Tomorrow is Game Day!

We earned our next celebration!
Tomorrow we will be using part of our day to play some games in our room. Lots of options for lots of fun!

Friday Full of Fun Learning

Our Fun Friday to kick off vacation was extra fun!

We practiced writing sight words in shaving cream and sand.
We got to read with friends from Ms. Moore's class.
We made predictions and did an experiment to see which liquid in our race would slide the fastest.
We learned some new math games and shopped for Thanksgiving dinner and had to plan with a budget.

To top off our day,  we filled our champ band bucket and everyone got to pick from the prize box.

Have a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving, and I look forward to seeing families at conferences next week!!

Turkey Tuesday!

Another busy day in Room 6!

Today we made some littke turkeys that were too cute to send home quite yet! I just had to put them on display!

Ms Tina also taught some kids a sign language song during choice time, which was really fun!

During Science we had a "solids scavenger hunt" to practice describing different properties of solids around our room. It was

Show and Tell Tuesday!!

We filled our champ band container again!!

This time around, the children voted for Show and Tell Day, which will be tomorrow, Tuesday November 14th!

Here are some guidelines we talked about/ things to remind your children of:
-It has to fit in their backpack
-It can't be something glass or that can be easily broken
-No money or food as shares
-Each kid can bring in one thing

Here are some great options:
-Stuffed animals/ dolls
-a picture of a fun place, family member, or pet
-A cool toy

Crazy Hair Day Tomorrow!

We earned another celebration! Tomorrow is crazy hair day in Room 6 and I can't wait to see all the wacky styles you come up with! No hats,  please!

Conference Sign Up

Parent Teacher conferences are on Monday, November 20 from 10:30-6:30 and on Tuesday, November 21 from 8:00-12:00.
Please use the link below to log-on and sign up for the time slot you would like!

https://pickatime.com/client?ven=11606279&event=281153

Harvest Party

Our Harvest Party was a success and the masks came out great! Thank you so much to all of our parent helpers and guests!!

Math Choice

Today kids learned how to log onto EveryDay math to play some extra math games! (You can get to it at home from a link on the right side of this blog page!)

We also had some incredible building with Unifix cubes! The children worked together to make a long chain of cubes with every single one in the bin. One student even counted them all... 334 Unifix cubes all in a line across our classroom!

Reminder!!

Picture retakes are tomorrow.  If your child is getting them done, please make sure the whole envelope/packet of originals comes in with the child.

Fire Station Fun!

The field trip to the fire station was a success! We learned a lot of things today:

1) Don't go out if your door is hot!
2) Firefighters have a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room for when they stay at the station. They don't live there!
3) If a firefighter  (or teacher!) is wearing all the heavy gear,  they are still the same regular person who wants to keep you safe!
4) It is really hard to get 20 first graders in and smiling for a picture when you are inside a fire station!

A Great End to a Short Week!

Today was a busy day!! We had so much fun at the library, and it was a perfect day for a walk.

This afternoon we had nap time as our class celebration.  The majority of kids voted on this a few days ago ( all their idea!), so we made it happen!

Everyone found a cozy spot and either rested or looked at a book. It was very peaceful in Room 6 with the shades down and relaxing music playing quietly in the background!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Grandfriend's Day

Grandfriend's day was a success! Thanks to all the adults who were able to join us! The scarecrow crafts came out great!

Our First STEM Challenge!

On Friday, we had our first engineering design challenge of the year!

The goal: to build a bridge that could hold a cup of 100 pennies for at least 30 seconds. Each partnership would get a bag of materials: 3 note cards, 15 straws, 2 paper clips, and a couple arm lengths of masking tape, which I passed around.  (You can click on pictures to see them bigger).

We started off by gathering some background information about bridges. Then everyone made a materials list and wrote a plan for their bridge. Once they picked their building partners, we were off!

Ask your children about the process! 

