Yoga

Chrissy joined us again for another great yoga class! Thank you Union parent's group for funding these sessions!

Reader's Theater

The children have been working on short plays in their Guided Reading groups for the past two weeks.  I chose different scripts at different reading levels, to provide students with an opportunity to practice reading fluently.  We performed The Hare and the Tortoise, A Surprise for the Big Bad Wolf, The Enormous Turnip, and Who Needs a Fan.  Repeated readings offer children a chance to become confident with challenging words, add expression to their voice, and practice noticing and using the punctuation in a sentence.  Each child made a character mask, then performed the play Thursday or Friday.  We all had a lot of fun!

North Branch Nature Center

We had a great time exploring North Branch! We rode the city bus, walked the trails, played in the snow, and saw several animals.  Thank you Mrs. Brigham for joining us! When we returned, the children wrote about the morning in their "community journals".  Ask your child what he or she saw, felt, or discovered on the trip!

Happy 100th Day of School!

Happy day 100!  We had a fun day reading, writing, and solving problems around the number 100!  The children created projects for the 100th day which we displayed in a "100 Museum".  Projects included necklaces and shirts with 100 things, a 100 second video, and 100 hair accessories. We toured the museums in all 5 first grade classrooms and saw many different ways to make 100.  Ask your child to tell you more!

Writing My Opinion

The first graders recently began a new unit of study for writing opinion pieces.  Using the collections they brought to school, they started by lining up their collection like a judge would line up dogs for a dog show.  We then looked at each item, and thought about the favorite one.  Using details, the children had to give several reasons why a particular item was the favorite.  Upcoming lessons include using a counter argument in your writing, and writing a strong opening and conclusion.  Ask your child to tell you about the opinion piece he or she has started.