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!

Chinese New Year and Groundhog Day!

Friday was Chinese New Year. We read a few books about the holiday to learn more about what the Chinese culture does to celebrate. We also made these colorful paper dragons.

At the end of the day on Friday, we also did a quick graph to predict whether or not Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow this weekend. Watch the news first thing tomorrow morning to find if he does, which will bring us 6 more weeks of winter, or if he does not, which will mean spring is on the way! 

Fun Fact:

Phil has only been right 39% of the time. ;)

Literacy Night!

Here's some pictures from Literacy Night on Thursday. It was great night and a lot of fun! Many students got to meet Jerry Pallotta and even had him sign their books. It was awesome to see so many families there. :)