Five for Friday: Sept. 23rd

Another week in the books and my kiddos are really getting into the swing of things!  The weather here in upstate New York is FINALLY cooling off and the leaves have begun to change!  Fall is such an exciting time in first grade!

I'm linking up for Five for Friday to highlight some of the work we did this week!

ONE: GoNoodle

We maxed out our first GoNoodle personality this week and we've started a GoNoodle Hall of Fame wall to showcase all the personalities we max out throughout the year.  The kids get so excited each time we earn another point!

TWO: Making Ten

This week I introduced number bonds and we discussed ways to make ten.  This is a concept we'll go back to a few times in the coming weeks but to wrap up our first math unit on number sense I wanted to introduce this important concept of making numbers and more specifically making ten.  Because we just started a science unit on apples we used real apples to show different ways to make ten.  Don't worry, we will use the apples to make observations next week so these perfectly fine apples don't go to waste.  

Three: Morning Meeting Greetings
My kiddos are really getting into these greetings we use each morning to start our morning meeting time.  In the past I've been hesitant to take the first few minutes of meeting time to have the kids do a greeting but this year I tried it and I'm so glad I did.  The kids enjoy it and it fosters a  classroom community and gives the kids a chance to share something with their peers each morning.   

FOUR: Vocabulary Tree

We began adding words to our vocabulary tree this week and the kids enjoyed trying to use these words in various discussions throughout the week.  I love that they are so motivated to expand their vocabulary and they are so proud when they are able to use the words in class discussions.  Because our classroom has a jungle theme we created a banana tree to hold our vocabulary words for the year.  I stared the same tree last year and I love that the tree is a way to continue reviewing and using these vocabulary words throughout the year.  

FIVE: Ron Clark Academy Visit

I saved the best for last y'all!!  In just four short weeks I'm off to Atlanta to visit the Ron Clark Academy with two other teachers from my building.  I literally cannot believe this is happening!!  We applied for a grant at the end of last year and we really applied for it thinking we'd never get the money.  When we got the letter saying we were approved for the full amount we were shocked!!  Needless to say we're all so excited to attend the two-day workshop.  I read this book at the end of last school year but have begun to reread some parts as our trip gets closer.  

Have a great weekend.. Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

1

Five for Friday: Sept. 16

Our first full week for the 2016-2017 school year is complete and I'm so proud of my kiddos. Thank you Kindergarten teachers for getting these kiddos ready for first grade!

I'm linking up for Five for Friday to highlight some of the work we did this week!

ONE: Nouns

This week was all about nouns.  We sang the noun song on Flocabulary and the kids loved it.  We also acted out the definition (a noun in a person, place, thing, animal, or idea) and I think this really helped the kids figure out which words are nouns and which words aren't.  We also came up with lists of different kinds of nouns and on Friday we sorted these Popsicle sticks by person, place, thing, or animal.  

TWO: Would You Rather Game 

I channeled by inner Hope King this week and we played a "Would You Rather" game to get to know each other a bit better.  I would real the card, give the kids some think time and then I'd roll the dice.  The kids would have to get into groups of the number I rolled and then they would share their answers.  The kids loved to share with their peers and I'm thinking of other ways to use this throughout the year!

Three: Odd and Even Numbers

We did a ton of odd/even work this week and my kiddos are really understanding why some numbers are even and why other numbers are odd.  We created a number line and then built the numbers to show how some numbers have buddies while other numbers have one counter that is left over. My kiddos had a great discussion about this number line and I was so proud of them.  We also sang this odd/even song and completed some math notebook pages to show our learning.

FOUR: Tally Marks 

We also learned about how to show numbers using tally marks.  To introduce tally marks we built numbers on ten frames and then translated this to tally marks.  The ten frames made it easy for the kids to see how groups of 5 they would need to draw as well as how many single tally marks they needed to include.  

FIVE: Word Families

We began this week by reviewing short vowel sounds and then spent the remainder of the week reading and building short a cvc words.  I introduced word families to my kiddos and on Friday they were split into groups so they could create their own word family lists.  They we so proud to display their work on our anchor chart wall!

Have a great weekend.. Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

1

Five for Friday: First Week

Seems like forever since I've posted... perhaps that because I was MIA all summer!!  I'm not gonna lie, it felt good to disconnect from posting and creating for a bit.. I needed the break! 

But I'm happy to be back for my first Five for Friday of the school year.  Tuesday was our first day and my kiddos and I had a fantastic week!!  I'm excited about what the year holds!!

Here are some highlights from our first week.  

ONE: Graphing

This year I decided to begin with a graphing unit and I'm so happy I did.  Not only do we always do graphing activities at the beginning of the year, the lessons in this unit have been short enough that I can begin to introduce the other aspects of math workshop.  I know this will allow us to begin our math rotations a bit earlier this year!  

A few years ago the PTO purchased this graphing pocket chart for me and I'll be honest, up until this year it hasn't gotten a ton of use, but as you can see we used it twice already this week and it's made prepping for math lessons so easy!

TWO: New Promethean Board

This summer a new board was installed in my room and I couldn't be happier about it.  For the last four years I've had a Promethean Board and projector in my room.  I loved the board and all its capabilities but at times the projector was so dim it was hard to see anything with the lights off.  Not that I'm complaining because I know a ton of teachers out there don't have any technology in their classrooms.

This new ActivPanel is touch screen so that means no more pens, no more searching for where I placed the pen, etc.  The brightness is unbelievable and the capabilities are endless with these new boards.  I'm so happy to be piloting this for my district! 

Three: Flexible Seating 

I'm a believer in flexible seating and even though it was only day four today we tried it out and my kiddos were rocking it!  They were exited about picking their own sports... a few of them even said they felt older because I was allowing them to make their own choice!! 

FOUR: Math Tubs

Each day this week I've introduced a different math activity/tub game and some manipulatives the kids would encounter throughout the year.  I wanted to get the kids using materials early and often to begin to set routines and expectations. Today we did a short graphing activity with a spinner and the kids did an awesome job with it!  

FIVE: Get to Know You

Yesterday we played a quick game right before dismissal to get to know one another better.  My kiddos rolled a dice and then answer a question that corresponded to the number.  They loved sharing out to the class and as we were playing my mind started coming up with other ways to utilize this throughout the year... more to come at a later date!!

Have a great weekend.. Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

1