Week of December 7 - 11, 2009

In Writer's Workshop we worked on publishing our stories in anticipation of our Publishing Party on Friday. In Reader's Workshop we read the big book "Shark in the Park" to focus on the sequence of events in stories. In math we started unit three and practiced a variety of ways to show the same number using paper and pencil activities and games.In our geography unit the children worked in pairs to create a map of our classroom. They had to place the tables, bookshelves, white board, doors, etc. in the correct places on a piece of construction paper. They were also excited to find our classroom on the map of our school. My camera issues continue and I hope to be able to add pictures to the posts below soon!

Peace Place

Our Peaceable Schools Curriculum has really taken hold in our classroom. We decided it would be helpful to have a special place in the classroom where we could talk out a conflict with a friend. We all agree that if someone is in the Peace Place that we need to give them their privacy. The children had great fun decorating our Peace Place and came up with lots of interesting representations for peace. The next time you are in the classroom, please be sure to visit our Peace Place.

Publishing Party

Our Publishing Party was an exciting event! We spent the week getting ready by carefully editing our stories, practicing reading our stories with our writing partners and making a cover for our story. When asked what they thought about the party, the consensus among the students was, "I was nervous but it was fun!" They also said that they enjoyed seeing their friends parents and reading to them too.

Week of November 30 - December 4, 2009

This week during Writer's Workshop we included how we feel about the small moments we are writing about. We refer to it as writing about the outside and inside of the story. In Reader's Workshop we continued to look at Mercer Mayer stories to talk about the problem and solution in stories. In Math we finished our unit on shapes and are moving onto Unit 3: Addition, Subtraction and the Number System. We wrapped up our study of the past and present with a fun filed trip to the National Museum of American History (see below) and started a new social studies unit about geography and culture. Due to camera issues I apologize that I do not have any pictures of the children for the blog this week.

Field Trip: National Museum of American History

A highlight of the week was a trip to the National Museum of American History in Washington. We had many opportunities to recognize things from our past and present and to learn more about American symbols and monuments. Children enjoyed seeing the presidential exhibit, the different types of transportation and the original star spangled banner. The hands-down favorite was the sculpture of George Washington pictured above. We are so thankful to all the parents who accompanied us on this fun trip!

Cultural Project

The Cultural Project is the culmination activity for our Geography and Cultures unit. The objective of the project is to help the children understand that we have different heritages and that our ancestors came to the United States from other countries around the world. The project exposes them to world geography and to the idea that cultures vary according to their place on the map as well as traditions, beliefs, language, clothing and rules. We learn that people share their culture with their friends and family and that cultures are the same and different around the world. Ultimately we realize that our differences are interesting and enrich our experiences and that even if we have different cultures, we can all still get along with each other. Students will discuss their cultural heritage with their family and pick a country that is part of their heritage to study. They will create an exhibit about their country that includes a map of their country, a fact card and a paper doll dressed in traditional clothes. They may also include a flag and other artifacts that will teach others about their country. We will also have a Cultural Feast and enjoy foods from the different countries in the exhibits and invite families to view our Cultural Museum.

New Social Studies Unit: Geography and Cultures

We started a new social studies unit this week entitled, "Geography and Cultures." We talked about the Cultural Project (See the "Cultural Project" post)and we learned what the terms "geography" and "culture" mean. The highlight was finding Virginia on the map of the United States and looking at a map of the state of Virginia and finding Washington and Arlington on the map. We also learned about cardinal directions, the compass rose and map legends.

Week of November 16-20, 2009

We had a fun week incorporating Thanksgiving themes into our curriculum. During Writer's Workshop we wrote about things that we are thankful for on feathers and added them to our turkey in the classroom. We realized we have lots to be thankful for! In math, we practiced addition and subtraction skills using a turkey, a pilgrim family and the Mayflower that use a color code for the answers. Of course, we are reading lots of Thanksgiving stories. During Reader's Workshop we are also using a collection of Mercer Mayer stories to help us understand how authors use problems and solutions to make their stories interesting. During our study of the past, we looked at how our clothes and toys have changed over time. We are enjoying My First Little House Books based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's series to learn about lifestyles during pioneer times. The Book Fair was also a big highlight of the week!

