A Visit to Harrison Field!

Our class enjoyed a visit to Harrison Field on Friday to check out the sunflowers we had planted last June, and to look for insects. We had a wonderful time!

ECO

It's almost time for our first Educating Children Outdoors (ECO) day! I am looking for ECO volunteers to join us for the morning of Thursday, October 3rd and support the class or a small group of students. I will do a short meeting in the morning with a mini lesson for the day, then we will plan to leave school for Harrison Field and Forest by 9 am. We will return in time for recess/lunch at 11:20. Please let me know if you are available to help this year! Thanks!

Greater Than or Less Than

We have been practicing several math skills so far this year such as reviewing numbers to 100, writing numbers, and extending patterns. Today we started a new work place that asks students to compare numbers using the language and signs for greater than or less than. We have also been playing a whole class game where students guess the hidden number in my pocket by asking a series of greater than or less than questions such as, "Is your number greater than 32?". By process of elimination, they are able to guess my number. Ask your child about greater than or less than tonight!

Writing in First Grade

I am so excited about teaching writing this year! The first grade teachers all purchased new Units of Study written by a renowned professor/author and leader in her field, Lucy Calkins. These new units align with the Common Core curriculum that our state has adopted. We began our formal writing this year with a unit on writing about "small moments" in our lives, much like a short memoir. The children are working on having a beginning, middle, and end to their stories and building independence and stamina for writing. They did an amazing job today with their stories and I'm eager to continue our work tomorrow!

Hopes and Dreams for First Grade

We began the second week of school by reading a wonderful book called, The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. In the story, a young boy decides to become a gardener in order to bring beauty to his dark, gray city. While reading the story, I talked to the children about how this boy had hopes and dreams and worked hard to accomplish them. We then began a discussion on making personal goals for the school year, and shared what and why we have these dreams for ourselves. Ask your child to share his or her hope and dream for first grade with you!