Germs and hand washing

Germs travel EVERYWHERE

Today we learned how germs travel when people sneeze.  Mrs. W pretended to sneeze and threw glitter everywhere.  We watched throughout the day to see where the germs travel and talked about how they may have gotten there.  Students learned about hand washing too.  Each student rubbed Vaseline on their hands and had some glitter sprinkled on their hands.  The glitter represented the germs we cannot see.  Students were asked to go to the sink and rinse their hands.  When they returned to their seats they talked about what they saw on their hands, red glitter still everywhere.  Next students went to the sink and used water and soap to was their hands.  They returned to their tables, and talked about what they saw.  They were amazed that water did not touch the "germs" and the soap really worked to get the germs washed away.  Ask your child what they learned about handwashing and how germs travel!
 

Food Pyramid

Students learned about the food pyramid today, they talked practiced taking notes about what they learned and tomorrow they will use their notes to help teach a peer about what they learned about the food pyramid.  Note taking is a life skill that the learners in our classroom community are beginning to explore by sketching a quick picture.  This sketch is suppose to help trigger their memory of the new information from the lesson so they can share their learning with peers.  


  

Can your child name the 6 groups of food from the food pyramid?  What should be eat the most of?  What should we eat the least of?  

Poem practice

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, our poem for the week was a hit with the students.  They love matching poems to an already favorite tune.  They read independently, with partners and small groups.  Ask your child to read the poem with you to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle.

  

Math Workshop

We are working on developing and understanding of equal.  Students participate in a variety of activities each day to help develop their understanding of the concept and extend their thinking.  Math workshop has time for independent work, partner work, small group work and whole group learning.  Students love the activities and often tell people that math is all about games and thinking about the games you play.  I loved this perspective!

Students partner up to play 10 turns.  This game is a great opportunity
for the students to practice counting on with larger numbers.

This group made up their own story problem and each of the members
had to solve the problem and share their thinking.

Independent practice is a great opportunity for me to see if students
can apply the skills we have been working on in math workshop.  

Partner work = great math talk opportunities

Students are practicing making a representation of a problem and
writing a math equation to match. 

Students work in groups to find as many combinations of a number and
share their thinking with their group. How do you know if you got
all of the number partners? 

Students sit near their peers during independent practice in case they
need coaching.  They all have been practicing helping not telling.

Double compare (war) is always a favorite and it helps students to count
on saying the bigger number 1st and counting up to find the sum.

Think Central is the online component of Math Expressions.  Students
are learning to log on and navigate the site independently before they
come home to teach you.

A little friendly disagreement about mathematical thinking  provides
countless opportunities for the students to explain their thinking
and revise their thinking.  We have been working all year to create
a learning environment where students feel safe and  take risks in their
learning.  We celebrate mistakes and see them as learning opportunities.  

         

Human Body excitement

Students LOVE learning about the human body.  They cannot get enough of the nonfiction book box where they can explore their new knowledge from CKLA on the Human Body and compare it to other sources.  It is awesome to hear the students use the correct vocabulary and generate ideas about the organs they have not learned about yet!  

Today they surprised themselves by generating ideas about ways to keep their bodies healthy.  After the listening component of the lesson, they were shocked they were right about 4 of the 5 keys to health.  It was awesome to see how proud they were when they realized they had that information as prior knowledge.  Be sure to ask your child if they can name the 5 keys of health.  

5 Keys to Health

• Exercise
• Eat nutritious food and drink a lot of water
• Keep your body and teeth clean
• Get plenty of sleep
• Visit the doctor at least once a year to make sure you are growing and developing 

    

Morning meeting exploring nouns

Morning meeting today focused on nouns.  Ask your child what is a noun?  We play a fun game where I make up phrases and the students tell me the noun, then you can switch roles and you can guess the noun.  They love it.   
  

Swag Tags

   

Students shared the swag tag they were most proud of and why with their peers.  They shared what they did to earn that swag tag and how those actions make our learning community a great place to be.  

Recess fun

It was a gorgeous day on the playground.  I love seeing the creativity and imagination.  Soccer, tag, tether ball, imagination games, what is your child's favorite activity at recess?  

     

Control center fun

Students all participated in playing a role in the process of the brain sending a message through the spinal chord to the nerves and then to the muscles where the brain wants the movement to take place.  They loved having a role in their learning and exploring the control center of the body!

 

 

Circulatory system

Students learned about the Circulatory system yesterday and had a chance to listen to their own heart beat using a stethoscope.  Our CKLA reading program has provided the students with awesome information on the body systems and through these learning opportunities the students have learned many new vocabulary words.  I love hearing the students use the vocabulary correctly when they experience some hands on learning.  Here are some fun facts that keep buzzing around our classroom:

• Your body has 206 bones
• An adult has about 20 cups of blood in their body
• Blood can travel from your heart to your head, to your toes and back to your heart in under a minute
• There are 640 skeletal muscles in the human body
• Your heart is about the size of your fist
• A human brain weighs about 3 lbs

 

Mathematical skill building

Math workshop allows students to work on skill building to help them have a strong foundation of the very basics of math.  Each group of students has activities throughout the week tailored to their ability yet it provides them with enough of a challenge to keep them engaged.  We are working on teaching the students how to use Think Central (a website that houses activities that support our math program, where students can practice their skills at home too),  how to type their username and passwords and where to find their assignments.  I will share their login information with you at parent teacher conferences and if you need any assistance we can have an evening quick session where you can come in with your child and learn how to help them access the website at home.  


   

Indoor Recess

Indoor recess is popular in the 1st grade, in fact, the students cheer whenever it is announced.  They love the time to build with PlayStix, create, write letters, play favorite games, learn new games (Engineering Ants, was a hit), play with toys and just talk with their friends.  

Construction is a favorite of many for indoor recess fun!

Snack, writing and conversation, what more could the students ask for?

Students learned a new game called Engineering Ants

  

Sorry is always a favorite

 

Math talk

Students are learning how to talk to their partner about their thinking.  Partners are learning to listen, think about what they are learning and seeing and respond with a statement that agrees with the thinking or disagrees with the thinking.  They could ask a clarifying question to better understand their partner's thinking or even to challenge their partner's thinking.  Every person in our classroom has a job at every point of their day.  What does it look like to be a listener and what are you doing when you are listening?  Why do we listen?  If you are the person sharing, you are explaining your thinking, using complete sentences to give your partner a clear idea of what you are talking about and responding to your partners statements or questions.  Partners get to play both roles several times throughout the day.