Addition, Retelling, Creating

We have been covering addition and will move to subtraction next week.  Keep your students counting forward and backward to help them with these concepts.  The skill we, the first grade teachers at our school, like to focus on is counting on.  We are also starting to work on memorizing math facts and beginning timed addition tests.  Be on the lookout for these tests coming home to see how your child is doing.  We will start out slowly, and then move on to more facts as the students become more proficient at addition and subtraction concepts.

Here is a little activity we did to create a math problem and solve it using addition:

For reading, we used the story of The Little Red Hen to review and practice sequencing, retelling, and summarizing.  First we looked at pictures, discussed what was happening, and agreed what order they should go in:

Next, we came up with a simple summary of the story:

Then, we came up with a play for the story, a format which tied in nicely with the play we read in our anthology, The Rope Tug:

Finally, we drew some scenery and made finger puppets to retell the story.  The kids noticed that the book characters and the puppets were different.  I explained that there are different variations of this story using different animals.  When we do a more in depth study of the setting of a story I am planning to create our own story patterned after The Little Red Hen set in the jungle or any habitat they are interested in.  I wonder what animals the children will choose.

We recently completed a class story using a simple sentence frame and some cards that have labeled pictures of items in the classroom.  After reading The Three Little Kittens by Lorianne Siomades

the students made this:

Click here to find the original book:
http://www.betterworldbooks.com/9781563978456-id-9781563978456.aspx

 A simple activity like this gets the children excited over their reading.  They begin to own it.  I loved seeing their smiles as we read through their pages.   Not only did they review vocabulary for classroom items but they also studied a simple story structure.

Note: All of these activities did not supplant the curriculum.  They supplemented it.

      

Favorites in the Classroom

Last week's parent conferences were great.  I very much enjoyed meeting with this class of parents, and I am excited about working together toward every student's success.

During that week I was given a chance to do some review and change up the pace a bit.  I read a few more of my favorite books.  One of the students pointed out that I have more than one favorite.  That is true.  I get excited about many of the stories I am able to share in class and only wish I had more time to do so.  Here are a couple of books that the students enjoyed as much as I did:

Harry and The Lady Next Door by Gene Zion:

 http://www.betterworldbooks.com/9780064440080-id-9780064440080.aspx


and

Olivia and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer:

http://www.betterworldbooks.com/9780689852916-id-9780689852916.aspx

Both of these stories kept the students listening to hear what was going to happen next.  There was just the right balance between keeping the reader questioning, guessing, and laughing.  They are perfection between two pieces of pressed cardboard.  The illustrations and excellent writing are an unbeatable combination.  Just ask your child.

Parents, in your booklet from Back to School Night is a list of questioning strategies that would work very nicely with these stories.  I hope you get a chance to read them.

Back to School Night

September 6, 2012, was back to school  night.  I was disappointed that only half of the families were able to attend.  So, I will post a little tour here in the hopes that parents will be able to learn a little bit about our classroom.  The most important thing I wanted to stress was that everything done in class is based upon California standards.

Everything that comes in the homework is a review of the past week.  I would like to work together with you to make your child's learning experience better.  Parents can help by looking over the homework their child has completed and signing the homework letter and the conduct card.  I have been pleased with students bringing their folders daily to class.  Thank-you for all who have made sure their child brings them to school every day.  I also had a good response to the work that was sent home to complete.  I am very grateful to parents.

Please keep in mind that homework is not done until the list of words provided on the homework letter have been practiced every day, the phonics readers have been read every day, high frequency words have been practiced every day, and your child has practiced counting every day or until your child is able to complete those tasks with proficiency.  It is not normally possible for your child to have completed the homework on Monday.  These tasks should be repeated daily.  The results can be amazing:  on this coming week's newsletter I have listed all the students who were able to read all six high frequency words for this week.  Congratulations!

Coming home soon are notices to schedule a parent conference for those who did not sign up during the presentation.   If you would like to  sign up for the Site Council or the English Language Learners Advisory Council, please check with the office.

Now for the tour.  Thanks to all parents who turned in the permission slip to post the lovely work we do in class as well as photos of students (to come at a later date).  I was happy to receive them.

At the front of the room are our class rules.  On the first day of school, we read a section in our social studies curriculum that taught us about building community and making rules.  The first rule in our class became the golden rule:  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  It really covers everything.

