Spelling Strategies

I spoke with several of you in conferences about sharing some strategies you can you use at home to help your child learn their spelling words. Here is a video that will hopefully help to explain the first two. Try one, see if you like it, and let me know! And as always, please feel free to contact me with any questions at all!

***Also, I forgot to mention this in the video, but it will also help tremendously if your child says each letter out loud as he/she is writing it... especially for those of us who are very auditory learners!

Happy End-of-the-First-Quarter!

My! Is is October already!? This first quarter has flown by and will all the business of report cards and awards and special events I, sadly, haven't been updating her as much as I'd like. Not to worry... I have several posts that will be going up over the next week so things should be back to normal very soon!

Here is the first group of many way-cute pictures that I've been holding hostage for too long now! These are from our Fall Fest/Field Day that celebrated the end of the first quarter. Boy was I worn out after this one, but it was a blast!

Check back soon for updates on:

:: project pumpkin ::

:: field trip photos ::

Rocket Math and Highlights

Some exciting things have happened this week in 1D! In reading, I introduced students to a little little homemade reading tool. I created the "reading window" towards the end of last year for a few students who found reading (especially longer passages) particularly challenging. I noticed that these students would often skip lines or mix up words with other words nearby. I created these using colored tab dividers for notebooks from the dollar store and a box cutter. Students last year who used these showed GREAT improvement - even late in the year. So this year, I decided to give every student the opportunity to use one. Each student got to choose their color (they range from teal to yellow) and now keeps their reading window handy in their book pouch.

For several students, the reading window was a great help and they reported that it helped them "just focus on the words" they were reading.

. . . . . . .

Another exciting change this week had been the activity of the humming birds in the courtyard! My class is fortunate enough to have an incredible view of the garden. In addition, the humming feeder hangs right outside of our classroom window.

I now present to you an illustrated version of what happened today during our usual "recess" time:

It rained...

... so we sat under the awning overlooking the garden, journals and drawing supplies in tow...

... and kept an eye on the humming bird feeder. This is what we saw:

. . . . . . .

And now a I leave you with perhaps one of the most exciting bits of news this week (drumroll please!)... We are launching Rocket Math!!! Rocket math is just a tool I use to motivate students to learn their math facts and compete with themselves for improvement in # of facts and speed each week. 

My class will take their first test this week and practice rounds begin on Tuesday. I went ahead and sent home flashcards with the students today in a colored pouch so they can get a head start. If you are curious about which facts will be on the test, just check the page labeled "Math Facts" in one of the page protectors in your child's blue folder - it tells each fact that students will be tested on per set. We will begin with Set A next week and students can progress to the next letter set and gain more flashcards when they are able to answer 40 facts correctly in just 2 minutes. 

Several students today were asking how to study their math facts, so with the help of a first-grader, I made this video to hopefully demonstrate a method that will work for your first-grader as well. Hope you enjoy!

Noun Song

We've been having a little extra fun in English lately and I wanted to share one of our new favorite songs. It's such a fun way to remember what a noun is and is just too good not to share! Hopefully as you listen and enjoy we can spread some of our current love for nouns... but I warn you, it's catchy! =)

Yummy Snack

Today in vocabulary we discussed the word "dip" as a noun and a verb, then shared our favorite foods to dip. Mine got quite a lot of a attention and students requested that I put it on the blog so they could try it... So here it is!

When I was a little one, I enjoyed my green grapes dipped in powdered jello. It may sound crazy, but the sour/sweet was awesome and I would have taken it over candy any day! I assured students that they didn't need a recipe for such a simple concoction, but they asked for one "just in case" so here are the details.

-Slice your grapes in half.
-Pour any flavor of powdered jello into a bowl (berry blue was always my fave).
-Dip the flat side of your grape in the powdered jello, watch the color show up on the grape, then eat it up!

And there you have it... my favorite thing to dip and a little happy-long-weekend "recipe" that I hope you get a chance to try. Enjoy the holiday with your family and I'll be seeing your sweet little ones back on Tuesday!

Read to a Friend

We've been practicing a new part of our reading workshops over the past week or so called "Read to a Friend" and it's been a huge hit! Here is how it works...

First, students choose their partner (we spent a whole day just talking about how to choose a partner wisely)! Next, they choose a place to read sitting elbow to elbow, knee to knee, book in the middle. After that, they agree on a book to read. Whoever's book is being read is the person who reads one page aloud first. The second partner then reads the same page aloud. Before moving to the next page, partners take turns asking "What just happened on this page?". I've been so impressed with how smoothly these steps have gone. Many students may be tempted to waste time trying to make decisions and agree, but these students have been so diligent about getting started right away and using their time wisely - something I emphasize every day before reading workshop.

Here are some of the reasons 1st graders shared that they love Read to a Friend (in their own words):

- "If I get stuck on a word my friend can help me."

- "I can choose who I read with."

- "I get to talk about the funny parts of the story if I'm reading with someone."

- "I like listening to someone read to me so I can think about what's happening."

And here are some of the reasons that I love read to a friend:

-Students get to choose their own partners which means that they are often on very different reading levels. This means that one student gets to act as the "coach" which reinforces the reading strategies they already know, while the other student gets to hear fluent reading and gets reading advice from a friend (which many students are far more likely to take to heart when it is coming from a friend).

-Reading the same page twice is great for enhancing fluency as well as comprehension and helps students focus on what is happening in the story rather than rushing to get to the end.

-Even my most reluctant readers get motivated for Read to a Friend... having that extra support from a friend seems to give reluctant readers extra confidence.

