Team 107 is the final countdown to our holiday break!  We had a great couple of days this week so far.  We finished unit 5 in our FUNdations program and took the assessment today.  I am very impressed by how much these students are learning and able to apply what they have learned.

In math we are talking about number lines!  We solved lots of holiday themed problems today and practiced using number lines that are specific to the problem with just the numbers we need.  For example, 7 reindeer plus 4 more would have a number line with 7,8,9,10&11 on it.

We also learned a fun by yourself game called LEAPFROG!  Some people know it as the peg game or the Cracker Barrel game.  They really started getting the hang of this!

Remember Night Tree walk this Thursday at 8:15-9:45 am and Grinch green day Friday!

Wow these days are flying by so quickly!

In literacy this week we have been practicing our new trick words have & from.
We also have been reviewing our glued sounds -all, -an & -am.

I am impressed at how well the first graders can hear a sentence dictated to them and then write it correctly with punctuation and capital starts when they really attend to the task!  At the reading table today we had lots of writers get the whole sentence correct with all the sounds and writing mechanics!  That's a big job!
In math we are learning about patterns!  We started with the visual patterns and read the book Pattern Fish.
The first graders made a page in the same style the illustrator used in the book to show a pattern of their choice.
Today we read the book Missing Mittens and introduced the concept of odds and evens.  We figured out that we can tell if a number is odd or even by determining the digit in the ones place.  We also learned to check if a number is odd or even by counting it out on our fingers using alternating hands.  Have your first grader show you how to check 5 (If they do it correctly they should sing "Somebody is missing a partner" at the end to determine it is odd).

We are continuing to write OPINION stories in writer's workshop!  We are learning to convince your reader you should give LOTS of reasons why you like it!

First Grade was very busy this week!

We introduced the glued sounds 'am' and 'an'.
We worked on making mini trick word books where we design the word and then use it in a sentence.
We solved more sentence puzzles including ones with quotation marks!

In math we took our unit 2 assessment ( a copy went home yesterday) and we began unit 3 with visual patterns!  We know to be a pattern it has to repeat!  We are learning to create, continue and label patterns we can see or hear.

In writing we launched our new unit on Opinion writing!  We used our collections to write which item would be the best 'blue ribbon winner' in the collection.  We are learning to convince your reader you need to tell why it is the best in your opinion and use the word because.  We had other first grade teachers from Loudon come and observe us during writer's workshop and they were impressed with how great we are at being independent!

Lastly we enjoyed our pajama day and enjoyed the book version of the Polar Express.  If you are interested in coming to the PTO event tonight it starts at 5 and you do not have to be pre-registered, just come!

Winter has arrived!  The playground is covered in snow.  

We have kids play in the snow if and when they have the following 5 things:

*jacket

*snowpants

*boots

*mittens or gloves

*a hat

Some times a reusable grocery bag works well to transport snow gear.

In math we have been learning about pennies and nickels.  If you have spare change you can play COIN SCOOP. Have your student teach you!

Today we did 2 of our 4 science rotations!  Our team learned about translucent, transparent and opaque objects as seen through light.  We also did experiments with tuning forks, rubber bands, balloons and rulers to explore vibrations to learn about sound waves!

FYI there is stomach bug going around the first grade.  Today we reviewed what kids can do to stay healthy: drink water, get lots of SLEEP, eat healthy and wash their hands!  We will keep wiping the tables down!

Today we welcomed a new team member to room 107!  Welcome Stanley!
We now have 18 kids on our team!  I was very impressed with how nicely the team welcomed and helped him.
We are gearing up for an exciting week ahead.  Tomorrow and Wednesday we will be doing SCIENCE CENTERS!  We will be learning about light and sound waves!  Then on Thursday we are going on our big field trip to the Dover Children's Museum!  Remember to pack a cold lunch that day for your student!

