Thursday, October 29, 2015

Halloween Reminder and Retelling

Tomorrow is our Halloween celebration.  If you are sending in something for the party, feel free to drop it off Friday morning, send it with your child, or bring it at 1:30.  Children's costumes can also be sent in the morning, or you may bring it at 1:30 when you arrive for the parade.  We will get dressed at 1:30 and the parade begins at 1:50.  We hope to have snacks while we wait for the parade, but we will have to see about timing. 


Today, in math we learned about a new diagram to help us with addition and subtraction called, Part/Part/Total.  Ask your first grader to teach you about this diagram and how dominos help us, too.


In literacy we learned to put post-its in our books when we read something we want to remember to tell our reading partner about.  Today, we practiced retelling our stories (telling the most important parts, in order) by flipping through our post-it pages.  We are fabulous readers!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Puppets in Education and 4 Winds

We had a very busy morning today! We saw a wonderfully fun puppet show from Kids on the Block about Bullying Awareness and Celebrating Differences.  We learned a lot!  Ask your first grader what they learned today.  (If they need help... remind them to StandUP!)


After Kids on the Block, we had Mr. McAuley here for 4 Winds.  We learned about the plant life cycle and parts of a seed.  We discovered parts of beans, and matched seeds to plants. 

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Important Updates


Halloween Parade:
  • Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for family members who are helping to set up.
  • All visitors will sign in at the front of the building.
  • Parade will start at 1:50 p.m.
    • Classes dismissed by grade level – Kinder, then grade 1, finally grade 2 – by intercom announcement
    • Proceed out the recess doors to the back field where cones will be set up for the parade route.  Classes will follow the cones in a zig zag so students see each other.
    • Once classes are done, groups will re-enter the building
  • Costume guidelines:  No masks for adult or students, no costumes with violent themes (guns, weapons, etc.)
Students can leave with their families as long as students are signed out in classrooms.


We are still looking for a fun "treat" for our party in the classroom. If you would like to send something in, please let me know!

Thanks!
Picture re-takes:  Thursday – Oct. 29th in the library – 9 to 10 a.m.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Unit 2 and Writer's Celebration

Wow! We had a very busy day today!  We took our Unit 2 math assessment (and worked SO hard!) and we also had our very first Writer's Celebration!


To celebrate all of our hard work in writing, we read our published pieces like authors!  We sat in the teacher's chair and we even were able to give out one warm fuzzy if we saw Picture Perfect Pax leaders!  We had a GREAT day today!




Your child's school pictures will be in their folder this afternoon, and so will information on how to access Power School online.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Addition and Subtraction Strategies and a Halloween Celebration

We have been using change-to-more and change-to-less models to help us get ready for other types of number models. Today, we moved into addition and subtraction number models ____+____=_____ and _____-_____+______.  We found the information by hearing number stories orally and also rolled dice to add and subtract.  The first graders have many strategies for adding and subtracting.  These first graders are using their fingers and counters to help them.


Today, some readers took an opportunity to read to a partner.  Reading to a partner is fun work! 


As you have read in the PPS newsletter, we are having a Halloween celebration with a costume parade and small classroom party.  We would love to have families send in a snack for our party.  If you are interested in any of the following, please let me know! 


____ fruit (2)
____ vegetable (2)
____ cheese and crackers (1)
____ grain (pretzels, goldfish, etc) (1)
____ juice boxes
____ fun "treat"! (muffins/bread/etc)

Monday, October 19, 2015

Short Vowel Review and Number Models

We are reviewing short vowels, a, i, and o this week.  You will notice a new format for the words in your child's homework folder.  Please practice these just as you were practicing the SWR words before.  There is also a poem that focuses on these spelling sounds that your first grader can read to you. 


Our WOW word this week is anxious.  We realized many of us are anxious when we are looking forward to something or nervous about something. 


In math we learned about Change to More number models.  You will notice that one math worksheet is the same as last week.  Now that we've had more practice with change-to-more number models, the first graders wanted another chance to try them at home!  They should be able to teach you all about changing numbers. 


Today we created Title and Author pages for our first published pieces in writing.  We have some wonderful stories that are being readied to share at our first Writer's Celebration.  The first graders are so excited to share their hard work!


We started our first science unit today.  We are learning all about Solids, Liquids and Gases.  We took an inventory to see what we already knew about these things and we also watched a fun Brain Pop Jr. video about solids and liquids.  We are looking forward to learning even more over the next couple of weeks!

Friday, October 16, 2015

Labeling Counts

Today we learned how important it is to label our counts in math.  We started with a word problem:
Mike has 10 in his backpack.  Henry has 1 in his backpack.  Who's backpack is heavier?


Noah quickly asked, "Hey? What ARE they? We need to know what they are to figure out how heavy they are!"


EXACTLY!  It is so important to tell WHAT you're talking about or have counted!  It was another fabulous week in first grade!

