- count by 100's as we all one by one dumped 100 gorp items into a large bowl
- eat 100 Kix one by one as we wrote all the numbers on a grid
- estimate what 100 steps would be and then count out 100 steps
- draw what we would look like in 100 years
- flip a penny 100 times and keep track of the heads and tails using tally marks
- hop on one foot for 100 seconds (it's longer than you think)
- talk to a friend for 100 seconds
- hold 100 popcorn kernals in our hand
- watch 100 popcorn kernals pop from a hot air popper and see where they would land
- compare what 100 popped kernals looked like after picking them up from around the room
- state what we would and would not eat 100 of
- state what we would and would not hold 100 of
- write what was one of our most favorite activities from the past 100 days
- as a group collect 100 happy words
- as a group read 100 books
- wrote number sentences equaling 100
Thursday, February 9, 2012
100th Day of School
We had counted forwards and backwards, grouped, charted, and created patterns using the numbers 1 - 99 each morning during number corner. All of that in anticipation for the 100th day of school. Of course we all had to wear crowns sporting 100 dots in various groups and . . .
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Readers Theatre = Fluent Readers
At the risk of sounding like a broken record . . . I love 1st grade! One of the many reasons is the amount of progress the children make in readers workshop over a relatively short period of time. Everyone is working on becoming a more fluent reader and the best way we know how is to read, read, and read some more. Readers Theatre allows children to do just that. They begin by reading the text to see which character is most interesting to them, reread to practice for an audition (just in case someone else wants the same character), reread aloud with the group in preparation for a performance, and finally read aloud as a group before an audience. More to come!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The Polar Express
Our last day of school in 2011 was a fantastic day for sure . . . one that I will remember and I hope the children do as well. The entire school jumped on board with us and celebrated the children's success' with a swarm party where everyone wore pajamas. At the end of the day we had a "slumber party" in the gym where we all sang songs to the beat of our own Allen Brook School Band (the same band that welcomes us in every Friday morning in the lobby). The place was hoppin'!
The most exciting part of our day began as the children entered the school after a brisk morning walk to the sound of a very loud train whistle. Everyone was given a ticket to board the Polar Express! They made their way to seats where they found hot cocoa, candy canes, and a bell from Santa's sleigh. As they settled in we viewed the actual Polar Express on the Smart board and then listened to a reading of the book by Chris VanAllsburg. Every time the children heard the word "bell" they shook their bell. Smiles were plentiful and eyes were wide open as we chugged on through the book. It was truly a magical time in the classroom!
Throughout the day the children rotated through 4 different workshops all pertaining to the book The Polar Express. They began by learning about the northern lights, which were mentioned in the book, and then created their own aurora borialis with chalk. Next they played Polar Express Bingo, created a reindeer ornament, and painted a winter scene. Everyone enjoyed the activities and spirit of the day.
It wouldn't be a celebration without something sweet! Everyone decorated cookies, it was astonishing how detailed everyone made their designs, and then consumed their work. I don't know how we will ever top this day! I left school that day exhausted and feeling totally blessed to work in such a supportive school community with amazing children that truly believe.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Lobster Legs & Whales Tails
We have moved into our 3rd unit in math and will continue to work on developing a solid understanding of basic operations and place value in the context of problem solving. Our first few sessions have introduced a collection of games and activities designed to provide practice with addition facts to 10 and counting sums of money to 25 cents. The children will also be working on sorting and graphing various ways to classify and compare pictures of sea creatures.
Children will spend a great deal of time posing and solving story problems, counting and comparing sums of money, and practicing addition facts. Behind much of the work, however, is the idea of counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's. sometimes this "skip counting" is done in the context of simple multiplication problems - "7 sea stars, how many arms?" or "4 crabs - how many legs?" or "5 dimes - how much is this collection worth?" Other times, work with multiplies is presented in the form of division problems such as "12 claws, how many lobsters?" or "50 legs, how many crabs?" The central principle that children must grasp in order to handle counting by 2's, 5's, 10's or any grouping other than 1's is that collections themselves can be counted. That is, we can talk about the number of 2's, or 5's, or 10's in a set just as we talk about the number of individual units. For example, half an hour on the clock face can be thought of as 30 individual minutes, or 6 groups of 5 minutes, as delineated by the numbers we actually see on the clock.
This is an understanding that takes quite a bit of time and experience to develop, and is not necessarily indicated by a child's ability to skip-count by rote, to recite the counting by 5's or counting by 10's sequences from memory, or to read and write double-digit numbers. The fundamental context for developing this notion is in posing simple multiplication and division story problems, such as "Ms. Rogers has 3 bags of cookies. There are 5 cookies in each bag. How any cookies does Ms. Rogers have all together?" or, conversely, "Ms. Rogers has 15 cookies. She puts 5 cookies in each bag. How many bags can she fill?"
When working with your child to enhance these math skills, or any math content, always have some sort of manipulatives on hand for them to count and compare. You'll be pleasantly surprised how engaged they will become!
