Thursday and Friday

It sure was a busy week!!  I've updated our Shelfari (at the top of the blog) to share some of the books we have read recently.

The kids worked SO hard on writing their opinion about their collection every day this week.  We'll continue opinion writing for the next few weeks but about different topics.  The first graders can't wait to have an Author Celebration to share their work with you :)

A dance party during the credits of Happy Feet.  What a fun way to end our 20 point celebration!

American flags- then and now. 

Mr. Olson led a fun activity with a map of the first floor of our school. 

A peek into the crazy productiveness you see each afternoon!  

Wednesday 3/12

In Math, we focused on dimes.  

Dime, dime 

Little and thin

I remember 

You're worth ten.  

We count dimes by a touch at the top (5) and touch at the bottom (10). Counting by 5s for all coins helps us count coins at the beginning. 

Everyone worked on their opinion book today.

The kids reached 20 points so they celebrated with a relaxing afternoon watching Happy Feet!  I'm so proud of their hard work and how kind each and every child is to each other.  

Open Circle: red light

Dear Family:

In Open Circle, we are continuing to learn and practice the problem-solving steps that correspond to a traffic signal. Red = Stop. Yellow = Think. Green = Go. 

Recently we talked about the red light steps. First, before we can solve a problem, we need to calm down. We discussed several ways to calm down, such as deep breathing, counting to 10, going to another place, or asking an adult to help. Then we discussed the importance of being able to use words to say how you feel and what the problem is. One way to put a problem into words is to say, “I feel _____ because _____.” For example, “I feel frustrated because I cannot cut a circle out of construction paper.” Or, “I feel upset because someone knocked over the block tower I was building.” Saying how you feel and what the problem is helps you to solve the problem.

Following is a list of books that deal with problem solving. You might want to get a few from the library and read them with your child. While you’re reading, talk with your child about how the characters in the books solve their problems. Do they follow the problem-solving steps that we use in Open Circle? Have your child suggest other ways that the character could have solved the problem. Continue to use problem solving at home.

Literature Connections

Bluthenthal, Diana. I’m Not Invited? Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003.
Minnie thinks that she has been left out of her friend’s party plans. What should she do? Should she just come right out and ask her friend about it, or wait and see what happens on the day of the party?

Carlsson-Paige, Nancy. Best Day of the Week. Redleaf Press, 1998.
Because Calvin wants to play pirates and Angela wants to play store with an old card table that they found in the trash, they must find a way to resolve their conflict.

Elliott, Laura Malone. Hunter’s Best Friend at School. HarperCollins, 2002.
Hunter figures out how to help his best friend, Stripe, who is annoying everyone
at school.

Havill, Juanita. Jamaica’s Find. Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
When Jamaica finds a stuffed bear on the playground, she must decide whether to keep it or find its rightful owner.

Monday 3/10 & Tuesday 3/11

We started a math unit on money. So far we have focused on pennies and nickels.  Practice at home--Ask your child to count out nickels and pennies.

Look at the engagement during Reader's Workshop! 

Judging our collections- third place!  Ask your child to tell you how many reasons they are writing about in each of their opinion pieces.  

Thursday 3/6

I put in for a grant through Pets in the Classroom and I'm so excited that we were granted a free habitat and half price on a leopard gecko and his/her food!! :)  

Our new classroom friend will be joining us soon..  

Working on researching American symbols.

Total of 10- with recording the number sentences.  

Tuesday & Wednesday

The kids are loving our study of America!  They have so many facts in their America book.

Yesterday we focused on songs and words that honor America.  The kids each made a book all about America, The Beautiful.

Today we focused on the White House.  The kids were amazed that there are 132 rooms in the White House and George Washington never lived in the house--before it was even named the White House!
Interesting facts about the White House: video

In Writers Workshop, they judged their collection and gave out the second place prize.  So far they have filled out their planner with 4 reasons why that item should get second place.

Three new iPad math apps were pushed out: 10 Frame Fill, Number Flash & Math Bugs.  The kids were busily exploring them today.

Look how engaged they are during Readers Workshop: 

I'll be at a tech workshop on Friday. Mr. Olson and a sub will be here.  Report cards will be going home on Friday after school.  Please look for it in your child's folder.

Monday 3/3

A new math game we played today:

The kids worked in their American symbol Book Creator book to add facts about the bald eagle.  

A clip we watched about the bald eagle from Discovery Education:

This afternoon the kids worked on a fun Statue of Liberty art project. Ask your child to tell you about it. 

In Open Circle, we talked about ways to solve problems.

To help us learn and remember the problem-solving steps, we use the colors of a traffic signal: Red = Stop. Yellow = Think. Green = Go. In problem solving, we do the same three things that a traffic signal tells us:

RED LIGHT:

• First, we have to STOP.
In problem solving, that means we have to calm down. Then we tell ourselves the problem and how we feel.

YELLOW LIGHT;

• Second, we have to THINK.
In problem solving, that means we have to be careful and think of many different ways to solve the problem and what would happen if we tried them.

GREEN LIGHT:

• Third, we can GO.
In problem solving, that means we make a plan and try it.