Week 21

Here are some highlights from the week...

Book clubs are coming back! We had to take a break while I completed the individual reading assessments with each student and I am really excited about all of the progress the first graders have made. As we continue to build reading fluency and comprehension, our flexible book clubs will be changing. 

In honor of MLK Day 2 weeks ago, the first person we are studying in our biography unit is Martin Luther King Jr. This week we 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 a very important speech, he was brave... Oh how I love the wisdom of first graders!

In writing, the students graded one (or more) of their how-to pieces, making sure that it had each component and that they had neat handwriting and spaces. They made changes to their writing to improve it and published one of their How-To's on a large piece of paper.

The first graders zipped up their jackets and entered our Penguin study lab in Antarctica. We have started studying the different species of penguins and will be learning about the different traits of each penguin.

Reminders:

2/6 -- Foundation Auction! 
Looking forward to seeing you all there :)

2/12 -- Pass out Valentines (info will be coming home in the homework folders) 

Here are a couple of photos from the week... 

Week 20

It was another short, but busy week!

To honor Martin Luther King Jr, we read different stories about him and watched a video. We worked with our 4th grade buddies to write our dreams to make the world a better place. The first and fourth grade dreamers had some pretty amazing dreams.  from "world peace" to "everyone has a home"

In reading this week, we figured out the "final y rule!" Together we created a "t chart" with one side that had words that have a final y long e sound, and the other side had words that have a final y long i sound. After analyzing our chart, the first graders discovered that the long e words were all 2 syllables, and the long i words were all 1 syllable! Way to go readers :) 

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!

Report Card Reminder: Report cards will be sent home Friday, January 29th. In regards to the report cards, I want to reiterate that first grade has some of the biggest academic and developmental jumps of any grade. I have seen tremendous growth from the first graders and and I am excited for the progress to continue! It is important to remember that not everything is scored each quarter. While we continue to work on each goal included in the report card, only certain goals will receive a score each quarter - don’t worry if some goals are left blank, or unscored :) 

Reminders: 

1/25 -- No School - Teacher planning day 

1/27 -- Auction Art Show @ 4:30 - 6:30 in the Wet Room

1/29 -- Report cards sent home

Week 19

It was a busy first full week back 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 :)

In math we started our penguin unit and we have begun to transform Room 112 into our Antarctica penguin study lab! The students got their math passports ready and stamped,  and they boarded the flight to Antarctica! We will be studying different species of penguins while also learning about measurement. It is going to be a great journey!

We started our How-To writing and it is off to a great start! The students are writing step-by-step directions and doing an awesome job using transition words to help with the structure of their writing. From "How to make a bed" to "how to be a friend" the first graders made lists about their own expert topics. They are getting the chance to be writers and teachers!


Reminders:
1/18 -- No school - MLK Day
1/20 -- Late arrival @ 10am

Here are some photos from the week...