Week 30

It was a busy week in Room 112!

The first graders have been working hard at reading and writing non-fiction books. They are becoming experts on topics and teaching others through their writing. In writing, they practiced organizing their books using the "table of contents" as a tool. They are reading like writers and writing like expert readers! 

During buddies this week, the first graders showed off their reading and writing skills and taught the fourth graders about the topics they have been studying! Afterwards, the fourth graders showed off what they have been studying... owl pellets! They got to see owl's prey, but in skeleton form :)

A HUGE thank you to Amy Tradewell (Keira's mom) for teaching Jr. Achievement! Her first lesson focused on family and community, and encouraged the first graders to think about all of the ways that families and neighborhoods work together. We have a pretty great Room 112 family :)

On Friday, we had our publishing party! The authors got to chew gum while they wrote and finished their non-fiction chapter books. Jack, our favorite four legged friend, also visited and was quite the captive audience :)


Reminders:
4/17 -- Progress reports go home
4/19 -- Spirit Day - Sports day!
4/22 -- Spring Clean up @ 8:30am-12pm


Here are some photos from the week...

Week 29

Here are some highlights from the first week back after spring break...

In math we started exploring fractions. The first graders did an amazing job dividing up their whole sandwiches (paper squares) into equal parts to share with friends. Next time you have sandwiches, pizza or cake with your kids ask them how you can cut it so that each person will get the same amount!


The first grade readers have been working hard on their non-fiction reading strategies. They have been practicing:

• Taking a sneak peek
• Stopping and studying each page
• Guessing what might come next
• Chatting about a page
• Making their voice smooth and lively 
• Finding & thinking about keywords. 

This week we discussed how expert readers mark pages so that they can pick out interesting information and share with other expert readers. They did an amazing job adding questions and comment post-it notes to their non-fiction books!

To honor the blossoming trees outside our classroom window, Mrs. O'Connor taught the first graders how to create their own tree blossoms using tissue paper! Now we get to enjoy blooming trees outside and inside our classroom :)

The week ended with a bang! There was a power outage at school, but the kiddos did an incredible job staying calm, cool and collected! It was business as usual in Room 112 and the first graders got to learn and play by natural light!

Reminders:

4/11 -- Book orders due! 

4/14 -- Mother/son kickball game @ 6:30pm

Here are some photos from the week... 

Week 28

Hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Spring Break! Here are some highlights from last week...

Our biography journals are all filled up! We have studied lots of important people and learned about how and why they are important. The conversations that we had throughout the unit were thoughtful and inspiring! I am hoping the first graders continue to learn and study important people even though we are wrapping up the unit.

We ended last week with Art Literacy. The first graders learned about murals, and drew their own self portrait that will soon be part of a school wide mural! The artists not only drew themselves but also thought of an attribute that they contribute to the Stephenson community. We have very imaginative, creative, funny, helpful, happy first graders! A HUGE thank you to all of the parent volunteers that helped make it possible :)

Reminders:

4/11 -- Book Orders Due!

Here are some photos from the week...