No Interruptions Please!

We have been working together as a class to not interrupt each other while someone else is talking, including the teacher! Many of our first graders will interrupt me when I am talking to another child or talk to someone else while I am talking to the group. It is disruptive and is getting in the way of our teaching and learning. It would be most helpful to me if you could practice this with your child at home, perhaps at the dinner table or other times when you are in conversation with other people and your child is present. This is an important life skill that your children are capable of learning and it takes practice and consistency. I am sure that if we work together on this, we will solve this problem quickly.

Writing Partners

In Writer's Workshop, we worked with partners to help us review and edit a story. We discovered that is really helpful to read a story aloud to a friend and hear questions and comments to help us make our stories better. We also helped each other check correct spelling of words that are on our word wall and remember to begin our sentences with capital letters and to include correct punctuation.

Save the Turkeys!

Thanks to our 1st and 5th graders, a few lucky turkeys will not be the main course for Thanksgiving dinner! Students worked together to devise clever disguises for their turkeys so they wouldn't be caught and cooked. Some of our turkeys were disguised as hippies, rock stars, hunters and space aliens. Our turkeys have much to be thankful for!

Toys from the Past: Ms. Miknis

To enhance our study of the past and present, Ms. Miknis, our Gifted and Talented Resource teacher, came to our class to help us think about how toys have changed over time. She showed us pictures of toys that children used to play with and we realized some of those toys are still around today like jacks and pick-up sticks. We recorded our observations about the toys by noting something we liked, didn't like and what surprised us. Ms. Miknis will visit us throughout the year and, as she says, "encourage us to think about things in different ways."

Week of November 9 - 13, 2009

We started two new units this week. In social studies we are talking about how people's lives were different in the past compared to how they are in the present. Ms. Blaine in the library helped kick off our unit last week by reading a story about a one-room school house. We also learned that at one point in our history everyone wore hats. The timelines that we sent for homework last week helped us understand the difference between past and present. We are using the Little House on the Prairie children's stories to learn about life "back then." Ask your child how Laura celebrated her birthday and how our birthday celebrations are the same as and different from hers. This week we will learn about clothing, transportation and toys from the past. In this week's homework, we are asking that your child interview a primary resource from the past, preferably a grandparent or someone from that generation. These will be due back the Monday after Thanksgiving. We are hoping this will give you plenty of time as well as access to older relatives during the holiday. In math we started Unit 2: Shapes and Patterns. (See below.) Remember to visit pearsonsuccess.net to get an idea of what we are doing and to support your child's learning in math.

H1N1 Vaccination

The H1N1 vaccination was available to our class on Thursday. This was a very big event in the lives of our children-- whether they got the vaccination or not! It gave us a chance to review ways to keep ourselves healthy (wash hands regularly and cover your cough) and to comfort and encourage each other as the anticipation grew. It went very smoothly and once it was over we were back to normal very quickly. Many thanks to all the parents who helped out in the classroom and the clinic that day.

Classroom Issue Bin

We have a Classroom Issue Bin that is part of our exemplary project called Project Quest. It is a classroom management program that we use schoolwide. Lessons have included learning about the multiple intelligences we share and ways to get along with each other. The Classroom Issue Bin is posted in our classroom. If a student has an issue that involves either feelings or learning, he or she writes it down and posts it on the issue bin. We have a community meeting about the issue and decide how to solve the issue as a class. We don't name names, just behaviors. Issues that have been posted include an instance when a friend wouldn't share a manipulative and a friend was bothering another during a work time.

New Math Unit: Shapes and Patterns

Making designs with pattern block shapes is great fun! The challenge is to fill in a predetermined design with pattern blocks. We learned that there is more than one way! We are using our spatial intelligence, problem-solving skills, addition and subtraction skills and our creativity.

