Classroom activity Grade 1 English Language Arts
Wet Handprints at Ploverdale School: A Grade 1 Retell Activity
Partners press wet handprints on warm pavement, chalk the outline, and watch them shrink, then retell the three stages in order with First, Next, and Last.
Objectives
- Students will observe a wet handprint shrink and describe each stage out loud.
- Students will retell three stages of the drying handprint in the order they happened.
- Students will write one sentence for each stage using First, Next, and Last.
Vocabulary
Key words: handprint, outline, shrink, dry, order words
Teacher overview
Ploverdale School is an invented school with a paved side yard that gets sun all morning, which is where this activity is set. Partners press a wet handprint on the warm pavement, trace the outline in chalk, and check it three times as the wet shape pulls back inside the chalk line and vanishes, which puts a beginning, a middle, and an end in front of students who then have to retell them in order. This setup teaches the concept directly, because the chalk outline stays put while the water leaves, so students can see that the shape did not move away but that the water did. Groups of two work best, and the whole class can run at once along one wall of pavement.
Activity Directions
- Setup (5 min). Fill two or three shallow pans with about an inch of water and set them at the edge of a sunny paved area. Give each pair one piece of chalk and one printed three-frame strip on a clipboard. Pair students and assign each pair a spot on the pavement at arm's length from the next pair. Before students start, touch the pavement with the back of your hand, and save the activity for a cooler day if the pavement feels hot.
- Make the print (5 min). One partner dips a flat hand in the pan, shakes off the drips once, and presses the hand firmly on the pavement. The other partner traces the wet shape with chalk right away, before it changes. Both partners then dry their hands on a towel.
- First look (3 min). Pairs draw what they see in frame one of their strip: a dark, wet handprint that fills the chalk outline. Ask each pair to say one sentence out loud describing the print, and listen for words such as wet, dark, and full.
- Wait and watch (6 min). Set a timer. While the class waits, ask pairs to guess out loud which part of the print will vanish first, the fingers or the palm, and to say why.
- Second look (3 min). Pairs draw frame two: the print has pulled back from the chalk line and the fingers have started to go. Ask one pair to report whether their guess held up.
- Third look (3 min). Set the timer again if needed. Pairs draw frame three when the pavement inside the chalk outline looks the same as the pavement outside it. The chalk outline is still there, and this is the moment to point that out.
- Retell in order (5 min). Partners take turns telling the whole story of their handprint using the three frames, one saying the First and Next sentences and the other saying the Last sentence, then trading roles.
- Write and debrief (5 min). Students complete the student page on their clipboards. Close by asking the whole class two questions: where did the water in your handprint go, and is your handprint still on the pavement? Take four or five answers, and expect at least one student to say the handprint went into the air.
Student Handout
My Handprint Story
- Look at frame one. Write one sentence about your wet handprint. Start with the word First.
- Look at frame two. Write one sentence about the print as it got smaller. Start with the word Next.
- Look at frame three. Write one sentence about the pavement at the end. Start with the word Last.
- The chalk line is still there. The wet shape is gone. Where did the water go?
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: Accept any sentence beginning with First that describes the wet print, such as "First, my wet handprint filled the chalk line." Look for the order word at the front and one detail from frame one.
- Answer: Accept any sentence beginning with Next that describes the shrinking print, such as "Next, the fingers went away and the print got small."
- Answer: Accept any sentence beginning with Last that describes the dry pavement, such as "Last, the pavement was dry inside the chalk line."
- Answer: Into the air. Accept the air, the sky, or up, and accept answers naming the warm sun or the wind as the cause. A student who says the water sank into the pavement has given a reasonable second guess and should be asked to compare a shaded print, which dries much slower.
Differentiation
Support
Pair these students with a partner who writes quickly, and give them a strip with the three order words already printed under the frames. Let them tell each sentence to their partner before writing it. If holding the sequence is hard, number the frames aloud together after each look.
Extension
Ask pairs to make a second handprint in the shade at the same time as the first and to add a sentence comparing the two. Interested students can write a fourth sentence predicting how long a handprint would last on a cold, cloudy day.
ELL supports
Say the words wet, shrink, and dry at the moment each one happens, and have students repeat them while pointing at their print. Provide the frames "First, my print was _____." and "Last, the pavement was _____." Allow students to draw the three frames carefully and then dictate their sentences to an adult before copying.
Extensions
Repeat the activity on a cloudy morning and post both sets of strips side by side on a bulletin board. Students write one sentence naming which day dried faster and what made the difference, which gives them a second retelling with a comparison built into it.