The month of January is a magical time. The winter solstice has come and passed and now the days are beginning to last a bit longer. There is a new sense of renewal and new resolutions that have been made. However, as a teacher, none of these hopes can compare to the magic that happens in the classroom in January. After all of these years of teaching, it never fails me, that after a long winter break, the students always come back rejuvenated, more mature and ready to take on the world. I believe that this is what will be happening this January as well.
Our fall was a delight. As I have been saying to you all year, this class has come together in a way that is more like a family. They have cared for each other since day one and you can truly feel the camaraderie from one person to the next. Academically, we have been extremely supportive of each other as well. In my learning about different ways children learn, I have found that it is imperative that children have a chance to explain what they are thinking/learning. In order for this to happen I have been teaching the students how to be supportive of each other by becoming each other’s observers/listener and encouragers. By doing this, I will often pair up the students-so that one student does the work and the other person acts as the encourager or the reminder. Then when the task is complete, the students change roles. Through this process, the students are giving feedback to each other and also solidifying their own knowledge of the subject matter.
Here are some of the highlights from the last few months and a look into the future for the different subjects.
Writer’s Workshop.This last fall we spent writing personal narratives in the form of “small moments” and some informational writing in the form of “how to’s”. During the first-grade year, we are working on the craft of writing as well as being able to edit our own work. Editing is a skill we will continue to emphasize throughout the year! Because it can often be difficult to see what needs to be edited in one’s own writing, this is where the peer feedback really comes into play. If a peer has difficulty reading your work, it is probably because a word needs to be looked at for all of it’s sounds. Or, if a peer reads your work and they don’t understand something, they can discuss together what needs to be added to the writing to make it more understandable. The peer also acts as a detective to remind students about when capital letters need to be used, making sure no excuse words are spelled correctly and that periods at the end of sentences are happening! In the upcoming months, we will be writing persuasive opinion statements and writing “All Abouts” with the emphasis on ocean life. The opinion statement writing is a shorter unit but it is always entertaining to hear the students voice come out in their writing. The informational “all about” unit is really about how to organize your thinking into categories that make sense.
Reading. The guided reading/word work groups have been going well. The reading logs have been coming in filled out for the most part. I would like to encourage the students to be filling out any of the information on the sheet and the parents to initial the box every night.
The reading logs expectations change from month to month so keep an eye out for that. In the month of January, we will be asking the students to record how many minutes they are reading each night. Our goal is for this to happen for 10-15 minutes each night. In mid January, there will be a non-fiction ocean book that will be coming home with your child. We would like the students to be reading these as it will help aid them in their study of the ocean. In saying this, non-fiction books can be a bit more challenging to read as there might be some unfamiliar words to your child in these books. Please feel free to sit and guide or read more difficult sections of these books.
Science.The study of rocks has been a success! At the beginning of the year, our goal was to have the students observe the world as a scientist might. I believe our goal has been achieved as we have some pretty excited scientists in room 26. For example, when we started our unit on rocks, we asked the students to describe a rock that they held in their hand. A lot of the describers at that time were words like, “cool”, “neat”. As these are words of admiration, they weren’t necessarily scientific words. Through many different scientific rock experiences, we have learned the language that scientists use. We looked at various types of rocks (sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic). We used magnifying glasses and microscopes to get close ups! We measured rocks (both in standard and metric). We weighed rocks (on a balance scale). We used magnets on rocks. We looked to see if any rocks could float. By the time December rolled around, we had the students put together a rock museum. The task was for the students to look at the rocks in their rock collection and come up with three describing words that explained each of their rocks. With ease, the students were using descriptive words that described, size, color, texture, shape and some even used their knowledge of what type (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) of rock. These students are scientists and they know it! In the upcoming months, we are going to use these observational skills and look to the ocean. We will be looking at marine life, the ocean layers, the ring of fire , and volcanoes to name a few of our learning points!
Math.The beginning of the school year has been spent on solidifying some skills and being open to looking at a math in a new way. A lot of kindergarten was talking about what a number bond looks like. As we developed the concept in first grade, the students realize now that it consists of 2 parts and a whole and that there can be two addition and two subtraction equations that make up what they call the math family.
As we continue on we are going to be adding and subtracting larger numbers. As we do this, we are going to be looking at combining and subtracting numbers by finding the ten(s) and ones. For example, these are two strategies your child will be working on in January.
As the work gets more intricate, your child will be asked to explain their math work on SeeSaw so that they can explain how they do their math. This will probably look different from what you are used to, but once you see how it works, it will become apparent that the students will have a better understanding of how addition and subtraction works.
Social Studies.This fall we spent some time talking about what it means to make positive changes in our world. We talked about what we might want to change if given a chance. This has led us into discussing change makers in history. So far, in our study we have talked about Jane Goodall as a change maker in the area of science. And in November, we talked about Cesar Chavez as a change maker in being a labor leader that helped farm workers rights. As the year progresses, we will be looking at Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Eugenie Clark, Jacques Cousteau as well as many others. As we discuss these change makers we are describing the qualities that we admire the most of these people. The conversations that we have had about these people have been thoughtful and deep in understanding. Some of the discussions will lead to the understanding that there has been and still is unfairness in the world. The reason why we discuss this is so that the students can learn that they too can become change makers in this world by using these role models as guides.
So as I end this, you can see how there is magic happening in first grade. I often think back to my first grade where I was excited when I learned that I could read “A Pig Can Jig”. It was an earth shattering moment for me that I realized I had the world ahead of me now that I could read. Now, I look at what happens in first grade and I can only imagine what lays ahead for these first grade friends of mine!
You didn't think that I would create a blog without pictures did you?
Enjoy the pictures below!
HOUR OF CODE DAY!
