Contraction Surgery!

I thought I'd share some of my favorite lessons so far this year. By far, Contraction Surgery has been one of the BEST lessons- not only was it super fun, but it was meaningful. My friend found the CUTEST idea of turning a lesson on contractions into Contraction Surgery- you'd cut apart the two words (have not)- and then put them back together as -haven't- using a bandaid as the apostrophe! As soon as I heard about this, I was in- but I wanted to make it as fantastic as possible I'm JUST starting to learn how to make my own resources, and I knew this was going to be a bit complex for what I wanted. Enter Christie, over at First Grade Fever. I emailed her the idea, and no kidding, it was like she read my mind. She made the CUTEST center/desk work packet possible. And it's only $2.50 at her TPT store! This is what the cover looks like:

And you can get it here: Contraction Surgery TPT link!


So, here's how I did it. I printed off copies of the book for a whole group lesson (you'll see in the packet there's books for individuals, and then there's more of a center set- I saved the center set for center work after the whole group lesson). I asked a friend that works at the hospital to donate surgical masks, and made sure I had plenty of bandaids. To introduce what a surgeon does (I wanted them to understand the difference between the doctor they see regularly and a surgeon), I actually played a clip of Grey's Anatomy. Now, if you've seen the show, you know that most of the content is NOT suitable for first grade. However, this particular episode, This Magic Moment, starts off with one of the surgeons voicing over why the theater and an operating room are similar. The first 3-5 minutes are DYNAMITE when it comes to showing kids what surgery/an OR is all about. So, I played the clip, then dressed the tables with a light blue plastic table cloth (dollar store, of course!) We laid out the surgical tools- scissors, bandaids, contraction surgery books- and from then on, we addressed each other as doctor.

The set up! I think I'm up front with the SmartBoard

So, then we did the first several together. Some of mine needed to stick with me, while others whizzed on. Basically, they LOVED it. They got super serious about it, and I'm telling you, there's not a kid in my class who doesn't know their contractions. They get the center out and match up the contractions all the time! This has by far been one of the BEST lessons I've taught this year! The only thing I underestimated is how long it would take (that's the first year teacher in me!) and how many bandaids I would need! We ended up finishing it in small groups over the next few days, and I loved it that some of my kids started bringing in their own bandaids! They were SO into it! Also, I love that they know a little more about the art/science of medicine, and it brings them a bit closer to a bright future! Here's some pictures (shown with permission), of my fabulous M.D's!

Taking this seriously!

Her mom said she could get used to this look!

Thanks for stopping by!