Days 2 and 3 of school...

It's amazing how much learning has already taken place in 1st grade...and it's only the fourth day of school! The focus of last week was easing back into the routine of school and learning the basics of our classroom. Getting to know each other and our community will be a theme and focus of the first six weeks of school. 

Although we are not into the full academic routine quite yet, we have certainly started delving into the curriculum. I find that it is sometimes best to summarize the learning that takes place through photos, videos, etc. What I post on the blog is certainly not everything we do during our days at school, but it should give you a snapshot of what is happening in Room 6! I hope that you enjoy this blog and that you will stop by and visit often. 

Last week everyone made a "puzzle person" to hang on one of our classroom walls. These people were colored to look like ourselves. We discussed our similarities and differences, which is part of one of our science/social studies topics--All About Me. 

Part of becoming a harmonious classroom community is having time to interact and socialize.  Our free choice time,  which happens nearly every day, is one opportunity for children to enjoy free play and to converse with his/her peers. This allows children a chance to get to know one another and also to problem solve when conflicts arise (with guidance from an adult, when necessary). 

Free Choice Time also allows children to express their creativity and improve their skills in many areas, such as visual/spatial planning, fine motor skills, and even the basics of physics (check out that balanced tower above!). :-)

Did I mention, Free Choice Time is also just plain fun?! :-)

We got started in our Everyday Math curriculum from day one. Our district recently invested in the eSuites component of the Everyday Math curriculum. This includes fantastic resources for our interactive whiteboard, as well as online games/activities that students can access from home. I will share more information about that at our curriculum night on September 20th.

Monster Squeeze is a very popular math game, and students enjoyed playing it on our interactive whiteboard in two different ways. Ask your child to tell you about it. If you have an iPhone, iPod, or iPad, there are several apps that go along with our Everyday Math curriculum. I will share these apps and more at our Curriculum Night on 9-20-12.

Pattern blocks, pattern block templates, and click cubes are the math tools that were introduced last week. Children had a chance to explore and play with these tools for fun before we use them as math tools for more focused and specific purposes.

Monster Squeeze is a very popular math game, and students enjoyed playing it on our interactive whiteboard in two different ways. Ask your child to tell you about it. If you have an iPhone, iPod, or iPad, there are several apps that go along with our Everyday Math curriculum. I will share these apps and more at our Curriculum Night on 9-20-12.

We also began SWR last week. As I explained to students, SWR stands for Spelling, Writing, and Reading. It's our spelling/phonics/word study program. Students have been introduced to what a "red word" is ("Red words--You can't sound them out, you just have to know them!" This is a chant we say before practicing red words.) We also began working in our Handwriting Notebooks to ensure students are using proper letter formation.