Characters and Menu Boards

We're 32 days in! I can't believe Halloween is right around the corner. Dr. Bilsborough included a letter outlining some of the Halloween festivities in the Thursday packet. I hope to see many of you at the parade!
We had a short, but super productive week! We put up our new CAFE menu board to help students identify and use good reading strategies for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. We expanded our learning about characters and character traits. We worked on several math games that encouraged students to use addition strategies such as counting on and decomposing numbers. And finally, we started using Raz Kids! If you haven't yet registered, please take the time to do so soon. Your child will continue to use this online reading resource here at school, but registering allows you to access their information at home. 

CAFE Menu Board
The goal of the CAFE board is to highlight and anchor good reading strategies. Comprehension is understanding what you read. Accuracy is reading the words correctly. Fluency is reading smoothly and with expression. Expanding Vocabulary is finding and using interesting words. 
This week I modeled check for understanding under comprehension and cross checking (does the word look right, sound right, and make sense?) under accuracy. 
As I model and name a reading strategy I add it to the menu. We learn that the CAFE menu is just like a restaurant menu in that good readers choose and use many strategies at once just like ordering several courses at a restaurant!

Character Counts
As we read books, fiction and non, we learn to interact with the characters in several ways. One way is to discuss what the characters  do and say in order to identify their character traits.  It is so important for children to back up their thinking with evidence from the text. We brainstormed character traits then I tasked children with the job of picking a trait that described themselves. The result was an eclectic bulletin board display of first grader character traits!

Here are just a few examples close up...

Math
The focus this week was to continue to add numbers together, but also to specifically engage students in games that encourage counting on and decomposing numbers in a way that facilitates flexible math thinking. Children played a variation of games previously learned like 5 in a Row and Roll and Record but instead of using 2 dot cubes they used 1 number cube and 1 dot cube. The number cube was used as the starting point and then children counted on using the dots.

Children also learned a new game called Dot Addition. In this game children used 2 or more dot cards together to find the sum of the numbers on their game board. They could only use the game cards they had left so children had to rearrange accordingly. For example they may have originally had 4+5=9 but maybe they needed the 5 for another sum, in which case they might replace or decompose the 5 into a 2 and a 3.The ability to quickly and accurately decompose numbers aides in math fact fluency and the overall understanding of number sense. 

Thank you for taking the time to read the blog! As always I hope you find the info helpful. Have a wonderful weekend!

A Little Change of Pace

As some of you know, it has been a somber week here at Memorial School. We had to say goodbye to our dear friend, colleague, and leader; Andrea Trasher, who passed away last Friday. Thank goodness for the smiling faces of First Graders to get our staff through this time. In leu of my normal post I'd like to share 5 things I am grateful for in honor of Andrea who had an amazing zest for life and presence bigger than words.

5 things that I am grateful for...

Number 1: The big toothy grins of children (my own included!) There is nothing like those beaming smiles when they are telling you about a lost tooth, a soccer goal, or a silly sibling story to lift your spirits. You can't help but smile when you are surrounded by those little faces.

Number 2: The teachers at Memorial School. They are the MOST supportive group of co-workers one could ever hope for. Personally and professionally there are the cream of the crop.

Number 3: The little town of Medfield, a town I had never heard of until I sent in my resume 11 years ago. I remember thinking, where the heck am I, as I drove past horse farms on the way to my interview. Little did I know then what a gem of a town I had luckily stumbled upon.

Number 4: Parents; past and present! Whether you are volunteering, sending in wish list supplies, or responding to an email with kind and supportive words you are the best! I have encountered many families since I began working here at Memorial school and I have been lucky enough to form lasting bonds with so many of them. 

Number 5: My decision to become a teacher. I was lucky enough to know early on what I wanted to do in life. I was luckier even still to have the means to reach those goals. Some people dread going to work....not me! Even on the most challenging of days (and there are certainly a few) I am grateful for the oppurtunity I have been given to help form the little minds that I have been charged with. In the words of Mrs. Trasher, how lucky am I.

Have a wonderful long weekend!! Enjoy your time and prioritize :) 

Missing Numbers and More

3 days of indoor recess this week...yikes! We are sure ready for the sun although I know we needed the rain. Thank you ahead of time for all of you who (very quickly) signed up to volunteer either for Mystery Reader or Literacy Block. It will be great to have you in! Just a few reminders about next week...
Monday we will have bus evacuation drills.
Thursday is picture day. I just found out that we will be having our pictures taken first thing in the morning so you don't have to worry about lunch spills :)
If you are planning on ordering school pictures please make sure to send the picture form to school with  your child on or before Thursday.
Friday is an in service day so no school for the kiddos!

Now onto MISSING NUMBERS

This week in math I have begun to introduce the concept of missing addends. We started this off by playing a few games in which the total and 1 part  were known and the children had to solve for the unknown. One of the games we played is "How Many am I Hiding?" In this game 2 math partners worked together. They had a tower of 7 cubes. One partner breaks the tower apart and hides part of the tower behind their back. The other partner counts how many cubes are  not hidden and uses that information to solve for the unknown. For example if 3 cubes were shown, then 4 were hidden.

