Word Play

It was a loooooong week! I think we are all ready for a little Thanksgiving break. Energy levels for my kiddos were high this week, but who could blame them?? We all have turkey, pie, and family on the brain. Even with all that to distract us, room 27 was hard at work as always. Here are some highlights from the week:

Phonics 

This week we are learning about h-pals! The H-pals all have names and stories;

Shaun-very studious pal who is trying to get his work done so he keeps telling people sh!

Theo-naughty pal who sticks his tongue out  at people making the th sound

Charlie- loves trains and wants to be a conductor. He goes around saying ch ch ch like a train

Whitney- wants to whistle, but can't so he goes around saying wh wh wh

We used the Document Camera to display magnet letters and build words that start and end with h-pals

    

We recorded the words we built. We sorted by words that start and end with sh

and th

Working With Words

This is another element of the Daily 5. Each day children have the opportunity to build spelling words with a variety of manipulatives such as....

Wikki sticks

and Magnet letters

We also use Mini Magnadoodles and whiteboards. I'd love to continue to add choices to this center so if you have or come across playdough, glitter pens, smelly markers, gel pens, letter stamps, letter tracers, letter stickers, or anything else children could use to make words or write words we'd appreciate the donation. THANK YOU!!!

Writer's Workshop
This week we learned that sometimes writer's take off their writing hat and put on their reading glasses :)
Writer's reread their own work and do some of the same things they do during reading time such as point to the words, look at the pictures, reread, and go back and fix anything that doesn't make sense. We partnered up and did some editing as readers!

Sharing

During work on writing time, this proud author wrote a wonderful story about
a girl named Ella who was a giant who loved to draw. She used the document
camera to share it with the class.

Our Mystery Reader shared some of her family favorites as well as a silly
Thanksgiving story about a lady who swallowed a pie...uh oh!

A sparkly crystal rock from the Museum of Natural History. The document camera lets us see
all of the detail up close!

We also met Smudge! So cute!

The Way We Write

In first grade we celebrate writing in many ways! With each writing experience a child grows in his or her ability to craft a story, sequence events, revise with details, and apply mechanics. All in all we are promoting a writerly life with authentic writing practice. Here are some of the different writing routines that your child has on a weekly basis.

Weekend Update

Weekend Update happens every Monday. We start by sharing some of the things we did over the weekend. This is a bit like planning. 

During the weekend update I am closely monitoring mechanics (capitalization, punctuation), semantics, legibility, and spelling. I will often ask children to revise by rereading and focusing on a particular area such as spacing, periods, or proper letter formation.

Some of my favorite writing happens during weekend update! It's always so fun to hear what a first grader considers a highlight from their weekend :)

Writer's Workshop

Writer's Workshop occurs 4 times a week on most weeks. Writer's workshop begins with a whole group mini lesson focused on the craft of writing. This week children are learning about writing partners. Writing partners plan, write, and revise together. They also sit together on the rug during the mini lesson and while they are writing.

This week we are using our writing partners to help us add details to our stories. 

Work on Writing

Work on writing choices may  include writing lists.....

letters...

or story writing

This is a new writing focus that we've just began. During work on writing the focus is on choice, creativity, and building writing stamina. Work on writing happens during our center time. Right  now children can make several writing choices during this time such as lists, letters, cards, fictional writing, or to continue narratives from writer's workshop.

Finished work from work on writing time may come home unrevised. The goal during this time is to offer children a variety of choices that serve as an outlet for creativity.

Cooperate, Compare, and Count

What a BUSY week! So much cooperative learning. This week we focused on the importance  of Veteran's Day and had an assembly highlighting the armed forces and ALL we can thank them for! We continued reading tall tales, which proved to be a HIT!! We emulated some of our mentor authors in writer's workshop and zoomed in on topics instead if writing about everything. Math was all about strategies, counting larger numbers, and double checking!! Here's a few highlights from the week.

This weeks mystery reader shared stories with some of our favorite characters. 

ATTENTION! After the Veteran's Day Assembly children wrote a memory page highlighting some of what they learned. There was talk of music, bootcamp, and cadets. Ask your child to tell you the 5 branches of military??

Answer: Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force

Veteran's Day Memory Page writing

Writer's Workshop
The last 2 weeks we have been learning about how authors choose their topics, (by picking something they do or something that has happened to them and choosing 1 time to tell about), plan their story, (touch each page before they write and think about what happened first, next, and next), and revise ( reread their story and think if they've included details answering who, what, when, where, how.) 

2 writers exemplifying the writing process. We usually turn the lights down
during writer's workshop to reinforce that it is a thoughtful quiet time.
 The lights are key in reinforcing this expectation!

Math time

We are working on covering and counting with larger numbers. Children traced of their feet
and then determined area by filling in the outline with various manipulatives such as bean counters....

.....and buttons. The goal is to accurately count these larger quantities (40-50) and then double check.

The class is working on more quick images. This time they are drawing combinations of squares.
This helps children quickly determine number quantities. The more fluent they are, the more efficient they are with their math facts

Technology, Word Play, and Literature Connections

This week we are practicing short u words. Here a group of kiddos are reading
a short u poem on the smartboard. This poem will later go in their poem notebook

After reading several tall tales children work in groups to compare and contrast characters.
2 of our favorite characters are Clever Beatrice who outsmarts a giant and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett who is the strongest woman pioneer around!

Our completed character comparison chart on the smartboard

Sharing this week......

A cuddly red squirrel

A baseball from Fenway Park bought during the World Series!!

Short but Sweet

Thank you to our room parents (and parent volunteers) for a wonderful Halloween party. The kiddos had a blast. Your efforts were greatly appreciated! How great (and creative!) are these costumes!? What a good looking group!

We did get around to a few more things during this crazy week of Halloween and World Series excitement.....

Pippi and a friend partner reading during "Read to Someone"
During Read to Someone children work on fluency, practice applying reading strategies, and build reading stamina

Our class is in charge of creating the slideshow for November's Get Along Gathering.
Our them is Cooperation. These boys are cooperating by drawing a picture for our slideshow
together!

Ways to make 10...we are composing and decomposing numbers to create
multiple combinations for the same number. For example, if you know
5+5=10 you can decompose 5 into 2+3 and determine that 2+3+5=10.
These first graders know their math!

Here a group is working on writing words with short vowel sounds on whiteboards.We have practiced short a, i, and o so far. Don't you just love the little hat!

Mystery Reader! Another great selection of books....this one was Halloween themed. Perfect!

And sharing this week:

Some beautiful sea glass

Black Beard's compass

Hopefully by next week sugar highs will have faded and things will start to return to normal! Don't forget to check out the Reader's Workshop and Mystery Reader calendars if you are interested in volunteering.