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First - My World
First - My World
First - My World
MYWORLD
INTRODUCTION
Welcome t o Your Nat ural Learner Overall Focus
First Grade - My World! Geography and People Around the World
In this theme, your child will discover how they fit Int ent ion
into the big world around them!
As your child is becoming more aware of their
How t o Use This Theme surroundings and realizing that there is a much
bigger world around them, it is a great time to
The theme is divided into sections to make it easy
learn about the world, the people in it, what it is
for you to pull the activities that you want to focus
made of, and where your child belongs in it! The
on each day/week. Try to vary the subject areas
intention of the "My World" theme is to help your
you pull from, though you'll notice that many of
child discover both abstract ideas like culture and
the activities are cross-curricular and touch on a
people around the world and concrete ideas like
variety of subject areas within a singular activity
map reading skills and coin counting. Your child
(notice the guide below). Each activity also has
will discover more about themselves as they learn
suggestions for which books to pair it with and
about others and the world around them.
which other activities in the theme it goes well
with. Keep in mind that these are merely Not e t o Parent s
suggestions - feel free to flow through this theme
This theme contains similar intentions to others in
as your child is interested in a particular area and
the First Grade Curriculum, particularly "My
as it suits your schedule and needs.
Neighborhood" and "My Family." Feel free to use
Subject Area Guide these several themes interchangeably as you talk
about culture, travel, and history!
Look for these symbols on each activity page to let
you know which subject areas your child will be Key Learning
learning about while doing the activity!
My world is a big and beautiful place made up of
M Y WORLD THEM E 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Use t his t able of cont ent s t o quickly find t he
act ivit y or sect ion t hat you're searching for.
If you are viewing thisdigitally, you can click the CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS INTRO.....14
activity or section and it will take you directly
My Initial Island.....15
there!
Edible Country.....16
RECOMMENDED READING.....3
Go Geocaching.....21
MATH EXPLORATIONS INTRO.....5
Explore a Landform.....22
Geometry Map....6
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Money, Money, Money....7
Where Do I Belong?.....24
GPS in My Neighborhood.....25
SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS INTRO.....10
Cultural Foods Taste Test.....26
How Does the Earth Change?.....11
Build Landforms.....12
EXTRA RESOURCES.....27
How are Mountains Made?.....13
M Y WORLD THEM E 2
RECOM M ENDED READING
This is a list of suggested books for this topic. They are not necessary for the activities and anything
you can find similar to this list will be a great supplement/addition should you have trouble finding
these texts. These are simply ideas to help support your ?My World?learning journey! Pick them up
at your local library, bookstore, or order through an online retailer like Amazon.com. In this list you
will find a variety of levels of text, allowing for a balance of read-alouds, read togethers, and
independent readers. All are important for a meaningful literacy experience.
M Y WORLD THEM E 3
LITERACY SKILLS FOCUS
Your child has spent the early years of their lives listening to you and others read to them, so most
likely they have a good grasp of what story structure in fiction texts looks like, and first grade is the
perfect time to help them put the proper vocabulary to what they already know and have a good
understanding of.
Since you are spending this theme learning about the world, geography, and maps, what better
time to create a story map for your literacy skill focus!? If your child is a very visual learner, you can
draw this out on paper, but you can just as easily talk about it as you read without anything formal.
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The important elements of story structure that your first grader needs to know are Charact ers
(who is in the story?), Set t ing (where is this story happening?), and retelling the Sequence (What
happened at the beginning of the story? Middle?End?). A more advanced or older learner will be
able to identify a Problem and Solut ion in a story and the overall Lesson or moral of the story.
While you are reading fiction texts with your child, ask them to identify these important parts of
the story. If you feel at the end of first grade that your child is still struggling with some of these
concepts, try some more visual methods of showing them - models for the characters, drawing
pictures or pointing on a map the location, etc.
M Y WORLD THEM E 4
M ATH EXPLORATIONS
M Y WORLD THEM E 5
M ATH EXPLORATIONS
Geomet ry Map
Key Learning: By first grade, your child has a good understanding of the basic shapes and should be
able to recognize some of the more difficult and challenging ones. This fun activity will help your
child practice these shape names and how they fit together.
Ext ension idea: Have your child practice writing skills by labeling their map.
M Y WORLD THEM E 6
M ATH EXPLORATIONS
Money, Money, Money
Key Learning: First grade is a great time to introduce money skills to your child if you haven?t
already. Learning the names and denominations of your country?s money is an important skill, as it
builds a solid foundation for healthy spending and budgeting habits. This is a fun theme to
introduce and practice money counting because you can compare coins and bills from all around
the world!
