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!