First Days in First Grade

It's been such a joy getting to know this group of first graders and their families! 

I'm always amazed by how quickly these young minds work and how well they remember. In just two days we've learned over a dozen procedures (and had a bit of fun too). This first photo is from yesterday when we were learning our bathroom procedures. We learned that germs spread easily and it takes more that just water to get them off!

To demonstrate this, I sprinkled a little glitter and olive oil into one student's hand and had him shake hands with a friend. Then that friend shook hands with another friend... before you knew it we were all COVERED in "glitter germs." Students then went into the restroom and did their own experimenting with hand washing to see what it took to get their hands clean again. We learned that only hot water and soap could get it all off!

. . . . . 

Today we began learning our procedures for reading workshop. More and more research has emerged about reading and literacy and all of it says that there is a direct correlation between the time a child spends engaged in reading each day and their proficiency in the subject. Because of this, my class uses very few work pages. Instead, our entire reading time is structured into the following:

FIRST: I teach students a concrete reading strategy (or tool) they can use to help them become a better reader

NEXT: the whole class spends time reading and practicing their new strategy while I conference with students individually.

We will go through this process several times in a day so students will be learning lots of new reading strategies and will spend a lot of time actually reading as well as lots of one-on-one time with me! Here we are practicing what we call "read to self" - when students choose a spot around the room and read silently. 

Can't wait to share more... We launch math stations tomorrow!! =)