September 8-11

Hello Families!
Our second week found us busy continuing to learn our first grade routines as well as learning more about and practicing the Stormonth Way in our classroom, around the school, and on our playground. We are learning the importance of PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE all across our day. Hand in hand with that practice comes cooperation and awareness of all of the learners in our classroom.

In Reader's Workshop this week we continued to learn more about good habits that readers build. We spent a good deal of time learning about what readers do at the end, because "Readers do SOMETHING at the end." Ask your first grader to tell you some things that readers do when they finish a book. Our reading stamina this week was exceptional! In fact, it was so exceptional that we out-read our stamina chart! We read for 17 minutes without losing our stamina - WOW!

 During partner reading, we practiced doing something at the end together. Thankfully we have a partner to give us reminders if we forget to take a sneak peek, or to stop and think, or to do something when we finish each book!

Here is Sophia doing something at the end.
 She went back to reread her favorite part
to her reading partner.

This week we also talked about how we determine if a book is just right for us. We used the acronym IPICK...

I worked with a couple of our book shopping groups to assist them in selecting just right books. Soon, they'll be ready to select books on their own! We talked a lot about how many of us would LOVE to have a chapter book in our book bins even though it may not be a just right book. We know that we need to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE just right books and soon we'll be able to read those "wish" books!

We also created bookmarks to showcase our favorite books. On them, we wrote about why our favorite book was wonderful. Here's the book that inspired our "wonderful books" as well as a snapshot of all of OUR wonderful books...

In Writer's Workshop this week we read The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli. We learned that the best stories come from our hearts, from our own lives. Ask your first grader to tell you about this book and how it has helped him/her write small moments.

Thank you so much for helping your child to fill out the Small Moments Ideas sheet. Many of our authors have been busy checking ideas off of their lists! We've been busy learning about how we write small moment stories. We're even learning a little song to help us along... 

"Think, think, think,

think, think, think,

plan, sketch, write, 

plan, sketch write!"

(sung to the tune of "Shake, shake, shake...")

We learned that it's really important that during the planning phase of our writing, we touch and tell our story across the pages. Our goal  is to write our story across at least three pages. We had a sneak-peek at the kindergarten and first grade checklists this week so we can begin to think about where we are in our learning and to set goals for ourselves as writers of small moment stories. And finally, we began to talk about revising because... "When you're done, you've only just begun!" We learned that we can reread our stories and think about the questions: Who? Where? When? What? How? Why? This helps us to add on to our stories and our sketches. Ask your first grader to share with you what small moment story s/he wrote this week. If s/he added to it, what did s/he add and why?

In math we have continued with our focus on number sense through hands-on games to support and extend our understanding. Some of the hands-on activities we were involved with included One More, One Less...

Number Mats...

And Ten Frame Top-It...

Ask your first grader how we played each game and what s/he learned from each.

We took part in the the first annual Recess Rodeo. This was a time for us to learn about each of the areas on our playground and the equipment and rules that go with each of those areas. Ask your first grader to tell you about each.

Our random name chooser selected a week of Queens! Here they are...

On Friday we practiced our first fire drill of the year, and we did an AMAZING job! Everyone earned a bug for doing a terrific job being safe, respectful and responsible! 

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Until next time,

Michelle Mullen 

Important Upcoming Dates 

Wednesday, September 16th Parent Information Night 6:00pm-8:00pm

Friday, September 18th Conference Sign-Up sheets come home

Wednesday, September 23rd No School

Thursday, Sept. 24th - Saturday, Sept. 26th PTO sponsored Book Fair

Friday, September 25 from 5:30-7:30pm PTO sponsored Movie Night 

Friday, September 25th (rain date October 6th) Lock-down/Evacuation/Reunification Drill

October 22nd (4:30-8pm), October 23rd (8am-4pm), October 28th (3-6:30pm) 

Parent-TeacherConferences

Our First Week Together!

Hello First Grade Families!

Welcome to our first blog post of the school year. I hope you'll visit weekly to discover all that we are learning in first grade! Please feel free to share our blog link with friends and family who might be interested in seeing what your child is up to during the school day. I encourage you to also use our blog for a conversation starter with your kiddo about his/her school day. Oftentimes, first graders don't share an awful lot about their day. Our blog will give you some insight into what we're doing so that you have a starting point for conversations. I encourage you to have a look at this great article as well - "23 Questions to Ask Instead of How Was Your Day at School."

http://www.familyshare.com/parenting/23-questions-to-ask-instead-of-how-was-your-day-at-school

On to our week!
This week was all about getting to know each other and beginning to learn our routines and expectations. During our assembly on the first day, all of our new staff and students were introduced then we learned about The Stormonth Way. Ask your child about the new green, yellow, red cup system in the lunchroom. Our focus in the lunchroom will be on MANNERS, and we learned that Miss Manners will come to visit throughout the year! Ask your child to tell you how s/he can show his/her best manners in the lunchroom. 

During Morning Meeting on our first day, we took turns sharing a little something about ourselves then later in the day played Find-a-Friend BINGO! We discovered that it is really important that we pay attention when others are speaking. For those that were, they were able to find friends quickly for each of the categories on their Bingo boards.

