Week 4

Wow! I cannot believe the first month of school is already over! Time flies in first grade...

Picture day was on Friday and wow do these first graders clean up good! They all looked so adorable and I can't wait to see their big smiles!

First week of homework done and they all did an amazing job! It was great checking all of their homework and seeing the variety and creativity. I am impressed by the number of students that did the math challenge and I also loved reading some of the stories that were written! The homework will be coming back home in their Green Go Home Folders along with their homework for this week.

This was an exciting week because we added a new choice to Daily 5 - Word Work. Research has repeatedly shown that spelling tests do not improve spelling. I have seen first hand students get 100% on every spelling test yet not be able to apply or spell those words correctly in their own writing. However, spelling is an important piece of both reading and writing. Exposure and practice with these words is what will help improve their understanding of spelling patterns and words. In our Word Work bin, students can choose to write the words of the week (and challenge words) using pipe cleaners, or they can choose to use whiteboards. As we get more comfortable using these as tools to learn spelling, I will introduce more Word Work activities (spelling with beads, play-do, scrabble letters, etc). All of the first graders did an excellent job being responsible with the materials, and it is pretty cool to see first graders spelling stamina and respect out of pipe cleaners!

Just like in reading, in math we are also working on our fluency. The students took their first timed addition check-in. It is more for the students to assess their own understanding and for them to be able to see their growth in a couple of weeks. We will be doing these throughout the year to build their math fluency and to make sure they are "basic math fact masters" - try to say that 3 times fast :).
We are also working on different strategies to use when adding and subtracting (number line, using their fingers, friendly numbers, etc). The more strategies (or tools) that they have in their tool belt the more comfortable and successful they will be when they get into more advanced math!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend...here are some photos of your amazing first graders in

Room 112:

Week 3

It was great getting to see a lot of you at the Back to School Picnic and also at Back to School Night! The first graders were very excited to see the bookmarks on their desks on Friday morning, and they put them to use during our Daily 5 read to self time! 

For those of you who weren't able to attend Back to School Night the conference sign up is posted outside my door and I will also post a picture of the sign up and you can email me to set up a conference time. 

I decided to start the third week with a "band-aid activity." Most people believe that “fairness means that everyone gets the same”; whereas in reality “fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs.” This is a tough concept to grasp, especially when you are 6 years-old and just beginning school. In an effort to introduce this idea to my amazing first graders, I had them all imagine they had a boo-boo (most of them didn't have to imagine). Once everyone had their imaginary (or real) boo boo in their head, I gave everyone a band-aid on their hand and asked if their boo-boo was healed. Most kiddos had boo-boos on their knees and some had imaginary broken bones. The majority of the class was not healed by the band aid on their hand. The point is, we all get boo-boos and rarely are they all in the same place. We all have things that we need extra support or guidance in and rather than all get a band aid on the same place, we get band-aids where and when we need them. This idea of equity is one that we will be reinforcing a lot in the classroom and refer to as "band-aid moments." 

The first graders have already increased their Daily 5 stamina from 3 minutes to 15 minutes! They are doing awesome...If we continue at this rate they will be able to read/write for the whole day! With our writing we have been working on stretching out our stories and adding details. Using our hand as a reference we want to make sure that our story has (who it is about, where it takes place, 2 events, and how it ends). This strategy also helps build in the punctuation. They are all getting more comfortable sharing their writing with each other and it is pretty amazing to see how proud they are of their work!

In math we are working on writing number sentences and using visuals to show our mathematical thinking. They are already beginning to use mathematical language "I know this is true because..." "I agree with ____ because..." Being able to talk about mathematical thinking and being able to show it is something we will continue to build on a daily basis. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! 

Here are some photos from the fabulous learning community in Room 112:

Week 2

We had another busy week! It was really hard not being at school on Monday with all of my favorite first graders, but I got a good report from the sub!

This week we started our literacy block rounds. We have introduced two choices out of a total of five (Daily 5) and the students can choose to work on writing or read to self. During these rounds students have jobs to focus on: Stay in one spot, work quietly, work the whole time, start right away.  We will continue to build and develop these skills as we practice this independent learning and work time.

In writers workshop this week we talked about what a writers workshop looks and sounds like. It was a great discussion followed by some great writing. We also talked about how we share our writing. We had about half of the class share their writing to the whole class and I was so impressed by their bravery and the respect of the first grade audience! I believe sharing work is incredibly empowering and we are going to be doing a lot of it this year... we are off to a great start!

In math we did some activities with popsicle sticks and tally marks to help students with their counting fluency. Counting by 5's is also going to be helpful as we start working with clocks and telling time. We also did some whole class picture story problems where we focused on understanding that we can get to the same answer in many different ways. The students had to show their work using a visual as well as a number sentence.

The Stephenson Lion art projects are finished and look amazing! They are hung up in room 112 and they are definitely something to roar about (pun intended)!

Looking forward to a great week 3 and seeing everyone at Back to School Night!

Week 1

Some highlights from Week 1 in Room 112:

We talked about and practiced reading to self. The students chose spots around the room where they could read successfully to themselves and they learned about the 3 ways to read books (read the pictures, read the words, retell the story). Just like with running, or physical activity, reading takes stamina. The students will continue to read to self in short increments to help build their stamina and turn them into voracious readers!

Along with learning about the different ways to read books, we talked about how to pick a book that is just right. In our discussion we talked about a book not being too hard, not too easy, but just right. The students made a connection to the infamous tale of Goldilocks and her search for "just right." Finding that just right book is critical when developing a love for reading and I can't wait for each first grader to be able to find their Goldilocks book!

For math this week, the students were exploring the math tools that we will be using this year. It is pretty incredible to see their creativity when working with the math manipulatives. Students are recognizing and building patterns, identifying shapes, counting and adding. The students also learned about ten frames and how to use them for addition. We played a matching game where students with equations had to find the insect ten frame that matched their equation and the first grade mathematicians all found their matches in less than 2 minutes!

We ended the week with the start of a Stephenson Lion art project (that turned out great so far), and a class promise that we all made together and signed.

It was a great week in Room 112!

First Day!

Wow! What a great first day and what an incredible group of kiddos. The first hour of class I kept telling them that I could not believe it was their first day of first grade because they all seemed to get back into "school mode" pretty quickly - maybe even faster than me!

We focused a lot on classroom routines and will continue to develop routines and expectations throughout the week in order to build a strong learning community.

On the first day I chose to read the book "How Full is your Bucket." This book highlights the power of kindness and connects with our Room 112 bucket that is added to when we work together and help each other.Through this story I also introduced our first reading comprehension strategy (Check for understanding). When you read with your child I encourage you to help them use this strategy - pause and ask "do I understand what just happened?" "what is the author trying to tell me?" Asking these questions and modeling that all readers use these strategies is critical in building comprehension and also confidence in reading.

Looking forward to a great second day!