Our First Full Week

We had a great week in 1-1! The children enjoyed continuing to get to know one another through the sharing of their "All About Me" bags. They were surprised to learn that so many classmates had similar interests and hobbies.

Routines

The children did a wonderful job going through our classroom routines and procedures this week. They have now learned how to solve some simple problems on their own (what to do if their pencil breaks, what to do if they have a question, where to put work when they are finished, what to so if they need a restroom break, etc.) They are now experts at going through: arrival, lunchtime, and stack and pack routines. 

Reading

This week, the children listened to the story, A Bad Case of The Stripes. After, they created a picture of themselves with a bad case of something they love. Their projects are hanging up in our classroom along the window.

This week, I began assessing the children using Fountas and Pinnell running records. This will help me get to know the children as readers. I will continue working on these assessments until I have had time to read with each child.

Writing

This week, the children were introduced to Writer’s Workshop. After, listening to the book, Library Mouse, they discovered that they are all authors! We talked about how good writer’s: Think, Draw, Label, Write. They practiced these steps by writing about something that is important to them (their family, favorite hobby, favorite memory, etc).

On Tuesday, the children worked together to brainstorm a long list of things that they need to be successful as first graders. After, the children each created a paper backpack. In it they placed their own personal list of what they need to be successful. You can see their backpack display hanging up in the hallway outside our classroom.

Math

We began our first Everyday Math unit this week. To start the unit the children brainstormed a list of what they think they will do as Mathematicians this year. Then, they created a mathematician project.

Our first lessons focused on learning about our math routines. The children were also introduced to our calendar procedures. They enjoyed using the number line to play the game, Monster Squeeze. The children also enjoyed playing the Penny Dice Game with a partner.

Social Studies

We started our first social studies unit this week on Communities. The children learned about how teachers, police officers, and doctors help our community. They listened to a book about each of the community helpers and then brainstormed ideas about how they help our community. The children then completed one page for each community helper we learned about in their Community Helpers book.

Curriculum Night

It was nice to see all of you this week at Curriculum Night. Thank you for coming out. I hope you enjoyed hearing about all the wonderful adventures that we are going to have this year! The children were very excited to read the notes you had left on their desks. If you missed the presentation I will be posting a link on the right side of our web site titled, Curriculum Night Presentation soon.

Notes:

~There is no school on Monday, September 7th due to Labor Day. Classes will resume Tuesday, September 8th.

Have a great rest of the long weekend!

Our First Two Days!

Meet Our Class

First Day Photos

                                    

We had a great first few days in 1-1! The children have enjoyed getting to know one another through the sharing of their "All About Me" bags. There were big smiles and lots of excitement when the children shared an interest that others also had. We did not make it through all the bags in our first few days. We will continue sharing our bags through next week. As the children have a chance to share they will bring their bags home. 

Routines

The children are hard at work learning our classroom and school routines and procedures. They are doing a wonderful job going through: arrival, lunchtime, and stack and pack routines with only a few reminders of what they need to do. Next week, we will continue to go down to lunch a little early so the children will feel confident with the lunchtime procedures. 

Classroom Rules

As a teacher, one of my goals is to create a classroom environment where all students feel safe and valued. Yesterday, we worked together as a team to come up with our classroom rules. Discussing the rules together gives the children ownership and lets them actively decide what they want our classroom community to look like. The children did a wonderful job of coming up with rules that will make our classroom a safe and happy learning environment. The children came up with such a long list that we had to narrow the rules down. The five rules below encompass all the rules the children came up with.

Our Classroom Rules:

1. Be Kind.

2. Be respectful to others and their property.

3. Use nice manners at all times.

4. Be safe.

5. Work as a team!

Reading

On the first day of school, the children listened to the story: First Day Jitters. The children engaged in discussions about the emotions they felt about starting first grade. It made the children feel better to know that other children and even the teacher had some jitters before starting school!

On Friday, we read the book, Have You Filled A Bucket Today? The children learned that everyone carries around an invisible bucket and that we can fill others' buckets and our own bucket by being kind and considerate. The children shared examples of ways that they fill buckets while at school and at home. They worked as a class to sort words and phrases into two categories: Bucket Fillers and Bucket Dippers. 

The children also worked together to create a class book titled, Our Bucket Filler Book. We will keep this in our classroom all year long for the children to enjoy. 

The children were so excited about being bucket fillers that they told me throughout the day ways they had filled a bucket or how someone had filled their bucket! I hope that your child came home and told you all about being a bucket filler.

Notes:

~ Thank you for all your support at home and your help in making the start of this school year a great one! 

~Wednesday, September 2nd is Curriculum Night. I hope you can join me in our classroom to learn about what your child's year in first grade will look like. K-2nd grade presentations are from 6:50-7:30 pm. This is an adults only event! 

Back To School

Hello First Graders!

Welcome to our classroom!

Can you believe that in just a few days you will start the new school year? I have been hard at work getting our classroom ready. I am very excited for you to come and see where you will learn and grow over the next year!

I hope that all of you will attend the classroom visit and ice cream social tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 25th.

Classroom visits are from 5:00-5:45 pm

Ice Cream Social to follow 5:45-6:30 pm (In the gym)

***Feel free to bring your school supplies to the classroom visit. You can leave them at your seat until we unpack them on Thursday. Please be sure that all your supplies are labeled with your name!***

Just a quick reminder: 

Don't forget to bring your "All About Me" bag to school on Thursday, August 27th. Fill your brown lunch bag with three items that tell us about you. It could be a picture, a book, a trophy, whatever you wish! Remember to write your name on the front. We will spend some time looking at each other's items and getting to know one another. I will send the bags home as we finish sharing. We may only get through a couple a day, the bags will come home slowly over the next week!

