Week 11

This is the first full week of school we've had in a while, and it was a busy week!

In math we completed our counting by 10's crab chart, and our Room 112 ocean is filled with some pretty adorable crabs! The students made observations about the pattern and the counting progression that helped deepen their understanding of counting by 5's and 10's.

On Thursday, we had a special guest come to our classroom. Ms. Jennifer is an autism specialist with the district and came to talk to the class about autism. She read an awesome story called "All My Stripes." The story is about a zebra who has some stripes that make him different. Ms. Jennifer focused the discussion on how we all have "stripes" that make us different and unique, but they make us who we are! We all have things that might be hard for us, but we also have things that make us pretty amazing.

This week I introduced what an IPICK is. These are books that are not too easy, not too hard, but just right! The IPICK acronym helps students go through a mental checklist when they pick out a book (written below). After going over the acronym, the students went on a scavenger hunt to find their "just right" book. This can be a challenging task, but the first graders did an excellent job identifying when a book might be too hard or too easy.  We will continue to practice and reinforce picking and reading IPICK books throughout the year. 

I - I can choose a book

P- Purpose -- Why am I reading it?

I - Interest -- Does it interest me?

C - Comprehension -- Do I understand it?

K - Know -- Do I know the words? *** 

*** Our current focus when picking books that are just right. 

0 - 1 tricky words on a page = too easy
2 - 3 tricky words on a page = IPICK
4 - 5 tricky words on a page = give it a try 
5 or more tricky words on a page =  goal book

We ended the week with a lion portrait art project! The first grade artists got to use oil pastels to get started on some lions that are really something to roar about - pun intended :)

Reminders:

11/10 -- Picture aretake @ 8am
11/11 -- No School - Veteran's Day

Here are some pictures from the week...