Sidewalk Blends

Last week we worked on ending blends (-sk, -nt, -nk, -nd). To wrap up the week and test the kids we headed outside with sidewalk chalk! The kids had four squares to write each blend. I shouted a word and they had to jump to the correct square. They had a lot of fun showing of their reading and jumping skills!

Sidewalk Blends

Last week we worked on ending blends (-sk, -nt, -nk, -nd). To wrap up the week and test the kids we headed outside with sidewalk chalk! The kids had four squares to write each blend. I shouted a word and they had to jump to the correct square. They had a lot of fun showing of their reading and jumping skills!

Recess

Now that the weather is finally cooling down, the kids are really enjoying recess!

 

Recess

Now that the weather is finally cooling down, the kids are really enjoying recess!

 

Perfect Attendance!

Perfect attendance is really important for all of our students. To help motivate the children to be here, our school has a perfect attendance goal. Every day that a class has perfect attendance, a letter gets to go up on our door frame. The goal is to spell Perfect Attendance! Today we got to put up the last letter!

Tomorrow we will have our class party! It took us 33 days to spell the words, so lets see if we can do it faster this next time!

Perfect Attendance!

Perfect attendance is really important for all of our students. To help motivate the children to be here, our school has a perfect attendance goal. Every day that a class has perfect attendance, a letter gets to go up on our door frame. The goal is to spell Perfect Attendance! Today we got to put up the last letter!

Tomorrow we will have our class party! It took us 33 days to spell the words, so lets see if we can do it faster this next time!

Addition Clips

Last week and this week we are hard at work on addition and subtraction concepts. We are working on ways to show how we add and subtract. To show some addition problems, the children used clips to show each number in an addition number sentence. First each child used their own clips to show problems that added to 10. They also had to figure out how many clips they didn't use out of 10.

Then, working with a partner, they had to show problems adding up to 20. They had to work together and show each number with a different color.

There was a lot of great teamwork happening!

Addition Clips

Last week and this week we are hard at work on addition and subtraction concepts. We are working on ways to show how we add and subtract. To show some addition problems, the children used clips to show each number in an addition number sentence. First each child used their own clips to show problems that added to 10. They also had to figure out how many clips they didn't use out of 10.

Then, working with a partner, they had to show problems adding up to 20. They had to work together and show each number with a different color.

There was a lot of great teamwork happening!

Follow Along as I Read

In first grade we do a lot of reading together and echo reading (the teacher reads aloud and the children echo). To help with following along as we all read, we encourage the children to use their pointer finger to tag each word as it is read. To make this a little more fun we bought special reading fingers!

The kids got to use their reading fingers for the first time on Monday and they loved them! Everyone was reading along!

Follow Along as I Read

In first grade we do a lot of reading together and echo reading (the teacher reads aloud and the children echo). To help with following along as we all read, we encourage the children to use their pointer finger to tag each word as it is read. To make this a little more fun we bought special reading fingers!

The kids got to use their reading fingers for the first time on Monday and they loved them! Everyone was reading along!

Focused Success

Last week we started Focused Success, which is a 35 minute block where all the kids in first grade are put into similar groups according to reading level. All 6 first grade teachers and interventionists have animal nicknames:

1. Mrs. Reed's Raccoons


2. Mrs. Deaton's Deer


3. Mrs. Elmore's Eagles


4. Mrs. Wyatt's Wallabies


5. Mrs. Foster's Foxes


6. Mrs. Shaffner's Sharks


7. Mrs. C's Chimpanzees


8. Mrs. Lawrence's Lions

The first day of our groups, we learned a little bit about our animals. My group made a great list of facts they already knew about raccooons. We then read some information from Enchanted Learning and looked at pictures of different raccoons. We then made masks so we could look like real raccoons!

So far all the children in first grade are doing a great job switching for groups and are working very hard on their reading skills. We continuously monitor students and move them in or out of groups so that we are best meeting their needs.

Focused Success

Last week we started Focused Success, which is a 35 minute block where all the kids in first grade are put into similar groups according to reading level. All 6 first grade teachers and interventionists have animal nicknames:

1. Mrs. Reed's Raccoons


2. Mrs. Deaton's Deer


3. Mrs. Elmore's Eagles


4. Mrs. Wyatt's Wallabies


5. Mrs. Foster's Foxes


6. Mrs. Shaffner's Sharks


7. Mrs. C's Chimpanzees


8. Mrs. Lawrence's Lions

The first day of our groups, we learned a little bit about our animals. My group made a great list of facts they already knew about raccooons. We then read some information from Enchanted Learning and looked at pictures of different raccoons. We then made masks so we could look like real raccoons!

