Happy Valentine's Day!

I love love LOVE being a first grade teacher, but this week especially, your little ones have reminded me just how special of an experience it is. From their hysterical costumes and fun spirits on Wednesday, to the sweet, kind words and thoughtfulness they shared with each other today- they keep me smiling and loving my job so much more. :)

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone and I hope you got to enjoy some time with your little loved ones tonight! Here's a quick peek into what our day at school entailed. Thank you again to Liz Novak, Emilie Mackinnon, Molly Johnson and Robin Pyy for coming in to help run some awesome craft workshops for us this morning!!  

Sending lots of love from me to your families! Enjoy your night! xo

100th Day

We had so much fun today celebrating the 100th day! Even though it was a half day, we were able to squeeze in some fun activities centered around the number 100. Everyone looked adorable dressed like they were 100 years old too! It was a great day! :)

Presidents

In honor of President's Day next week, we have been learning about two important Presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We read several nonfiction books about each of them and had some great turn and talk partner discussions. We created anchor charts that highlighted important facts we were learning. We also discussed new vocabulary we came across as we researched these two important people. 

To demonstrate our new learning, we created posters about both Presidents. The students each chose four interesting and important facts to write. We also did drawings to display in the middle of our posters. Check them out!

George Washington: 

Abraham Lincoln: 

Ask your child to tell you about each President- you will be so impressed with all they have learned!

Just a reminder that tomorrow is our 100th day! I have my wig, glasses, dress, shawl, and pearls ready. I can't wait to see everyone dressed up! :)

Math Talk!

Last week we started learning about how to tell time to the hour and a little past the hour. We made our own paper clocks and practiced this skill during math workshop. We also learned how to match the analog time to the digital time for times to the hour. 

This week, we are digging deeper to learn how to tell time to the half hour. We started today by using unifix cubes and a large analog clock to visualize the minutes and how we read the minute hand. First, we made groups of five unifix cubes and lined 12 groups of five up to make 60. Then we put the groups of five on the clock and discussed how there are sixty minutes in one hour. We practiced moving the minute hand to different amounts of minutes. This visual will set the stage for the rest of the week as we work more on time to the half hour, and matching digital and analog clocks. 

Share Your Talent!

As you know, the kids can choose from the class coupon binder once they fill up a sticker chart for positive behavior. This week, one student picked Share Your Talent and wanted his band, the Animal Maniacs, to perform for us. On Friday, we all gathered together on the rug at the end of the day and listened to a performance of one of their chorus songs. It was GREAT and I was so proud of them for having the courage to get up in front of the class with such confidence! Check out the video!!

100th Day

Given the snow day tomorrow, our 100th day celebration will be pushed back to Wednesday February 12th. 

Please check out the notice I sent home today about how the first grade will be celebrating! The first grade teachers and I love this fun day. :) Participation is of course optional, but I will be dressing up (along with some of the other teachers too!!) and we hope that everyone will join us! If you need some ideas, check out my post on this website from last year's 100th day. Pinterest also has some adorable ideas that are inexpensive and use things you probably already have- just search "100th day dress up" or something similar. Be creative and just have fun pulling together an outfit- I can't wait!  

All About Books!

In writer's workshop, we have been working on our All About books! We began by creating books all about penguins to go along with all we were learning in our nonfiction penguin unit. This gave me an opportunity to introduce and model the different types of pages an all about book can have, such as a diagram page, a diet page, an interesting fact page, etc.

Once the students finished their penguin books it was time to start thinking about topics they know a lot about and could write their own all about book on. I modeled brainstorming different ideas and showed the students how even though I like many things, like gymnastics or watching hockey, I don't know enough information about them to write a whole book! The students brainstormed a list of ideas they know a lot about, and then chose one to write a book about. Everyone is currently working on different books with different pages, and I am learning a lot about elephants, soccer, Pokemon, swimming and so much more! Soon, we will be organizing our pages, making table of contents and creating cover pages. Some students may even have time to work on a second book. 

I am excited to see the finished products!! :)

American Symbols

We recently finished up our Social Studies unit about American Symbols. We studied and researched the Liberty Bell, the Bald Eagle, the American Flag and the Statue of Liberty. We read several nonfiction books, created class anchor charts together to display our new learning, and wrote fact books that include important information about each of the symbols we studied.

We also created a few projects to display around the classroom. Take a look:

Statue of Liberty Poster:

We learned that she holds a torch in one hand and a tablet with a poem in the other hand.

Working on our fact books:

This week, will will be learning about two important presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Stay tuned!