We talked about strategies for solving this kind of problem. Some children will relate it to addition starting at 3 and counting on  to 7. Other children will relate it to subtraction (without even knowing) by starting with 7 and counting back or taking away 3. Others still will use a known fact such as 3+4=7. All 3 of these strategies are a great basis for the understanding number relationships.


Writer's Workshop

This week we have been working hard on adding to our narrative stories. Children are learning to unfreeze their stories by making their characters move or talk. We even talked about how to add quotation marks to show conversation. Next up we will discuss how to tell stories in itsy bitsy steps. This is all in an attempt to develop their narrative writing into detailed accounts as opposed to a summary of events. After all of the hard work that children put into their pieces we showcased a few authors by having them share their writing. 

And Finally....introducing our new Clip Chart!

Children walked in this morning and quickly noticed this new addition:

This is our new positive reinforcement chart. When I notice a child doing something positive such as helping a friend, demonstrating good work habits, or following directions I'll ask them to clip up!On the other hand if I notice behavior that is destructive, dangerous, or disrespectful I'll ask a child to clip down. I've used this in years past and the act of clipping up can serve as a real motivation. My hope is that if a child clips down it's enough of a warning that they try extra hard to clip back up. The chart is fluid, meaning that children can move up and down throughout the day.
 My intent is never to have children clip down and stay down...I am always looking for and reinforcing positive behavior!! 

On a side note....I have a little request. We have expanded our Work on Writing choices during our literacy block to include writing letters and cards. If you have extra note cards or stationary or are willing to purchase some for our class it would be greatly appreciated by me and more importantly your budding authors :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

First Grade in Full Swing

Fall is (slightly) in the year and it feels good! I love this time of year...apples, pumpkins, and first grade in full swing! We have covered a lot of ground this week! Although we continue to work on routines, our daily schedule is in full force. 

Word Play/ Phonics

We are continuing our work on short vowels. We practiced short a word chunks (at, ap, an, am) and short i word chunks (in, it, ig, ip). Please continue to have your child read the words on their weekly list and their ABC papers. It really helps with fluency.

Daily 5

We expanded our Work on Writing choices by creating an anchor chart. I brought in several writing samples from my own home and then we brainstormed a list of things that writers write. They especially loved reading my thank you note to Nana and my grocery list :)

We also started a new Daily 5 choice called Read to Someone. We brainstormed why we would read to someone...and the class came up with 3 great reasons: to become better readers, to understand books better, and to sound better! Then we got right to work building our read to someone stamina.

Writer's Workshop

This week we continued to tell our stories across pages of a booklet. We started using long term partners to help us plan out our stories and then add details to our pages. Partners listened to each other's story plan then asked questions to help with details. We also continued to work on our sentence frame, which is the visual that helps children remember that sentences start with an uppercase letter and end with a period. 

Math

We are continuing our work on simple addition. Children have been playing several games where they have needed to combine numbers to get a total. We also began work on solving simple addition story problems. We've had a lot of conversation around strategy use. I encourage children to use pictures, numbers, and/or words to show their thinking. 

At this point many children are counting all meaning if they are adding 5+6 they are starting at 1 (possibly using pictures or fingers) and counting it all out. Some children are counting on meaning if they are adding 5+6 they are starting with 5 or 6 and counting on from one number. A few children are using known facts meaning if they are solving 5+6 they may state that they know 5+5=10 and since 6 is 1 more than 5, 5+6=11. These strategies are all appropriate. Children will move to more efficient strategy use as they develop a deeper math sense. To help your child continue to ask them how they solved their math work.

Good Fit Books

We did a very funny thing this week...we learned how to pick "Good Fit" books by comparing books to shoes! This might sound silly, but it really makes a lot of sense!! And-it is a very tangible way for children to think about how a book needs to "fit" them in order to be just right.
During PIN I briefly referred to our "I Pick" poster. In my haste to COVER ALL aspects of literacy in our room I think I may have done this concept a disservice. This is an anchor chart we will be referring to ALL.YEAR.LONG!!

Sorry about the poor picture quality...but here is how the method works. Each Friday as part of our Daily 5 children choose new books for their book boxes. The goal is that all these books are a good fit in that they are independent reads. This does not happen naturally. It is a process. First Graders are still trying to find the common ground between what they can read and what they want to read. The really great think about good fit books though is choice and luckily we have plenty of it! 

When children go off to find their new books we put lots of book baskets from our library in front of them. Some of the baskets are leveled. For example after several reading assessments and observations I might guide your child to choose from the "red" bucket or the "yellow" bucket. These leveled buckets match your child's independent reading level. However, we also have lots of other genre based book baskets that children can pick from too. We have favorite authors, favorite characters, fairy tales, mysteries, biographies, non-fiction, rhyming....lots and lots of choices!! 