To practice treating others with respect, we used a bulletin board set on manners.  In the garden of manners flowers grow displaying words "thank-you", "please", "you're welcome", "I'm sorry", "excuse me," and "may I."   Pretty little bugs are attracted to the garden when these words are used.  The students had fun naming the words and placing the bugs in the garden.  After a week, I moved the garden to a wall.  We will review it often to remind ourselves how we all want to be treated.  

The other rules in our class were discussed and agreed upon.  We decided that treating others the way we want to be treated, raising our hand, being quiet, following directions, and using our manners are things we need to do in order to have a classroom where learning can take place.

                                 

When these rules are not followed, behaviors are noted on the conduct card.  Each Monday, I will place the conduct card in the homework folder.  Parents, please sign and return these so I know you were made aware.  If the problem is more serious, a call will be made to speak directly with you.

Here's a view from the back of the room.  It's very full with thirty-two students!  On the desks are a couple of resources for parents.  One is a booklet provided by the math curriculum with key vocabulary and concepts highlighted.  The other is a tool I put together including tips for math, writing, reading, and reading comprehension.  As we move toward the newly adopted core standards, it is even more critical that we help your child comprehend what is being read.  There are some very good questioning strategies included in this packet for you.

From this picture you can see we have been working hard on beginning, middle, and ending sounds.  I use a caterpillar or worm that the children draw the first week of school.  When doing these exercises I point to the section of the worm we are focusing on.   On the board the first section is colored since we were identifying beginning sounds.  You will also note the math concepts of one more and one less shown on the board.  The next day, ten more and ten less were added to the diagram.  At the end of the week, I move these math vocabulary words to the focus wall to aid in review:

On the cupboards you will notice a project used to think about cause and effect.  We read the story of Charles Tiger in the reading curriculum:

http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Tiger-Siobhan-Dodds/dp/0316188174

It is a story about a little tiger who woke up without his roar.  He searches in different places until he finds something that scares him and causes him to roar.  We took that idea and talked about what kinds of things would cause us to be afraid and scream.  We practiced sharing our ideas by using the sentence frame:

I saw a _________________, so I screamed.

The favorite situation was being frightened by a ghost, but we also were scared by sharks, dinosaurs, dark monsters, and tigers.

I would like to see every student printing more legibly, so we practice penmanship.  I walk around the class trying to check that a capital is used at the beginning of a sentence and all other letters are lowercase.  Parents can help at home by having students write and making sure only lowercase letters are used in the middle of a sentence unless it is a name or the word "I."

For writing, we are starting out with thinking about the content of what we are sharing.  In this exercise, students thought about where they were and what they did.  In this beginning stage we draw where and what and label it:

The final project I would like to show you is a math study.  We used vocabulary for beginning addition and colored ways to make five.  Making a number this way demonstrates that we can put together different parts to make a whole.  It laid the foundation for the chapter we will be covering this coming week.  I love this activity.  It opens students to a completely different way of looking at numbers:

That is the end of our tour.  I will look forward to meeting more parents during conference week.  See you soon.

New Year 2012-2013

I was happy to meet my new students for this 2012-2013 school year.  I have high hopes for learning this year.  My top priority is sharing a love for books and reading.

This year I am trying to improve upon communicating with parents.  The homework folder is designed to come back every day.  I check it during my lunch hour and try to put something new in it by third recess.  On Fridays, I will keep the folder to check after school and put a packet in it for homework.  My colleagues and I will be sending home the first set of phonics readers and high frequency word lists to review and practice at home.  They are placed in a plastic bag for you to keep at home.  The books and lists will come home each week, and you can add them to your bag.

Thanks to you, parents, for returning so many forms.  I am keeping track of what has been turned in.  If you haven't sent in your forms yet, please do so as soon as possible.  I find the most important form to be the pink emergency card.  That card needs to be returned promptly.  During parent conferences, I will have any other forms that were missed ready for you to sign.  

Yesterday, the homework folders did not come home, because it was Friday.  However, I did send home a booklet the students created.  We reviewed colors, using a capital and a period, and using a basic sentence frame.  Next week, the students will work toward using the sentence frame more independently by completing it with a color word and a noun.  Here are some samples of the booklet that went home:

When the kids took the booklets, they were excited about sharing and reading them with you, the parents.  It is good practice for them as they are still learning their color words and the basic high frequency words used in the sentence.  

