In Unit 3, students are concentrating on counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's in a variety of contexts. Much of this learning is embedded in solving and creating our own word problems all about lobsters. Students are not only learning about what lobsters look like, what they eat, and how they move, but are using them to focus on counting skills by 2's (large claws) and 10's (large claws and small claws together). Using lobsters, our word problems are also challenging us to count beyond 100 and are strengthening our understanding of addition and subtracting. These last 2 weeks, students have also been focusing on counting by 5's and 10's using the value of pennies, nickels, and dimes. Check out the video above to see how literacy, math, and science are integrated in this fun song!
Class Picture
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
NAP Winter Celebration Day
Students spent an ENTIRE day outside in the frigid temps today! About 70 first graders scattered about Hubbard park for a day of exploration and fun. We explored the shelters we built (my group found 13), listened to stories, baked bread and warmed up at the fire, used rope to climb some steep hills, did a scavenger hunt, sang songs, and created art using materials from the forest floor. INQUIRE with your child what their favorite part of the day was.
*Thanks to those parents who helped us today. If you have any pictures to add to the slideshow from your groups, please email them to me and I'll add them to the show. *
Listen to Amy begin to share a story with all the first graders!
*Thanks to those parents who helped us today. If you have any pictures to add to the slideshow from your groups, please email them to me and I'll add them to the show. *
Listen to Amy begin to share a story with all the first graders!
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Guest Teacher
For your information there will be a guest teacher in our classroom on the following days:
December 14th - ALL DAY (I'll be in and out of the classroom doing reading assessments)
December 16th - 1/2 Day PM
December 23rd - 1/2 Day PM
Please help your child at home be prepared for a guest teacher and reminding them to show C.A.R.E.S. when I am out of the classroom. Thanks for your support with this at home. We will be preparing in the classroom as well!
December 14th - ALL DAY (I'll be in and out of the classroom doing reading assessments)
December 16th - 1/2 Day PM
December 23rd - 1/2 Day PM
Please help your child at home be prepared for a guest teacher and reminding them to show C.A.R.E.S. when I am out of the classroom. Thanks for your support with this at home. We will be preparing in the classroom as well!
Using the CAFE menu
Students have been choosing a focus area to work on in their individual reading. Students can choose from comprehension, accuracy, fluency, or expanding their vocabulary. Within these broader categories, students focus on 1 specific strategy that falls in that category. For example, one might be working on remembering to flip the sound when working on accuracy or making sure they tune into interesting words when working on expanding their vocabulary. INQUIRE with you child what strategy they're focusing on this week!
Unit 3 - Bridges
We have moved onto unit 3 in Bridges- Whales Tails and Lobster Legs. This unit will focus on counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's, on number patterns and fact families, addition and subtraction story problems, addition and subtraction facts to 10, coin worth and adding combinations, counting by 10's and 1's, and many lessons on sorting and graphing. We will also be continuing to tell time by the half hour and by 5 minute intervals on an analog clock, comparing and collecting data, and looking at probability.
Here are some frequently asked questions that are answered by the Bridges Program. If you have any questions regarding math in your child's classroom, please INQUIRE with me!
Q: Why do you spend time having students make their own picture problems?
A: In this unit, students learn about different sea creatures and create picture problems about them. Then, students solve one another’s problems. When mathematical problems are embedded in a context that students understand well and find interesting, students can draw on their familiarity with the context to make sense of the math they are learning. Sea creatures,
with their different numbers of legs and other body parts, lend themselves well to solving problems involving equal groups, a major theme of this unit.
Q: Why are time and money part of a unit on sea creatures?
A: The topic of the unit is sea creatures, but the mathematical theme is equal groups. Sea creatures’ bodies, coins, and the clock face provide three different ways to represent equal groups (of 2, 5, and 10). We want students to move beyond counting one by one when solving problems. The scenarios and problems in this unit encourage them to begin counting equal groups by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. It’s a more efficient way to solve many problems, and it’s also a precursor to understanding place value and to calculating efficiently in our base ten number system.
Check out the winter calendar pieces we created ourselves and put into an AABB pattern! Students have also been challenged by adding double digit numbers. When given a 2 digit number, students have been visualizing in their mind the amount of 10's and 1's in each number and then being asked to add them together. It's amazing how easy this is when you think of it in terms of groups! We have had many new work places this past week including: Spin and Add, Race you to 25 cents, 10 or bust, Count and Compare Coins, and Add and Compare. INQUIRE with your child how to play these games and what their favorite is!
Inquire with your child what time it is using an analogue clock! What time do we generally study time?
Here are some frequently asked questions that are answered by the Bridges Program. If you have any questions regarding math in your child's classroom, please INQUIRE with me!
Q: Why do you spend time having students make their own picture problems?
A: In this unit, students learn about different sea creatures and create picture problems about them. Then, students solve one another’s problems. When mathematical problems are embedded in a context that students understand well and find interesting, students can draw on their familiarity with the context to make sense of the math they are learning. Sea creatures,
with their different numbers of legs and other body parts, lend themselves well to solving problems involving equal groups, a major theme of this unit.
Q: Why are time and money part of a unit on sea creatures?
A: The topic of the unit is sea creatures, but the mathematical theme is equal groups. Sea creatures’ bodies, coins, and the clock face provide three different ways to represent equal groups (of 2, 5, and 10). We want students to move beyond counting one by one when solving problems. The scenarios and problems in this unit encourage them to begin counting equal groups by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. It’s a more efficient way to solve many problems, and it’s also a precursor to understanding place value and to calculating efficiently in our base ten number system.
