Not the color of our skin... and Inferencing

Hello Everyone,
Thanks for taking a peek into the wonder-filled  world of first grade!  After a three day weekend, it was time to get back to learning together. A couple of my favorite things from today? Using apples to help kids understand diversity and equality!  We continued a discussion we started last week about how we are all unique and special, and that we are alike in that we have loving hearts and curious minds.  Today I decided to extend that idea by showing the kids different kinds of apples.  We compared the shapes, colors, and sizes, and decided that people are a little like apples.  All the apples looked different!  I then proceded to cut the apples in half cross-ways to show the kids that each apple, no matter the shape, size or color, has a star on the inside!  They were cheering as I made my way through each apple!  We then cheered that each of us is a star!!  Valuable lesson for all!!

You are a star!


Another of my favorite things from today was our lesson on Inferencing.  Good readers use inferencing while reading to gain comprehension.  We use clues from the text (pictures and words) along with our schema to make inferences.  It is a little like reading between the lines.  Today we read the story "No, David!" by David Shannon, always a favorite of first graders.  We made our way through the book stopping to get the clues to make our inferences.  The kids took notes on what inferences they made (because sometimes our inferences are different from our neighbors') and they stuck them to our poster.  We discussed all the different ideas and then the kids had to pick out the ones they wanted to record for their Reader's Response Journal.  We are great Reading Detectives!!

For a free copy of our No David inferencing recording sheet, click here!

Stop by again soon as we continue on our first grade journey!

Have a wonder-filled tomorrow!

Joyfully,

Nancy

Reading and Writing anchor charts

Hello Everyone!
I thought I would share a couple of our classroom anchor charts.  These were created at the beginning of the year with the kids' help.  We started brainstorming all the different things we read during the day and came up with an amazing list!!  Sometimes I think we forget about the print all around us (environmental print).  Kids are often able to read words like "WalMart" and "Skittles" before they even know many of the sight words we work on daily!  We also made an anchor chart (through the same brainstorming process) about all the things we write during our day.  Again, we take for granted all the writing involved in our daily lives!  It's good to have this visual as a reminder of how important writing is!! Kids have more schema for reading and writing than we realize.  Helping kiddos make connections is so important!


What do we read?

What do we write?

I have so much more I want to share with you!!  Stay tuned!  Thanks for taking a peek into our Wonder-filled classroom! 
Joyfully!
Nancy

Brag Tags

Hello Everyone!  One more post for today! 
Did your kiddo come home telling you about his/her brag tags?  We had a wonderful awards assembly today where kids were awarded with brag tags to add to their chains.  These are sweet litle momentos of things your kiddo should be very proud of.
Our students earn brag tags for things like Perfect Attendance, Outstanding citizenship, Science Fair Participant, Setting Goals, Birthdays, Reflections Contest Entry, Summer Reading, etc.  The chains are kept here at school for kids to continue to add to, and will go home at the end of the year. Some kids save them from year to year.  I know some older kids who have thirty tags or more!!  So proud of my kids who earned tags today!!  Keep it up!

OH!  We also were tied for having the best attendance in first grade! YAY! And congratulations to Brie for getting our Kindmess and Compassion Award and to Jaydan for getting our Hard Work and Dedication Award!!!  Way to Go Everyone!!
Thanks for taking time out to peek into our Wonder-filled world!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Melting Ice Cube

Hello Everyone!  Our SCI FRI today was a quick, easy, inexpensive experience with ice.  After enjoying Jan Brett's books The Mitten and The Hat, I wanted to incorporate a mini science lesson using mittens.  I decided to find out where the kids were with simple scientific thinking.  I asked them to hypothesize whether they thought an ice cube would melt faster sitting on a mitten or held in your hand. We talked about how scientists use what they know to help them with each hypothesis. The class was split on their ideas. Many thought that because they keep our hands warm the mitten would also cause the ice cube to melt faster.  Ask your kiddo what he/she thought!  Even when we don't hypothesize correctly, we learn!  Incorrect ideas are sometimes even more valuable!

recording sheet

Which will it be? The hand or the mitten?

Tah-Dah!

We may have some future scientists on our hands!

Thanks for taking a peek into our wonder-filled classroom!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Dr. Martin Luter King, Jr. Day

Hello Everyone!  One of my favorite things from today was talking about MLK.  We had a grand discussion about the impact Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had on the world. He is a big reason we are all able to go to school together.  We talked about and compared our skin tones and decided not one of us has the same color skin!  What is important is what is in our hearts!  I am constantly amazed at the honest and beautiful hearts of first graders!  This is why I come to school every day!  After our valuable discussion, we decided we wanted to show others what was important to us...That we can all reach for our dreams and it doesn't matter what color your skin is.  The kids and I traced our arms on what ever color paper we wanted. We glued them all together in a bouquet and added a heart shaped message. Love is packaged in all colors but we all love in the same color!! I hope the kids will go home and continue this conversation with families and friends!!  Thanks Parents, for sharing these amazing kids with me!!