A letter (and a bag) is coming home today inviting students to please bring in a collection of some kind in to kick off our new writing unit on Opinion Writing!  I have had lots of different types of collections come in the past...marbles, baseball cards, action figures, head bands, stickers, postcards etc.

A new book bag came home today!  Thanks for supporting your student to be reading at home.  Remember to extend your reading try to have them retell the
beginning / middle / end
all the characters
the problem
the solution
what was the message the author wanted us to get from this book?

Tomorrow is our feast!  If you offered to send in mini muffins, thank you!  Please send them in the morning if you can as we try to set it all up before the kids come.  Remember to send your student in their pilgrim best, dark bottoms and white/light tops.  Girls can do aprons if they want and boys can pull high socks over their pant legs if they want to!

In math we are learning about money!  Today we introduced the penny,  the symbol for cents and played a great game called Penny Plate.  You start with a set number of pennies, for example 5.  One player closes their eyes and the other player puts some of the pennies under the plate and the remainder on the top.  For example 4 under 1 on top.  Then the player with closed eyes opens and figures out how many are hiding based on how many they can see ( basic algebra!)...we started with 5 and worked up to 10 with our partners today.  This is a great game to build number sense, give it a try!

Today we did some special Thanksgiving centers where they first graders rotated to every classroom!  ASk your first grader what they liked the best and why.

We also did a turkey greeting at our morning meeting, have then show you how to make it with their two hands!

Here is a list of what team 107 is thankful for...

Anthony- My parents and my brothers to play with
Kylie- My daddy and my Grammie's lake house
Ross- My Uncle Eric coming over to set up my old computer
Delyla- My family and friends and arts and crafts
Lily- My cousin Taylor and my cousin's dog Kayla
Aurelian- Gliding lizards and school so I can learn
Reanne- My Auntie's dog and oxygen
Mily-friends to play with and school to learn to read
Isabelle-My Dad and my Mom
Kaylee- My mom and my Dad to play with me
Zoey- My elf on the shelf named Elsa and Miles my dog
Charlie-my dry bone toy and sunflowers
Tyler-playing frisbee at school with friends and my having sleepovers at my Grammie's house
Piper-My puppy Rosie and my birthday
Jenny- my family and friends
Andrew- My dog Daisy to cuddle and sleeping over my Grammie's house
Isaac-My Dad and my brother Jonah

We have continued to talk about Thanksgiving and learn about what life was like a long time ago for the Pilgrims.  Today one of our centers was to read the pictures in some picture books about the first Thanksgiving.  We talked about how good readers use all the clues, including picture clues to make meaning.  The kids were able to tell a lot from the illustrations!

We also made bingo cards to play bingo with all our words that have bonus letters ( shell, buzz, mess, huff etc.)  We have been reviewing our first glued sound all.

This week our trick words were you, your , I & they.

In math we sorted number sentences for true and false.  It was important for us to explain not only how we knew an answer was correct but how we knew it was false!  " I knew 5+5+5=10 was not true because it takes two 5's to make 10, three 5's would be bigger" etc.

At morning meeting we are sharing something we were thankful for.  Today kids could share anything they feel thankful for tomorrow they are challenged to share something they are thankful for that cannot be bought at a store!  I will post the responses tomorrow!

We filled up our bucket and voted on a privilege!  We are going to get an extra recess!  We will likely save this for Friday.  Speaking of recess if your first grader wants to bring any equipment to recess from home (balls, jump ropes, frisbees etc) they are welcome to!  The school has some of these items to offer the kids but you can also send it items if you want to.  I would recommend labeling anything with your child's name and room 107.  

Still looking for several first grade families who could donate a dozen mini muffins for our feast.  Ideally we would like 6 separate 1 dozen donations for our feast next Tuesday morning ( 830 am parents are welcome).

On Tuesday the 22nd when we have our book pal feast we will be the Pilgrims.  Please help your child pick our their best Pilgrim outfit ( do not go buy anything!!).  Kids usually try for white or light colored tops ( collars are a plus) and black or dark bottoms.  Sometimes girls wear aprons, sometimes boys pull high socks over their pant legs.  We will provide the hats!  Thanks!

