There is a lot of excitement in first grade as we await the return of Mrs. Johnson!  She will be returning on Wednesday, February 10, 2016.  

Here is what first grade has been working on over the past few weeks:

Reader's Workshop

We have concluded our unit on non-fiction!  The students learned about three main types of non-fiction books: literary non-fiction, biography, and reference.  They are able to to distinguish the differences between them.  Students also learned about the many different text features that are unique to non-fiction books.  The students were exited to see how many they could recall during a game we played.  They all did extremely well!  The first graders also chose non-fiction books to place in their bins to read and then some students were able to share their new found knowledge with their classmates.

This week begins our new unit on poetry.

Writing

The focus of our writing this month was How To.  As a class we created a how to make hot chocolate writing piece.  Several students then went home and used those directions to make hot chocolate at home.  They were very excited to share how good the hot chocolate was.  We also wrote about how to make a snowman.  The students were excited to add some of their own extra steps in order to create some very unique snowmen/snowgirls.  We had princess snowgirls and some karate snowmen too! As a final project, students were asked to choose their own How to topic and create a booklet.  We are in the process of finishing those this week.

This month our writing will focus on social studies and students will be writing about being a good citizen and also about the various US symbols.

Science

We have concluded our science unit on weather.  We were able to perform some interesting experiments with ice.  The students watched several weather videos and used Pebble Go to write about extreme weather conditions during library.  We learned about the differences between dew and frost and also about the three different types of clouds.  If they have not already shared this tidbit with you, ask you child how to make their own cloud.

This month the focus returns to social studies and will be on US citizens, symbols, and a few of the presidents.

Math

The first graders began unit 5 and have been working with base ten blocks to identify the tens and ones place values within numbers.  Students were also introduced to relation symbols.  We compared the weights and lengths of various animals using our animal cards.

The holidays are almost upon us!  Here is what first grade has been hard at work doing:

Literacy

We have been continuing our unit on non-fiction.  The students learned about the various text features that are found in non-fiction books.  We also learned that there were three types of non-fiction books and how they differ from one another.  One of the books we read was a biography about Dr. Seuss.  The students enjoyed sharing what they knew about him before learning more details about his life with the help of a timeline.

Writing and Social Studies

Our writing focus this month has been on the many different holidays that are celebrated during this time.  Students learned about Eid, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hannukah, and Christmas through the use of many books that we read as a whole group.  We wrote about the symbols that help to represent each holiday.  We also wrote about how they are each celebrated.  Finally, we discussed the common theme of light for each of the holidays and how it is used to celebrate the various holidays.

Math

We are currently on Unit 4 in math.  The students have been learning about the different tools used to help them measure.  We talked about thermometers and how they are used to measure temperature.  We also used different parts of our bodies to help us measure various classroom items.  The students enjoyed seeing how many of their feet it takes to get from one side of the room to the other and how many hands it takes to measure their desk tops. Students also began measuring using both estimates and then rulers to help them find how many inches long an object was.

First Grade Musical

The students did an outstanding job on their holiday musical!  They were all dressed in their holiday best and had grins from ear to ear while performing.

Wow, how fast the weeks have flown by!  It has been a very exciting time here in the first grade as we continue to get to know one another.  I have enjoyed learning about the students and am eager to continue out learning together over the next several months.

This is what we have been hard at work on these past few weeks:

Literacy

This weeks' lessons focused on the elements of retelling a story.  We re-read The 3 Little Dassies and the students then re-told the story in their own words.  We also focused on finding the author's message.  We learned about several different messages found within stories and how we can identify them.  We revisited Poppleton and read the chapter entitled "The Pill."  Students were able to find several messages including friendship and caring.

Guided Reading

I used guided reading time to assess student reading levels as well as to confer with students independently on their reading. Students were encouraged to tell me about a story they were reading and also to read a portion to me to help me evaluate their reading progress.

Writing

Our writing focus has been on opinion these past few weeks.  Students wrote several stories about Thanksgiving including what their favorite food is and what they think their lives would be like as a turkey.    They were asked to write a minimum of three sentences and to use capital letters and proper punctuation.  Many students wrote more than the three sentence minimum and were excited to share their stories with me.

Math

The students have been busy learning to tell time to the half hour and also counting money.  They enjoyed using clocks to help learn to tell time.  Students also enjoyed using their coins to count money.  The students learned that a dime is worth ten cents and is small while a nickel is worth five cents and is more thick.  They then counted coins and traded between pennies, nickels, and dimes to show amounts using the least possible coins.

Royal Readers

We had several Royal Readers come in during the month of November.

A special thank you to Julia's mom, Mrs. Tita, for reading us a very funny story entitled Sill Frilly Grandma Tilly by Laurie Jacobs.  Some of our students enjoyed sharing their own silly experiences with their grandparents.

