Happy Halloween!

Here's a bunch of pictures from our awesome day! This morning, we wrote about why we love Halloween and decorated spooky houses.

This afternoon, we had our craft and game workshops! Thank you to all the parents that prepared materials and came in to make our day even better.

As I was walking around snapping pictures, this group said, "Miss Waterman, take a picture of us giving thumbs up to the Red Sox for winning the World Series!!" How could I say no?! :)

Happy Halloween and Congrats to the Red Sox!

Tomorrow and Friday News

Tomorrow is black and orange day. I told everyone they can wear these colors to celebrate the day (if they want to). We are very excited for our parent-run craft workshops in the afternoon too. Our day will be filled with lots of fun activities for sure!

A student also wrote a persuasive letter to Mr. Spencer asking if students could wear their PJs to school on Friday. In the letter, this older student insisted that everyone will be tired from trick-or-treating and a cozy outfit on Friday will be a must. The letter was very sweet and convincing- and Mr. Spencer said yes! Therefore, I would love to support this! If anyone would like to wear their PJs, slippers, or extra comfy clothes on Friday, our classroom will be participating in PJ day. :)

Fluency

In Reader's Workshop, we have been talking and learning a lot about fluency. We have been adding to the chart below and practicing all of the strategies during our reading time, both independently and with our reading partners. During reading conferences with students, I've noticed many students using their smooth reading voices and making their storyteller voices match the feelings in the story.

By reading aloud with your child at home, you can be a great role model for fluent reading! Also, when your child practices reading aloud the "just right" books I have been sending home each week, this too helps build their fluency, especially if they reread the book multiple times. Encourage your little reader to use all of these strategies to reinforce what we have been working on at school.

Bats, bats, bats!

Just a few pictures from our bat week!

All about bats books

Schema chart

Close up a few post-its

Bats can/have/are partner work

More partner work

This week...

Thank You!

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone that made a donation at the book fair this week. Our classroom library has some brand new books and the kids have been really excited to read them. I also want to thank parents that came to help or donated their time to work at the book fair. I appreciate all that families do, not just this week but every day in small ways, to support our classroom. :)

Book Fair Tomorrow!

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 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.

A Few More Spider Things!

Just a few more pictures as we finished up our week learning about spiders!

Working on our spider fact books:

Our data graph about how we feel about spiders:

Partner work on can/have/are charts:

 Class Made Charts:

Our hallway spider web with our fact books!

Headphones

If you would like to send your child in with a personal set of inexpensive earbuds or headphones to use and keep in the classroom, this is totally fine with me! Please place them in a sealed baggie, labeled with a name. They can be stored in your child's personal drawer and retrieved when your child is on the computer for literacy stations, math tubs, etc. They are certainly not required, as I do have some in the classroom, but I'm fine with students bringing their own sets in as long as your child knows that he/she is responsible for keeping track of them! :)

Spiders!

This week, we are integrating science into our literacy and math blocks to learn all about creepy, crawly....

Even though they give ME goosebumps, the kids are loving learning about them! Many students already knew quite a few facts about them too. We filled in our own schema sheets and copied one fact onto a post-it to share with the class. Check our schema chart:

After reading two nonfiction books about spiders, we started to record some of our new learning on post-its (the purple ones you see on the chart). We will continue adding to the chart as we read and learn more.

Today we also did a lesson about extending vocabulary using important words that have come up as we learn about spiders. We discussed how we can find, learn, and use these words when we write, talk, and read about spiders. Then, to support our understanding, we illustrated some words and created a poster to show the meaning of each word.

Ask your child what they have learned about spiders so far! See if they can explain all six of these vocabulary words we worked on today too: orb web, spinneret, dragline, spiderlings, arachnid, and camouflage. 

I also challenged everyone to research with an adult and see if they could find another animal that's an arachnid. Write it down and have your child bring it in to tell us if you find one (or more) together! :)

Exciting News to Share!

This week our class reached a BIG reading goal!

As a class, we have built our reading stamina up to 20 minutes! I am so impressed- everyone is focused, practicing the skills taught in mini lessons, and not giving up! I am really proud of their accomplishment and from all the cheers I heard on Thursday when we reached 20- I think the kids are too! :)

Math Workshop and Math Tubs

Math Workshop is officially underway! Just like Reader's and Writer's Workshop, we start each workshop session with a whole group mini lesson. Sometimes I might introduce/review a math concept, or I might explain a new game/activity the kids will be doing that day. Then, the students break off into center groups and we rotate through each center. The students follow a workboard and a schedule of rotations based on what group they are in.

For Teacher's Choice, students meet with me to work on a particular skill or concept at their level. We use manipulatives, whiteboards, clipboard activities, and other tools to practice these skills. The activities for each group vary based on the needs of each group. Just like with Reading, I want students to be engaged in "just right" activities that are not too hard or too easy!

While I am teaching, the other two groups are working independently at Hands-On and At Your Seat. Both of these centers reinforce skills previously taught or provide practice for fundamental concepts we have been working on.

At the Hands-On center, students are typically engaged in a game or tasks that involve math manipulatives- either with a partner or in small groups. 

For At Your Seat work, students are working independently on an activity to practice certain skills.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Math Tubs are always every Friday! The tubs are filled with activities/games from the week to practice. Some groups also play math games on the computer and read math books. The schedule rotates each week and the activities in the tubs change. During this time, I meet with small groups and do small informal assessments to help me plan what skills will be taught the following week with each group.