The Very Full Weeks of February 10th & 17th

I guess we'll be tired and sore when we're 100...

100th Day by Joey Simpson
On the 100th day of school we got to dress up as old people and pretend we were 100 years old. We did 100 activities too. We named 100 animals. We counted and wrote numbers up to 100. We danced for 100 seconds. We counted collections that were up to 100 and we counted them by 2s and put them in groups of 10 to count more efficiently.

Points to Ponder
I often come across great websites, blogs, posts and videos which help me reflect as an educator, parent and citizen. Here is a blog called Creative Kids: The artful Joy of Parenting. In this post, the author writes about 100 Ways to be Kind to Your Child which is now a poster for sale on Etsy!
Alissa states, "...they are basically a reminder to myself of the simple ways I can connect with and be there for my children.  Many of them will remind you of ways you already are showing your love to your kids."
Enjoy!

PBS DUCKumentary
PBS has been showing their Emmy award winning An Original DUCKumentary over the last few weekends.  This 50 minute film displays duck behavior, habitat and life cycle. Students are amazed by the 2 day old wood ducks jumping out of the 70 foot high tree to go find their mother. If you have a chance, this film is worth watching. Click here to view the video on pbs.org or you can view it on our right sidebar.

Math In Focus Chapter 6: Ordinal Numbers and Position Words
As children continue to build their knowledge of number relationships, ordering numbers is an important skill. Children have learned in Kindergarten to order cardinal or counting numbers such as 1, 2, 3, 4. Numbers such as first, second third and fourth are ordinal or positional numbers.

Children need practice in identifying ordinal positions as well as the words (written and oral) associated with the positions. They have learned to use ordinal numbers in their full (first, second, ... tenth) and abbreviated forms (1st, 2nd, ...10th) to describe the positions of specific objects or persons in a row. Children also integrate their understanding of spatial relationships in the real world, and the concept of order and position. Relevant vocabulary that is essential for understanding relative positions in a row includes left, right, in front of, and behind. Practice with these words at home are helpful as we reinforce these skills in the classroom.


Have a safe and happy winter vacation!

The Week of Jan 27th-Feb 3rd

Sydney is back! We missed you!

Nonfiction Writing: Diagrams
First graders have spent most of the fall writing narrative stories. These stories are telling stories that include a beginning, middle and end using temporal words like, first, next, then, and finally. Writer's in 1S have created stories about birthday parties, holidays, vacation trips and other neat experiences. 

Since the New Year, we've turned our focus to Informative/Nonfiction writing-specifically research writing. We have learned several ways to use resources to help us gather important information. Did you know you can gather and identify facts about a topic just by looking at a picture? You don't need to read words, but you do need to know the difference between a fact and an opinion. When looking at a photograph of a sea turtle our class was able to create terrific sentences that describe what the picture shows. Here's what we wrote: 

Sea Turtles

A sea turtle has a black face with white and yellow spots in it. A sea turtle has bumps and designs on its shell. Some sea turtles might have scratches and spikes on their shell. Sea turtles have 4 flippers. They are used for swimming. 

As we began to read from multiple resources, we used an alphabox to locate the important words and phrases from books. These key words will help us remember to write descriptive sentences and draw informative diagrams.

These learners have proven to be natural researchers! I've had so much joy watching your children transform into scientists and investigators. Next week, each child will select their own topic to write about and research for facts and interesting information. 

New Classroom Games
Mrs. Surrette and Mrs. Damour have purchased new games for our class. Each game helps reinforce a different academic skill. 


Pop to Win is a math game that targets our state and national standards in building number sense & geometry skills, increases understanding of time & measurement and identifying coin values.



Camp is a fun way to educate us about the outdoors (something Mrs. Surrette LOVES). This game challenges you and all of your family members from ages 4-64 years of age. The object of this game is to be the first person to move around the board by answering CAMP questions and finish back at the campfire. Oh what fun!






Boggle is a hidden word game. The object is to list as many words as you can find among random assorted letters within 3 minutes. The words are formed from adjoining letters and they must join in the proper sequence to spell a word. After the timer runs out each player reads aloud his or her words. Any word that appears on more than one player's list must be crossed off all lists. 

Bird Feeder Program
Check out our first grade friends with Mrs. Chapman! On Tuesday Mrs. Chapman introduced our new bird feeder station. For the next several weeks first graders will be able to study and observe bird characteristics and behaviors. Mrs. Chapman has hung 4 feeders outside our windows in hopes to draw more birds into our schoolyard. 

This week we learned that different birds have different features. For example, a raptor has a sharp, hooked beak that's used for tearing meat. A duck's webbed feet is used for swimming, but not good for grabbing fish and flying away with them.

We're excited to keep notes in our observation notebook. So far we've seen a male and female cardinal as well as a female goldfinch. I wonder how many different birds we'll see outside our window.

Chp 5 Shapes & Patterns
Children have learned to identify, name, describe and compare a variety of plane shapes such as circles, squares, triangles and rectangles as well as recognize solid shapes including spheres, cubes, and pyramids. We continue to extend their knowledge by describing their geometric attributes and properties and determining how these shapes are alike and different. 

Geometry can relate to objects in the real world so be on the lookout for these basic shapes in our environment. Take a nature walk or a drive and see how many solid figure or shapes you can find. 

WIN
First graders are back into WIN (what I need). On Monday and Wednesday mornings we flex all 50+ learners into small groups based on what they need for hearing sounds in words. Some groups are working on short vowel sounds. Other groups are working on long vowel patterns or digraphs & blends. Instructors include all of the first grade teachers (Ms. Nichols, Mrs. Pepper, Mrs. Forgiel and Mrs. Surrette) as well as Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Codd & Mrs. Cannon. Ask your child which group he or she is in and what they're working on this cycle.