It was so much fun getting to know
more about our classmates!

We read the book If You Take a Mouse to School then created our own version of it...

 

We also began our Reader's Workshop routines. Each of us has our own book bin with just-right books in it. We spent time this week building our stamina while reading independently...

and while reading with a partner...

We also learned other ways that READERS BUILD GOOD HABITS. First we learned about how important it is for us to take a sneak-peek AND think BEFORE we read a book. This helps us to get the story in our head, to make predictions and to help us during reading if we get stuck on a tricky word. We also learned that DURING reading, we should check our sneak-peeks. Here we are taking sneak-peeks and thinking with a partner...

Next week we'll spend some more time with what readers do DURING reading and learn about what readers do AFTER reading. We'll also begin charting our READING STAMINA! 

We used our writing time this week to talk and write about what we hope to learn in first grade. I tied our conversation into setting goals for ourselves as learners. When you join us for Parent Information Night on Wednesday, September 16th, you'll be able to see what your child wrote! We also spent our writing time this week doing our first writing sample where we wrote about a small moment from our lives. This piece is being used to determine next steps in your child's learning and as a piece to look at again at the end of our Small Moments narrative writing unit. This way your child can see his/her growth and set new goals!

During math this week we explored some tools in our classroom and talked about the difference between tools and toys. Here we are exploring with unifix cubes and pattern blocks. 

We also learned some math games to practice working with a partner.

We learned how to play "Roll & Remove."
 To play, we rolled two dice, found the sum,
 then removed the penny from that number on our 2-12 number line. 

We also explored games independently...

Shake & Spill: Shake and spill ten double-sided counters.
Arrange them on the ten-frame. Write how many of each color.
Then write an addition equation to go with those numbers. 

Roll two dice. Write an equation to
go with your roll.

Roll & Build: Roll two dice. Create a unifix cube
tower to cover the number you rolled. 

Select a number card, then write an equation.

For those who wanted a challenge - and there were many of them - we extended their learning by writing addition and subtraction equations for games that didn't require it and turn-around facts to demonstrate their understanding of the commutative property of addition. Some even demonstrated their understanding of what the = symbol means by writing equations like this: 8 = 5 + 3. They really knocked my socks off with their mathematical thinking and in their desire to push themselves in their learning!

We spent one of our specials blocks this week learning about The Stormonth Way in the hallway...

In the bathrooms...

In our bus lines and on the bus...

and also in the lunchroom.

Ask your child about how s/he can be SAFE, RESPECTFUL & RESPONSIBLE 

in each of these areas.

We also began our King and Queen of the Week routine! This is a day that features one of our classmates. We learn a lot about their name and about them! First we begin by looking closely at their name. We say it, write it, cheer it, count it, clap it and fix it! 

Here we are building Lucia's name (fixing it)...

and then using what we know about her name to figure out the missing letters.

After we learn all about their name, we interview them. I type this up while the interview is being conducted. Next, we read the interview together. 

Our first Queen was Lucia...

and our first King was Harrison...

And, of course, we enjoyed some time outdoors with some old friends and new friends, too!

*Please remember to send your child with his/her FAVORITE BOOK this week. 

Please also be sure to sign the Highlights form I sent home even if you do not wish to order. We receive credit for YES and NO responses - the more responses returned, the more free items I can get for our classroom! We're hoping to get a new set of name tag holders as well as some fun bug stickers!

Thanks so much!

I'm looking forward to another fun week with your first grader next week!

Until then...

Michelle Mullen

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Monday, September 7th No School

Monday, September 14th No School

Wednesday, September 16th Parent Information Night 6:00pm-8:00pm

Wednesday, September 23rd No School

Welcome to First Grade! 2015-2016

Some fun facts about Mrs. Mullen:
She's originally from New York State.
This summer she traveled to Panama for two weeks on a service trip 
to care for malnourished children.
You can read about her amazing experience here: panamaserviceproject2015.blogspot.com
Can you find New York & Panama on a map/globe?

Hello First Grade Families!
I've been busy preparing for your arrival at our Meet & Greet on Wednesday, August 26th from 8:30-9:3o and for our year together in first grade. I bet you've been busy as well purchasing new school supplies - ahhh... there's nothing like a new box of crayons - beginning to get back into routines, turing back the bedtime clock just a bit each night, talking about your hopes and dreams for first grade, and thinking about all that your first grade year holds in store for you and what you will bring to it. To help you imagine that a bit better, I thought it would be fun for you to have a peek at our blog posts from this past school year. While every year is different, your tour here on our blog will give you an idea of what to expect in first grade. Enjoy!

I'm so looking forward to meeting you and your families on Wednesday morning! If you can't be at our Meet & Greet, please don't worry. We'll get you all settled in on our first day together - Tuesday, September 1st. We're going to have a wonderful year together!

Love,
Mrs. Mullen

Important Upcoming Dates  Wednesday, August 26th K5-4th Grade Meet and Greet 8:30am-9:30am Tuesday, September 1st First Day of School Monday, September 7th No School Monday, September 14th No School Wednesday, September 16th Parent Information Night 6:00pm-8:00pm Wednesday, September 23rd No School