So far all the children in first grade are doing a great job switching for groups and are working very hard on their reading skills. We continuously monitor students and move them in or out of groups so that we are best meeting their needs.

Partner Reading

One thing the kids love about reading is when they get to partner read! They love reading with different people each time and taking turns reading. Here are a few kiddos sitting knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye:

Last week we read Pet Tricks and talked about different tricks that pets can do. Several children shared stories of their own pets.

Partner Reading

One thing the kids love about reading is when they get to partner read! They love reading with different people each time and taking turns reading. Here are a few kiddos sitting knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye:

Last week we read Pet Tricks and talked about different tricks that pets can do. Several children shared stories of their own pets.

Mr. Manners

Every day during lunch, one class earns the behavior bear, Mr. Manners. To earn him, the children have to use their manners:

1. talk with an inside voice


2. keep hands and feet to yourself


3. during quiet time, no talking


4. picking up all their trash

We earned him again today (for the 4th time!). Whenever we earn Mr. Manners we get 5 marbles in our jar! Great Job!!

Mr. Manners

Every day during lunch, one class earns the behavior bear, Mr. Manners. To earn him, the children have to use their manners:

1. talk with an inside voice


2. keep hands and feet to yourself


3. during quiet time, no talking


4. picking up all their trash

We earned him again today (for the 4th time!). Whenever we earn Mr. Manners we get 5 marbles in our jar! Great Job!!

Literacy Stations

Now that we are into our fifth week of school (can you believe it?) the kids have been hard at work in independant literacy stations. Monday through Thursday the kids visit three stations a day. They don't all visit the same ones; just stations that fit their needs. This is also when I conduct guided reading, which is 15 minutes in like-ability small groupings. I meet with all six groups during the week, some more than others and we focus on one skill per day (comprehension, phonics, fluency, etc).

While I meet with guided reading groups, the other children, in their groups, work at several different areas around the room. Computers and the reading corner are big favorites! Starfall and Spelling City are the two sites I use most. Spelling City will be introduced soon! The reading corner is great because the kids get to choose from lots of different books and there are some comfy spots to enjoy a book.

The children also work on the week's word wall words and phonics sounds. The also visit the listening center to follow along in a book as they listen to it on tape. Other stations come and go, depending on what is needed. Matching games are great because I have several choices (we have focused on rhyming words lately).

Magnetic words is great because kids can practice making words of all types: names, spelling words, word wall words, color words, etc.

To keep the students on track and aware of their time, a timer is placed on the screen and uses chimes to alert them when their time is almost up and when they need to clean up and switch. So far, they have done a great job managing their time and working together.

Literacy Stations

Now that we are into our fifth week of school (can you believe it?) the kids have been hard at work in independant literacy stations. Monday through Thursday the kids visit three stations a day. They don't all visit the same ones; just stations that fit their needs. This is also when I conduct guided reading, which is 15 minutes in like-ability small groupings. I meet with all six groups during the week, some more than others and we focus on one skill per day (comprehension, phonics, fluency, etc).

While I meet with guided reading groups, the other children, in their groups, work at several different areas around the room. Computers and the reading corner are big favorites! Starfall and Spelling City are the two sites I use most. Spelling City will be introduced soon! The reading corner is great because the kids get to choose from lots of different books and there are some comfy spots to enjoy a book.

The children also work on the week's word wall words and phonics sounds. The also visit the listening center to follow along in a book as they listen to it on tape. Other stations come and go, depending on what is needed. Matching games are great because I have several choices (we have focused on rhyming words lately).

Magnetic words is great because kids can practice making words of all types: names, spelling words, word wall words, color words, etc.

To keep the students on track and aware of their time, a timer is placed on the screen and uses chimes to alert them when their time is almost up and when they need to clean up and switch. So far, they have done a great job managing their time and working together.

Patriot Day

Today was Patriot Day and all the kids and staff wore red, white, and blue. We talked about September 11th and what happened and viewed a slideshow of some pictures with both happy and sad ones. September 11th can be a difficult concept for such young and happy kids to understand but they asked lots of great questions to try to understand what happened and why. They made some good connections with other events that they can relate to. We made mini American Flags that we carried out during our silent dismissal and enjoyed singing God Bless the USA.

Here are some of the kids making their flags:

Here are the finished projects, right before dismissal:

Here are some of the kids waving their flags as they leave: