Week of January 27, 2014

We have been measuring a lot this week!  We have been focusing on two questions: How do I measure accurately?  How does changing the unit affect my measurement?

Students were responsible for measuring with different units.  The units were unifix cubes, 1 inch straws, and paper clips.  We compared the measurements and discussed why each group got different numbers.

During Math Menu this week, students played a game on the computer called Penguin Party Addition. This games helps students with fact fluency.  Here is a student learning to play the game.

Students also worked independently on Try-A-Tiles.  These help with different math skills such as addition, subtraction, and ordering numbers.

 Students worked on Mystery Math Museum on the iPads. 

Students worked together to play Minus Maze.  This also helps with fact fluency.

The last choice was writing and solving story problems.

We read Squirrel's New Years Resolution and wrote new Hopes and Dreams for the rest of first grade!

We continued to work on blends in Word Study.  Our Word Wall words this week were her and over.

Class lists will be coming home soon, so students can make Valentine's Day cards for their classmates.

Week of January 20th, 2014

I hope everyone enjoyed our surprise two hours off on Thursday!  We have been working very hard this week!  We started a new math unit on measurement.  Students measured different objects in our classroom and recorded their findings.  One of the questions we will be thinking about during this unit is, "How do you measure accurately?"

We also worked on subtraction story problems this week.  4 new pieces of work made it onto the Marvelous Math Wall!  We are focusing on having neat and organized work.  

We learned a new math app today called Mystery Math Museum.  Students have to pick two addends that equals a given sum.  This will be our app next week during Math Menu.  Mr. Bouchard has been taking groups of students during Math Menu to work on a special Lego math project.  It has been very exciting!

We played a new game during Word Study called Zap It.  Students pull Popsicle sticks out of a container one at a time.  They read the Word Wall word on their stick and hand the container to the next person.  We try get all of the Word Wall words out without pulling out a Zap It stick.  If a Zap It stick gets pulled then all of the sticks go back into the container.  It really helps students with their sight word recognition. 

During Word Study, we have also been working on writing words with blends in them. Our Word Wall words this week were should, would, and could.  We call these Oh You Lucky Duck words.

Our reading groups have changed.  Students may be working with a new teacher and have different friends in their groups.  This is so everyone's needs are getting met and teachers get a chance to read with different students.

Week of January 13, 2014

We started writing our nonfiction books this week.  Students broke up their topic into three sections and created subtitles for these sections.

They took those three subtitles and started working on writing three important facts about them.

We worked on balanced equations this week.  Students had to prove whether the equation was true or false.  They showed their thinking with models and on paper.  Students are really working on having neat and organized work.  Number writing is a great thing to practice at home!

We learned a new math app today.  Students have to solve equations quickly while maintaining their garden.  Students can practice both addition and subtraction skills.

For the past three weeks, we have been working on words that have these sounds.  We have also worked on adding the ending -s to these words.

Our Word Wall words this week were come and some.

Week of January 6, 2014

We have started working on nonfiction writing in our classroom.  We discussed the different features you can find in a nonfiction text.  We also went on a scavenger hunt to find the features in books from our classroom library.  Each student brainstormed a list of things they consider themselves to be a "specialist" in.  They picked one idea from their list that they will be writing a nonfiction book about.

Students worked in pairs to create a survey question to ask the class.  They had to ask every student and record their answers.

They worked with their buddy to represent their data.

Here is an example of one representation.

They had to reflect and answer questions about their findings.

We had a celebration today during math!  Students had to graph m&ms and answer questions about the data.

We learned a new app today.  It is called Math Linkup.  Students have to choose 2 addends to make a certain sum.

Our Word Wall words this week were two and put.