Labor Day

Happy weekend, friends!  I am gearing up for a very full first week of school.  I’m always a little nervous for the first day of school, but especially this year.  This year’s class “leaped” (or is it “leapt”?) to me, which means that they all came from the same kindergarten class.  This makes me a teensy bit nervous because I am the odd man out!  I feel like everybody-parents, students, even assistants are all in on a secret that I’m not!!  Hopefully after the first week or two, we’ll all be on the same page.

In writing my lesson plans for the first few weeks of school, I started to examine what I do for Labor Day.  Traditionally, I’ve read a book about jobs and had my students complete a few matching activities between tools or uniforms needed for specific jobs.  Then I’ve followed up with a “What I want
to be when I grow up…” activity.  I am bored with this tradition! 

So, this year I’ve made a turn around.  I decided to not only try to make my Labor Day lessons more meaningful for my students to learn about various occupations, but also tie it into some serious graphing work.  I also think my kiddos are going to be pretty dang excited about these activities. 

This Thursday, after sharing some background information about Labor Day and reading a book or two, we will break into small-groups of 4 or 5 students.  Each group will brainstorm 4 different adults they know whose jobs they are interested in learning more about.  From those 4 adults, the groups will choose just one person to send a survey to be returned the next day.  The survey asks questions about that adult’s occupation, such as, “how many hours do you work every week?”  I can’t wait to see how my students work together to choose an adult to survey.  I know they’ll be super excited to have their surveys returned!

The surveys will all be returned on Friday.  That’s when the graphing starts.  As a whole-group, we will create numerous graphs based on the data we receive from the surveys.  We’ll make bar graphs on the smart board and on big butcher paper with markers, post-its, and other fun materials.  I’ll be sure to take pictures and share them with you.  Each kiddo will then analyze the graphs by answering questions about the graphs.  This will keep some accountability included in a fun activity as well as give me an early picture of where my firsties are as graphers. 

I cannot wait to use this new activity.  If you think it sounds awesome too, check it out in my TPT store by clicking the picture below: