Leverett School Grade 1 Joyful Learning For Young Children 

Wow!  We have had a lot going on in first grade.  Lots of fun activities in this short week.  Our mapping project was a lot of fun.  Children drew bedroom maps at home and then used those maps to create a 3D representation inside a shoe box.  If you stepped in the room, it would have felt like chaos.  But at each table were little builders bursting with ideas.

We ended by taking a walk around our “museum” to admire our friends’ work and offer compliments on their ideas.

Today was PAJAMA DAY!!  We started off the day with time for quiet reading alone or with a friend.

 

Then our fourth grade buddies came in to help us come up with a disguise for some Turkeys who did not want to become Thanksgiving dinner!!  You’ll see these, along with a story from a Turkey’s perspective, coming home today.

 

We were so lucky today to have Lillie’s parents come in to teach us some songs and read us some books from the Wabanaki culture.  The children learned a lot about the beautiful traditions passed down to us from these Native Americans who are from what we now know as New England and beyond.  Her parents also generously gave each child a book to keep.  It was a story Lillie’s mom read to us and we acted out as she read.  They also donated several books to our classroom.  Thank you so much, Lisa and Rick!

 

Finally, we ended our day going in to the kindergarten to read our first published books to them.  The kids were so proud!  They felt like “big kids” as they walked in, books in hand, to read to the younger children.

 

Wow!  What a busy day.  I wish you all a happy, restful Thanksgiving with family and friends!  Enjoy the stories and poetry notebooks that were sent home today in your child’s backpack.  Please make sure to return them on Monday.

 

Lots of excitement today as the kids finally published their books after a lot of work writing, editing, coloring……  Today we put the final touches on our books and gathered with friends to share our final product.  Ask your child about it!

More maps!!  Today the big floor puzzles came out.

We also had a special snack today with thanks to our birthday girl!

Some new subtraction games also came out during math time.  We are learning how to use a number line as one strategy for solving addition and subtraction problems.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Maps!  We are having fun learning about different maps.  You should have seen special homework come home where children were asked to draw a map of their bedroom.  We will use these maps to build a 3D model inside a shoe box.  Your child will need some help at home drawing the map and collecting some of these items:  small pieces of styrofoam, small recycled materials like empty pill bottles, toothpick size boxes, a shoebox, small cardboard containers like a box of tea, felt, fabric, buttons, etc…..We will use all these materials at school to make a model of  our bedrooms!  Please send them in by next Monday.

 

 

Also coming this week is a Scholastic Book Order.  Ordering books from Scholastic helps us get free books for our classroom!  Many of the books have a GRL (guided reading level) listed next to it.  At conferences, I spoke with you about which level your child is reading.  Try to find books near your child’s GRL.  These will make great gifts and will help build your child’s confidence as a reader!  I will place the order on December 1st, so please have your order in by then.  The easiest way to order is on-line using code LTF67.  Thanks!

 

This week we went to visit 2nd grade, who just finished publishing their first Small Moments story.  It was so exciting listening to our friends read their stories!  We are also in the midst of working on a Small Moment story to publish.  We should be finishing them next week.  Ask your child about the story he/she wrote and what it means to EDIT.  We are doing a lot of editing right now in Writer’s Workshop using this checklist:

My Small Moment Story	I’ve got it!	My teacher checked it.
Bold Beginning
Details Action and Talking
Good Ending Feelings and Thoughts
Capitals and Periods
My Best Spelling
Finger Spaces and Neat Handwriting
Colorful Pictures
ZOOM in on the Most Important Part

 

Next Tuesday will be Read A Thon!  Students are invited to wear their pajamas to school, bring in a blanket or favorite stuffed animal, and settle in for a cozy day filled with lots of reading time.

 

 

In Fundatins we are learning new “trick words”, or sight words, which are common words we use everyday that we can not sound out and must memorize.  So far we have learned words like is. are, of, the, is, his, here.  We are practicing these words everyday and are now expected  to spell them correctly in our everyday writing.

We have a new yoga song called The Sundance that we use during transition times to work a little movement into our day.  The kids love this.  Here they are trying to strike a yoga pose as they sing along.

Thank you for sending in the list of names of Veterans you know.  At school we went around the circle and shared all the names on our lists.  Many children knew the specific jobs that each person had like being a writer, dentist, doctor, or mechanic.  It was interesting to see how many ways people work in different ways to serve our country.  We put all the names in a big pile in the middle of our sharing circle, and thanked these people for their service to our country.

 

We continue our study of maps.  More information coming home soon on our next fun project!

 

We have a new center in our room!  We are moving into our Social Studies curriculum and now we are starting to study MAPS!  

This week we read books about maps and made our own books about landforms.  You will see that coming home today.  We brainstormed examples of all the landforms that were in the book.  Children added their ideas.  You may want to read the book with your child and add some examples of your own.     

Ms. Lacey sent home a trivia challenge this week for homework.  It’s totally optional.  If you choose to fill it out with your child, return it to school and it will be entered into a raffle to win a prize from Ms. Lacey.

 

So nice to meet with you all at Parent Conferences!  Thanks for taking the time to come in.  I love having the opportunity to talk with parents and share your child’s work.

 

Have a great weekend!