                                                          

End of the Year Post!

Get Buggy Field Trip

Last Tuesday, a scientist from High Touch High Tech came into our classroom and taught us all about bugs. We learned about the creepy, crawly, weird, wacky, incredible life of insects and arachnids. The children learned about the life cycle of butterflies, bees and beetles. They got to see through the eyes of bugs, make their very own insect habitat, and were excited when they got to touch real bugs! Enjoy a slide show below!

                                     

Happy Birthday

At the end of May we celebrated Karis' birthday. Happy Birthday Karis.

Last week, we celebrated all of our June birthdays. Happy birthday to Christopher, Trent, Melvin, and Charlotte. We hope that you all have very happy birthdays in June! 

Field Day

Field day was a huge success! The children enjoyed participating in all the field day games. Their favorite station was the dunk tank! Thank you to our two parent leaders, Mrs. Stevenson and Mrs. Neri. The children enjoyed moving around to all of the stations with you. Thank you also to all the parent volunteers who made field day possible. The children had a great time! Below you will find a slide show of photos from field day. Enjoy!

                                                             
                                   

China Presentations

Famous Landmarks in China

During LMC over the last month the children have been hard at work researching famous landmarks in China. The children worked in groups of five to research one famous landmark in China: Beijing, Hong Kong, The Forbidden City, or the Terra Cotta Army. During the first week, the children read books and recorded information on their topic. For the second week, they used websites and short videos to complete additional research on their topic. Last week, the children worked together to turn their facts into a slide show presentation. Click on the links below to view their presentations. We hope you enjoy the children’s hard work!

Terra Cotta Army By: Melvin, Trent, Alexandra, & Charice

Hong Kong By: Christopher, Charlotte, Oskar, Mary, & Ryan

The Forbidden City By: Natalie, Yola, Nikhil, & Tyler

Beijing By: Karis, Joey, Alex, RoseMarie, & Brooke

*The presentations play best when opened using Google Chrome.*

New You Can Use!

Hello 1-1 Families! I have compiled a list of highlights to share with you from our last few weeks in 1-1. We have been very busy and I cannot believe how quickly the time is flying by! I hope you enjoy catching up on everything we have been working on!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Let me first take a moment to thank each and every one of you for making Teacher Appreciation week a very special one! I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the beautiful flowers, sweets, bunt cakes, chocolates, cards, and gifts! Thank you so much! I feel lucky to work with your children and you every day. 

A special thank you as well to the PTA. The lunches and special treats throughout the week were delicious! Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Literacy

In literacy, we have been reading wonderful authentic texts that go along with our China Unit. Our close reading lessons have focused on such texts as, Ruby’s Wish, Tikki Tikki Tembo, Yeh-Shen A Cinderella Story from China, Lion Dancer, and Cat and Rat.  

The children have used these texts to focus on:

-Using the words and illustrations from the text to better understand characters.

-Retelling the story and using the illustrations and words to better understand the setting of the story.

-Using the text and photos, they generated and answered questions.

-Comparing two characters by listing their similarities and differences on a top hat organizer. 

Here are some examples of work the children have completed during their close reading lessons.

Writing

The children published their Expository Writing piece by turning it into a nonfiction book on the animal they researched. They worked really hard on their nonfiction books and are excited to share them with the class on the big screen at the end of the year. For now, they are on display in the hallway.

Over the last two weeks, the children have been working on our last writing unit on Persuasive Writing. The children worked with stating their opinion on some given topics. After, they stated their opinion they gave reasons to support their opinion. The children wrote a short persuasive piece on whether or not first graders should go to bed at 6pm. They shared their writing with a partner. 

On Tuesday, we talked about the different reasons we write persuasively. To improve our lives or the lives of others or to promote something. The children then brainstormed a list of problems that need solving or things that can be improved around the school. Together as a class, we wrote a persuasive letter on why the outside basketball hoops should be lowered. The children came up with an opinion and three reasons to support their opinion. This week, the children will choose a topic and begin to write their own persuasive piece.  

Social Studies

The children were introduced to our final social studies unit on China. Over the next few weeks, the children will learn how their lives in America are similar and different to children's lives in China. 

The children began the unit by generating a list of questions that they would like to research as we are learning about China. We have focused on China’s geography. They researched some of China’s landforms and compared them to landforms we have in the United States. The children have listened to excerpts from books and video clips to learn about education in China.

Last week, they also learned all about the Great Wall of China. We began the lesson by doing a Picture Aloud. The children look at two photographs of the Great Wall and recorded their thinking. They listed what they noticed as well as questions that they had. The children shared their thinking with one another. The children also completed a close reading lesson with an excerpt about the Great Wall of China. They went back into the text and highlighted answers to a list of questions about the wall.

The children also listened to the Chinese folktale, Ping-Li’s Kite. Then, they created symmetrical kites to hang from our ceiling. 

Math

In Math, the children wrapped up Unit 9. They took their Unit 9 test on Thursday. The children did a nice job, I am proud of how hard they worked. Their tests will come home on Monday.

This week, the children will take their End of the Year Math Test. I will send this test home at the end of the school year.

Later in the week, the children will begin our last math unit, Unit 10. We will review the concepts we have learned throughout the year.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Natalie and Oskar. We recently celebrated both of their birthdays. We hope that you both had very special days on your birthdays!

Notes:

-This Wednesday, May 2o is a Friday schedule. We will have Library and all Library books are due. The children will no longer be checking out books for the year. Please be sure to find any books that have been misplaced and send them in. Thank you for your help!

-There is no school on Friday, May 22 or Monday, May 25. School resumes on Tuesday, May 26.