Suggest ed Reading:
Need: a handful of coins (make sure there is an example of all
of your coin denominations), some bills, craft or popsicle
The Travel Book: A
sticks, marker
Journey Through Every
Direct ions: If you haven?t spent much time talking about
money yet, you?ll want to start very simple with this activity Country in the World by
and come back to it a few times as you practice more. Help Lonely Planet Kids
your child recognize the names and denominations of the
coins you use in your country and some of the bills you use as Children Around the
well. Explain that around the world, different countries and World by Donata
regions use different types of money that is all worth
Montanari
different amounts of money. Do some research online to find
images of money that other countries use to compare to
yours. Practice counting different combinations of coins together, starting simple with coins that
are of 1 or 10 value, and slowly make it more challenging using other denominations. To turn
money counting into a fun and challenging game, write a variety of totals on a handful of craft
sticks, put them in a jar or hold them in your hand, and have your child choose one. Have them use
the coins to create the total amount on the stick. Is there more than one way they can make the
amount? As your child gets better, have races with others where two players grab a stick and race
to make their amount.
Ext ension idea: If you live somewhere with a money exchange, take some money and exchange it
into a variety of different denominations for your child to explore what the money around the
world looks like! Even better - if you have a coin collector in your family, reach out to them to show
off their collection!
M Y WORLD THEM E 7
M ATH EXPLORATIONS
Make an Apple Pie and See t he World!
Key Learning: This activity is based off of the phenomenal book How to Make an Apple Pie and See
the World by Marjorie Priceman. In this activity, your child will practice baking and cooking skills,
reading a recipe, and identifying where in the world the various ingredients come from to put
together a delicious apple pie.
Need: apple pie recipe, ingredients for the apple pie, book (if Suggest ed Reading:
you can find it easily), world map
Direct ions: If you can find this book at your local library or How to Make an Apple
buy it somewhere, that would be amazing, but you don't have
Pie and See the World by
to have the book to complete this activity. Do a quick search
online for the book before beginning the activity (if you don't Marjorie Priceman
have the book )to find out where the various ingredients
originate. Work with your child to read the recipe and bake
The Travel Book: A
the apple pie together. With each ingredient, show your child Journey Through Every
on the map where that ingredient comes from. Did it have to Country in the World by
travel far to reach your home? Practice measuring and using
fractions if included in the recipe. There are so many things
Lonely Planet Kids
related to math to talk about and learn when you are cooking
together in the kitchen! Embrace it!
Ext ension idea: Enjoy the apple pie with friends and family and have your child share what they can
remember about where around the world the various ingredients came from.
M Y WORLD THEM E 8
M ATH EXPLORATIONS
Traveling Through Time Zones
Key Learning: As your child discovers how big the world is, an important thing to learn is that it is
not the same time all over the world!
Need: several analog clocks (get these cheap from Ikea or other box store), or make some with
paper plates and hands and brads that you can manually
adjust Suggest ed Reading:
Direct ions: Ask your child what time it is right now. (Note:
this activity will pair nicely with the ?My Time?theme!)
Somewhere In the World
Explain that if the sun is shining on your side of the world
Right Now by Stacey
right now, that means that the other side of the world is not
Shuett
facing the sun, so it is nighttime in other places. It?s cool to
know that there are 24 hours in a day and there are 24 ?time Children Around the
zones?on the planet, so that it is always a different time World by Donata
somewhere else around the world! Have your child identify Montanari
on a map a few places where they have friends/family that
live in other time zones or simply choose places of interest.
1 locations and set a
Look up the current time for each of these
clock to that local time. Stand or hang the clocks in a row and
have your child help you label them. Practice telling time,
discovering how far ahead or behind another time zone is from yours, and identify the time zones
represented by your clocks on a map. Leave these clocks up throughout the duration of this theme
to encourage ongoing practice and learning.
Ext ension idea: If you have a friend or family member that lives somewhere else in the world, set
up a Skype date with this person so that your child can see firsthand the different time that it is
elsewhere in the world. Are they eating breakfast while you?re eating dinner? Are they getting
ready for bed right when you?re getting up? Is it dark there while it?s light at your house?
M Y WORLD THEM E 9
SCIENCE EXPERIM ENTS
M Y WORLD THEM E 10
SCIENCE EXPERIM ENTS
How Does t he Eart h Change?
Key Learning: Your child has been spending time in this theme learning about landforms and the
way the world is pieced together in a unique design. It?s hard for a young child to imagine that the
Earth can change, but indeed it does! This activity will show your child how weathering and erosion
affect the
Ext ension idea: Brainstorm some other events and situations that might cause damage to a
landform, either rapidly or over time. How can you mimic these events in your trays to visualize?
