Leverett School Grade 1 Joyful Learning For Young Children 

I often feel so lucky to be a first grade teacher.  One of those times is always on Valentines Day.  I wish you could feel the excitement in the room as the children make Valentines for family members, give Valentine cards to their friends and then sit down and read the ones they received.  So many hugs and children running around to say thank you to a friend for a special card.  I hope the pictures can capture the fun of the day.  AND…this year it was also the 100th Day of School on the same day, so we had several activities celebrating 100 and all the ways we can make 100.

Our bear research is also underway.  This week the kids started writing chapters for their book on bears.  We used notes from our research.  “Keep the treasure and throw out the trash” is a phrase we’ve been using to help kids understand how to find and remember the most important parts when reading a non-fiction text.  This week in computer lab, kids used Kid Pix to draw a picture of the bear they are studying.  This project is  part of our Life Science goal of studying animals and how they survive in their habitat.

Hope you have a wonderful winter break from school.

 

What a snowy week!  I feel like I barely saw the first graders.  Despite the many snow days and delays, we’ve made time to share the awesome 100 days of school projects coming in.  This has been a wonderful way for your child to get comfortable speaking in front of the whole class, sharing his/her project and how it was made.

Today we took advantage of the snow and went outside to draw a winter picture of the tree that we are studying as it changes throughout the seasons.

Monday will be the 100th day of school and Tuesday is Valentines Day.  Get ready for a lot of celebrating next week.  It’s a fun time of year to be a first grader.  Enjoy your snowy weekend!

Hello, First Grade families!  Our 100th day of school is quickly approaching and students have brought in things they made with 100 objects.  Each student has a chance to present his/her creation to the class and take questions and comments from the group.  What fun to see each child’s creativity and math thinking at work!  More pictures and presentations will be coming next week.  The timing of this project is perfect, as we just started talking about how numbers are made up of groups of 10’s and 1’s.  We are starting to count dimes and pennies.  And each child is getting more and more comfortable moving around the 100 board, adding and subtracting, and writing numbers.  

We also learned a new game called “Fishing For Tens”.  It’s just like playing “Go Fish”, but with finding pairs that add up to 10.  It would be a great game to play at home to help your child become very comfortable with combinations of 10.  

Here is some more math work from the week.  This was a game we played trying to break apart a number into a variety of different groups.  It helps stretch our thinking and makes us flexible math thinkers.  

Other news:

Report cards are being mailed home today.  If you have any questions or comments, please contact me.  I’d be happy to sit down and go over your child’s report card with you.  It’s such a joy to teach your children every day.  Writing report cards was a great way for me to reflect on your child’s strengths, challenges, and goals; all of which you will see in the comments section.

Our research on Bears in also underway.  Children have come up with research questions about how a bear survives in its habitat.  Then they use 3 sources to find answers to each question.  We’ll take this information to write a research paper and present what we’ve learned to others.  Your children are well on their way to being great readers and writers, and now researchers!  Ask your child which kind of bear he/she is studying.

Next week we will celebrate the 100th Day of School and the following week, Valentines Day.  Your child is welcome to bring in Valentines for each student in the class.  Here is a list of names:

Edgar, Danny, Ava, Mia, Elliot, Wyatt, Sammi, Lily M, Charlotte, Lily A., Justice, Zeb, Jayden, Asees

Have a great weekend!!