Nature Walk and Descriptive Writing

As we work on narrative writing we've begun to think more about descriptive writing. Last week we started working on using our five senses to describe what we observe around us. This week we went on a nature walk on the trails behind Southeast. We were careful to pay attention to what we saw, heard, felt, and smelled (no tasting!). Afterwards, we started working on turning our observations into descriptive sentences. 

Literacy Centers

Today we began our literacy centers. Literacy centers are stations that we visit to practice skills that we've learned in reading, writing, and phonics. When we go to centers we have to practice responsibility and problem solving. Our centers will change weekly or biweekly. This week our centers are whisper phones, spelling beads, Raz Kids, and sandpaper sight words. Ask your first grader for more information about each center! 

Our First Published Books

Your first grader is an author! This week many of us finished up our Jasper's Beanstalk Part 2 books and we added them to our student library. Yesterday we had time to enjoy reading each other's work and seeing our own work on display. 

Measuring with Non-standard Units

This week we worked on measuring using non-standard units. We measured different objects around the room using popsicle sticks and recorded our findings in measurement booklets. For each item we measured we made an estimate and then recorded the actual measurement. We practiced measuring with no gaps and no overlaps between units. 

Next week we will try the same activity using unifix cubes (a much smaller unit). We'll compare the two units of measure and discuss why each object is more unifix cubes long than popsicle sticks.

Sharing in Writer's Workshop

Last week we started our first grade writer's workshop! Each day we have a writing mini lesson, lots of writing time while teachers conference with writers, and time to share our work. Today was the first day that we learned about how we share our work. We practiced reading our writing with a loud voice and keeping our papers in our laps so that we can make eye contact.

We are finishing up our first writing project, which some of your saw at open house. Last week we read a story called Jasper's Beanstalk. In the story Jasper the cat climbs a beanstalk, but we never find out what happens next. Our class wrote Jasper's Beanstalk Part 2! We worked on using our imaginations, writing with sequence words, and adding details.

Class Meeting

Every day after recess each class at Southeast school gets together for class meeting. This is a special time in the building. It's a time when classroom community is built and social skills are developed. In class meeting we participate in greeting, sharing, and an activity. During our greetings we take the time to say hello to each other in different fun ways. This week we worked on handshakes. Ask your first grader to shake your hand. You'll want to hire them! You could also ask them to show you the rainbow wave or pinky shake. When we share we practice speaking and listening, and we get to know our classmates. Every Friday at Southeast during the sharing portion of class meeting we focus on gratitude throughout the school. Every student and teacher shares something that they are grateful for. Our class has focused on people and places that we are thankful for so far. Finally, we have an activity. The activities are simply things that we can do as a whole class. For example, today we went around the circle and clapped the syllables in our names for our activity. Ask your first grader to teach you Aroostasha if you want a laugh (they might need a reminder that the sequence is thumbs up, knees together, toes in, bottoms out, tongues out). Class meetings help us start every afternoon on a positive note.

Sequence Words

This week we have started to dig in to retelling stories by working with the book Small Pig. Over the course of the week we've worked on analyzing the story's main character, setting, and key events. Each of these things is an important part of retelling a story. Today we practiced putting the key events of the story in order using sequencing words like first, next, then, after that, and last. Ask your first grader to tell you the story of Small Pig and listen for those important words! 

Number Rack

This week we began work with our number racks. A number rack is a math tool that we'll use often throughout the year, and that you may see on math homework. It has two bars with ten beads on each. Of the ten beads there are five red and five white. Students are able to move the beads to represent numbers, addition and subtraction problems, and to build an understanding of base ten. 

All About Me Posters

This week we are working on sharing our All About Me posters. I can tell that a lot of hard work went into each poster, and they have been a great way to get to know each other. Once each student has shared we are hanging them up so that you can enjoy them at next week's open house. 

Retelling

Our first reading unit is all about retelling. As we read and work through our lessons we are thinking about the essential question: "Why do we retell?" 

This week we practiced different ways of retelling. We retold through drama by acting out the story Little Beaver and the Echo. 

Today we each got a key word from the story If You Give a Moose a Muffin. As we read the story students came to the front of the room when their key word was called. In the end we formed a story line. We then took turns retelling the story using the story line and the key words.

Class Rules

This week our class finished creating our class rules. We started by thinking about our hopes and dreams for first grade, and what our schoolwork would be like this year. After, we tried to decide what rules we would need to have a safe and happy classroom where everyone could learn. After creating a long list we narrowed our rules down to 3 categories. We looked for rules about how we should behave, rules about how we treat each other, and rules about our classroom space. We chose one rule to cover each category. 

Our final classroom rules are:

1. Take care of yourself.

2. Treat others how you want to be treated.

3. Take care of our classroom.

4. Everybody gets to learn and play.