Busy First Graders

We were very busy this past week at school. We now have learned our first 3 Daily Five choices. We Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Read to Someone. We have built our stamina and can now work for about 15 minutes. Ms. Feuerstack began our reading groups and we have been learning different strategies on our CAFE menu. We have been checking for understanding to help our comprehension, using the pictures to help our accuracy, rereading stories for fluency, and tuning into interesting words to expand our vocabulary.

 

 

On Friday we began learning about apples by reading a poem and creating an art project. You can check out our finished products on Thursday during Open House.

 

 

 

 

Our First Week

We finished our first week in first grade and what a great week it was. We have been busy getting to know each other and getting down to the business of learning. We started our new math program Math in Focus and we have been working with 10's frames and linking cubes to review our numbers 1-10. We are learning about Daily Five, we now know how to Read to Self and Work on Writing. Speaking of writing we have learned how to use our writers notebook and our brand new spelling dictionaries. Below you will find some updated pictures of our classroom.

 

 

What a great first day!

Wow! What a great first day. I think we have the best first grade class. We did a super job following our classroom rules and the whole class clipped off of green today. Ms. Feuerstack read a few back to school books and we got rid of our first day jitters with a glass of jitter juice. We began learning about Daily Five. We learned how to Read to Self. I will talk more about Daily Five at open house. We also completed a first grade survey and drew self-portraits. I can't wait to see everyone on Monday for our first full week of school.

 

 

Class Rules

In our classroom we have 5 rules. The rules come from Whole Brain Teaching (www.wholebrainteaching.com).  Each day we will recite our rules using hand gestures. To keep us motivated to follow our rules we will play a little game named smiles and frowns. We have a scoreboard in our classroom and when the class is working together to follow the rules they will earn smiles and when they are not following the rules they will earn frowns. Each time we get a smile we let out a mighty O- Yeah! When we get frowns we groan. Our goal is to have more smiles at the end of the day.

Rule 1 - Follow directions quickly

Rule 2 - Raise your hand for permission to speak

Rule 3 - Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat

Rule 4 - Make smart choices

Rule 5 - Keep your dear teacher happy

We monitor our individual behaviors on a clip chart. Each day we begin on ready to learn. We move up and down the chart based on the choices that we make. When a students ends the day on red (outstanding), they get a sticker on their clip and they get a My Teacher is Proud of Me bracelet to wear home. Once a student gets 10 stickers on their clip they take it home and get a new one. When a student ends the day on pink (parent contact) they will have a note in their folder.

Classroom Photos

I have been working very hard to get our classroom ready for a great school year. Below you will find some photos of our classroom.

Whole group area, calendar, and SMART Board.

Front of the classroom

Student desks, cubbies, and Ms. Feuerstack's desk.

Classroom library, small group area, and CAFE Menu (reading strategies).

Classroom library, CAFE menu, and Daily Five charts (coming soon).



Classroom library

Word Wall and computers area (we are getting 5 new laptops).

Math materials and books.

Writing table, book boxes, and sink area.



Class behavior chart