Fabulous First Grade
Mrs. Martel's Class 2015-2016
Let It Snow
Now that winter has finally arrived, we have been doing many winter related activities. This month the boys and girls wrote SNOW acrostic poems. They were very excited to publish their own poems by typing them in a Google Doc on our Chromebooks. Then, they made these adorable snow globes that are hanging in our classroom. The students have been reading both fictional and informational books and passages about winter. They are getting lots of practice with comprehension skills. They have been learning how to look back, re-read and find information in the text. They love doing this especially when they get to use their highlighters.
We celebrated Groundhog Day by reading stories and learning about the tradition. The students made their own predictions, "Will the Groundhog see his shadow?" Most of the children said "No" and were hoping for an early spring. Well they were right because the groundhog did not see his shadow. The boys and girls wrote stories about an early spring and what they hope to do when the seasons change. But from the weather we have been having lately, it looks like that groundhog has fooled us all!
The 100th Day of School
This week we celebrated the 100 Day of School and Valentine's Day!!! The 100th Day came at a perfect time because in Math we have been learning about place value and "regrouping". The boys and girls love doing Count to 100 songs and enjoyed making a Hundred Day of School necklace. They counted out 100 beads and grouped them by 10's. To celebrate Valentine's Day the boys and girls took some time to exchange cards with friends!
Sharing Valentines with Friends
We Love Science
Our first Science kit on "Air and Weather" was a huge success! The boys and girls loved all the hands-on learning. With our last investigation: Wind Explorations, the students learned about the wind, wind direction and measuring the wind in relationship to a wind scale. They became little engineers as they constructed pin wheels, wind mills and kites! After each session, students recorded what they learned with a drawing and writing in their science notebook. I will be sending those home soon. Please take some time to look at these with your child. Ask them to explain the activity or experiment and what they learned. Our next Science Kit is "Planting". We can't wait until it arrives!
Our Little Engireers Working Together
Recording Observations in Science Notebooks
Experimenting with Bubbles in the Wind
Testing Wind Scale With Our Pinwheels
Daily Five is going great in our classroom. We continue to follow a "Reader's Workshop" model. We begin with whole group instruction and then students are given independent practice time to work on reading. We have introduced "Read to Self", "Read to Someone", "Word Work", "Listen to Reading" and "Work on Writing". The students work on their assigned tasks for the day during our literacy block while I take Guided Reading Groups for small group instruction. The students have learned the importance of "Respecting Other Readers." I am very proud how quickly they were able to build their "stamina" and become independent while working on these tasks.
Read to Self
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading
Work on Writing
Superhero and Fairy Tale Day
The boys and girls had a great time dressing up on this day and as an added lesson, we have been learning how to be "Superheroes" in our classroom. The students learned that Superheroes are ready to learn by the way they look: Eyes on the speaker, hands and body still, lips closed and ears listening! If we are all Superheroes, we are all helping ourselves and eachother. Another way to be a Superhero is to "rescue" a friend by showing kindness. We have been learning about empathy and thinking about how others feel. The boys and girls have been doing a great job with this.
Gingerbread Thank You
Again, I would like to say thank you so much to all the families that gave so generously to the Gingerbread Express Program. You all helped make the Holidays of the child we "adopted" a little bit brighter. The boys and girls were so proud as they helped wrap the gifts in our classroom with Mrs. Sasso and Mrs. Antunes. They learned such a valuable lesson about helping others, just look at their happy faces!