March Updates

Happy Monday! The month of March sure has come and gone in a hurry! After spring break, we started an author study on Kevin Henkes. He is such a wonderful children's author and the first graders have enjoyed reading several of his stories. We are focusing on the Common Core standards of story elements and character traits while engaging in these stories. Next week I will post an update with our completed bulletin boards to show our students' hard work!

These students did a great job writing the sequence of events!

Students will be filling the board with character traits describing the different characters.

Additionally, we have been working on opinion writing during Language Arts time. Students wrote papers on their favorite season, favorite Dr. Seuss book, and why Grant Wood is the best school. I am SO impressed by the growth every child has made in their ability to compose a complete essay. This time of year is always such a good reflection on how far we have come as readers and writers! The two papers below are very impressive writing samples!

Finally, we just wrapped up our social studies unit on maps. Students learned about cardinal directions, map keys, created a classroom map, and finished by learning about the map of our world. Ask your child to tell you their continent, country, state, city, and school! :)

A reminder that the month of April will be filled with different types of end-of-year assessments. Continue to practice sight words, reading fluency, and math facts with your child!

Brylee and Tiffany ROCKED twin day on Friday! 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Last week we celebrated Read Across America Week in honor of Dr. Seuss. Each day had a fun theme that went along with one of Dr. Seuss' books. On Wednesday, each class paired with another grade to do a teacher-switch or a buddy activity. Our class was paired with Ms. Kerr's 3rd graders! We read the book There's a Wocket in my Pocket and then the third graders helped the first graders create their very own silly creatures. The third graders were great leaders and the first graders LOVED working with them!

The students were SO engaged by the activities and books last week, that we decided to continue Dr. Seuss books and writing this week as well. Monday we read the book Oh, the Places You'll Go! and then students wrote about what they want to be when they grow up. We talked about how the "central message" of that story is that even though sometimes life can be hard and we might make mistakes, we have to keep trying and should never give up on our dreams!

"When I grow up I want to be a teacher and help children."

"When I grow up I want to be a doctor like my mom and take care of people."

"When I grow up I want to be a vet and help animals."

Oh...the places our first graders will GO!

We will end this Seusstastic unit on Friday with the creation of oobleck after reading the book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Students will experiment with this interesting substance and make predictions if objects will sink or float in it!

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week and a safe and fun Spring Break! :)

February: Dental Health, Black History, AND President's Day!

We wrapped up our unit on Dental Health with a visit from my aunt, Carol, who is a dental hygienist. She brought a large model of teeth and a large toothbrush to demonstrate proper brushing, read the kids a story, answered questions from the first graders, and surprised them with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss for each child! A big thank you to Carol for coming to first grade!

In honor of Black History Month, I ordered several biographies about famous African-Americas for the first graders to research. They loved reading these biographies and learned lots of interesting and important facts. Every student was assigned a partner and together they read the story and conducted "research" on their notable person. Their finished products turned out GREAT! 

This was Brylee's finished work...great job!

Ruby Bridges, Jackie Robinson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Mae Jemison

Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, and Thurgood Marshall

The books I used are from the series called "Rookie Biographies".

Finally, to wrap-up the month of February, I read students two books on Presidents Washington and Lincoln and the first graders wrote down facts they learned about them and then compared and contrasted the two presidents. We learned some important historical knowledge as well as some interesting trivia...such as Washington's favorite food was pancakes and Lincoln kept important papers in his hat! :) 

Next week is National Read Across America Week honoring Dr. Seuss (his birthday is March 2). Each day has a special "dress code" so if your child wishes to participate please refer to the schedule sent home! Have a great weekend!

Dental Health Month

February is National Children's Dental Health Month. The first graders have spent the past week learning about how to properly care for your teeth as well as general facts about your teeth. We kicked the unit off by taking an egg (to serve as the tooth) and letting it soak in three different drinks: coffee, grape juice, and orange pop. Two days later we took the eggs out and found them very different than the white that they started out days before. We tried to brush the eggs just like we do with our teeth to try to get them white again. Students were shocked to find out that it was very difficult, or in some cases, impossible to get the eggs back to their original state. This was a good lesson on the importance of brushing your teeth and how sugar can cause cavities. This week we will continue to learn about dental hygiene in addition to starting a writing unit on famous African-Americans for Black History Month, which is also in February.

Above shows what the eggs looked like after soaking them for 2 days. The grape juice was the most interesting...those stripes were not expected! :)

Below shows what they looked like after brushing them.

Students discussed what makes their teeth happy and sad.

Posters and dental health vocabulary

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day...below are a few writing pieces from students about what makes their hearts full. They worked very hard on these and they turned out adorable!

Also...sending hugs from my very own mini Valentine! <3

Hip, Hip, Hooray for the 100th Day!

Monday marked our 100th day of first grade! The 100th day is truly one of my favorite days of the year. It gives us a chance to reflect and celebrate the learning that has taken place. This year didn't disappoint as we did several engaging and academic activities revolving around the number 100.

During our reading block students got the opportunity to write 100 words...they could spell words they know or look around the room for ideas. This super student was the first to finish!

This is a classic 100 day writing activity. Students got to write what they would buy with 100 dollars. A few ideas were: books (my personal fav), a hoverboard, a new bike, and a MANSION! :) 

They turned out pretty cute!!

Next up was math activities. Students worked in partnerships to tackle three stations: a math packet with a variety of counting activities, creating a design with 100 squares, and a new addition this year (and class favorite) was stacking 100 cups challenge.

These girls used some of the squares to make the number 100! Very creative!

These two students were the first to successfully stack 100 cups! It took concentration and teamwork... way to go! Now by popular demand, these cups have made their way to the indoor recess cupboard. Pretty simple and inexpensive activity that could entertain for hours! :)

This final activity is one that my team started last year. Students are simply given the numbers 1, 0, and 0 and told to create a picture using them. I have to say, this year my students really stepped it up a notch with their creations! I was super impressed by their creativity and ability to think outside the box.

Didn't they turn out great?!

Finally, we ended the day making the famous 100 day trail mix! Students had 10 different snack options and counted 10 pieces of each one, making a grand total of 100 pieces. We counted by 1s and 10s to 100 to assure we each had 100 pieces! A BIG thank you to everyone who sent a snack to share!

Well, that's a wrap for my sixth 100th day as a teacher! This group of first graders made it super fun due to their excitement and hard work! I was very impressed and proud of them! We are officially 100 days smarter in first grade! :)