Check out the winter calendar pieces we created ourselves and put into an AABB pattern! Students have also been challenged by adding double digit numbers. When given a 2 digit number, students have been visualizing in their mind the amount of 10's and 1's in each number and then being asked to add them together. It's amazing how easy this is when you think of it in terms of groups! We have had many new work places this past week including: Spin and Add, Race you to 25 cents, 10 or bust, Count and Compare Coins, and Add and Compare. INQUIRE with your child how to play these games and what their favorite is!
Wow! Can you believe it's been 64 days! 
Inquire with your child what time it is using an analogue clock! What time do we generally study time?
Ropes
What can you do with a rope in Hubbard Park? On Monday, students explored a variety of ways to use a rope. While some students used guide books to practice tying knots, others tied them around trees on top of the hill to use as an aide to climb steep hills. INQUIRE with your child what other uses they had!
This may or may not be our final NAP for 2011. The first grade team and Amy Butler are working on a possible celebration on December 19th. If you are able to volunteer on this day (for the entirety) please let me know via email. If this is unable to happen, we will resume NAP lessons after February vacation. Stay tuned!
This may or may not be our final NAP for 2011. The first grade team and Amy Butler are working on a possible celebration on December 19th. If you are able to volunteer on this day (for the entirety) please let me know via email. If this is unable to happen, we will resume NAP lessons after February vacation. Stay tuned!
Another Handmade Ball
Today we made another handmade ball. First, students explored using four different balls: a soccer ball, a tennis ball, a softball and a baseball to determine what they could be made from, what is inside, the texture and how they roll. Then we put on our science eyes/ears/touch and explored the same balls that I previously cut in half to better understand what makes up each ball, outside and inside. Wow, did you know there is only densely packed fibers inside a softball, but it's so hard? INQUIRE with your child what is inside a soccer ball and a tennis ball - what makes them similar and different?
Students then made their own balls again. This time we used the following materials: cork, cotton batting, yarn, duct tape, newspaper, clay, masking tape. Talk with your child to learn how s/he thinks their second ball with roll, bounce or behave when it is thrown. Will it perform the same as the first one they made?
Students then made their own balls again. This time we used the following materials: cork, cotton batting, yarn, duct tape, newspaper, clay, masking tape. Talk with your child to learn how s/he thinks their second ball with roll, bounce or behave when it is thrown. Will it perform the same as the first one they made?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Shoes
Many students are 'forgetting' their indoor shoes as we get into boot season. Because we sit on the floor for parts of the day, it is important that students have shoes to wear (I don't need a wet bottom!) If you'd like, please feel free to leave a pair of indoor shoes in the classroom overnight. For emergency purposes, students need to always have shoes on their feet during the school day! Instead of packing those crocks away, perhaps you want to leave them in your child's classroom as an 'extra' for the winter!
P.S. Will you come visit us and read us a story?
We continue to write letters to various people during writing. Today, we decided to write a letter to Cynthia Rylant. All students contributed to the ideas within this letter. We made sure to include information about why we were writing her and that we had been learning about her life and reading many of her books over the last few weeks. We shared our favorites with her and also asked her a few questions. Many of the students wondered where she got her ideas and whether she had any new ideas for new books. Other students wondered how she went about choosing the illustrator for her books.
Working with New Friends!
This week, students in Mrs. Wrigley's class and our class have been getting together a few times a day. Some students meet together for FIT with Mrs. Wrigley or myself in small groups. During Fundations this week, students are mixed up and either working on spelling in either my room or her room, and then students have a choice to interact with their peers from either of the classes during center time at the end of the day. Students from both classes may even get together for a morning meeting activity later in the week! INQUIRE with your child whether they've met any new friends. Next year, students from all classes will be divided up and placed in new classrooms with new friends. The opportunities we are providing allow students to get to know other students, new teachers, be challenged at their own level academically, and experience different teaching styles!
Friday, December 2, 2011
We'll Miss You, Shannon
Shannon and Bridget led an engaging 4 Winds lesson today on Seeds. Students learned about the life cycle of seeds, parts of a seed, types of seeds, and the various ways in which seeds travel. Students watched a puppet show, dissected and identified various seed parts, ate a variety of seeds and even pretended to be the wind, blowing seeds from one place to another (see video).
A special thanks to Shannon for all her help last year and this year. She has put an abundant amount of time into the organization of the program. I greatly appreciate this! Shannon has recruited many new parents to take her spot, and we look forward to upcoming lessons with them!
A special thanks to Shannon for all her help last year and this year. She has put an abundant amount of time into the organization of the program. I greatly appreciate this! Shannon has recruited many new parents to take her spot, and we look forward to upcoming lessons with them!
HOOT, HOOT!
Students showed EMPATHY today as they delivered roughly 75 food items to Screech's nest. Screech plans to deliver these food items for us to those in need. There were over 1,000 items collected by all of UES!
Force and Motion
Students know so many things about balls, including what makes a ball a ball and why! Today's lesson on Force & Motion had students create their own balls using a variety of materials. After exploring our collection of classroom balls and discussing their specific qualities (smooth, rough, smooshy, hard, dense, filled with air, lightweight), we got to work creating balls that can bounce, roll, be thrown and hit. Talk with your first grader to learn more about how they made their ball, ask what materials they chose and why? How do they think it will bounce, roll, go through the air when thrown?
Working COOPERATIVELY to create balls. "Hey, can you help me with this?" "Of course, what do you need?"
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Quiet Cafe
Beginning Monday all students will be asked to go to Quiet Cafe to eat their lunch and socialize with other first graders when it is their assigned day. Students attend in alphabetical order segments by their last name, beginning with A the first day of the week. I will discuss this with our class at Morning Meeting on Monday. The change is school-wide and the purpose is to provide an alternative lunch experience for all students other than the cafeteria.
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