Full Speed Ahead in 1st Grade

Well we are in the swing of things in our classroom and learning so many different routines all day long.  In the morning we have lots to do with our calendar.  We have been talking about the date, today, tomorrow, and yesterday, and we have also learned about odd and even numbers as we are doing some quick problem solving along the way. 

Last week we learned that you can read a book 3 different ways.  We learned you can:

1. Read the pictures
2. Read the words and/or
3. Retell the story

We practiced this with Little Quacks Bedtime.  First I read all the pictures and then I read the words.  When I was finished reading the words we talked with a partner about the Beginning, Middle, and End of the story. 

Today during Literacy we learned how to Read to Self.  Read to Self is a very tricky task that we did quite well with this morning.  We learned that during Read to Self time we are:

1. reading with a whisper voice
2. in our OWN bubble space
3. reading and NOT playing with our books and
4. independently reading

We even had time to practice this two times!!  Everyone did an AMAZING job and we will continue to practice this the rest of the week before we move into Read to Someone next week.

In Math we are still learning all about our workplaces.  These are cooperative groups that spend time together working with different manipulatives.  Our Math program is very hands-on and you will hear a lot about different games we play to reinforce different math concepts. Right now we are working with Polydrons (geometric puzzle pieces that fit together to make 3-D shapes) pattern blocks and pattern block designs, geoboards (pegboards with geobands or rubberbands to make geometric shapes) and my personal favorite...unifix cubes!! Lots of us have been using these to make patterns and really long trains that are as long as we are tall.  WOW! That is a LOT of unifix cubes. 

And in Social Studies we are getting into our Families unit.  Today we talked about the things we know about families and what we want to know or questions we had about families.  This week we will make observations using different pictures around the room to get our brains really thinking about families.  I am sure you will be hearing a lot more about families and even some songs that we will be learning along the way.

There are lots of things to remember in 1st grade and we are working hard on all of them.  One concept that I can not stress enough is our 3Rs that we use in our classroom.  We are ALWAYS talking about how we can be Respectful, Responsible, and Reliable first graders.  Please make sure you are using this language at home as well as we are getting back into the swing of things at school. 

I hope everyone had a great first weekend and ready for our first full week of first grade!  I know I am getting back into the groove of things and remember if you have any questions please do not hesitate in contacting me at: 503.399.3175 or simply send me an email at: berry_victoria@salkeiz.12.or.us I will definitely get back to you as soon as I have the chance. 


Thanks :)
Mrs. Berry