Mrs. Hogue's 1st Grade Class: 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

"Peek at the Week" December 10-14

My heart has been breaking all weekend as I have been watching the devastating tragedy unfold in Connecticut. Being parents of children so young, I'm sure this has touched your heart in ways unimaginable to those without children. Although I may not be a mother yet, I still conciser myself having 18 children. These 18 little ones are in my care from 8:30-3:40 everyday. I have grown to love them, care for them, and value each of them as individuals. I found the following poem this weekend as I was reading other teachers reactions to this tragedy. I think this sums up my own thoughts and feelings very well.

Here is a peek into last week's activities:

Reader's Workshop

This week we began making connections to our books. We learned that many times we have moments when we are reading that make us stop and say "Hey...that reminds me of....". Students were encouraged this week to record these moments on sticky notes as they read. It was *amazing* to hear all the awesome connections these little ones make while they read!

Writer's Workshop

We began studying the work of authors to help mentor us in our writing. We began the week reading the book Sail Away.

Donald Crews uses sound effects to his writing to make it more interesting. We talked about how this technique added more detail for the readers. Many children tried out adding sound effects to their writing!

We also started a more 'formal' author's chair time. Previously, children could volunteer to share their stories if they wished. Now, I have created a rotating schedule so each child is assigned a day of the week to share. They get to sit in the 'big' chair and share their story. Friends are then encouraged to give each author a compliment.

Math

We are done with Unit 4 on measurement! We wrapped up this unit this week focusing on telling time the quarter hour, creating number scrolls, and beginning to learn about 'fact power'. Ask your child what this means! After winter break we will be focusing hard on learning basic addition facts.

A 'fan favorite' this week was beginning our number scrolls. We talked about how numbers continue on and on forever. I showed children a 100 chart and asked them what happened after number 100. (there were many blank stares :P) Finally one little one said 'It goes to 101!' I then showed them a number grid from 101 to 200. They thought this was pretty awesome. We talked how we were going to make our very own number scrolls, and that we would continue these throughout the year! Boy were we excited! We first competed a 100 chart. The kids were encouraged to find shortcuts to filling this out. Check out what they came up with!

WHOA!! Once the children completed a few sheets, I showed them how to make it into a scroll.

*If anyone has any extra paper towel rolls, please send them our way*

Number scrolls are a GREAT way to reinforce and understand place value. As we move forward in first grade it is essential that children have a solid foundation on place value and what it means. Children are already realizing that as you go down columns, you are adding ten. Plus, they think this is really fun :)

Here are some other activities we did:

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I hope to see many of you on Friday for the Stormonth Winter Concert. (10AM & 2PM). "Very Dressy" :)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

"Peek at the Week" December 3-7

Hello! As many of you already know, I was out of the classroom from November 26- December 4 attending to a family medical emergency back in Minnesota. Thank you so much for the support and encouragement you have shown me during this difficult time. I am working hard to get caught back up here at school, and I appreciate your support and understanding through all of this. You should be getting your child's report card on Monday.

Here is a look at our few days together this week.

Reader's Workshop

This week we focused on making predictions. Here is a look at the anchor chart we used this week.

The children were encouraged to record their predictions on sticky notes as they read and determine if their predictions were correct!

Word Work

We have been focusing on the long and short E sounds over the past two weeks. Here is a look at some fun activities we did to practice using these words!

We also got a little messy with our word work on Friday....it was a blast!

Math Workshop

We began focusing on telling time to the quarter hour this week. This is a bit trickier than many of us thought! We will continue this concept next week. Here is a look at a few activities.

Science

We talked about clouds this week. First, we brainstormed everything we knew about clouds.

Then we learned about three different types of clouds- stratus, cumulus, and cirrus. Ms. Havig introduced us too these 'cloud people' to help us remember each type of cloud!

Finally, we also discussed the different shapes we see from clouds. We then made a cool cloud project. We mixed equal parts of shaving cream and glue and painted a cloud shape.

When these dried, they felt squishy and soft!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Stormonth Winter Concert

Friday, December 21

10:00 AM (families with last names A-L)

2:00 PM (families with last names M-Z)

Concert dress for students is VERY DRESSY!

Monday, November 19, 2012

"Peek at the Week" November 12-16

It was another great week in first grade! I am so proud of how hard many of my friends are working! This week we spent quite a bit of time reviewing "The Stormonth Way". We are 51 days into the year, and it is always helpful to review what it means to be safe, be kind, and be fair with your child!

Here is a peek at our week!

Reader's Workshop

This week we learned that readers talk to their books as they read! This was silly to think about at first, but it soon made sense because we have all had thoughts in our brains in response to something we have read!

We practiced talking to our books by reading a funny story called The Ugly Pumpkin. In this story, a pumpkin feels left out because he doesn't look like the other pumpkins. We stopped and talked about how we have had feelings like the poor pumpkin. Many of us 'told' the book about a similar experience.

After reading and discussing the story, we wrote about a time we felt like the pumpkin.

At the end of the story we find out that "Oh my gosh- he's a squash!!" We then talked about adjectives (describing words) and came up with some *positive* adjectives to use to describe the squash and then made these cute squash projects!

Next, we learned how to talk to our books using sticky notes. Sticky notes are a great way to record anytime we 'talk' to our book. Here is a look at some of our book talks!

"Sometimes I need help!"

You should include everybody.

I have an imaginary friend too!

He came alive!

At the beginning he use to hate the baby and the cat but now he loves them.

I would want to see what was inside too!

We added sticky notes to our chart to show off our our thinking and connections!

On Friday we started a book about the Mayflower. We learned what a difficult journey the pilgrims made to come to the new world.

Then we thought about what one thing we would bring if we had traveled. It was *adorable* to see what one special thing each child wanted to bring!

Writer's Workshop

This week we focused on stretching sounds we hear in words and including the 'inside' and 'outside' of a story. Many of us realized it was getting rather tricky to read our stories because we were not including all the sounds. To show this more clearly, we switched our stories with our writing partners to see if they could read our stories. Uh-oh! Many of us had to go back and include ALL the sounds in each word! (and spell popcorn words correctly!)

In addition, we also spent a lot of time sharing our stories.

Word Work

This week we focused on the long and short I sounds. Here is a look at some of the activities we did!

Math Workshop

This week we focused on frames and arrows. In the frames and arrows diagram, there are frames (shapes) connected by arrows that show the path from one frame to the next. Each arrow represents a rule that determines which number goes in the next frame.