Great Week--Sept 26-30

Hello!

 

This week was a great week in our class.  There was a lot of wonderful work, activity, sharing, ideas, and thinking happening everyday.  I am continually amazed at how well this group of students take care of the room and one another.  The transition into a new classroom and with new friends can take time--they are doing a remarkable job.

 

Things to note:

• Innisbrook Wrapping Paper Fundraiser is quickly coming to an end.  Please make sure to send you order back to school when you can.
• Wednesday, October 5th.  Back-to-School night.  This year it will be just for parents.  I look forward to sharing as much as I can about the classroom and the curriculum for the year.  Please let me know if you don't think you'll make it on Wednesday.
• Friday, October 14th.  No School for Statewide Teacher Inservice.
• Monday, October 17th.  Picture Day.
• Wednesday, October 19th.  2-hour Late Opening.

Last Week:

 

Math:  Our current math unit, "Bugs Galore," focuses most on sorting, graphing and counting.  Last week, we sorted buttons, graphed sea creatures, and created paper/pencil representations of the data collected.  For the representations, I left the instructions intentionally vague so students would create their own meaning of the information they'd learned.  I was AMAZED at how varied the responses were and how students even tried new ways for the different representations they made.  I love to watch 1st graders evaluate their own thinking and try new methods during math time.  I believe that is the foundation to truly competent mathematicians. 

 

Phonics:  Our focus this week was the short "o" sound (octopus, otter).  The students blended sounds, segmenting words, read and wrote words with short "o" in them.  We also sang a phonics song and found all the words with the short "o" in them.  We added 3 words to our word rings:  use, take and of. 

 

Writing:  On Monday, we discussed using longer words in our writing to help create more interest in our stories.  Students were encouraged to circle the long words they used and share then with the class at the end of our writing time.  On Tuesday, Ms. Hagen reminded the students to use appropriate spacing between words as they are writing.  We reminded the students that using an index finger as a spacer can help to ensure that writing is more readable.  At home, please help your student to remember to space appropriately as they write (spaces not too small and not too big).  The rest of the week, we talked about continuing stories that we'd already begun in our writing folders. 

 

Reading:  It was wonderful on Tuesday to sit with each student and give them a reading assessment.  I learned so much about each student's ability and I could also chat a little bit too.  With the information that I gathered, I will put together my small, leveled reading groups that I meet with and I also could start students reading from their book bags.  During quiet reading each day the students read books at their independent level from their book bags. 

 

This week, the story from the Scott Foresman anthology was The Big Blue Ox.  In this fictitious story a blue ox lends a hand around the farm.  We used the story to discuss setting in a story.  We sang a song about oxen, which helped teach the advanced vocabulary of transportation, past and present.  Another story on horses brought about a discussion of the use of plows and horses.  Very enjoyable!

 

Art:  Our first "official" art lesson was a chance for the students to learn the procedure for using watercolor paints in our classroom as they painted a poem for their poetry folder.  We also glued together multi-colored name strips that now dangle from our classroom ceiling.  Everything looks so bright and cheerful!

 

It was a fabulous week.  I can't wait to share so much about the room when I see you all on Wednesday.

 

Thanks!

Mrs. Alison Hildebrant