We take read to self pretty seriously here in Rm 27 and yes those are legs stretching out from under a table. Children are allowed to choose any spot around the room as long as it is a good spot for them to work on reading stamina and keep their brain on their books. The tiniest of corners, under tables, and cradled in between cubbies are favorites! One little guy was going to squeeze himself into the spot behind one of our shelving units until he found it was already inhabited by a spider :)

Of course we did a lot more than read to self this week, but I thought it was important enough for a whole blog post. I hope you did too! On a side note, my husband and I had my son's first ever "Back to School Night" and I have to say it was a little easier on the other side of the room :)

Back to School Night Selfie!!

Getting Into Our Groove

Well, I can confidently say that these first graders have gotten into the groove of school, of routines, and of our daily schedule! It feels really good to have that first week under our belts. I hope your children are sharing a few of the things we do, but in case you get 1 word answers or "I don't knows" read on to find out about our focus this week.

We are continuing to establish expectations by filling our room with class created anchor charts and modeling what to do (and to their utter delight what not to do!) As we continue to build our reading, writing, and math stamina children are strengthening their muscle memory for learning. 

Children use this flow chart to help them navigate the morning routine. I find visuals are always a great way for children to gain independence throughout their day

After reading several stories we came up with these "promises" to create the best learning community we could. We refer to our pledge often!

These are some of the anchor charts that help remind children of  expectations during our literacy block. During "Read to Self" we are building independent reading stamina. So far we are up to 7 minutes!

This week during our literacy block children were introduced to some of our working with words center activities. During centers children rotate through literacy activities while I meet with leveled reading groups.

Children are reading a poem and filling in the missing words at the poem center. I love my Smart Board and so do the kids. This is just 1 of the many ways we utilize this smart technology. 

At the Read Around the Room center children write words from around the room that fit specific clues. Today children were finding names on the word wall that start the same. Notice the star letters in the background? Those are our vowels. We practiced them by doing a little vowel song and dance to the Macarena....remember that song?! Ask your child to demonstrate, then practice along with them ;)

Children are playing a word game called Moose! at the puzzles and games center. They pick a stick and read the word on the stick until someone picks the word Moose! Then all the word sticks get put back in the cup and the game starts all over. It's a fun and silly way to practice reading word family words. 

During math we have begun work on accurate counting strategies, comparing, quantities, and solving simple addition problems. The children have played several games that allow them to explore and practice these skills in tactile ways. We are also beginning strategy work when adding including counting on quickly when adding 1, 2, or 3. These are all skills that we will continue to strengthen. For now we're relying heavily on manipulatives.

Children worked on a class number line. Each child was assigned a number. After writing their number they drew a corresponding picture. We talked about efficient ways to keep track of how many things they drew. Some kids had quite the challenge! Love how organized these came out.

Math partners are playing a game of Compare with cards. They each flip a card and then the person with the biggest number wins. It's pretty similar to another card game played with a deck of cards.

Another version of Compare but with dot cards instead of number cards.

This activity is called Staircases. Children build towers of Unifix cubes from 1 to 12 then put them in order smallest to largest creating a ..... staircase!

A game of Collect 20 in which children roll a dice a collect that many counters. They continue taking turns and adding until they reach 20.

There is our week at a glance! Just a few reminders...PIN night is next Tuesday beginning at 6:30. Online Scholastic orders are due on the 15th. Environmental print homework is also due on the 15th. The first math homework assignment went home. Please aim to complete homework within the week it was assigned.

Thanks!! 

Week 1 and Workshop Fun!

Wow! We have accomplished just so much in the last 4 days!! I'm happy to say that routines are flowing, friendships are being made, and the first of our "workshops" have begun. In our class we follow a workshop model for reading, writing, and math. The model emphasizes the I do, We do, You do philosophy. What this boils down to is that there is a whole lot of teacher modeling, then guided discovery, then finally independent practice. 

We started our week learning about some of the centers that children would be working on weekly. Our first center practice was the poem center. We learned the poem First Grade Cheer. After we sang it together we filled in the missing parts. Then children read it to a friend and illustrated it for their poem notebook. Enjoy!

We also tackled the start of writer's workshop. We started by reading a really cute story called Night Of the Veggie Monster by George McClements, about a boy who hates eating peas so much that as soon one touches his mouth he turns into a veggie monster. It turns out in the end that peas really aren't so bad.

The class really liked it and it helped inspire quite a few small moment stories. Over the next few weeks children will learn to plan out stories, add details, and even begin to self edit. But for now we are learning about using writer's workshop pens and finding our writing folders :)

Our final workshop (for now!) was an introduction to reader's workshop. Our first lesson was to learn that there are 3 ways to read a story. You can read the words, read the pictures, or retell a familiar story. On day 1 we modeled and practiced the first two. The children could not wait to browse our book buckets and practice reading the words and pictures. Reader's workshop will soon evolve into a more independent reading time, but for now it's a chance to get to know and engage with our classroom library. 

Hope you enjoyed just a few of the highlights from our week! Keep checking back!