M Y WORLD THEM E 11
SCIENCE EXPERIM ENTS
Build Landforms
Key Learning: Depending on where you live, you likely are unable to see every time of landform
that your child will be learning about in this theme. To get a good visual of what these landforms
look like, build models of them!
M Y WORLD THEM E 12
SCIENCE EXPERIM ENTS
How are Mount ains Made?
Key Learning: Obviously understanding plate tectonics is going to be a bit beyond what your first
grader is ready to learn, but that doesn?t mean that they can?get a hands-on visual of how mountains
are created!
Direct ions: Ask your child if they know how mountains are
formed. Believe it or not, they haven?t always been there - An Island Growsby Lola
they?re created over time by changes in the Earth! Let your
Schaefer
child know that you are going to let them see first hand how
this happens. First, spread a layer of whipped cream on the
plate - this is the movable ground. Next, dip each of your
graham cracks in the bowl of water, just one side and only for a
second or two, as you don?t want it to get too mushy. Place the
two crackers side by side on the whipped cream, wet sides
facing each other. Explain to your child that when the Earth?s
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crust shifts or moves because of something like an earthquake
or volcanic eruption, it causes parts of the Earth to separate
(creating things like canyons) and other parts of the Earth to smash together. Have your child slowly
push the two graham crackers together and notice that the graham crackers bend and shift to create
a mountain shape. This is exactly what happens to create real-life mountains!
M Y WORLD THEM E 13
CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS
M Y WORLD THEM E 14
CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS
My Init ial Island
Key Learning: Have your child envision and create an island in the shape of their first name initial.
This creative project will allow your child to showcase what they?ve learned in this theme about
maps, landforms, and the physical world around them, and will help you assess what they have
learned in the process.
M Y WORLD THEM E 15
CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS
Edible Count ry
Key Learning: As your child learns about your individual country or region, creating an edible
version of your country is a great way to practice learning it?s various landforms and features!
Need: large tortilla, food safe marker/pen, variety of food objects to create with (examples:
marshmallows, peanut butter, spaghetti noodles, berries,
grapes, nuts, cereal, etc.), plate or tray to build on, paper and Suggest ed Reading:
markers to create a map key
Direct ions: Invite your child to create an edible version of your Swift Walker: A
country by using food to showcase its landforms and features. Continental Journey by
Start by having your child draw the shape of your country on Verlyn Tarlton
the tortilla with the food-safe pen (if your country has
Me on the Map by Joan
challenging boundary lines, you can print and cut out a
template to trace). Now have your child decorate the country Sweeney
with food landforms and prominent features. If it would help,
have your child look at some satellite photos or images in their
books to determine what they?re going to place where. When
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they?re finished, have your child create a map key to designate
what the different food elements represent.
Ext ension idea: Do you have friends or family that live in another country? Have your child talk with
them and/or learn about their country?s landforms and features to create another edible country.
M Y WORLD THEM E 16
CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS
Paint ed Flag Rocks
Key Learning: One of the most creatively enticing parts of learning about all of the countries around
the world is looking at their unique flags! Have fun exploring the flags of your country, nearby
countries, favorite countries, or heck - all of the countries!
Direct ions: Show your child your country?s flag and ask them
to describe what they see. Do some research together or share Children Around the
with your child the story behind your country?s flag, what it
World by Donata
means and represents, and any other important details about
how it came to represent your country. Explain that a country?s Montanari
flag is a symbol of pride, and that it represents all of the people
Somewhere In the World
of the country, including you! Paint your flag on one of the
rocks. Now, look through the list of flags together and have Right Now by Stacey
your child point out their favorites, talk about the countries Shuett
close to your or where you have friends/family. Have fun
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painting the flags on rocks. These make great loose parts
pieces when finished.
Ext ension idea: Just like you researched the history behind your country?s flag, do some more
reading about another country?s flag history and compare. Are there any similarities?
M Y WORLD THEM E 17
CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS
Playdough Cont inent s
Key Learning: With only seven continents to learn, it is a great place for children to start with
recognition by shape. Learning the continents by shape and name will help with their world map
skills.
Direct ions: Show your child the seven continents on the planet Suggest ed Reading:
- Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South
America, and Antarctica. Have your child point them out on a
Swift Walker: A
world map. Which continent do you live on? Have you visited
Continental Journey by
any others?Invite your child to explore making the outlines of
Verlyn Tarlton
the continents with playdough, using whichever tools they
might need. Once they?ve all been made, have your child Me on the Map by Joan
identify what they are and compare them to the world map Sweeney
again.
Ext ension idea: if your child is enjoying this activity, you can
continue the discovery by making the shape of your state or
province, creating maps, or more.
