First Grade Fun!

Making Butter

2013-04-25T12:11:00.003-07:00

We have been reading the Little House series in our classroom, and discovering what life was like without electricity, grocery stores, and cars. One of the books discussed churning butter, and the kids were very surprised that you could actually make your own! Many of them are interested in this experiment to do at home. If you're willing, here is a short video with instructions! Have fun!

2013-04-25T12:06:00.001-07:00

Our visit to the MSU Butterfly House was a success! Thank you to all of the parent chaperones who came along and led our groups through the gardens; the kids have been talking non-stop about our field trip! I have many pictures to share from this event, and will be sending them either in a private link, or on a CD at the end of the year. To ensure privacy of all students, I am not able to post them in the blog. Thank you for your understanding!

2013-02-15T08:05:00.003-08:00

Thursday, we had Valentine's Day! We did lots of Valentine's projects and ativities! We had so much fun! We got candy and Valentine's cards, we watched Charlie Brown Valentine's Day, and we used candy hearts to sort, tally, and graph! We also made hand/heart decorations!

2013-02-15T07:58:00.003-08:00

On Wednesday, we had our 100th day of school! It was so much fun! We did lots of projects, like wearing goofy glasses, showed our 100's day collections, did 100 specials exercises, and took many pictures!

We also collected and counted more than 100 cans of food to donate to the local food bank!

Our Holiday Spirit!

2012-12-16T07:06:00.002-08:00

Check out the wonderful decorations that we have been working on during the last few weeks...our Holiday/Seasonal spirit is at it's MAX!

Our Grinch Party Snacks! Green Goodness!

Measurements!

2012-12-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

This week in math we have been focused on measurement, mostly with our bodies. We explored inside and outside, and took notes on how many "arm spans", "foot lengths", and "paces" things were long/wide. These practice measurements are giving the students a good foundation of where to start measuring, how to count the measurements, and where to stop. Here is a great video from Sid the Science Kid to explore measurements in your own house!

Elfie's Getting Creative!

2012-12-09T08:20:00.001-08:00

Now that Elfie has been in our classroom for a full week now, he's making himself comfortable! We caught him "fishing" for Goldfish crackers over our sink a few days ago! What a stinker!

Our Mischievous Visitor!

2012-12-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

We have a visitor in our classroom, and he's causing a lot of trouble! We have named him "Elfie", and so far he has gotten into our paper and made a paper chain, and this morning we found him fishing for goldfish from our flag pole! Oh my!

For those of you not familiar with Elf on the Shelf, they are sneaky creatures that come from the North Pole. They watch children to see who is on their best behavior, and then report backto Santa with the news! He's always watching!

Tune in frequently to see what kind of tricks he tries to get away with in our classroom!

Classroom Winter Wonderland!

2012-11-27T18:09:00.001-08:00

This time of year is so much fun...who doesn't love snow! We are putting some seasonal spirit in our classroom....there are now lights hanging by the window, and today we made some really amazing snowflakes! These aren't your average paper snowflakes; they're very decorative! Many of the students left saying they wanted to make some at home, but they are a bit complicated. Here are the directions step-by-step in case your student needs a "refresher"!

1) Gather 6 pieces of regular printer paper, or construction paper. Cut them into same-size squares (Ours are 8.5x8.5). Fold corner to corner, twice, so that you end up with a triangle as shown (if you unfolded it, there would be 4 small triangle folds).

2) Draw lines that start at the side of the triangle that only has one fold (the side with just one crease that cannot open). Make your lines parallel to the longest side of the triangle, and leave 1/2 inch at the top. Cut on the lines, making sure you do not cut about 1/2 inch from the edge of the opposite sides.

3) After you finished cutting the 4 lines, open it up gently. There will be triangular cuts. start from the inside, matching the triangle points from each side and taping them. Flip the paper over, and choose the next two most inside triangles, and tape the ends together. Flip again. Repeat until your paper looks like the picture above.

4) When you have made 6 of the snowflake pieces, attach them by holding an edge of each together, and staple them. Then, staple the middles of the flakes together helping it keep its shape.

ENJOY THE WINTER DECORATIONS!

Pennies, Nickels, and Dimes

2012-11-26T11:07:00.001-08:00

An easy and fun coin counting game we have learned in our classroom today is how to add pennies, nickels, and dimes. You will need a variety of coins, and two dice. Here are the rules:

1) Mix all of the coins together in a pile
2) Roll the two dice, and add up all of the "dots"
3) However many dots there are, that's how many coins you pick (pick randomly)
4) Line up the coins from greatest value to least value
5) Count the coins from greatest value to least value

Have fun playing! You can also do this with a spinner from any board game to determine how many coins you will choose!

Your Hearts are Growing, Mr. Grinch!

2012-11-26T11:03:00.001-08:00

We are getting more and more hearts on you, Mr. Grinch! We continue to do kind things for each other, and each time a person is caught being kind (on their own, without even being asked!) we will keep adding hearts! We have 3 more weeks to fill you up, then celebrate with a Grinch Party! Way to go, Crew Members!

"Sign" Me Up!

2012-11-17T20:08:00.002-08:00

We have started to use Sign Language in our classroom! Let's face it...first graders need to get their wiggles out sometimes! Using sign language allows them to move while we are singing songs, walking down the hallway, or while they are trying to ask me questions.

