterwards, students are encouraged to pick a fact and fiction statement to record on their own writing template. Once completed, students then cut and glue their writing onto a bat tracer ready for display! Click to the image below for a free copy of the writing template!

Click on this link for the BAT TRACER.

As for spiders, we go through the same routine with pairing nonfiction and fiction texts and the t-chart. However, I add in a KWL chart and make it even more engaging by incorporating graphic organizers to help my students think through their writing.