Week 8

Loved getting to see some of the first grade vampires, super heroes, ninja turtles, leopards, cowgirls and princesses at Fall Fun Night!

We started Book Clubs this week and I am really excited about all of the fabulous and excited readers in Room 112! Each book club will be working on strategies and skills to apply during Daily 5 and that will help support independence, comprehension and fluency in reading. The Book Clubs will be changing throughout the year as we develop our reading skills and focus on different strategies.

This week we continued working on small moments stories. The blue sheets that some of you turned back with small moment ideas have been a great support for your first graders! We have been working on answering our reader's questions by adding more details and using sequence words (first, next, then, finally) to help organize our writing. We also had our second writing check-in this week for the students to showcase their great writing skills!

In math we have been focusing on adding "doubles and neighbors." This is a great strategy for students to use when problem solving. If they know the sum of the doubles, (2+2 = 4) then they can figure out the sum of the neighbor numbers by adding one more (2+3 = 5). This strategy is one that they can add to their problem solving "tool kit" to help increase their fluency and build their number sense. We did a matching activity where they found their matching number sentence and then the students sorted themselves in the room based on if they were doubles or neighbors (pictures below).

Preview for the week:

• Tuesday (10/28) from 1:00 - 2:00 is our Room 112 Fall Harvest Party! If you would like to join us and help out, let me know!
• We have a short week coming up, and because of that there will not be any homework going home. 
• I am looking forward to seeing you all at conferences!

Week 7

Some highlights from the week in Room 112:


The first graders got their "Small Moments Journal" that they will continue to write in throughout our Personal Narrative unit. We are really working on taking a moment and adding details that help us "zoom in." The first graders have shown an affinity for the magnifying glasses in the room, so the magnifying glass has become our small moments mascot that helps remind them to think about questions the reader might have, to zoom in on details and to stretch out their stories. I have read, and the students have shared some great small moment stories and I am excited for them to keep writing and sharing!

In math this week we reinforced our work with time and money by doing some matching activities (photos below). The first graders are constantly surprising me with their creativity -  especially during math workplaces. Some students built a tower out of the pattern blocks that was over 50 blocks high! And while measuring the room using the unifix cubes, students also started measuring each other - the unifix cubes are smaller than an inch so the first graders felt pretty tall :)

Just a reminder...If you have not signed up for a conference time yet, you can check out the "In the Classroom" tab to see the available times!

Preview for the week:

-We will be starting book clubs this week!
-I have a training on Friday (10/24) so there will be a substitute...but I will definitely make it to Stephenson in the evening for Fall Fun Night!

Here are some photos of the learners in Room 112:

Week 6

We had a short but busy week!

Room 112 did an awesome job at Run for the Arts - wow are they fast! They ended their run with a celebratory popsicle and as a class we graphed and calculated how many laps we ran altogether (pictured below). It was great celebrating everyone's individual laps, but when we put all of them together we celebrated the Room 112 total of 172 laps!

We are continuing to build stamina and independence during Daily 5 time and I have loved seeing the excitement they have about their jobs (Read to self, work on writing and word work). The first graders have been using this time to write letters to each other, to their friends, family, and me. They have also been doing a pretty great job at picking books that are "just right." I have loved getting this time to conference with students one-on-one and read with all of your amazing first graders. I am looking forward to starting our book clubs!

As we continue to work on addition and subtraction I am seeing students using many different strategies. They are getting familiar with the resources in the room and have been using number lines, manipulatives and counting up to help them solve math problems. Using these strategies is what helps build number sense and ultimately creates a strong foundation for more challenging math concepts. I love seeing students make jumps on their name tag number line when we are doing math!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Week 5

Some highlights from Room 112 this week:

On Tuesday, we had the Missoula Childern's Theater teachers come into our classroom and teach our class about acting - it was a blast! The kids learned that to put on a play all you really need is your imagination, and your body...and with that, they put on a mini version of  "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" in about 10 minutes. It was great! 

We are continuing to add reading strategies to our CAFE menu! The majority of the strategies thus far are centered around comprehension, but we also talk about fluency, accuracy and expanding our vocabulary. It is pretty cool to have first graders asking for post-it notes to write down new and interesting words that they find in books! We have also been adding different activities to the word work area. They have been playing memory games with the words of the week! 

In math this week we focused a lot on story problems. We discussed the importance of figuring out what the problem is asking before trying to figure out the answer. The main focus has been addition, and repeated addition aka multiplication (ex: If there are 4 dogs and 3 cats, how many ears are there all together?). After working through these story problems as a class, the students started their first independent math check in. These check-ins allow me to better understand the students' thinking and number sense and gauge my instruction and individual support.  I am extremely proud of the Room 112 mathematicians and excited to keep developing their strategies for solving addition and subtraction!

Week 6 preview:

Tomorrow is moving day in Room 112! It is time to switch up the table groups and sit next to new friends! When the first graders come in tomorrow morning they will put all of their things in a paper bag and come to the carpet ready to move to their new home (desk) .

There will be a monthly newsletter going home in the Green Go Home folder tomorrow. The newsletter provides a little snapshot of what is coming up in the curriculum/important dates, and I have also attached class party info and volunteer schedule. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine! 

Here are some photos from the acting class and the actual Missoula production of Rapunzel!