We learned that sometimes engineers and other people solving big problems don't succeed right away, but they stick with it! Sometimes they might have the resources to start over from scratch, but lots of times they have to figure out how to change their current design to make it better. 

We worked almost all morning, and then in the afternoon the teams went back to work to finish or change their designs...and many more kids were successful the second time around!

There were many great moments of teamwork and persistence throughout the day and it was a lot of fun to see the whole process. Everyone did a great job, and I hope to do many more challenges throughout the year!

Pajama day!

We earned another celebration! Pajama day is tomorrow! It was great to see so many faces tonight!

Stuffed Animal Day Tomorrow

Today we filled our classroom bucket with Champ Bands!

We voted together and decided to bring in stuffed animals tomorrow as a celebration.

Each student can bring ONE stuffed animal friend from home, but it has to fit in the backpack to come to school!

Spelling Check Ups

Starting tomorrow we will take a brief spelling 'check up' (quiz) on most Fridays.  This is NOT something that you need to have your child study for. It is an informal assessment that allows me to see what skills students have mastered and what skills need reinforcement and practice. 

As a 'treat' (to make check ups more fun rather than anxiety-provoking) I allow students to chew sugar free gum during this time.

If you would prefer that your child not have gum please let me know.  Otherwise, we'll be happily chewing and spelling away!  Thank you, and happy (almost) weekend!!

An Exciting Week in Room 6!

We have had such a busy week in first grade--it was hard to pick which moments to share!

Today we started partner reading, and everybody did a great job taking turns and looking at the pages together.

We also got to explore with some different math tools, and I saw a lot of creative structures and designs! Yesterday we learned a math game that uses pennies, and the kids got to make up number stories for each other to solve!

In writing, we started talking about telling "Small Moment" stories and spreading out our ideas onto more than one page. It is hard work!
Tomorrow our whole school will celebrate filling all three 'buckets' with Champ Bands by having a picnic lunch outside. Have a great weekend!
 

Celebrations!

Today we filled our classroom bucket with Champ Bands and got to have a picnic snack outside as a celebration! It was the perfect way to end our week!

Reminder: Picture Day!

Hi Everybody!

We have been having a great busy week together! Just wanted to remind you all that picture day is NEXT TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH.

Please try to get the picture forms sent in as soon as you can!

I will be trying to update the blog regularly with some of the great learning we have been doing in our room!

-Miss Roberts

Monday Journals

Please be sure to check your child's backpack today for his/her Monday Journal. There is a note from me on the inside cover explaining in detail what these journals are and how we will use them.

 

 

 

Exciting News from Reading Workshop

The reading loft and reading bathtub are open!!! Each week different students will have the classroom job of 'loft' or 'bathtub'. I think they are very excited to have access to these classroom spaces!

 

 

 

See- Sight Word Song

Today I used this site to introduce our new 'red' words (can, see). For many students adding music to skills that need to be learned can be a helpful tool. Feel free to watch this video and others as well.

Writing Workshop

Wow! Wow! Wow! Our first lesson in writing workshop was amazing! Today we focused on the routine of how writing time should feel, look, and sound. Everyone added a piece of writing to their first grade writing folder.

 

 

 

The Important Thing

This week we all shared what we think is important about ourselves. Please look for our smiles and thoughts hanging up in our room the next time you stop by!

 

Sesame Street: Furry Potter and The Goblet of Cookies - 'Monster Listening'

More Word Work

Today we tried doing our first paper and pencil practice for spelling words. Boys and girls really tried hard to make their work neat.

 

 

Guided Discovery of the Bus

Today Mrs. McCleary took us on a 5 minute bus ride to practice safe and expected behavior. Everyone did a great job!

 

 

 

Share Schedule and Letter

A paper copy will be sent home tomorrow, but in case online is easier...

 

 

Launching Reading Workshop!

Today we had our first reading workshop session. Students practiced quiet, independent reading. We were able to 'catch' a lot of boys and girls making good choices!