Thank you for coming out for PTC, it was so great to share progress with you and show off some of your first grader's hard work.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch (email is best) if you want to chat more or have a follow up question.

New trick words this week are  you & your.   We also have been learning about bonus letters (1,z,s,f) that see at the end of a word with a short vowel (example: shell, mess, fill, buzz).  We introduced our first glued sound /all/.  We know if we can spell all we can spell many more words like fall, call, small etc.

We have Library on Monday!  We missed it the last few weeks due to PTC and guidance.  Please send library books and book bags back to school this Monday!

Hopefully you saw the blue notice that went home last week about the BES first grade mitten tree.  We are collecting gently used or new mittens, hats, scarves etc. to be donated to children in need of items this upcoming winter season.  Please consider sending a donation (especially if your child has out grown an item).

Our upcoming book pal Thanksgiving Feast will be Tuesday 11-22 at 830 am in our BES cafeteria.  Families are welcome to come and watch (heads up it is very quick about 25 minutes) but it is primarily for the students to snack and exchange gifts with their fourth grade pal.  

On Monday we voted in a first grade election for what gift we should make for our book pals.  The first graders went into an election booth and voted for either necklace, picture frame or bookmark.  Necklaces won!

We are in need of some items for our book pal feast: 

17 drinks (water bags or juice boxes or a gallon of cider) 

mini muffins one dozen per donation (homemade or store bought any flavor) total of 6 dozen.

Today we had a great time making and graphing our Turkey Glyphs!  We made turkeys where each color feather represented a food we may or may not like to eat.  

Red-cranberry sauce

Orange-pumpkin pie

Yellow-corn

Green-green beans

Pink-potatoes

Brown-stuffing

We found that orange, yellow, green and pink were very popular!

Despite the rainy day and the indoor recess we had a great day in room 107!  These students continue to impress me with their academics!  We reviewed our words of the day from our phonics programs and started talking about synonyms and antonyms for each word like  shut -  close & open.  See if your first grader can offer you other words that mean the same thing as a word you name or an opposite.  

In math we are learning that there are many ways to show a number sentence! For example, if we see this domino we can generate these number sentences:

5+3= 8, 3+5 =8 (both of those in a vertical format) then 8=5+ and 8=3+5 

 Tomorrow we will even add on the subtraction number sentences 8-5=3 and 8-3=5

Sorry this blog has been quiet for a few days, I have been very busy finishing my narratives you will receive at PTC next week!

Thank you so much for all the Halloween special snack supplies last Friday!

Today we talked about the 3 ways to make the /k/ sound -c -k -ck.
We learned that if the /k/ sound is at the end of a word like THICK we write a -ck.

In math we are working to develop a number grid in our minds!  Ask your first grader to close their eyes and tell you who goes before and after the number 4?  13?  56?  Challenge: Who is 10 more or 10 less from those numbers?

Please be aware we go out every morning at 10 am for am recess and it is still chilly!  Send those warm items!

We are so close to filling our bucket for the third time, I bet they will do it tomorrow!

Today we played digraph bingo with the cards we made with sh , th, ch, ck and wh words.  The kids loved it and they were so good at it!  If you are looking for a new way to practice words make it into a bingo game!

In math we are practicing to jump on the number grid.  For example if we are working on 5+2 we want to be able to use the number grid to count on and back.  The biggest mistake we often see in first graders is counting before they jump.  We practiced this today by physically jumping and then counting....jump "1", jump "2" etc.  Playing board games also reinforces this.
Soon we will learn to use the plus 10 shortcut on our number grids by sliding out fingers down a row.
We have lots of games to practice this skill.

Today we did a big book bag exchange, phew!  Look for new stuff coming home today!  In your child's book bag there should also be a number grid puzzle they can solve in addition to the things listed in the math section.  Remember the pink BES challenge sheet is OPTIONAL!

