Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

Today we celebrated Johnny Appleseed's birthday. In our morning meeting, we figured out that he would have been 239 years old today!

We took our Reader's Workshop time to read and discuss some poems and books about him. As we read, we built on our schema and tracked new information we were learning. After, we completed an All About Johnny Appleseed mini booklet that included facts about him. We attached the mini booklets to these paper Johnny Appleseeds we made!

Here's some pictures of a few other apple activities we've been working on throughout the week:

Labeling the parts of an apple:

Diagram of an Apple (done with our Big Friends from Mrs. Lincoln's 5th grade class):

Sentence Sorting (fact or opinion):

Ask your first grader to share with you what they have learned this week about apples, Johnny Appleseed, and making homemade applesauce!

Buddy Reading

This week in Reader's Workshop, we are working on buddy reading, or reading with a partner. We began by talking about how partners sit when they are reading together. We call it EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee, knee), just like if you saw something scary, you would sit close to someone and say "EEKK"!

Here are some reading buddies sitting EEKK:

Today we discussed how partners plan out their reading. Before starting a book, it's important for partners to have a plan and decide how they will read the book. On the rug, a student and I modeled each way, and then reading buddies went off to practice on their own. I was so impressed how well everyone did with this!

And of course, we are still working to build our reading stamina. As of today, we're up to 13 minutes. I am so proud!

Making Applesauce!

First of all, I want to reach out and say thank you to everyone that came Open House last night! It was wonderful meeting new families and seeing returning families too! I am very lucky to have such an amazing group of parents. :) I look forward to our individual time to chat at conferences too. If anyone did not get the chance to sign up, please let me know and I will be happy to schedule you in. More info to come as the dates for those get closer.

We had a blast making our applesauce yesterday with our apples from the orchard. First thing in the morning, we read the recipe and a few helpers came up to put the ingredients into our crockpot. Everyone got a chance to stir and mash the applesauce throughout the day. It smelled delicious! Here are some pictures:

We did some interactive writing about how to make homemade applesauce:

During snack, the room was a buzz as everyone talked about what they made with their orchard apples at home. One student even brought in his homemade candy apple to show us!

When 1:30 came, we just couldn't wait a minute longer. As Mrs. P was spooning the applesauce into cups for our taste test, we read about the life cycle of an apple and did this sequencing activity. 

Then, it was finally the moment we were all waiting for- the taste test! Everyone was given two cups filled with jarred applesauce and homemade applesauce. 

We did a class tally chart to see which was the fan favorite. The votes are in and....

our class-made applesauce was the winner!! :)

Back to School Night- TONIGHT!

Just a reminder that Back-to-School night for parents will take place at the school from 6:00-7:15. We will meet together first as a grade in the library, then as a class in our classroom. The remaining time will be spent in the gym with Mr.Spencer and the specialists. I look forward to seeing everyone tonight! :)

Read To Self

"Read to Self" is a time that happens each day. After our mini lesson in Reader's Workshop, the students go off with their book bags and practice their reading and the skills I have taught that day/week/unit. This gives me time to go around and conference with students to informally assess their understanding of skills and to provide one-to-one instruction.

To set up the routine during this time, we created this I chart together to highlight the expectations. We review it each day and most students know it by heart now!

We have been have building our reading stamina and try to read a little longer each day to help us become stronger readers. Tomorrow night, you will be able to see our Reading Stamina chart. Ask your little one how many minutes we have worked up to!

Our mini lessons this week revolved around different ways to read a book. During Read to Self, the students have been practicing these three different ways:

I keep meaning to snap some pictures of everyone reading, but I just get so wrapped up in reading conferences, I completely forget! I will try to get some next week and will be sure to post them for you. :)

Book Bags

"Read to Self" is a time that happens daily and is just like it sounds- a time when students are reading by themselves! After I teach a mini lesson/skill at the beginning of Reader's Workshop, the students have an an opportunity to go off and practice their reading with their book bags. 

Right now, I have been putting "just right" books in each child's book bag based on the information I received from the kindergarten teachers and my own assessments I have done thus far. These books are close to the level I believe your child is reading at. It is important that each child practices books that are not too easy or too hard. When all of my assessments are complete, I will know exactly what books are "just right". Students will then have the opportunity to start "book shopping" weekly on their own from certain bins that contain books at their level. 

They will also have the opportunity to pick some interest books from our classroom library too!

Our Apple Orchard Field Trip!

The bus ride- on our way:

We're here!

On the tractor, ready to head out to the orchard:

 Ready to pick Empire and Cortland apples:

 

 

Today was perfect. :)