Otters Don't Bully

Just a little peak into our fabulous All School Assembly last week.

Movement in Class

We enjoyed some gonoodle.com movement on Unity Day last week.

Unity Day 2015

We had a wonderful day Thursday. Unity Day was a success.

The Otter decided to drop by!

Of course, we had to do a silly face too!

Getting ready for our school-wide assembly

Linking our chains, filled with words of encouragement and advice on how to stop bullying

Author Study and Writing Pieces

We have been working really hard on our writing skills. Typically, we read a story together and then students are asked to answer a question related to the text, requiring them to use evidence from the text to support their writing. This week, students had to decide whether or not they would be a character's friend. Students took notes on the story then used those notes to write an opinion piece. 

Class Council with Mrs. Lallier

To gear up for our annual bully-prevention day next week, our class council focus this week was around bullying and how to stand up when faced against it. Mrs. Lallier worked with the students to help the identify signs of bullying and who should be told when they see bullying occur. 

*Reminder: This Thursday, October 22nd will be our Otters Don't Bully day. Please encourage your child to wear orange that day. Also, they are welcome to make signs to hold during Walk-n-Ride to school that morning. 

Author Study: Kevin Henkes

This week we have been taking a closer look at various Kevin Henkes' books. We've read books such as "Wemberly Worries" and "Chrysanthemum". With each book we have had an extension project or writing piece. Our classroom and hallway is overflowing with Kevin Henkes inspired work. 

Collecting Data on Shapes

As a part of our Number Corner, students have been randomly selecting various shapes out of a sealed container each morning. At the end of each week, we review the data. Students compare which shape has the most and which has been collected the least, how many more or less one shape has than another, as well as counting the total amount of shapes collected within one week. 

New Space: A Classroom Makeover

After reading a very enlightening Education article about the use of space within a classroom and how to maximize student productivity, I decided to give the classroom a makeover. Yesterday, I informed students about what was to come and they seemed very excited about the shift. Each student had to clean out their desks, organize their folders and pack their pencil bins because the desks were being taken out the classroom...as well as many of the chairs.

Early this morning, I met up with our school's custodian and went to work. He brought in two more rectangular tables and one round table. We created two low tables, where students can sit on pillows, core disks or kneel. Another table was raised, creating a standing table. Lastly, the circle table was lowered a bit to make it the perfect height for sitting balls to be used as their seats. By 7:55 am I was elated and completely filled with nervous energy. With change comes adjustment, and I eagerly hoped my students were up for this.

As students entered the room, they chose a ticket out of a basket. This ticket guided them to where they would be sitting for Morning Work. Immediately, students were expressing their excitement over the changes of the classroom. One child came up and said, "Thank you for doing this for us!" It was a magical moment.

Throughout the day, students continued to choose from the basket, and got to experience the various learning spaces available to them. In the afternoon, we took a guided tour of our classroom, stopping to explain and model what the expected behavior was for each of the learning spaces. We took several pictures and will use those pictures as reminder posters in each space.

All and all, it was a fabulous day. We experienced some bumps today, as I'm sure we will experience more as we get more settled in but it was a great day. I hope many of you heard about these changes from your children tonight. Here are some pictures from today:

Getting work mats out

Using a low table

Our circle table

Standing table

Another low table

Nothing better than getting positive feedback from a student

It's Fall, Work in Progress

Here are some behind the scenes shots of students working hard to create their page of our class book. Everyone did a great job. 

Its Fall 2015

This week we have been working with the text, It's Fall by Linda Glaser to collect information about the changes that happen in the Fall. Together, students wrote an informational piece reporting out our findings. Here you will see our classroom book.

Handwriting Made Fun

They have been working super hard on their handwriting.  With the help of our new writing program, Fundations, students have learned correct letter formation for all 26 letters, both upper and lower case. You may hear your child talk about the sky line, plane line, grass line and worm line. Fundations provides students with pictures to help them know where they should begin each letter. Their hard work is definitely paying off! 

Let's Count

Counting, counting, counting! That is the focus of our math right now in first grade. We are counting forward, backward, asking which number comes next, which number comes first. Counting on from a teen number, counting back starting at a team number. Students are using various materials to count with, making sure to note that just because an object is bigger doesn't mean you have more. Any counting and discussion around numbers at home is strongly encouraged. 

Color Books

Last week we finished up our mini-unit on colors. Students matched each color card with its color word and made a book of colors. They will use this book as a resource during writing time.  

Learning about new iPad apps

We have begun introducing more media into the classroom, including iPads. We have enjoyed learning about new apps we can use during our math stations. 

Class Council

We have been working with Mrs. Lallier to learn how to be a social detective. When students are able to observe what their peers are doing and be a whole-body listener they are able to defeat unthinkables, such as Body Snatcher.