During the year, more writing will be coming home.  The following is a list of editing symbols I will use:

In first grade, it is important to use a capital at the beginning of a sentence, for the first letter in a name, and for the letter "I" when it appears all by itself.  All other letters should be lowercase.  Students must be able to distinguish uppercase from lowercase letters and use them properly.  We will continue to work on this throughout the year.  

Below is the rubric used for independent writing samples.  From the rubric you can see what is expected from your child's writing.  

I took the first sample on Friday and will add it to their portfolio I keep in the classroom.  It is always astonishing to look at this first sample in comparison to what students create by the end of the year.  I am looking forward to it.

Looking Back 2011-2012

Today was the last day of the year for this class.  I received a small plaque that reads "Life is not a matter of counting years, it's a matter of making the years count."  I do want these last-third-of-my-life years to count.  In whatever I may find myself doing, working on or going through, I want these years to matter.  I am going to try even harder next school year to get my students to the levels at which they deserve to be.

Things are going to get harder as class sizes remain large, testing becomes more standardized, and budgets are cut even further.   There had been a possibility that field trips were going to be cut.  Several years ago, when my district was considering cutting funding for field trips, I wrote an email to the administration expressing the importance of this type of experience.  Our students have very little experiences, and field trips provide those learning moments that are not possible through any other medium.  For whatever reason, the district maintained funding for field trips back then.  Now, as of the most recent update, field trips are still possible.  We will simply need to hold fundraisers to help make them possible.  I have faith that we will provide this valuable learning tool for our students.

The last field trip of the year was to the Lori Brock Museum.  Students were able to tour through a town of preserved buildings from the early 1900's and an old one-room schoolhouse from the 1880's:

This one building alone provided a irreplaceable view and understanding of the California Social Studies Content Standard 1.4.1:   

Students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and places 

around the world and recognize that some aspects of people, places, and things 

change over time while others stay the same. Examine the structure of schools and communities in the past.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf

We had read some Little House books and our social studies curriculum covering this standard in class.  The kids were familiar with what a one-room school house was like through pictures, words, and illustrations.  Seeing this historic building brought those words and pictures to life.  Once we were back at our own school we reviewed and discussed this building to compare and contrast it to ours.  The students met this task with a new enthusiasm gained from their field trip experience.  You can see a map of the other buildings they were able to visit here:

http://www.kcmuseum.org/ourCollection

The other part of our visit to this location was to Kid City:

"Kid City is a self-guided tour that features the basics of any town - a library, a bank, a veterinarian's office, a restaurant, a park, a theater, an ambulance and fire department among others. Kid City offers children the ability, through role-playing, to learn about different careers in the community in which they live."

http://www.kcmuseum.org/stories/storyReader$184

The pure ecstatic joy that came out of that room filled with children exploring their mini city and how each business contributes to the community was enough to power smiles for a lifetime.  For a short while, they became actors and actresses, bankers, grocers, shoppers, veterinarians, cooks, servers, policemen, firemen, ambulance drivers, teachers, librarians, puppeteers, and newsmen.  They acted out scenarios and withdrew money from the bank to patronize the establishments.  I do not remember how many times I was thanked by happy little faces or heard the exclamation, "This is the best day!"  I could not take the credit, though.  This particular field trip was completely arranged by my colleague.  I could never thank Mrs. M. enough for the incredible happiness that our students gained from an educational activity.  It is education at its best.  Everything they engaged in has been favorably embedded into their hearts and minds.  So, as I look back on this past school year, I look forward to next year, more learning, and more field trips.

Art Show

A simple display of art from grade levels K-5 was put up in the cafeteria.  There were over 100 entries, and it was not easy choosing the winners.  Yet, the principal of our school was able to make some good decisions based upon composition, color, shape, and detail.

Kindergarten Winners:


 

 

First Grade Winners:

Second Grade Winners:

Third Grade Winners:

Fourth Grade Winners:

Fifth Grade Winners:

Congratulations to everyone who entered.  All students will receive a certificate of participation.  All of the art is very beautiful.  Thank-you to all who helped to make this showing possible--students, teachers, custodial staff, and administration.  .