Cooperative Learning

Here are some pictures of us working in cooperative learning groups.  We do many things with partners in first grade.  It is a wonderful time for students to get to know each other while reviewing skills that have been taught!

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Writer's Workshop

Last week we started Writer's Workshop. Writer's Workshop is a time in our day that students are at their seat writing quietly after a mini lesson given by the teacher. Our focus for this particular session was finger spaces between words. Each time we write, there will be a different objective that directly correlates with the mini lesson. As beginning writers, it is important for students to write down sounds they hear in words in order to build confidence. There will be misspellings, and that is perfectly fine. I am most concerned with their ability to identify the sounds and write them as they hear them. The spelling will come with practice. Here is a sample of writing that was done along with our science experiment.

5th Grade Buddies!!

This week we were introduced to our 5th Grade Buddies. Everybody was so excited to finally meet their new friends! Our buddies taught us a Native American hand game that the kids just loved. It was a really fun way for them to get to know each other. We will meet with our buddies every Friday. Enjoy the slideshow!

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Welcome To Our Blog!

Below you will find several posts from last year. Please feel free to look through and see some of the exciting things we will be learning in first grade! I love posting to our classroom blog and usually update once a week. I am really looking forward to the new school year and getting to know your children. See you soon!

Dirt Babies and Candy Graphs

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Have a happy Easter!

Measuring

Today we started our unit on measurement. After practicing using cubes to measure whole group, we then played the Super Silent Measurement Game. Students went around the room looking for items that ranged in length from 2 cubes to 10 cubes. The first student to find items of each length was the winner. They were quiet as mice for 20 minutes and measuring the whole time!

Coincidence

A very fitting Bookworm Club book!

Cooperative Groups

We had a very special guest in our classroom yesterday. Her name is Melanie Layne. Please read the link below to learn more about her.

http://web.me.com/focus5inc/Focus_5/Bios.html

Mrs. Layne modeled a lesson with our class while other teachers and specialists watched. The lesson involved cooperation and strong communication skills. It was approached as a game, and as I watched I was just more and more impressed with their problem solving skills! Please ask your child about the game!

Today we brainstormed ways to make 25 cents in our cooperation groups. The students used coins to demonstrate the different ways before recording their answers on a chart. We came up with 9 different coin combinations. It is always so nice to hear their conversations and see the teamwork!

Sound Word Poems

This week we worked a lot with onomatopoeia. All of us thought about a place that we would hear lots of different sounds and then brainstormed what those sounds would be. They did an AMAZING job translating that into a poem. These are the poems that were ready to be published. I am not sure how to post a link to a word document, so this post is rather long, but worth the read!

Our School

Wish! Wish!

Went the math centers

Tick, Tock!

Goes the clock

Stomp! Stomp!

Went the kids down the hall

Click! Click!

The pencil boxes click

Staple! Staple!

Mrs. Enright staples

Written by:

Maci

The Train Station

Woo! Woo!

The train goes!

RRRRrrrrrchhh!

It’s pulling in the station!

Written by:

Dante

The Vet

Weeeeee!

Goes the door

Meow!

Says Sassy

Bark! Bark!

Said the puppy and the dogs

Crunch! Crunch!

Sassy’s eating a cat treat

Written by:

Imagin

The Animal Farm

Oink! Oink!

Goes the pig

Vroom! Vroom!

Rides the green tractor

Gobble! Gobble!

Eats the turkey

Ch! Ch!

Goes the horse galloping

Quack! Quack!

Swims the ducks in the pond

And that is the end of the onomatopoeia animal farm poem!

Written by:

Austin

Field Full of Flowers

Flap! Flap!

Goes the butterflies

Flick! Flick!

The grasshopper hops

Buzzz! Buzzzz!

The gnat is happy

Schwip! Schwip!

The ladybug is fluttering by

Tweet! Tweet!

Said the bird

Sway! Sway!

Goes the trees

Swish! Swish!

The wind went

Shhhhhhhh!

The grass is quiet

Thoo! Thoo!

The flowers say

Written By:

Grace

The Airport

Luggage is driving me crazy!

Beep! Beep!

Waiting, still waiting

Uuuuuggghh!

Yep, I knew it!

Zzzzzzzzzzzz!

The baby is still crying!

Waaaaaaahhh!

Oh, please!

The airplane goes Vrrrroooomm

For take off!

Written By

Ava

Airport On The Go

Waaaaa!!

Goes the baby

Shhhhhhhhh!!

Goes the people

Type! Type! Type!

Goes the computer

Roll! Roll! Roll!

Goes the luggage

Go through

Buzzzzzzz!

Written By:

Dallys

The Shooting Range

Tch! Tch! Goes the rifle gun

Shhhhh!

I get my aim

Pooo!

Goes the gun rifle

Tock!

I think I hit it?

Ahooo!

Bullseye!

Written By:

Hunter

Amazon Rainforest

Hiss!

Goes the snake

Roar!

