The holidays are over and it is a new year! That means it is time to get back into the classroom and get back to learning. January was a great and busy month for us all. I missed your kiddo's a great deal over the break and it was great to be back! Here is the January update from our first grade world.
Independent Practice
In the morning, when the students finish their morning work, I allow them time to practice independently on either their math facts or their tricky words. Sometimes something amazing happens and the kiddo's create their own games and are incredibly engaged all on their own. These photos show the kiddo's practicing how to spell their tricky words. They designated one child to be the reader, and the rest wrote the words on their whiteboards. Then they would check their work and fix mistakes. Sometimes the most effective learning experiences are the ones fully controlled by the students.
Place Value/Numbers to 20
This month was focused mainly on place value and how to add/subtract up to 20. It has been quite the journey for the kiddo's and we will still continue to work on it through the rest of the year. The photo below shows the students making sets of tens and ones for place value.
Writers Chair
Last quarter we had a writers celebration that the students loved. This quarter, we tried something different. After a week full of writing, we held a 'Writers Chair" at the end of the week. Students who were able to complete their writing piece were able to sit in my "Writers Chair" to read and show their story to the class. At the end, I put all of the piece together into a class book that the students can check-out of my library. They love sharing with one another and this was quite motivating for them. I plan to hold more writers chairs throughout the quarter.
Mrs. Kelly!
This month we had our first visit from our first volunteer of the year. Mrs. Kelly came in and met the children, read a story to them, and took each child out into the hall individually to listen to them read. Mrs. Kelly will be coming to our classroom every other Friday to read and work with the children, as well as to assist me in various tasks. The kiddo's loved visiting with her and they look forward to her next visit. If you or anyone else in your family are ever interested in volunteering, or just being a guest reader for the day, please let me know. We would be happy to have you!
Friendship Chain
The last week of January was deemed "Kindness Week" here at Luff. Each day was dedicated to a different aspect of being kind and it encouraged students to treat one another well. One thing we did in the classroom was create a Kindness Chain. Each child wrote their name on a strip of paper and then we attached them all to signify all of the friendships and connections we have made in the classroom. Then, we connected our chain to another class's chain to show how our friendships extend outside of just our classroom.
Math Jeopardy!
Something I noticed from day one of this first grade adventure is that these children love the jeopardy music. Something about it motivates them. Therefore, I created a Jeopardy Game that we could play as an entire class with the music to practice our math skills. Each team got to create a team name and we kept track of points. It was a fun experience that helped them reinforce the new math skills.
Leader of Good Character
This months leader of good character in our classroom was Jakeia. She has done a great job of trying to b everyone's friend and keeping everyone smiling. Great job, Jakeia!
100th Day!!!
January 25th was our 100th day of school. What an exciting day that was! Students were able to bring and share 100 items from home, we did many 100th day activities and worksheets, and created a 100th day trail mix. Students had to count out 10 pieces of each food item. By the end of all that counting, they had 100 pieces of trail mix on their desk. They loved it!
"If I were 100 years old.."
Another amazing activity we did for the 100th day of school was write about what we would do if we were 100 years old. To help them really imagine what it would be like, we found a way to put their photos into a time machine. This changed their looks to show what they would look like if they were 100. We all got such a good laugh as we looked through the images, and then we wrote about our ideas. Please be prepared to giggle as you scroll through the images below! :)
January was a fun-filled month. I look forward to what Febuary has to bring, as well as seeing your child grow even more!
Until next time!
-Miss. Elliott