A special thank you also to Grace's dad, Mr. Lisy, for reading us two stories, including one that he wrote! Mr. Lisy is the author of Twas the Night Before Fifth Grade.  He also read us a story entitled The Mysterious Mr. Tadpole by Steven Kellogg.

Finally, a special thank you to Piper's mom, Mrs. Skidmore, who shared three stories with us.  The first story was entitled The Underpants Zoo.  The second story was The Day the Crayons Came Home, and the third story was Dragons Love Tacos.  The students voted on their favorite story and the winner was Dragons Love Tacos.

                                                           Happy Thanksgiving!

*Please know that pictures will be posted to the blog soon*

News You Can Use!

Read all about our week below!

Literacy 

This week during our reader’s workshop lessons the children worked on the following skills:

-Comparing Fantasy and Realistic Fiction stories

-Making connections

-Identifying the lesson of the story

-Visualizing (making a movie in our minds)

Stellaluna:
On Monday, the children listened to the story, Stellaluna. After, they discussed what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Then, they wrote their own sequencing cards. One for the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They glued their cards to their very own Stellaluna bat. They look great hanging from our ceiling!

Guided Reading:

We will be taking a short break from guided reading groups next week. I will be meeting with the children one on one to do a second round of running records. Reassessing allows me to make sure that each child is receiving reading instruction that best fits their instructional reading level. 

Writing

This week, the 1-1 authors published their small moment pieces. They worked extremely hard at rewriting their story in their best handwriting and adding careful, colorful, detailed illustrations to support their writing. The children also added an opening an closing sentence to complete their small moment piece. These will be on display in the hallway at conference time so you can enjoy them!  

Math 

In Math, the children worked with recognizing, describing, and creating visual patterns. They found patterns around our classroom and then worked with a partner to create their own patterns using craft sticks. 

The children were also introduced to even and odd numbers. They worked with counters to explore even and odd number patterns. The children noticed the following patterns:

-Even numbers end in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8.

-Odd numbers end in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9.

-Even numbers are counts by 2s, starting with 0.

On Wednesday, the children worked with their number grids to describe and compare number patterns. They looked at number patterns for counts of 2s, 5s, and 10s. 

On Thursday, the children enjoyed completing 2 explorations. They worked with making patterns and sorting even and odd numbers.

Halloween Fun!

The children had a wonderful fun filled Halloween afternoon! The children kicked off the Halloween festivities with a parade around the Dryden neighborhood. Thank you to everyone for coming out! After the parade and a short recess, we headed back to our classroom for our Halloween party. The children enjoyed some delicious treats, created a mummy, played Pin the Smile on the Mummy, played Pumpkin Ball Toss, and guessed how much candy was in a jar. Thank you to everyone who sent in supplies for our party: treats, drinks, paper goods, and crafts! A very big thank you to our two party volunteers, Mrs. Humann and Mrs. Tita! Thank you for your incredible job planning and running our party. The children had a great time!

                                   

Star Student

Nathan was our star student this week. Thanks Nathan for sharing all about you!

***Photo coming soon!***

Royal Reader

A special thank you to Nathan’s Mom, she joined us this week as our Royal Reader. The children loved listening to the two stories that Mrs. Trudeau read, Read to Tiger and Click, Clack, Boo!

Notes:

-On Tuesday, November 3rd, the children will enjoy a visit from HighTouch HighTech. A scientist will bring in a variety of Buggy experiments for the scientists to engage in. Check back next week for photos of their in school field trip! 

-Wednesday, November 4th is picture retakes. If you would like your child to have their picture retaken, please return your child’s entire picture packet (with the exception that you can keep the class photo).

Have a great Halloween and rest of the weekend!

PJ Day Tomorrow!

Warm Fuzzy Celebration!

The children filled up our warm fuzzy jar earning a celebration. After lots of discussion and a vote, the class would like to wear their pajamas to school.

Tomorrow, Thursday, October 29th your child may 

wear their pajamas to school.

We will have a normal learning day including Gym and Music, just in our comfy pj’s. Please make sure your child’s pajamas are school appropriate. Your child may wear slippers in the classroom, but please make sure they have shoes to change into for specials, recess, and arrival/dismissal. 

News You Can Use!

The children had a wonderful week! Read all about it below.

Literacy

This week during reader’s workshop the children continued working with fiction stories (traditional tales and fantasy stories). While we were reading, the children  worked on the following skills:

-Retelling familiar traditional tales

-Identifying transitional words in traditional tales

-Comparing two tales

-Identifying elements of fantasy stories

-Discussing a charter in detail using a character web 

Writing

This week, the children continued to work on their small moment writing pieces. They reread their story and worked on adding detail. The children have worked very hard to be “brave spellers” and stretch out the words that they don’t know how to spell. Later in the week, they had a chance to meet with a writing partner. Each partner had the opportunity to share their story, after they discussed what they liked about each others stories and shared ideas for zooming in even further. Next week, the children will begin publishing their small moment stories.