In literacy today we practiced making words with our digraphs and in math we worked on filling in missing numbers on a number grid using the before (-1) and after (+1) clues.  Soon we will move onto +/- 10 on a number grid.

We finished our first chapter book Charlotte's Web and watched the movie for our last privilege ( over a week).  We started a new chapter book Matilda by Roald Dahl.  Please be advised if you read along at home that I do paraphrase some of the language and parts to make it more first grade friendly.

Today we did a super fun read aloud with movement at morning meeting called In a House that is Haunted!

In literacy we introduced the digraphs.  We talked about how 2 letters make 1 sound:


We learned how to play number grid tic tac toe!  Look for a paper coming home as a homework opportunity on this next week.  Thanks for sending the book bags back on Monday!  Have a great weekend!

Today we reviewed that q is always with u!  We know that these letters together make the /qu/ sound.  We had a new word of the day and the word was quit.  Ask your first grader if they can write it or spell it or use it in a sentence.  We have also been practicing a lot about how sentences start and end so you can hold us accountable when writing at home to have uppercase starts and punctuation marks!

In math we continued to practice making time to the hour in a variety of ways.  Look for a scoot paper coming home.  This is when I put clues around the room (today it was clocks with times to the hour displayed) and the kids have to go around and find the clocks and write the answer.  KIDS LOVE THIS FORMAT!  If you are looking for a new way to practice anything ( sight words, time, letters etc) try this hide the clue around the house and see if you can find it strategy!

I have someone donating mini muffins to our Oct. 31st special snack...please email me if you can donate a different item ( juice bags or apple cider & cups, napkins, plates, popcorn in individual baggies, apples).  Thanks!

Today we introduced 3 more trick words : of, his & is.  We talked about how many of the trick words are not phonetic (sound them out) like of  really sounds like /u/ /v/.  

In math we read the book What Time is it Mr. Crocodile? and we introduced making time to the hour.  We have a motion to remember the minute and hour hands, ask your first grader to show you minute ( hand extended and pointed way overhead) and their hand hand (bend at the elbow and put elbow to hip to show a shorter hand).

In writing we are learning to edit our work!  We are focused on re-reading to make sure it looks right, sounds right and makes sense!  We are using basic editing like crossing out a word or adding a caret when we need to add a word or phrase. You can remind us when we are writing at home to use these strategies when we re-read our work.

Another fantastic fall day in room 107!  These kids are working hard and it showing!

We refilled the book bags and sent home a new homework log today.  Thanks for your support at home with these!  We also made a making 10 memory game to play at home, it should be in your student's read book bag.

Today the firs BES challenge came home, read about this opportunity on the cover sheet sent with the challenge.  Remember these papers are OPTIONAL, do as much and as many as you would like.

We took our unit 1 test today for math.  I was very impressed with how well these students did on their assessment.  I will share these with you at our upcoming PTC.   We kick off unit 2 tomorrow with telling time to the hour on analog clocks.

Team 107 earned the privilege (by filling up their bucket) of watching the movie Charlotte's Web, we started the first part of it today and we will watch it piece by piece over this week.  The kids loved it!

Look for a revised friendship list coming home today with an update on correct contact information!
If you use the link on drive it is correct now. :)

Monday October 31st we will be doing special first grade rotations and a special snack!  If you can donate popcorn, apples, Capri Sun Roarin' Water bags, paper, plates, napkins or mini muffins please email me.  We have 17 students!

Tomorrow is Bobcat blue day!  Wear your navy blue (or whatever you have got)!

Today we started writing conferences and specifically touching on  one compliment and one teaching point.  Check your child's folder for a small purple slip and see what they are doing well in their stories and what they are working on!

