Mrs. Hogue's 1st Grade Class: December 2012

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" :)

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.