Happy Halloween!

I was happy to hear today that everyone was safe during the hurricane. It sounds like the extra long weekend was filled with pumpkin carving, sleeping in late, and watching movies. Have to admit, I was doing much of the same!

We had a great day today celebrating Halloween. This morning, we read In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting. While reading, we noticed the details the author includes to tell us what spooky houses are like. We recorded these details on a chart and then used it to do some fiction writing. The kids imagined they had visited a spooky house and wrote about what they saw, heard, and felt. We did a practice write first, and then each student wrote their final copy story on a ghost shaped paper.

The students glued their ghost writing inside to make it look like the ghost was hiding in the "spooky house". I put out scraps of paper and let the students go to town decorating the outside of the house. What a creative bunch! They knocked my socks off and I think they all turned out great! Take a peek for youself:

 

 

 

 



We also had a few special visitors come in to do some awesome Halloween crafts with us. Thank you so much to the three parents who volunteered and supplied all the activities! You made our day extra sweet! :) The kids had a blast making placemats, masks, and cotton ball ghosts. The kids rotated in groups to make each craft, and then even had some time to work in little activity books.

 

 

 

 

 

What a great day it was! And now, I am off to hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters. I can't wait to see all the costumes! Have a wonderful night with your family and be safe- happy trick-or-treating! :)

 



Book Fair

Just a reminder that tonight is Family Night at the book fair from 6pm-8pm.

Our class will be visiting the book fair tomorrow afternoon. If you would like to send your child in with money to purchase books, please put the money or check in a sealed envelope with your child's name printed neatly on the front.

The book fair can be overwhelming for first graders because there is so much to look at and we only have a certain amount of time allotted. It would be helpful to look through the flyer tonight with your child and discuss which books they would like to purchase. Jotting down the titles on the envelope or even cutting out the pictures of the books/pasting them to the envelope would be VERY helpful. This way, I can help them get the books they want quickly. It also ensures your child is choosing books that you have approved and don't already have.

Any questions, feel free to email me tonight: awaterman@plymouth.k12.ma.us.

Literacy Centers/Stations

Today, let's talk literacy centers/stations! After reader's workshop each day, the students spend about 45 minutes engaged in literacy centers. The students follow a work board which tells them which centers they will be visiting that day. We rotate through the board to ensure that the students get a chance to work at each center a few times throughout the week.

There are five centers running at one time- each group of students visits two centers per day. We spent much of the first few weeks talking about routines and how to work at each center appropriately. It takes time, but it is important for students to work independently during centers. This allows me to pull my small groups for guided reading to work with your child on specific skills or strategies fit for their reading level.

Here's a look at the five centers in our classroom:

Read to Self
This center is just like it sounds! The students get their book bags, find a comfy spot, and read away. I also let them choose weekly themed books (bats this week!) to read during this time too.

Read to Someone
This center allows the students to buddy read. With the members of their group, they break off into partners and read EEKK- ask your first grader what this means! :)

Word Work

I have several bins with different activities for the students to complete during this time. Each student chooses a bin they would like to work on and brings it to their table spot. Some of the bins have sight word practice with magnetic letters or writing templates. Others have activities that are more focused on our science/social studies theme for the week. These might include sentence scrambles or vocabulary work.



Listening to Reading

This is definitely a fan favorite! At the computers, students can access a variety of websites that allow them to listen to stories, play word games, and practice their sight words.

Work on Writing

 Last, but not least, we have work on writing! During this time, students can choose from different writing prompts or paper that engage them in all types of writing. Students can write letters, lists, books, facts about animals, etc. during this center.

You will notice that all of the centers are based on choice. While the students are assigned which centers to visit each day, they are allowed to choose the activities in that center they would like to work on. By giving students the freedom to pick which book to read, activity to do, computer game to play, etc., I find they stay independently motivated and engaged the whole time.

Hope you're enjoying your week so far! Be sure to check back in soon. :)





Sight Word Packets..and My Favorite View of All

Hi All,

Happy Tuesday! Just a quick update about the sight word packets. I would like students to keep these in their GO books until Friday. I know some students will want to complete the packet before then (it's wonderful to see such motivation!!) but it is easier for me to collect them all on one day. The log sheet, with each day initialed, will need to be passed in on Friday as well. Even if your child finishes the packet earlier in the week, please remind them to practice with their cards each night.

Also, a note came home today regarding a class list. If you are interested, please be sure to fill out the bottom of the form and return it to me by Friday.

And now, I leave you with a little peek of my favorite view of all. We may be able to see the ocean from our windows, but nothing beats the view from my chair of these sweet smiles every day. I tell you, I definitely have the best seat in the house. :)

 

Have a great night!

Pumpkins, Firefighters, Reading..oh my!

Hi everyone!

What a busy week it has been for us here in Room 29!

Let's start with Reader's Workshop. The students have been working so hard to build their stamina for reading. During Reader's Workshop, we always follow the same routine: minilesson, reading time, share. During the mini lesson, we come together on the rug and I model or demonstrate a particular reading strategy. The students then go off to read either by themselves or with their assigned reading buddy to practice the strategy and of course, read! During this time, I sit and conference with students. This gives me the chance to learn more about them as a reader. After reading time, we come to the rug and students share out about how their reading went.

This week our mini lessons were centered on buddy reading. We talked about what buddy readers look like, and how two students can read a book together. They LOVE reading with a partner. I think they would do it all day if I let them! Here's a few of my super readers in action:

Next up, pumpkins! This week in science, we were studying pumpkins. Whenever we start a new unit or topic, I always like to start with a schema chart to get everyone's brains going! The students write down what they already know, and then we read nonfictions books to build on that schema. Here's our chart from this week:

We also discussed the life cycle of a pumpkin and learned some interesting facts about pumpkins. The students could not believe that blue pumpkins exist! There are also pumpkins so big that you can sit in them!

Last, but not least, because it was also Fire Safety week, we took some time to learn about firefighters and how to stay safe if there were ever a fire. We read a nonfiction book about firefighters, and created this chart together:

Please excuse my writing! When we do interactive charts, I'm so focused on what the kids are saying, I tend to write a little sideways. :) After our discussion, we used this chart to complete a little thinking map about firefighters. They students did such a great job. I just love how sweet their drawings turned out too.

 

 

During literacy centers, some students chose to write a letter to a firefighter when they were at the Work on Writing Center. We sure do appreciate all they do to keep us safe!

If you did not see your child's picture on today's post, I promise to get more pictures up this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am off to take my three little cousins pumpkin picking. See you Monday!



Officially Up and Running!

Hi everyone!

I am happy to annouce that our classroom blog is finally up and running! My poor computer was under the weather, but I think (fingers crossed) I am in the clear now- thank goodness!

The purpose of this website is to give families an inside look at we are up to on a weekly basis. I want you to see how hard your little one is working each day, while having fun at the same time! Chances are you only hear about some of what we do, so this is my way of letting you be a fly on the wall to see what else is going on. My goal is to post pictures and updates each week, along with important information and reminders about upcoming events. Please check in frequently to keep up to date.

If you have not signed the permission slip, and would like to see your child's pictures included on our website, please fill out the extra slip I attached to the note that came home today. I will not attach names to any of the pictures I post.

I am loving getting to know each and every student in our class this year. This group sure does keep me laughing and smiling all day long. :)