Math 

In Math, the children were introduced to change to more number stories and change to less number stories. The children also learned how to write addition and subtraction number models. 

On Wednesday, the children reviewed all the concepts from Unit 2 using Mimio vote. They enjoyed reviewing different strategies to help them solve the different math problems. On Thursday, they took their Unit 2 math test. I am proud of how hard the children worked, they did an excellent job on the test!

Science

The scientists completed three science lessons this week. On Monday, the scientists were introduced to living things that are neither plants nor animals, but members of a third living kingdom called fungi. They viewed photos and video clips showcasing fungi and mold. 

On Tuesday, the scientists examined roots. They explored the structure and function of roots. Each scientist had their own seedling, they observed it using a magnifying glass and identified the roots and root hairs. Then they compared the weight of plant parts that grow above the ground to those that grow below the ground. They recorded their observations and findings in their science journal. 

On Friday, the scientists observed, compared, and dissected flowers. They learned about flower parts and worked together to identify the different parts. 

Pumpkin Math and Pumpkin Carving

On Thursday morning, the children enjoyed a trip to the Dryden Pumpkin Patch to select their very own pumpkin. They had so much fun!

Then, on Friday they became a pumpkin investigator as they used their pumpkin to complete a pumpkin math packet. The investigators began by estimating the height, weight, measurement, and number of lines on their pumpkin. Then using their investigative tools they found out the correct height, weight, measurement, and number of lines on their pumpkin. They also, drew a picture of what they wanted their carved pumpkin to look like.  

In the afternoon, the children loved having a family member or volunteer come in to help them carve their pumpkin. What a sight it was to see the children and volunteers hard at work carving so many pumpkins. Thank you to everyone for coming and making this an enjoyable event for the children. The pumpkins looked great! Thank you also to all of you who helped clean up the classroom after pumpkin carving, I appreciate all your help! Enjoy a slide show below of the day’s activities. 

                              

Star Student

Isabella was our star student this week. Thanks Isabella for sharing all about you!

Royal Reader

Thank you to Isabella’s Mom, she joined us this week as our Royal Reader. The children enjoyed listening to the two wonderful books she read, Library Lion and Extra Yarn.

Birthday 

On Thursday we celebrated Isabella’s birthday. Happy Birthday Isabella!

Notes:

-Friday, October 3oth is the Halloween Parade. It will start at about 1:15. We will parade out the front doors and head north on Dryden to Fairview, west on Fairview to Bristol, south on Bristol to Rockwell, east on Rockwell to Lincoln, returning to the school playground area. Following the parade, the students will have a brief recess period, then return to our classroom for some fun activities. For more information on Halloween lunch procedures and costume questions read this weeks Dolphin Splash.

-Character counts week continues. Everyone is invited to wear a special color each day of the week to promote each Character Counts pillar:

*Monday, October 26—Wear RED for CARING

*Tuesday, October 27—Wear BLUE for TRUST

*Wednesday, October 28—ORANGE for FAIRNESS

*Thursday, October 23—Wear PURPLE for CITIZENSHIP

Have a great rest of the weekend!

News You Can Use!

We had two short, but very busy weeks in 1-1! Read all about our learning adventures below.

Literacy

During our reader’s workshop time, the children worked on the following skills to wrap up our Launch Unit.

-Restating facts in their own words to help them remember what they read.

-Building Reading Stamina- We say, “Stamina is doing anything for a long amount of time without getting tired or giving up!”

-Having A Balanced Diet- the children learned that when selecting books they should choose a variety to offer them, “A Balanced Diet” to read from. They practiced selecting books and making sure they had a healthy variety of books in their bin (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.). As the children learn about additional genres and sub genres, they will be encouraged to add these types of books to their book bins as well.

We have now started our second unit, Fiction. This unit will focus on learning the elements of fiction and discovering fiction text structure. The children will have the opportunity to work with traditional tales (including folktales, fairy tales, and fables). They will also work with realistic fiction. During our first few lessons, the children worked on:

-Identifying elements of fiction vs nonfiction

-Identifying elements of traditional tales

-Retelling the story (focusing on the Beginning, Middle, and End)

                They had to work on identifying the following during their retelling:

-Characters & Setting

-Identifying the problem and/or action

-How was the problem solved?

