Thank You!

I wanted to thank all of you who were able to attend our curriculum presentation last evening!  I realize how difficult it can be to get out in the middle of the week, but we hope that you now have a better understanding of what we will be teaching this year and how we will be teaching it.  If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me!  Again, thank you.

Literacy Stations

Today we began to practice literacy stations! Literacy Choice will come at the end of most Reading Workshop sessions. Students will have the ability to choose what station(s) they would like to go to (although this week they are assigned stations so that they can practice them all) each day. These stations will provide the children with another opportunity to practice a variety of reading and writing skills while I meet with guided reading groups. We will explain our literacy block in further detail this Wednesday night at Curriculum Night!

Math Meets Art



Students take a break from pasta patterns to smile at the camera!



More patterns

I love that all of the frames are different!

Fun during math

Hopes and Dreams

During the first few weeks of school students spend time thinking about what they want to learn about or get better at during first grade.  Students' hopes and dreams ranged from becoming a better reader to making new friends!  We then use the children's hopes and dreams to help us design classroom rules that will allow everyone to reach their goal!

 Students first used pencil to sketch their hope and dream.  Then they traced over the lines with black sharpie before using watercolor paints to add color!

 Proud artists

Our hopes and dreams will be hanging for Open House



Birthday Girls!

Birthdays are a lot of fun to celebrate in first grade (especially when you can decorate your own crown)!

We had two birthdays to celebrate on Friday!

Reading, Reading, Everywhere!!!

Reading workshop has been going very well in first grade!  Each day we start with a mini-lesson (whole-group teaching time) and then move into 'read to self' time followed by partner reading.  This is a time of day when students are matched with 'just right' books that challenge them just enough to build their reading skills.  You will hear about reading workshop in detail at Curriculum Night this Wednesday!

Fun with Geoboards

Today was the first time that students had the opportunity to explore geoboards.  It always amazes me to see what they design and create!



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Math is fun!



Amazing Art

More Fun!

Guest Reader

Mr. Antonicci reading 'The Principal from the Black Lagoon'.

On Friday Mr. Antonicci was our special guest reader for read aloud time!  I feel that it is important for the boys and girls to see a variety of adults come to our classroom to read with them.  We will have many guest readers throughout the year!

Reading Workshop

This week we officially began Reading Workshop.  This time of day is very structured so that students know how the lessons will be presented each day.  We begin with a mini-lesson (whole-group lesson where specific reading skills and processes are taught).  Children then have 'read to self' time where they practice what was taught during the mini-lesson (students are reading books that are at their individual level during this time).  Once reading workshop is running smoothly this is a time when I will conference with students to monitor their reading progress.  After 'read to self' time is over we come back together for a sharing circle and then end the time with 'partner reading.'  This very important time of day will be discussed in detail at our First Grade Curriculum Night on September 29th!

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We used this timer to monitor how long reading workshop lasted.



Students enjoyed trying out a variety of reading spots!

Homework Routine and Reading Program

Some students have begun to ask if we will have homework in first grade.  The answer to this question is 'yes', but not yet.  I like to explain the homework routine and expectations to parents first.  This information will be covered at our First Grade Curriculum Night on September 29th along with how our volunteer reading program works.  I hope to see you there!  (Reading program will begin in October)

Snapshots!

Self-Portraits

Today students continued to work on their self-portraits.  After watching a quick modeled lesson on how to use a collage technique to make eyes the children got right to work.  Tomorrow the boys and girls will add more facial features.

Guidance Lessons



Today Mrs. McCleary came in for our first guidance class of the year!  She will visit us once a week for most of the year.  Guidance lessons vary from class to class and a variety of topics including problem-solving, safe decision making, and feelings.  Today the boys and girls learned different techniques to either escalate or de-escalate a situation.  Mrs. McCleary's visual helped us a lot!

Here a student tries to decide if the problem is escalating or not.



Math Stations

Color Mixing

On Thursday and Friday many students had the opportunity to begin mixing colors to create a color close to their own skin tone (remaining students will paint on Monday). The paper that they create will be used for their self-portraits as well as a bulletin board for our 'Hopes and Dreams.' Before mixing paint we read a great book called The Colors of Us.

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Students worked very hard to get just the right color!

Painting is so much fun!

Guided Discovery of the Buses

Arriving back at school after our short trip on the school bus

Mrs. McCleary congratulates children on being safe and kind while riding the bus

We began by walking around the bus to talk about the different parts of a bus and what they do