Week of November 2 - 6, 2009

This week we continued our practice in writing about small moments in our lives during Writer's Workshop. This is hard to do and your children are getting better and better at it! During Reader's Workshop we focused on story structure including the elements of setting and characters. As you are reading with your child, be sure to ask about these story elements. We used the folktale The Little Red Hen to introduce robust vocabulary. These are words to enrich our vocabulary but we are not expected to be able to spell them. Each week we will add to our robust vocabulary using different texts. Also, we acted out The Little Red Hen to help us remember story sequence and characterization. In Math Workshop we are wrapping up the first unit by continuing our practice of breaking numbers apart in different combinations. Our next unit will focus on shapes and patterns. We finished our science unit: What Does a Scientist Do? On Monday, we will start our social studies unit: Past and Present. This unit will continue until Thanksgiving Break.

Author Visit: Laurie Keller

The highlight of our week was Laurie Keller's visit to Jamestown's Library. We spent time beforehand with Ms. Blaine in coming up with questions to ask Ms. Keller and how we would behave while she was here. Finally, the big day arrived on Wednesday! Ms. Keller told us about herself and where she does her writing. She also showed us a movie based on the book, Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners. She showed us how to draw an otter and different expressions for Arnie the Donut.

Week of October 26-30, 2009

We had lots of fun this week using Halloween stories, songs and games to further our literacy, math and science skills. Our very first Publishing Party was a great success and we were all proud of our stories and excited to share them with the group. We have also enjoyed reading each other's stories during independent reading time. We started a new unit in Writer's Workshop called "Small Moments" which is helping us stretch out our story ideas into more parts. We made Pumpkin Glyphs about ourselves and we are having fun figuring out who is who according to clues. Measuring different objects using non-standard units to measure with was lots of fun, especially when we could eat one of our units! (See below.) Many thanks to all the parents who helped in the classroom during the week and for making our Halloween Party and Parade exciting and fun!

Herb Sachets with our Buddies

Our 5th Grade Buddies shared herbs from their garden with us to make sweet-smelling sachets. A few weeks ago the 5th graders picked rosemary, oregano and lemon balm and hung it to dry in their classroom. We helped crush the herbs and together we made sachets. The classroom smelled delicious!

Measuring with Bats and Candy Corns?

We practiced our measuring skills throughout the week using non-standard units of measurement. We made our own bat measuring tape and measured a variety of classroom items including each other. We also used candy corn to estimate and measure distances between two points on a recording sheet. Our small pumpkins helped us measure girth, height and weight. We made an amazing discovery that surprised many of us--pumpkins float!

Halloween Party

We had a fun party and parade on Halloween. We were visited by witches, monsters, genies, cats, super heros and our very own Abraham Lincoln! Parents provided us with a delicious lunch and we decorated cookies. After the parade we had a mummy relay race with several mommy mummies!

Week of October 19-23, 2009

This week we chose stories to publish during Writer's Workshop and prepared for our Publishing Party on Monday. In Reader's Workshop we learned how to choose "Just Right Books." Ask your child about the Five-Finger Rule. In Science we set up our Interactive Notebooks so we can record all of our observations and experiments that we have been doing. Some of our grapes did turn into raisins. Check with your scientist to find out which experiment made them change the fastest. We also set up our Worm Farm with the help of Ms. Hansen's 4th graders. In math we continue to practice writing number stories and finding different combinations for the same number. We also flipped a coin and recorded how many times it landed on heads and tails to practice writing tally marks and to talk about probability.

Publishing Party

We spent the week getting one of our stories that we've been writing during Writer's Workshop ready for publication. We made a cover for our story and included information about the author. WE practiced reading our stories to each other on Friday so we are ready to share with the whole class on Monday. Parents will be invited to our future Publishing Parties.

Worm Farm

Ms. Hansen's 4th graders helped us set up a habitat for a worm farm this week. We tore newspaper for the bedding, learned about what foods worms can and cannot eat; learned how to weigh the food we give to the worms and got some worms to start our own farm. We will observe the worm farm as it grows and changes throughout the year. The worm castings will be good for our classroom garden!

