Monday, December 22, 2014

Sing-a-long fun


Thank you for everyone who joined in the sing-a-long fun!  Happy Holidays!

Students reading to their favorite stuffed animals






Students read to their stuffed animals on pajama day.  

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Polar Express Magic


Parents and students had a visit from Santa at the Polar Express on our classroom field trip.  The movie was a magical experience for all!   

Monday, December 15, 2014

Students show off their snow globes


Our class read a book called The Snow Globe Family and book helped students to think about what they might do if they lived in a snow globe and what it might be like to have winter all the time.  Right now, the kids are missing that snow and this activity was fun to remind us of what adventures are to come as the snow falls.  

Ready to Ship


We adopted 5 soldiers this year for our Service Learning Project.  Here are the packages all set and ready to go to the post office.  Our class will track the shipping as they make their way across the United States to New York, then to Germany and finally to Afghanistan.   

Friday, December 12, 2014

Learning about Number Bonds





Students explore number bonds in a variety of ways, they used cubes, scales, white boards and paper and pencil.  They do independent exploration, pair share, group discussion and independent practice.  Be sure to ask your child what they know about number bonds.  

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Peer Accountability


Partners give specific advice for improvement and elaboration

Partners share their all about _______ books



Students hold each other accountable for their role as a peer mentor in writing by recording their advice for their partner on a sticky note.  This not only provides accountability but also help their partner remember what their next level of work is as a writer.  Students are learning to really listen to their partners and not just wait for their turn to talk.  It is also an opportunity to push each other as thinkers and writers to try something new with their non-fiction writing.  

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Making a BIG Difference


The Power of words....


Making a DIFFERENCE

Our PROUD friends making a Big difference with small acts of kindness!

Our Service Learning Project




Students wrote Christmas letters to the soldiers in Afghanistan to let them know we are thinking of them and how proud we are of them.  The goal of this lesson was to have the students think about a problem larger than themselves and think of a way to make a small impact.   We will be mailing M&Ms, Paydays, magazines and more.... 

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

PolyCom Fun with Pennsylvania



Students shared their Turkeys in Disguise with a 1st grade class in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Students loved using this technology to interact with students in another state.

Students read their writing and showed their new friends their awesome decorated turkeys.  We saw Recycling bins, dancers, santa, snowmen, peacocks, flamingos, seals, American Girls dolls and so many other creative ideas.
We practiced listening and speaking skills as well.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Writers plan their Nonfiction writing


Students practice being an expert by telling about a subject/topic they know a lot about across their fingers.  This is the beginning stage of planning our writing.  If we knew 5 things about a subject, we recorded that subject on a brainstorming sheet to use later when we are ready to start making our own nonfiction books!  Ask your child to tell you something they are an expert on and watch their eyes light up as they teach you!

Phonics Fun


Students practice Phonic skills daily in the classroom in a variety of ways.  On this day, students refined their skills on short vowels by using Ipads.  Thank you Westwoods PTO for making this possible with the purchase of these Ipads over the last few years.  We LOVE them!

Representing Math Problems using pictures and number sentences to support our thinking.



Students explore a variety of strategies to solve story problems in the classroom for both addition and subtraction.  Students were grouped, given a problem, individually they solved the problem, then shared their thinking with their group.  Activities like these, give the students opportunity to revise their thinking after talking with their group!  Revising one's thinking is a life skill that students practice daily in the classroom by talking about what they know, listening to their peers, reflecting on what their peer said, then they decide to revise their thinking or help coach their peer to revise their thinking.  

Friday, November 7, 2014

Nonfiction comes alive!


Students shop for Nonfiction books to learn something new.  Be sure to ask your child what they have learned about in their reading today!

Writing Celebration





Students listened to their peers small moments.  It was amazing to hear the detail in their stories, the thinking, feelings, movement and itsy bitsy steps.  Hats off to this fantastic group of 1st graders writers who all took a risk and pushed themselves as learners.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Reading Celebration



CHEERS! Wednesday we celebrated the stamina we have worked so hard at building in our independent reading time. Students saluted their peers and congratulated each other on all of their hard work.  What does stamina look like in our room?  Eyes on the book, stay in one spot, students read the whole time, bathroom and drinks are closed, protecting out reading time by not interacting with others even when they try.  Can you believe that all 22 students can do that for more than 25 minutes?  Cheers to hard work and major accomplishments!

Our Learning is Messing





We launched our new reading unit today and the students worked together to sort a large amount of books into self created non-fiction categories.  Many problem solving skills were necessary by the participants to successfully create the task.  Students were faced with peers that didn't agree with their decision and they had to state their claim and provide their evidence for their thinking.  Listening to their peers, thinking about what they heard and responding appropriately were all skills orchestrated beautifully to support this enormous task to completion. 

We will explore text features this week, reasons to use non-fiction books in our everyday life, and how to adjust your voice when reading non-fiction text to sound like a narrator.        

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Halloween Fun






We had a blast today!  Here are some photos from the fun!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Be a Dectective


Our theme for the upcoming month is "Be a Detective."  Ask your child what detectives do and how were they a detective in their daily work.  

Peer coaching in writing



Writers look to their peers for coaching with our check list for narrative writing.  Students are learning to read their writing as readers and make sure the story reads just what they were intending it to.