Says the leopard

Oooaaa!

Screeches the monkey

Tweet!

Chirps the bird

Koo! Koo!

Snaps the snipe

Squak!

Says the toucan

I wish he wasn’t there

Written By:

Sadie

The Rodeo

I go

Yeehaw! Yeehaw!

The horses go

Neigh! Neigh!

The dogs go

Ruff! Ruff!

The cows go

Moo! Moo!

The chicks go

Tweet!

The chickens go

Bawk! Bawk!

The barrels go

Ban! Ban!

Written by:

Jada

The Fair

Munch! Munch!

Go the children with the hotdogs

Splash! Splash!

Goes the dog jumping in the water

Pop! Pop!

Goes the popcorn

Ahhh! Ahhhhh!

Goes the people on the rides

The Gravatron goes

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

Written by:

Mikey

The Parade

Ts! Ts! Ts!

Goes the instruments

Stomp! Stomp!

Goes the feet

Yah! Yah!

Goes the people

MMMmmmmmm!

Tastes the candy

Bye!

Says the kids

Written by:

Aidan

Vets Office

Screeeeech!

Goes the door

Arf! Arf!

Goes the the dog

Meow!

Says Steve

Clip! Clip!

Goes the scissors

Written by:

Derek

The Monster Truck Rally

The kids go crazy

Woooooooo!

The monster truck…oh no!

RRRRRrrrrchhhhhh!

The monster truck flips

Smash! Booom!

Written by:

Dathanyel

The Ice Skating Rink

Boom! Boom!

Went the ice skates

Crack! Crack!

Went the ice

Brrrr! Brrrrr!

Went the children

That is the end of the poem

Written by:

Brynlee

Field Trip

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Awesome!

Here is a picture of our budding scientist and his super cool science project! He did all of the work himself, even the typing!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Enjoying the Sun

We took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and did some cloud observations! It was so much fun to listen to their conversations! "I see a cumulus cloud that looks like the letter M!" and "I have a prediction, there will soon be precipitation!" So smart! Enjoy!

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Testing

While the upper grades were busy testing all week, we did a little testing in First Grade as well! While I pulled students back individually for the verbal portions of the test, the rest of the class was busy playing Making Numbers on their laptops. This is an online game that really helps with fact fluency...and the best part is the kids love it! They are completely engaged while practicing addition. If you would like to play at home, I added the link under "Fun Sites for Kids."

Rainbows

As a beginning activity to our weather unit, we created windsocks. We read a story about wind and also discussed the water cycle.
Next week we will begin learning about clouds! Have a great weekend.

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Dr. Seuss's Birthday

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Thank you to Cheryl Bentley for the incredible Dr. Seuss art!

Lost Footage

I had forgotten that I recorded a little bit of our Valentine's Day party, so here it is!

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Math!

Today we worked on making numbers using tens. Each group was given an envelope with two sets of cards. One set had number words written on them (one hundred ten), and the other set was ten frames. The first step was to draw a number card, then read it, make it using ten frames and then write the number on whiteboards. Before students were able to draw another number card they had to say how many tens are used to make their number (110 is 11 tens). We had our math expert, Mrs. Miller, watching us learn and she was AMAZED at what they are able to do! I know my class is amazing, so sometimes it is nice to have others notice as well! Thank you for all of your help Mrs. Miller!

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President's Day

Last week we learned a lot about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. We compared the two presidents using a Venn Diagram and then wrote about what we would do if we were president. I had some very cute responses, "I would help the needy and give them all of their needs." and "I would make sure every pet had an apartment." : ) We were also lucky enough to have two members of the Lions Club teach us some information about our flag. As an added bonus each first grader took a flag home.



A special thank you to Trina Fry for tracing our silhouettes!

Tacky The Penguin

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Valentine's Day Party

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We Are 100 Days Smarter!!

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Snack & Share and Creative Writing

I found a really great website, blazinglogs.com , that is a big screen view of a crackling fire. During their creative writing I had the fire projected onto the big screen. It turned out to be our longest writing session yet! They were all quiet as mice as they wrote about what snowmen do at night. Later in the week, we invited Mr. Anderson's class over for a First Grade Book Club by the fire!! Oprah has nothing on our Book Club! We all heard the same read aloud, Emmitt's Snow Ball, and then wrote the characters, setting and favorite part on our snack bag. When all students were done writing on their bag, the bags were filled with popcorn and the students were buddied up to discuss the story. We were AMAZED at the conversations the students were having with each other. It was extremely fun to listen to and they were really able to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the story.

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Metacognition

This week we worked on metacognition, or thinking about our thinking. We learned that good readers are thinking and making connections as they read. After demonstrating the thoughts that go through a good readers head during our read aloud, it was then time for some brave volunteers to give it a try. Below are students reading a book about arctic animals while their partner holds up a thought bubble and shares their thinking with the class. They had to start their sentences with "I wonder", "I notice", or "I predict". They did such a great job and those that were listening were quite the captive audience!