Busy in Room 4

I apologize if you have wondered what has been going on in Room 4.  It has been a busy few weeks and the kids have worked hard.  Here is a quick summary  of  some things we have been working on:

Writing:

• We created an editing checklist together.  Everyone has a writing goal that they work on each day as they are doing independent writing.  Some things on our checklist are: 

           1.  I used neat handwriting.
           2.  My sentences make sense
           3.  I used correct punctuation.
           4.  I started each sentence with a capital letter.
           5.  I can write a paragraph with 5 or more sentences.
           6.  I use the word wall to help me spell words.

Reading:

• We are working hard on retelling a story with lots of details.  We do whole class retelling of some of the big books we read in shared reading. It is a little more difficult to do independently.  As you are reading with your child at home, stop periodically throughout the story and ask some questions.   Who are the characters?  What is the setting of the story?  What is the problem?  How did the problem get solved? 
• If you are reading a nonfiction book, ask these questions:  What is the topic?  What is the main idea?  What are some supporting details?  What are some key vocabulary words?  What are some text features they used?  (maps, bold words, captions, etc.)

Science: 

• We are finishing up a unit on liquids.  We have been reading and working with different liquids to see how they are the same and different.  We have been talking about properties of liquids.  The kids have learned some big vocabulary words.  Ask your child to tell you what these words mean:  translucent, transparent, viscous.   They are real scientists!

Check out our pictures below as the kids did some partner reading and retelling together!

Hard at Work

Each day during our guided reading groups, the kids rotate through Daily 5 stations.  They are doing one of the following things:  listening to reading, reading to self, working on writing, doing word work, or reading with a buddy.  Check out these hard workers!

Happy Halloween!

All day today I was asked, "Are we going to do fun stuff today?"  I said, "I thought we did fun stuff everyday!"  I guess they were wanting some sort of a party.  Unfortunately, we don't do Halloween parties but I did try to make the day fun for them.  We had drawings throughout the day for fun prizes. 

The kids are pretty good at making connections when they read so we read The Littlest Pumpkin.  The littlest pumpkin was disappointed because he thought no one was going to pick him for Halloween.  The kids had to write about a time they were disappointed.  They did a great job!  Be sure to stop by and check them out.  They will be hanging outside our door.  As we were reading, we made some predictions along the way.  So...we had to wear our super silly prediction glasses to help us think.  Don't they look so cute! 

The Last Couple of Weeks

Did you wonder what happened to us???  I am at that point where I feel like I am always about 5 steps behind.  I promise we are working very hard in Room 4.  I thought maybe I should find a few minutes to share the fun stuff we have been doing.   Last week (or maybe even the week before) we were so lucky to be able to attend the Carmel High School Homecoming Parade.  That is always something we look forward to. The kids had a great time...and it gets them out of the classroom for a little while:)  Here are a few pictures from that fun day!

 

 

Spirit Week

Today was "Twin Day."  Check out these two....I almost couldn't tell them apart!  Friday is blue and gold day.

Talking and Listening Skills

Today in Social Studies we practiced our talking and listening skills.  The kids sat in groups of 4-6 students.  One row was the listeners and one row was the talkers.  If they were a listener they had to hold up their paper ear.  If they were a talker, they had a paper mouth.  The listeners could not say a word.  They did a great job and they learned a little about their classmates.

A Fun Day in First Grade

We had so much fun today!  First I would like to give a shout out to my entire class.  We had 12 kids clip off the chart today and everyone was above "Let's Rock N' Roll."  Way to go!

We started our day with a little dancing.  I like to practice spelling words with a fun activity called "Musical Spelling."  The kids dance around the room to some fun music and when the music stops they find a desk.  I give them a spelling word and they have to write it on the paper.  Check out the pictures.  They really got into the dancing and started making a conga line.  So much fun!