Children will spend a great deal of time posing and solving story problems, counting and comparing sums of money, and practicing addition facts. Behind much of the work, however, is the idea of counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's. sometimes this "skip counting" is done in the context of simple multiplication problems - "7 sea stars, how many arms?" or "4 crabs - how many legs?" or "5 dimes - how much is this collection worth?" Other times, work with multiplies is presented in the form of division problems such as "12 claws, how many lobsters?" or "50 legs, how many crabs?" The central principle that children must grasp in order to handle counting by 2's, 5's, 10's or any grouping other than 1's is that collections themselves can be counted. That is, we can talk about the number of 2's, or 5's, or 10's in a set just as we talk about the number of individual units. For example, half an hour on the clock face can be thought of as 30 individual minutes, or 6 groups of 5 minutes, as delineated by the numbers we actually see on the clock.
This is an understanding that takes quite a bit of time and experience to develop, and is not necessarily indicated by a child's ability to skip-count by rote, to recite the counting by 5's or counting by 10's sequences from memory, or to read and write double-digit numbers. The fundamental context for developing this notion is in posing simple multiplication and division story problems, such as "Ms. Rogers has 3 bags of cookies. There are 5 cookies in each bag. How any cookies does Ms. Rogers have all together?" or, conversely, "Ms. Rogers has 15 cookies. She puts 5 cookies in each bag. How many bags can she fill?"
When working with your child to enhance these math skills, or any math content, always have some sort of manipulatives on hand for them to count and compare. You'll be pleasantly surprised how engaged they will become!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Giving Thanks
Many thanks to all the parents who came in to school and shared in our Thanksgiving celebration and to those who sent in delicious finger food. We started early in the morning making woven place mats complete with Thanksgiving Wordles that the children created the previous day (check out the children's blogs for a close look at the Wordles) and place cards with very colorful horns of plenty. The children were very excited to rearrange the classroom and set up one very long table so that we could all sit together.
I am very thankful for such a wonderful group of caring, hard working, and interesting 1st graders!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Saving the world!
Have I mentioned lately how much I love first graders? Every day starts fresh with new opportunities, new friendships, and new ways of looking at what we already know to better help us learn and grow. The lens in which they view the world is clean and full of possibility. We all can learn from them.
Last week I gave the children a writing prompt asking, if you were a community helper who would you be and how would you help others? There were several doctors, vets, firefighters, police officers, a pilot and a librarian all helping others in various ways. One response stood out above the rest . . . we need to keep our eyes on this kid!
I am going
to be Rabin.
I am going
to get a lot of
musls. I am
guing to help plesmen.
I am going
to save the
wrld.
Last week I gave the children a writing prompt asking, if you were a community helper who would you be and how would you help others? There were several doctors, vets, firefighters, police officers, a pilot and a librarian all helping others in various ways. One response stood out above the rest . . . we need to keep our eyes on this kid!
I am going
to be Rabin.
I am going
to get a lot of
musls. I am
guing to help plesmen.
I am going
to save the
wrld.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Kid Blogs
Today was the most exciting day of 1st grade by far! Everyone started their very own blogs by uploading a self portrait that they made way back in September and then commented on others self portraits. The number of clicks that this took seemed like an impossible number when we began learning how earlier in the week. At the request of several children a list of just what each click needed to be was created . . . never say young children can't follow a complicated series of steps if the end result is motivating!
1. Firefox (open to the WSD homepage)
2. Teams
3. Synergy
4. Ms. Rogers
5. class blog
6. kid blogs
7. your name
8. log in
- enter user name beginning with a capital letter
- enter password beginning with a capital letter
9. new post
- enter title: Hopes & Dreams
10. image
11. from computer
12. select file
13. drop down menu
14. H Drive
15. Houses
16. Synergy students
17. Rogers – Hopes & Dreams
18. your picture
19. O None O Left O Center O Right
20. Insert into Post
21. My Blog
Writing comments was a breeze after all these steps! Please take the time to check out your child's blog with them and let them show you how it's done. There link is located on the sidebar and will remain there throughout the school year. You may comment on posts by logging in as a parent. Once on the blog click parent from the list of names on the right and enter parent as the user name and password. As the administrator I must approve all comments prior to them posting live to the internet so you won't see them immediately. Have Fun!
1. Firefox (open to the WSD homepage)
2. Teams
3. Synergy
4. Ms. Rogers
5. class blog
6. kid blogs
7. your name
8. log in
- enter user name beginning with a capital letter
- enter password beginning with a capital letter
9. new post
- enter title: Hopes & Dreams
10. image
11. from computer
12. select file
13. drop down menu
14. H Drive
15. Houses
16. Synergy students
17. Rogers – Hopes & Dreams
18. your picture
19. O None O Left O Center O Right
20. Insert into Post
21. My Blog
Writing comments was a breeze after all these steps! Please take the time to check out your child's blog with them and let them show you how it's done. There link is located on the sidebar and will remain there throughout the school year. You may comment on posts by logging in as a parent. Once on the blog click parent from the list of names on the right and enter parent as the user name and password. As the administrator I must approve all comments prior to them posting live to the internet so you won't see them immediately. Have Fun!
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