A challenge for math come home today.  We worked on this the last few minutes of math today.  It is a grid with numbers and it is asking them to find the ways to make ten on the grid and fill in the puzzle pieces.  They do not have to finish it, but I told them if they are up for a challenge they can work on it and return it tomorrow for a cube!  This led us to a discussion of why we do tricky things and not just always easy things and how we are building perseverance!!

Today we had our first meeting with our fourth grade book pals!  Each first grader has one or two pals.  We are partnering up with Mrs. Galvin's first grade class to share the fourth grade students in Mrs. Hamer's class.

Today in literacy we did sentence puzzles for the first time.  I was amazed at how great the kids were at these.  We looked at the clues to see which word started with an uppercase start ( probably goes first) and which word has a punctuation mark at the end (it should go last).  Then we rearranged the words to make sure it looks right, sounds right and makes sense.  Those are the basic three question we use to self monitor when reading.

What a great day!  We had a very successful and fun fairy house walk!  Thank you for helping send in things and to all our volunteers!  It really is a fun first grade memory.  If you missed the walk you could always come walk the trail behind the school over the long weekend and check out all the fairy neighborhoods!

In math we are continuing to make and do things to help us learn (until it is automatic) all the ways to 10!  Look for a paper coming home on this today where they cut and pasted the matches to 10.  When they were done I quickly checked in and quizzed each kid on the paper , first they were allowed to look at it "Who goes with 5? Who goes with 8 etc"  Then we flipped the paper over and tried it the same questions from memory.

In writer's workshop we are learning how to add life to our characters in our pictures and our words.  We are making them move and speak!  We are adding their feelings to our stories.  I love seeing the speech bubbles and expressions they are drawing on the faces.  We talked about moving beyond a stick figure who is frozen standing still and showing movement to enhance the reader's understanding of the story!

Enjoy the long weekend!  See you back on Tuesday team 107!

Today we had a very special day!  We did our first day of first grade rotations.  Several times a year the first graders rotate from classroom to classroom visiting all 5 first grade rooms and teachers.  Today in each classroom they did a variety of activities to get them ready for tomorrow's fairy house field trip!

Look for a brown paper bag coming home tonight.  They may or may not want to bring in some natural materials from home.  

If you are able to chaperone (planned or last minute) please meet us in the hallway between the gym and the office at 845.  We are looking forward to it!

Today we practiced bus evacuations.  The kids learned what to do in an emergency on the bus and did the rear exit as a practice.  We talked a lot about emergencies and what to do in an emergency.  I tried to make sure everyone was feeling comfortable and confident in what to do but you may want to check in with your first grader to see if there are any lingering questions.

Our field trip is coming up quick!  Remember Friday to have your dress for the weather and for a woods walk.  Tomorrow afternoon a brown paper bag will be coming home in case your first grader wants to bring any additional natural materials to build with (optional).  For example, maybe in your yard there is really big pinecones or bark from a birch tree etc.

If you are chaperoning meet us in the hallway between the office and the gym at 845 am!

BOOK BAGS went home yesterday.  This are intended to be a familiar book your first grader has already practiced in reading group.  These are Monday home- next Monday back.  Now we have book bags, homework logs and library books all packed for the same day MONDAY!

Welcome to...

We started our day by making our October Calendars! I am impressed at how some students are starting to look back at their numbers and determine any reversals they may have.  When your first grade reverses a letter or number don't do all the work for them and tell them "your h is backwards" instead tell them "Be a good detective and check their numbers/letters against a resource to find the backwatds one."  By having them check their own formation then erase and correct it themselves it will ilmprint it into their brain that much faster!  Remember reversals are still very appropriate for this age / time of the year.

In math we read the book

and we made lots of number sentences to match the pictures for combinations to 10!  We will continue working on all the combinations to 10 this month.  Eventually we want to be SO fluent in 10 that we know all the numbers that go together to make 10 so if I say "who goes with 6?"  they know automatically it is 4!  

Tomorrow we are working to use the making 10 rainbow to find all the ways...