-It helps students read with expression! Sometimes the desire to entertain a friend who is listening gives students that extra push to read clearly and use inflection and different voices to make the story more interesting (while making the student a better reader!).

Ask your first grader what they think about read to a friend and I'm sure they'll be happy to share their opinion!

Number Party

In case you missed the blue letter I sent home in purple folders yesterday, here are the details:

To participate in our number party THIS FRIDAY (the 25th) please send your child to school dressed as their favorite number between 1 and 10. 

For example, your child could decorate a t-shirt and pants with their favorite number all over, or wear a decorated cardboard cut-out of their favorite number. You could even take a more mysterious approach and (if “3” was your number of choice) wear 3 hats , 3 shirts, 3 shoes, etc. Be creative and I look forward to seeing lots of good-looking numbers on Friday!!! 

Becoming Authors

Today was such a special day because we launched writing workshop! To introduce the students to writing, we talked about what it means to be an author and illustrator. I explained to students how this year, we will all become authors and illustrators. In fact, for many writers it was around this first-grade-age that they discovered their love for books, writing, and story-telling.

Because I am a very "learn-by-doing" kind of learner (and I think most little ones are as well) I believe in giving students many many opportunities to go through the creative process of constructing their very own stories in books - from beginning to end. I explained to students how every author is still learning and growing and one person who helps them to do that is their editor. We decided that as long as they are in first grade, I am happy to be each student's personal book "editor." To make this happen I structure our writing time into the following:
- A mini-lesson (to get students motivated and point out a particular strength/skill of great authors)
- A time for authors to work on their books while I hold "meetings" with students one-on-one to make notes about their progress and for us to edit their book together before publishing (more on that later).

To launch our very first writing workshop, I could think of no better way than to introduce my class to one of the most beloved authors of all time - a man behind some of the most recognizable books in our classroom library: Eric Carl. Here is a peak into his story... the children enjoyed it so much and I hope you do too. =)

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!! =)

Field Trip to Botanic Gardens

I’m so excited and proud to share a snippet of our learning with you from our field trip to Memphis Botanic Garden. It was such a beautiful way to bring to life and connect our learning from science and social studies over the year. 

The event we attended this year is titled “Word of Plants” (check HERE for more info on visiting the garden with your family). 

Students got to check out a real live eagle’s nest!

We also learned how many of the things we use everyday come from plants... 

We visited “Africa” and learned about the many uses of coffee beans... in this case, for mask making!

A finished product!

While there, we dug for treasures in the sand =)

Then moved on to one of my very favorite parts of the Botanic Gardens: The Japanese Garden.

When I was much younger, my family used to take frequent trips to the Botanic Gardens for picnics - and my personal favorite - feeding the fish. It’s a little known secret that the fish in the Japanese gardens go nuts for bread! (shhh...) I brought our class their own loaf, and without telling any of our 1st graders the purpose of all this, had them lay down on their bellies on the dock. On the count of 3 I told them to drop a crumb of bread in the water. I wish you could have seen their faces!!! The fish came out of nowhere and were so thick you could reach down and touch them =)  I can’t begin to describe how exciting it was to able to share one of my favorite childhood experiences with your children... and I have a feeling it’s one they’ll never forget! 

This duck got a little nosey so we decided to let him take part in our little treat...

And no worries - we washed those little fingers thoroughly before enjoying our own picnic lunch!! ;)

 It was such a fun day and makes me grateful that we have such an incredible place for students to learn right here in out city. If you’re looking for a something fun to do this summer, I encourage you to visit the Botanic Gardens! It’s become increasingly more kid-friendly over the years, now with dozens of play and learning opportunities designed with children in mind.

Another little tidbit worth mentioning is what happened after the World of Plants event ended... we had a little extra time to explore my students were fascinated by the plants in the garden (where their seeds were, if they were edible, etc.) as we had just wrapped up our plant unit. As we were exploring, we were lucky enough to happen upon an incredibly knowledgable woman who was the head gardener of the area we were exploring. She was so kind and helpful to the students - answering all their questions and showing them how to carefully touch herbs to smell them without damaging the plants. 

They loved. every. minute.

Thanks to Memphis Botanic Gardens and the incredibly motivated learners in 1-D our trip was such an enormous success! 

Finally a Butterfly

Do you remember way back at the beginning of the school year when our class did a unit on metamorphosis? This video is from September when we got our first class pet - caterpillars. 

We watched as they all formed their chrysalises and waited it out all winter. In all honesty, we were beginning to wonder if they’d ever emerge, but I’m so happy to report that our patience finally paid off. On out very first day back from spring break (appropriately) there was a surprise waiting. One our caterpillars had finally emerged from it’s chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly! 

I wish I had thought to film its release into the garden, but it all our excitement, I was lucky to get this lone, blurry photo! The kiddos named him Peter and waved goodbye as he flew... for the first time in his life! One student, in all her excitement, exclaimed “It’s a miracle!” I couldn’t agree more. =)

Telling Time

In math this week, we’re all about time! Today we even practiced telling time down to the minute! These soon-to-be second graders are catching on quick and I have a challenge for their brains! 

Just as promised, if you can tell the time on each clock (and tell me HOW YOU KNOW what the time is) then I’ll have special surprise for you on Friday!

To get you warmed up, here is our favorite time song:

And now, I give you your time challenge!

(I know that the hour may be a little tricky, but as long as you can tell me why you chose the time you did, it counts!)