There are a few signs that we use regularly in our room. If you ask your child how to say "bathroom", "thirsty", "more", "please", "stop", "yes", "no", "wait", or "sit", they should be able to show you most or all of them. These really come in handy, especially when I am talking to the whole group, but need to communicate something briefly with a student who has an immediate need. For example, if I am teaching the whole group a lesson, but every 5 minutes a student has to use the bathroom, I would have to take 30 seconds of instruction time to let them ask the question and answer them. Trust me, the 30 second intervals will add up when you have 28 six and seven year olds! When using sign language, they can silently show me the sign for "bathroom" and I can sign to them "yes" or "wait" without stopping the lesson at all.

They have really enjoyed learning our transition songs too! So far, we know the Silly Pizza Song, and The More We Get Together. They might be able to perform these for your families by now!

The following video is a great resource to use with all children, even little ones who aren't speaking yet. Try some of these signs at home!

Books, Books, and More Books!

2012-11-13T07:11:00.002-08:00

Our class collected $118 for our classroom book fair! WOW! Here are the new books we have purchased to enjoy in class; there are books to grab everyone's interest! The students were all VERY excited to see these, and we are working on reading through all of them during story-time so that students who cannot read the words yet can either read the pictures, or re-tell the story. THANK YOU FAMILIES!

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!

2012-11-05T16:34:00.001-08:00

Dear Mr. Grinch,
You have a heart that's two sizes too small! We've decided to help you solve your problem! You have no hearts in our class right now, but in the next 5 weeks we plan on filling you up with hearts of kindness! Whenever I catch an act of kindness in our class, that student writes their name on a tiny heart and tapes it somewhere on your body. If you are filled with hearts of kindness by the middle of December, our class will have a party in your honor! We will watch The Grinch movie, have Grinch snacks, and be able to sing WhoVille songs! We hope you are filled up soon!

TumbleBooks!

2012-11-05T15:28:00.003-08:00

Mason is now part of the TumbleBooks Library! You can access the website by clicking HERE, entering our username (remc13) and password (which can be found on the flyer that was sent home, or email me for the password), then you can explore the website! You will find storybooks, games, learning language resources, and read-alongs. The students have been practicing using this resource in class and in computer lab, and absolutely love it! It's an educational way to spend computer time!

Halloween!

2012-11-03T09:57:00.002-07:00

What a fun Halloween we had in our classroom! Thank you SO much to ALL of the parents who came to join us, and for all of the help you provided! All of the students had a great day, and were so excited to share their costumes with each other. Here is a picture of our special Skeleton Bones activity we did in the afternoon....Q-tips are great arts & crafts supplies!

Play with your food!

2012-10-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

We all probably grew up with our parents saying "Don't play with your food!"....well, in our classroom that saying gets tossed out the window! Above is an image of a "snap word" (which is a word students should know just by looking at, not sounding out) written in Play-dough. This tactile way of practicing words allows many skills to be practiced:

Students are practicing their "snap words" over and over
Fine Motor Skills are being used
They can choose what they are using to learn!

Play-dough is one option students have at our Word Work center. Each of our Word Work baskets contains a different way for them to practice their "snap words". The reason for all of the different options is that students are individuals, and learn in different ways. Some may learn better if they have more sensory, hand-on learning. Some may prefer simply stamping their words and tracing them with a marker.
Some students are also a bit more wiggly than others. Having Word Work centers that allow them to move a bit while they are learning may accommodate them better than making them sit absolutely still.
No matter what Word Work basket they choose, students are all learning the same word skills!

Below was our Fun Friday math activity! We practiced addition and subtraction with Hershey Kisses, while we read our "Hershey Addition and Subtraction" picture book! We are finding ways to use math with lots of things!

While, as adults, we may be tempted to say "Don't play with your food!" right away, at the proper time and place it may be a great learning tool to do so! I'm not suggesting that your students write in their mashed potatoes at a restaurant, or make patterns with ketchup on the dining room table, but used as a tool with proper supervision, you can use fun foods to learn!

Here are some ideas!

Have your children make patterns with a healthy snack! Use cut up vegetables of different colors and have them make a pattern!
If you are making cookies, put some colored frosting in a plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner. This can be your child's pastry bag, and they can write words or names on the cookies!
Make color patterns with M&M's!
Use different foods or treats to make up number stories. An example of this would be:

"Shelly had 5 crackers. She ate 3. How many does she have left?"

Listening to Reading

2012-10-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

A student holding a book for others at the "listening station"

One of the centers that students do daily is called "Listening to Reading". In our classroom, we have approximately 50 books-on-tape that have a voice reading the story while students listen and look at the pages. At this center, each student has a responsibility that changes on a daily basis. These responsibilities include being in charge of the tape player, choosing a book, putting materials away, or holding the book up for everyone to view.

Many skills are being practiced in this center. Students are learning responsibility, learning to work together and help each other, and being exposed to higher level text. At this age/grade level, most students will not be individually reading texts that look like this. By listening to books-on-tape, students are being exposed to new vocabulary and expression, while still listening to age appropriate stories.

As your students are growing as readers, it is still so important for them to be read to. I am so happy to see the excitement in their faces when they read by themselves, and they should keep practicing individually, but listening to an adult read is still a crucial part of their reading development. It may be a good idea to make a reading schedule at home, so your student gets to read to you, but also gets stories read to them as well.

We are also going to begin using TumbleBooks at our listening station! Look for a post in the near future showing step-by-step how to access the thousands of books available to you online!

Our Fall Leaf Collections

2012-10-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Check out these AMAZING fall leaf collections the Crew Members did! We used our senses to see how the leaves smelled, looked, felt, and sounded. We recorded our observations, and then decorated the hallway with our nature creations!