The end of November already?!

The school year is FLYING by! I cannot believe we're already at the end of November. We're officially in the second trimester of first grade, and things are going very well. These first graders are hard workers! 

Students have been diligently working on publishing one of their 'small moment' stories during Writing Workshop. This was quite a process! First, students chose a piece to edit and revise. They then worked with a partner to improve their writing through revision. Next, I typed everyone's story and students cut the words and glued them into a special publishing booklet. Finally, they created illustrations using many types of crayons. Many students have been very careful in their publishing efforts, and their dedication shows in their beautiful work. We will have a writing celebration with Mrs. Hughes' class soon. Each time we publish, the finished product will be a little bit fancier/more elaborate, and the celebration will be too. Our community of writers is AMAZING in Room 6! Here are some photos I took during a recent publishing work session...

 

 

 

 

iPads are a highly motivating tool to use for any subject area, but they are especially appealing for spelling--it turns a somewhat dry subject into something much more exciting! Students enjoy the Word Wizard app, among others.

Measurement is the topic of Unit 4 in math. So far, students have practiced reading thermometers, measuring with rulers and tape measures, using body parts to measure, and just today we practiced time to the quarter-hour (a VERY hard topic). Measuring is FUN! I think some students wish we could do measurement all the time in math. :-) Not only is it fun, it's also a very practical skill. Here are some students using a tape measure to measure the width of various body parts (wrist, elbow, ankle, head, hand span). The results were recorded in their math journals.

 

Free choice is always a favorite part of our day. Although many students like the draw/color during free choice, I'm trying to encourage everyone to branch out and do different activities once in a while. The Legos and painting have been popular, but in our classroom, writing and drawing are always the top choice! Here are a few pictures from a recent free choice time.