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Counting On, Editing Check Lists and Bumper Stickers

Today in math we practiced counting on from the larger number as an adding strategy.  We started with 2 dot dice, but quickly moved on to 1 dot dice and 1 numbered dice.  We said the number first, and counted up the dots.  We recorded all of our work in our math notebooks and even analyzed our results! Some of us noticed patters, and noticed that there was more than one way to have certain numbers (12, 10, 16) as the sum.


In literacy we practiced accountable partner talk by discussing what an author's central message is.  We learned that all author's write with a purpose and usually have a message they hope to get across.  We created bumper stickers for the book we read, that summarized the author's central message.  Our bumper stickers read, "Never Give Up!", "Try Your Best!" "Be Persistent!"  The first graders enjoyed coming up with phrases for our story.


We are getting very close to publishing our first stories in writing.  Today, we edited our stories using an editing checking.  We looked for many things as we read:
  • spaces
  • word wall words
  • letters for every sound
  • vowels for every word
  • punctuation
  • readability
We are looking forward to our celebration when we publish our stories!


Tomorrow is walk to school day! 

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Checking for Sense

We have had a busy week so far in first grade, and now that we have internet again, we can blog about it!


Our WOW word this week is persistent.  We have found many examples of persistence already in this short week!


In math we have been working on combinations of 10 and how we know we have *all* of them.  We realized that if we make a chart and change the number by 1 on each side, it is easy to keep track!  We also learned a new game called High Roller today.  I'm happy to report that the teacher "beat" the students in 2 out of 3 games.  We were all good sports, though.  Ask your first grader to teach you how to play High Roller.


In reading we have been learning about the vowel /o/.  This vowel has many sounds, and we've been finding it as we talk and read.  We have also learned that readers think while they read.  Today, we used post-its to mark our thinking as we read our books.


We also had a student who couldn't figure out a word, so they tried the vowel two ways.  This first grader figured out the word, "find" by using this new strategy!


We are working towards publishing our stories which means we have gone back to re-read them and check for upper case letters at the beginning of sentences, end marks at the end, and to make sure that every sentence makes sense!  We have quite the crew of writers in our room!

Friday, October 9, 2015

Wonderful Week

We have all had a wonderful week in first grade! I hope you enjoy the long weekend with your first grader as well.  As a reminder, I'll be at Bayside Park tomorrow morning for Pink Out the Park and we'd love as many first graders to join us as are able!


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Time for Kids

Yesterday we read our first Time for Kids.  We read about the different ways children get to school across the world.  We also found the cities and countries highlighted on a map and compared them to where we live and how we get to school.  We were surprised to learn that some children ride a donkey to school and others take a boat.


Today, everyone was able to play Penny Plate (Penny/hand, penny/cup) with a partner.  We are looking forward to showing this game to our families when we come home.  You only need 10 pennies!  (Or anything else that is small!)



In reading we learned that when partners read together and finish a book, they don't simply yell, "Done!"  They DO SOMETHING!  When you finish reading with a partner you can go back and re-read, talk about your favorite part, think about your books together, talk about your books or even record something about your book in your literacy notebook.  First graders did a fabulous job today reading with partners and doing SOMETHING at the end! 


We brought our stories to life today in writing by making our characters move and talk.  We can do this by adding speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and sentences. 

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Decomposing 10

Today we learned about the many ways you can break the number 10 apart. We practiced this by taking 10 pennies and splitting them into our two hands.  The first graders made many, many combinations of 10 and recorded them on a worksheet.  Some first graders even played, Guess How Many are Hiding.  You can play with any 10 (small) objects at home- just put some on the table and keep some under your hand.  Ask your first grader to figure out how many are hiding by looking at what is visible.  If they are struggling to figure it out, remind them that we have 10 fingers on our hands...that may help!


In reading we learned how partners read together.  We have now worked with partners in reading and writing and we are loving it!  It is so much fun to share books and pieces of writing we love with our friends.


We have added two more "snap" (sight) words to our word wall- come and you.  As you read with your first grader, ask them to find those two words in books, on signs, or anywhere! 

Monday, October 5, 2015

Counting On and Running Starts

Our WOW word this week is evacuate.  We discussed how, during a fire drill, we evacuate the building for safety.  We are still working to review short vowels and will be practicing short "A" families and CVC words (cat, pad, tag, bat, etc). 


We began Unit 2 in math which is largely focused on addition and subtraction and their strategies.  Today, we learned about counting on.  We rolled a numbered dice and a dot dice and practiced counting on from the number.  We played a game, Roll and Total, to help us do this!  We noticed that some numbers were "totaled" much more than others.  We are working on theories on why that might be...


In reading we learned to take a running start and to try a word/vowel two ways. Ask your first grader to tell you which strategy they used today while reading from their book bin.  



Writers discuss their writing with their peers.  Today we took the opportunity to share our stories and discuss them with a partner.  When we work in partners, we have to follow certain guidelines so everyone is successful.  It was really fun to share our writing with a small audience.


In social studies we learned about the grocery store as part of our community.  We learned that most of us shop at Price Chopper, Shaw's and sometimes Dollar General when we just need a few items. 


It was a fantastic day in first grade!  Please remind your first grader how awesome they are!