Blizzard 2015

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm during #blizzard2015! That is unless you are outside playing in the snow!! That's what my big guy is up to today ❄️⛄️

                                              

Either way, our fabulous librarian, Mrs. Groden sent us this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U4gBZTpqAME

So what do you think First Graders....are we up for the challenge? 

Dream BIG

First Graders can sure dream big! As we learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this week, I realized that our children want a lot of the same things Dr. King fought for. They want the world to be fair, they want to live and learn in a place where everybody gets along, and they want to solve problems by using their words.

I am always amazed at JUST HOW MUCH my first graders LOVE learning about MLK and the big changes he helped our country achieve. Their eyes are bright as they learn about segregation and integration, about marches, protests, Rosa Parks, and of course, Martin Luther King's Dream!

We started our learning with a scholastic article and then went online to watch a video and play a Jeopardy style game to reveal facts learned from the video and article. Scholastic is SUCH a great resource for children, teachers, and parents,(parent link above)!

At our listen to reading center children heard the story Martin's Big Words.  At the writing center children  brainstormed character traits that describe Dr. King. They were also inspired by Martin's words to come up with their dreams to make the world a better place!

Johnny the K

We also had a special visitor this week! Johnny the K came to teach us about character. We learned that character  counts. We sang lots of silly songs while learning how to be a good friend and citizen. It was a perfect connection to Martin Luther King!

We ended the show by taking this pledge. These are great words to live by :-)

Hope you learned (almost) as much as we did this week! 

Happy 2015

Happy 2015! Can you believe it?! A fresh start....a new beginning... and back to the routine, (which was somewhat lost on those days leading up to vacation). I'm happy to say that by mid-morning on Monday, it was as if we never left. Here in first grade, we hit the ground running and this is just a bit of what we accomplished this week!

Reader's Theater

We kicked off our week with yet another reader's theater performance from a reading group. We really showcased our fluency practice by demonstrating expression with our reading. We practiced re-reading to gain momentum. Re-reading is one of our newest CAFE strategy cards. We also added a fluency strategy called Adjust reading rate. Good reader's adjust their rate of reading depending on their reading purpose. We compared our rate of reading to speed gears on a car!

Mr. Wolf Leaves Town

Science
We are onto liquids this month! Much like our solids unit, this is very hands on. We started by comparing white glue and water. Children used their fingers to feel the liquids and then discussed ways that these 2 liquids are the same and different. They look, feel, and move very differently. we will spend the next few weeks exploring other liquids and comparing and contrasting their properties. Lots of messy fun!

Writer's Workshop

We had a mini-celebration to acknowledge the hard work the children put into their teaching books. We spent some time editing and then we hunkered down with each other's stories and learned about everything from trains to cheetahs! Next up we will begin our teaching  chapter books! Children have already thought of a topic and have even begun filling in their table of contents with chapter titles. These are going to be so good! I cant wait to share ;-)

Math

Ten is your  friend  is the mantra this week. Our math games, story problems, and strategy discussions are centered around combinations and equations that equal 10. Children need to gain fluency in their facts to ten...this is an important step in understanding the concept of place value which we will be working on shortly.  

Counters in a Cup

How Many am I Hiding?

Make 20

Hope you enjoyed learning about our week! Stay tuned for more weekly updates :-)