We all love in the same color!

Thanks for taking a peek into our wonder-filled day! Have a colorful tomorrow!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Snow Globes

Hello Everyone!  Do you know anyone who collects snowglobes?  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live inside a snowglobe?  We read a wonderful story today called "Snowglobe Family" by Jane O'Conner.  The author portrays a family living inside a snowglobe.  The family wishes someone would come and shake the snowglobe so they could have a blizzard and maybe have some snowhills so they could go sledding!  Sweet story!
We decided to make our own paper snowglobes and use what we know about adjectives to describe what we would put into a snowglobe.  After creating the paper part and finishing the writing, I laminated the work to make the projects look like "real" snowglobes!  The kids worked very hard on these and really came up with some interesting things to put in their snowglobes!!  Way to go VIK's!

A circle, a base, and some snow

New York

Snowman and trees

A girl building a snowman

Fireplace


I love how these turned out!  Come by and see them hung up in the classroom!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Marshmallow Math

Hello Everyone!  Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to check up on what our first graders are doing!  Have you ever thought about what marshmallows have to do with math?  Well, when working on place value, marshmallows become the tens and ones places!  Today we used JUMBO marshmallows to show the tens place and regular sized marshmallows to  show the ones place. The kids stuck a toothpick into each marshmallow and then had to show me specific numbers using Fruitloops looped onto the toothpicks.  Kiddos then had to record the number by showing what the model looked like and then write the number.  Who knew math could be so sweet?

place value work mat

Jumbo marshmallows, regular marshmallows and fruit loops

Recording sheet

Gotta love hands on math!!
Thanks for peeking in!  Have a wonderfilled tomorrow and stop by again!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Word Surgery

Hey Everyone!  Did you every think that first graders could perform surgery?  Well, what a better way to understand contractions than to actually cut out the letters that are not needed anymore!  I saw this idea while researching contraction activities and thought I'd give it a try with my kiddos. I got some rubber gloves and masks for each kiddo and told them that we were going to become first grade word doctors.  We have been talking about contractions and have noticed them in our reading.  I had each of them write a phrase on a card, choosing from a list. We then donned our gloves and masks, skillfully made our incisions (with scissors), trimming off the unwanted letters, suturing the cut (with tape) and finally closing with a bandaid (which became the apostrophe.)  The kids had a blast and wanted to do more!  I think we may have some true surgeons in our future!!

Word Doctor Supplies

Skillful incision



Careful stitching



ready to suture



Confident surgeon



Successful surgery



Happy Word Doctors!




Thanks for taking a peek!
See you next time!
Have a wonder-filled tomorrow!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Friday Fun

A peek into Friday...Hello everyone!  I thought I would post a little bit about Fridays!  This past Friday we had the incredible opportunity to dedicate a new bell for the school. It is so special because our building has been open for seven years which means that the first group of kindergarteners are now sixth graders and we will also have our first group of kids who went to this school graduate from high school this spring.  Our graduating sixth graders and our graduating seniors will be able to ring the bell. What a wonderful incentive to stay connected! What a wonderful new tradition!

Fridays in my classroom is Gold Nugget trading day.  Kiddos have the opportunity to earn gold nuggets (goes along with the western theme in my classroom) for going above and beyond the norm in the classroom.  They can save nuggets to trade in for things like "treasure box" items, pencils, stickers or ice cream.  It is always amazing to me what kids save for and what they choose.  Enjoy the pics!

Friday is also a day we celebrate science.  I call our science time SCI FRI!  The kids so look forward to our little experiments and experiences, and are really learning what scientists do.  Today we were distinguishing the differences between living and nonliving.  We went outside to document our observations.  We chose objects found outside and answered questions about their characteristics.  The kids had fun and learned so much about living and nonliving. All of our documents are added to our Science journals!!  I will post some of our outher SCI FRI activities soon!

Thanks for taking a peek into our Friday!!  Please stop by again soon!!
Have a wonder-filled tomorrow!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Growing Patterns and Adjectives!

A peek into our day...What fun we had in math today.  We have been studying growing patterns and when I found these cute little snowflake counters I knew how we were going to practice!  Each table group was responsible for creating a growing pattern using their snowflake counters. Then they had to record their pattern using addition sentences.  The kids worked so well together and tackled some tough problems!  Way to go, guys!! You are certainly "growing" on me!! :)

This afternoon we worked very hard on adjectives and decided to showcase some spectacular 2012 describing words!  I am "blown away" at the words these kids come up with!!  We had a lot of fun brainstorming words to describe how 2012 was going to be!!  Spectacular, awesome, fun, and devine :) are just a few!!  We also learned when to use commas while listing things in a sequence!  Look at how we spotlighted our awesome adjectives!

We had a very busy day and learned so much!  Thanks for taking a peek!!
Have a happy tomorrow!
Joyfully!
Nancy