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Note: My favorite homemade playdough recipe is this:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup salt
- 2 teaspoonscream of tartar
- slightly lessthan 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- Optional: essential oils, coloring
Directions: In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add any essential oils or coloring to the oil, then add to dry
ingredients, stir briefly. Add water, carefully so asnot to splash. Mix well, dough will begin to form. Turn
out onto lightly floured surface and knead until it's no longer sticky. Dough will keep for 2-3 weeksin an
airtight container.
M Y WORLD THEM E 18
NATURE ADVENTURES
M Y WORLD THEM E 19
NATURE ADVENTURES
Find a Pirat e Treasure
Key Learning: Being able to read a map is a great skill for young children to learn. This simple and
fun outdoor activity will not only get your child exploring in nature but will also have them eagerly
practicing their new map skills.
M Y WORLD THEM E 20
NATURE ADVENTURES
Go Geocaching
Key Learning: Continuing with the learning about using GPS and map following skills, geocaching is
a super fun way to explore these new skills in nature! Even better, if this is something your family
has never done before, it?s a super fun new activity for a family adventure!
M Y WORLD THEM E 21
NATURE ADVENTURES
Explore a Landform
Key Learning: Wherever you live, there is going to be at least one landform that is close enough for
you and your child to explore together and see firsthand! The more your child can see something in
real life, the more meaningful the learning experience is!
Need: nothing
Direct ions: Look at a local map with your child and find a Suggest ed Reading:
landform that is nearest to you. What do you live close to? Mapping Penny?sWorld
Mountains?Rivers? Beach? Desert? Identify at least one and by Loreen Leedy
make a plan to visit it and explore. The best way to do this is to
Looking at Landformsby
plan a family adventure or day trip. Plan ahead by
brainstorming what you expect to see and what you will look Ellen Mitten
for. Read about the landform before going and have your child
make a list, draw pictures, or take notes in their nature journal
about what they will look for at the landform. When you are
there, try to find answers to the things your child brainstormed
or put down. Take pictures, look for evidence of weathering or
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erosion, explore the animal habitats, and just have fun being in
a place you?ve been learning about!
Ext ension idea: Do you live close to more than one type of landform? How many different types of
landforms can you visit in a day trip near your home? Plan ahead with some great landform family
adventures.
M Y WORLD THEM E 22
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
M Y WORLD THEM E 23
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
W here Do I Belong?
Key Learning: As your child begins to become aware of the great big world around them, it can be
hard to figure out exactly where they belong in all of that big-ness! This activity helps your child
slowly narrow down piece by piece exactly how they fit into the big world they live in.
Ext ension idea: Do some research about population numbers for each of the circles on your project.
How many people are on the planet, on your continent, in your country, etc. This is a great way to
get a visualization of the numbers of people around the world.
M Y WORLD THEM E 24
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
GPS In My Neighborhood
Key Learning: Reading a map is a great skill, but as you know, we have quickly moved into a world
where technology dominates everything, including our map use! Helping your child use the GPS
feature on a map could be life-saving, and give them a great foundation of technology skills that will
come in handy as they get older.
Direct ions: If your child has never used or looked at the GPS
map on your phone, show them how it works. Spend some time Follow That Map: A First
zooming in and out, looking at and recognizing your
Book of Mapping Skills
neighborhood and city, finding your home, switching to
satellite view, etc. Explain that when the phone moves, it sends by Scot Ritchie
signals to satellites and back to your phone to show you where
Mapping Penny?sWorld
you are. Watch this happen by going out for a walk in your
neighborhood, watching the phone as you move. Your child by Loreen Leedy
will be able to see their location in real-time as they walk past
familiar places. This is really fun for a child to see!
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Ext ension idea: Let your child use the GPS on your phone the
next time you are driving to a nearby location so they can track
a further distance. Let your child try to guide you where you need to go to practice directional
language like right/left/straight, turn, and even north/south/east/west.
M Y WORLD THEM E 25
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
Cult ural Foods Tast e Test
Key Learning: One of the most important elements of a culture is the food that they eat! Explore a
local or new culture through experiencing their popular foods.
Ext ension idea: Expand your horizons and host a ?Tastes Around the World?party for friends or
family. Choose from a variety of cultures and regions in the world and try making food from all of
the regions to explore. Even more fun - make the list and have each guest volunteer to bring
something from each region.
M Y WORLD THEM E 26
EXTRA RESOURCES/ IDEAS
Websit es/Apps
Kid World Cit izen is a great resource for learning about cultures and places around the world
App Geography by Kids Discover - fun ipad app for exploring geography
Free Resources
I highly encourage you to choose a culture to explore more throughout your study in this theme.
Check out books from the library, browse the internet, reach out to local people who are a part of
that culture for help, etc.
For the child that is really enjoying learning about facts around the world, the game Brain Box
Around t he World is fun!
M Y WORLD THEM E 27