Week 19

It was a short, but busy week in Room 112!

MLK Day was the perfect way to start our biography unit.  The first person we are studying in our biography unit, is of course, Martin Luther King Jr. This week we read different stories about Martin Luther King Jr., watched a video about him, made paper portraits of him, and filled out the first page in our biography unit journals. When talking about different facts to include in our journals the students had incredibly thoughtful responses: He changed our world, he gave us hope, he was brave. How I love the wisdom of first graders!

We had our math check-in this week and it is incredible how focused all of the first graders were and how hard they all worked. I am really impressed with all of the different strategies they are applying and using to represent their work!

The first graders are continuing to work on stating opinions and providing support and reasons for their opinion. With the integration of opinion writing and author study, students wrote about their favorite books this week and shared their writing with each other. Loved getting to hear all of the different, and some of the same, favorite books!

There was a handout that went home from the Occupational Therapist at Stephenson. She works with different classes in the school and will be teaching the first graders about the Zones of Regulation. I have attached the letter with information about the curriculum and language that you can use at home to help reinforce the self regulation and problem solving strategies!

Zones of Regulation Info
Zones of Regulation Glossary


Reminder:

Wednesday (1/28) -- Art Literacy: They will be painting with paint that does not wash out of clothes, so please dress accordingly!

Friday (1/3) -- No School: Teacher Planning Day

Week 18

It was an exciting week in Room 112!

We concluded our rock unit with a visit from the curator of the Rice Rock Museum! She shared different fossils and minerals with the first graders. The students had a chance to look at, touch and even bring home rocks and minerals of their own! The curator was very impressed with the first grade geologists :)

Students are continuing to write opinion statements and provide support for their opinions (because, one reason, another reason, etc.). We have been studying Ezra Jack Keats as an author and forming opinions based on his different works - it is exciting to have students discuss different stories and share their thoughts and opinions with each other!

In math we are continuing to add tools to our addition and subtraction tool-belts. We introduced the fact family concept that helps students build the connection between addition and subtraction. This is a concept that we will touch on throughout the year to support fluency as well as number sense. 

Reminders:

1/19 -- No School - MLK Day

1/21 -- Late Arrival @ 10 am

Some pictures from the week:

Week 17

It was a great first week back in Room 112!

This week the students shared their traditions with the class and it has been great hearing all of the different (and similar) family traditions! We still have a couple left that will get to share this week. There are some pictures of the presentations below :)

In reading this week we introduced our next Daily 5 job - Listen to Reading! We have four IPads in the classroom that the students have been using to listen to different stories to continue their exposure to different texts and build their fluency and comprehension. They absolutely love the new Daily 5 job and have been very understanding that it is a job that they might not get to do everyday.

In writing we are starting our next unit - Author Study! In this unit the students will get to explore the work of different authors and it also focuses on constructing opinion statements. This week we have introduced this through our Question of the Day. The students have been learning different sentence starters for opinion statements (I like, I think, I feel, My favorite, etc.) and that every opinion needs a reason (a because statement). The students have been doing an incredible job giving their opinions and supporting them.

The January newsletter, volunteer calendar, and other handouts will be coming home in the green go home folders tomorrow!

Week 16

It's hard to believe it was 2 weeks ago that we had our Cozy Cocoa Party and our days of Kindness. I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing winter break, and I can't wait to see all of your first graders tomorrow!

The week before break we got to learn about the many holidays that happen this time of year. From the traditions in Mesopotamia to the 8 nights of Hanukkah, we read stories and compared and contrasted the winter holidays. It was a week filled with crafts! The students got to make their own paper dreidels and play using coins - they were naturals :)

Our Cozy Cocoa Party made me want to have pajama day everyday! All of the first graders were absolutely adorable in their PJ's and it was pretty cute seeing room 112 all huddled in the carpet fort.

Thank you so much to the parent helpers who came and were reading buddies, fort builders and treat passers -- it could not have happened without you. Thank you! 

We also had a very special treat at the end of the day. The Bamontes (Emily's parents) played holiday music for both first grade classes! The flute and trumpet combo was absolutely beautiful and I could not have imagined a more perfect way to end the day. Thank you Bamontes for sharing your music and talent with the first graders!

The day before break was our 12th day of Kindness (the last day) and we celebrated by getting our kindness ribbons and singing our 12 Days of Kindness song. Check out the video of the Room 112 choir. Compliments of Joy Franz:  http://youtu.be/DJSK4WU6qKs

Cheers to 2015!