100th Day Celebration

We are officially 100 days smarter! Today we celebrated the BIG event with some special math centers! Check out the highlights of our morning...

Race to 100

Children rolled  a pair of dice. They determined the sum and colored that many spaces on their 100s board.

100 Steps

Children predicted how far they'd get with 100 first grade steps, 100 skips, and 100 heel to toe steps. 

100 Things We've Learned

An extensive list of the many things we've learned from day 1. Everything from morning meeting routines to gym games ( and all of the learning in between!)

100 Cup Structure

This center was definitely a favorite! Children worked in teams to create a structure using 100 (or in 1 special case 200) cups. They got super creative with this one!

What a super fun day! Ask your child which center they liked best. And of course a BIG thank you to our parent volunteers who helped run all if our special 100 day centers!! We have 80 more days of fun and learning ahead of us!!

What's in a Place? And Spread the Valentine Cheer

For the past couple of weeks our mathematical focus has been on place value. Understanding place value is HUGE! First graders need to be able to understand that the two digits of a 2-digit number represent tens and ones. They need to be able to compare 2 digit numbers using greater than, less than, and equal symbols. And they need to be able to add within 100, including adding a 2-digit number with a 1 digit number (56+5), and adding a two-digit number and a multiple of 10 (56+10). Like I said....HUGE! 
The great thing about place value though is that it is very hands on. This makes learning tangible and concrete. We use base ten blocks, unifix cubes, and mats to build and represent 2 digit numbers. We model numbers using drawings of our representations. We use multiple "tens frame" mats to show growing numbers. Place Value is also embedded in our daily calendar as we count the days of school. Read on to learn a bit more about how we're learning what's in a place  (of a digit that is)!


Anchors Away!
I like to anchor learning with an anchor chart. We revisit this chart at the start of almost every lesson. By doing this I am reinforcing important vocabulary and linking old and new learning.

GAMES!GAMES!GAMES!
It's no secret that children learn best while having fun. Most of our hands on practice involves games with partners. Here is a place value favorite!

Math partners are playing base ten concentration. They flip over cards to find a match.
They are matching a 2 digit number with it's model (see model form in the anchor chart)

Here's our newest bulletin board. Children used cut out tens and ones to
build the first letter of their name. Then they added they're ones and tens.

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Calendar Link

Each day we count the days of school. Here a first grader is adding "1." Then he'll
write the total in expanded form (90+5=95)

Valentine's Celebration!
Thank you (once again!) to our room parents for a great Valentine party. The kids had a blast!

Have a wonderful vacation!!!