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.

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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:

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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!

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!

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!

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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!! =)