Writing

In writing, the children zoomed in on their favorite small moment and began writing. The children will take this piece all the way through the writing process. They are currently working on their rough draft where they sketch pictures, label, and write their story. Next week, they will reread their story and work on adding additional detail. The children will also go back and stretch out words that they did not know how to spell. Ask your child what their small moment is, try and help them recall the event in great detail. This will help them zoom in even further and add important details to their writing next week. 

Math

In Math, the children used analog clocks to practice telling time to the nearest hour. They enjoyed explorations in math, by rotating through two stations: domino sorting ( learning that the dot patterns on dominoes represent numbers) and straight line dot to dot (using rulers). 

The children explored pennies and nickels. They identified the characteristics of each coin and learned how to write their values. They enjoyed learning two poems:

Penny 

Penny, penny 

Easily spent

Copper brown

And worth one cent!

Nickel

Nickel, nickel

Thick and fat

You’re worth five cents

I know that!

The children also named values of different groups of pennies. They continued working with money by counting groups of nickels and pennies and recording the values in cent notation. The children worked with exchanging pennies for nickels. 

The children played two games to help them practice counting coins: Penny Grab and Penny-Nickel Exchange.

Science

The scientists have been working hard on their Collecting and Examining Life Unit. Look at all the great lessons they have been engaged in recently!

The scientists went to work on comparing animals and plants. They made 2 different collages, one of plants and one for animals. Then, they discussed the characteristics of plants and animals. We ended the lesson by creating a venn diagram on animals and plants, we talked about how they are different and how they are the same. 

The scientists were very excited to study Gold Fish. They began by focusing on how we breathe, they noted how our chest rises and falls and what parts of our body we use to breathe. The scientists then studied a diagram of a Fish and discussed the different body parts. Then, the scientists worked with their table group to observe their very own Gold Fish. Using a magnifying glass and ruler, the scientists recorded information about their fish. They worked very hard and drew descriptive diagrams, making sure to label the parts of their fish. All the scientists wrote down additional notes on what they learned from observing their fish. The scientists had a great discussion at the end on how the fish, crickets, and brine shrimp are similar. They talked about how each of these animals breathe.

 They also worked with identifying three plant parts: the stem, leaf, and fruit. They worked in small groups to dissect three plants: an apple, corn, and green bean. They observed the fruit and discussed what the stem, fruit, and seeds looked like. They chose one to observe further and wrote about it in their science journal. 

The scientists enjoyed a lesson on seed dispersal. They learned that seed dispersal is the way that a seed travels away from the parent plant. The scientists watched a short video showing the three ways that seeds are dispersed: by animals, wind, and water. After they worked together to complete a seed sort where they had to move different seeds into the correct seed dispersal category. 

The scientists continued their study of seeds, they observed and dissected a Lima bean seed to see what was inside. Then they prepared the Lima bean and some corn seeds to try and sprout in a moist paper towel. Over the next week, the scientists will observe and monitor the growth of the sprouts. 

Star Student

Gavin was our star student last week. Thanks Gavin for sharing all about you!

Zach was our star student last week. Thanks Zach for sharing all about you!

Royal Reader

Thank you to Gavin’s Mom, she joined us last week as our Royal Reader. The children enjoyed listening to the wonderful book, Put Me In The Zoo.

Thank you also to Zach’s Mom who joined us this week as our Royal Reader. The children were excited to listen to two books, P-I-C-K-L-E-S Spells Pickles and A Halloween Scare in Chicago.

Halloween Notes

Friday, October 3oth is the Halloween Parade. It will start at about 1:15. We will parade out the front doors and head north on Dryden to Fairview, west on Fairview to Bristol, south on Bristol to Rockwell, east on Rockwell to Lincoln, returning to the school  playground area. Following the parade, the students will have a brief recess period, then return to our classroom for some fun activities. For more information on Halloween lunch procedures and costume questions read this weeks Dolphin Splash.

Notes:

-Remember our Pumpkin Carving day is October 23rd at 1:45. If you are the adult coming to our pumpkin carving day please plan to come in one day this week to have your diver’s license scanned. Everyone must have their license scanned before they can come to our classroom. Stopping by earlier this week will keep you from waiting in a long line the day of pumpkin carving. I look forward to seeing all our parent/ family volunteers. Please remember to bring a large scooping spoon!! 

-On Thursday, October 22nd we will kick off Character Counts/Red Ribbon Week! It will continue into the following  week. Everyone is invited to wear a special color each day of the week to promote each Character Counts pillar:

*Thursday, October 22—Wear GREEN for RESPONSIBILITY

*Friday, October 23—Wear YELLOW for RESPECT

Monday, October 26—Wear RED for CARING

*Tuesday, October 27—Wear BLUE for TRUST

*Wednesday, October 28—ORANGE for FAIRNESS

*Thursday, October 29—Wear PURPLE for CITIZENSHIP

Have a great rest of the weekend!