Holiday Activities and Freebies!
As the leaves continue to fall and the calendar inches closer to the holiday season, the pace of the school year seems to accelerate. Your first graders have already learned so many new skills this fall and are getting ready for holiday breaks from school. This is why a homework routine can be so helpful! Students can review what they’ve been learning so they can keep their skills sharp as winter break rapidly approaches. In this post, I’m going to share some of my favorite November homework for first grade that will help you bring engaging literacy and math review to your daily routine.
It can be such a challenge to decide which skills are best for students to practice with homework activities! There are so many literacy and math skills that first graders can review, it can be difficult to narrow it down. Here are some of the things I like to include in first grade homework for November.
As first graders continue to learn new phonics patterns throughout the year, it’s helpful to review them in many different ways. By using different types of activities for phonics practice, you can keep the repetition from getting stale for students. Your homework routine is a great option for adding some engaging phonics practice to the mix!
This seasonal mystery picture is a great example of how you can make phonics homework fun for students! First, students will fill in the key by writing the beginning blends that they hear at the beginning of each picture. Each blend that they write will correspond to a color. Once the key is filled in, students will find and color the blends on the grid. Students love to see the picture come to life as they fill in the colors!
Another helpful skill that students can practice with homework is putting words in alphabetical order. This is an important life skill that will help students navigate the world around them. Plus, practicing ABC order can also help strengthen students’ letter identification skills.
This ABC order activity has a fun seasonal twist! Each turkey is holding a sign with four fall-themed words. Students will rewrite the words in alphabetical order on the lines provided. Not only will students strengthen their alphabet knowledge with this activity, but they will also practice their reading, vocabulary, and writing skills!
There are even more ways that you can incorporate engaging spelling and writing practice into your homework routine. Writing can be a very challenging task for young first graders, so it’s helpful to use fun seasonal activities to keep them motivated to practice!
This leaf color-by-code activity incorporates spelling and writing in a fun way for students! First, students can color the leaves based on the vowel sound they hear as they identify the picture on each leaf. Then, they can use their phonics skills to listen for the other sounds in the word. Once they have figured that out, they can write each word on the lines provided.
In addition to using homework for literacy practice, your homework routine can also provide some much-needed repetition with the math concepts your students have been learning in class. I always love to have students review addition and subtraction with fun homework activities!
For example, this turkey-themed activity gives students the chance to review addition and subtraction facts in a fun way. Each turkey is holding a sign with a target number. Students will look at the math fact on each of the turkey’s feathers and decide if that equation totals the target number. Students will then color the feathers that match the target number.
Homework can also include some place value exploration and review. This can help students prepare for future math instruction! A strong foundation of place value knowledge can help students problem-solve with more confidence.
For example, this turkey-themed activity has students find the number that matches the number of tens and ones above each turkey. Students will attach the number card to the correct turkey. This is a great way for students to review that a two-digit number is made up of tens and ones.
Finally, I love to include plenty of fall and Thanksgiving-themed activities in the November homework routine. This is such a fun way to keep students engaged in literacy and math practice! They always love to see a touch of the season on their homework assignments. It really is such a simple way to make the homework routine a little more fun for students.
You can find all of the activities that I shared in this post (and more!) in one easy-to-download set of November homework for first grade. It comes with four weekly homework packets that are full of engaging literacy and math practice for first graders. This resource also includes several cover page options if you’d like to assemble homework packets for your students. There is even a checklist for families to check off the activities as they complete them during the week.
These engaging activities are designed to be developmentally appropriate for first graders so they do not overburden families or overwork the students. Plus, these print-and-go homework activities are easy to prep and include answer keys so you don’t have to spend all of your prep time coming up with new activities and checking completed homework.
This November homework for first grade is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store and in the A Spoonful of Learning shop. Just click below to take a closer look and decide if these printables would be a good fit for your students!
Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite teaching board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find this printable homework when you’re working on your November lesson plans.
