Mrs. Hogue's 1st Grade Class: "Peek at the Week" October 6-10

Hi families!

I'm so sorry that last week's post did not publish! I fixed the problem so it should be posted!

First graders are really picking up on the routines and expectations of first grade. I decided to highlight the positive things we are doing through a fun app called Class Dojo.

We have a classroom 'monster' who is keeping track of points we earn by:

Transitioning quietly

Being kind to friends

Having stamina

Following directions

We came up with these goals together as a class and also brainstormed some fun rewards for earning points! (They really wanted to earn points to get a dog class pet so I had to break some hearts with the news that it isn't possible!) We agreed on the following rewards:

7 points = new classroom cheer

10 points= computers/iPads open during our morning book browsing

20 points= choice time for part of an afternoon

100 points= class celebration (We will discuss this when it gets closer to the date. Some examples include pajama day, bring a stuffed animal to school, etc.)

It was really fun to create this together and to take the kids' ideas for goals to work on and appropriate rewards!

First grade is a big transition and we want to celebrate the great things we do!

Here is a peek into our week!

Math Workshop

This week we focused on addition strategies! We learned that problem solvers use pictures to help solve problems. They draw the picture, include the number partners, and the total.

Next, we learned that problem solvers use simple shapes to represent their drawings. We noticed that it takes a long time to draw castles, etc. and it is much quicker to use a simple shape.

We also leaned about the = sign and how we can write true equations to represent story problems. We also worked in small groups on creating, sorting, and solving equations.

Reader's Workshop

This week we leanrned how readers read with a partner!

Readers practiced sitting EEKK with their partner (Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee).

Partners also learned how to read together, be fair, and talk about books.

We built 17 minutes of partner stamina!

Word Work

We added 5 new words to our word wall this week: his, they, is, saw, with. Each week we will be learning new words as well as practicing old words!

Each week we learn the correct letter formations as we practice writing the words.

We also practice our new words in a variety of ways. This week we did an activity called Highlight a Letter. We used a highlighter to find our word wall words in isolation and in a short story!