Ms. Fitzpatrick Visits

Ms. Fitzpatrick, one of our guidance counselors, visited our classroom to talk about how she can help students if they are feeling sad, angry or worried. She introduced us to several of her friends who will help us talk about our feelings and we heard a story that helped us discuss "The Golden Rule." Ms. Fitzpatrick will be visiting us periodically throughout the year.

Week of October 5 - 16, 2009

Since we had Parent-Teacher Conferences at the end of last week, here's an update of our last week and a half. In Writer's Workshop w have been reviewing how to write the uppercase letters. We have also learned to stretch out our words and ideas in our stories. We added words to our Word Wall in the classroom and have our own Word Walls in our writing folders. In Reader's Workshop we wrapped up our author's study of Leo Lionni by finishing our masks of our favorite character in his stories. This was the first week for Word Study as part of our homework and our first spelling assessment. In math, we have been using number stories to help us with addition and subtraction skills in addition to some new games and workbook pages. We learned "The Peacemaker's Song" and met Princess Mary and Wizard George who are helping us learn about appropriate ways to handle our conflicts.

Yoga

On Friday afternoon, a friend of one of our classmates shared her love and knowledge of yoga with us. We did traditional poses like frog, tree, cat and dog. We also learned some breathing exercises and massages to help us calm down and re-energize. Ahhhh . . . .

Indoor Recess

With all the rain we had last week, we had three days of indoor recess. We enjoyed creating things with legos, pattern blocks and dominoes. We can also choose to play games, draw pictures and read books during indoor recess.

Courtyard Exploration with our 5th Grade Buddies

We used our five senses to explore our courtyard with our buddies. In small groups, we recorded what we smell, hear, see, feel and we imagined what we could taste. We particularly enjoyed the herbs in the 5th graders garden. The lavender was a favorite!

Adventures with Croaky

Croaky has been a part of Ms. Runkle's classroom since she started teaching ten years ago! He goes home with a classmate each Friday and spends the weekend with him or her and comes back to the classroom on Mondays and we get to hear what fun they had over the weekend. Croaky has been to many places over the years such as Disney World, San Francisco, New York City, a Nationals Baseball game, trick-or-treating, and to the ice cream parlor (he loves chocolate ice cream with flies!) He also enjoys just hanging out around the house and watching cartoons and eating pizza. Every child gets a turn with Croaky during the school year.

Gourd Study

We continued our study of what scientists do by observing and recording six different gourds. Each table had thier own gourd and described it using pictures and words. Later, we switched papers to see if we could figure out which gourd our fellow scientists had recorded. We learned that the more specific we were in our descriptions, the easier it was for our friends to know which gourd we studied.

Week of September 28 - October 2

This week we practiced our first Word Sort. We used a fairly easy one so everyone could get used to the routine. We also started Homework! We had two school-wide events were fun to attend: our first all-school morning meeting on Wednesday and the Teatro de Luna's dramatic performance about Abraham Lincoln on Thursday.

What is a Scientist?

We started our science unit, "What is a Scientist?" and learned the different things that scientists do. We are focusing on the concepts of observing, recording and hypothesizing. We also learned that scientists make LOTS of mistakes. Did you know that chocolate chip cookies, raisins, velcro and post-it notes were all mistakes? We set up an experiment in the classroom to see what will make a grape turn to a raisin the fastest. The different conditions we came up with were placing grapes in a sunny window, the shade, in water, paint and soap. We will be observing and recording the changes that take place over the next few weeks.

Estimation Jar

Each Friday (or last day of the week if it's a holiday) a student will bring the Estimation Jar home and fill it with 1 -100 of the same things. The student brings the jar back to school on Monday (or next school day if it is a holiday) and the rest of the class has the whole week to guess how many things are in the jar. We count them on Friday and the jar goes home with another student. Every child will get a turn!

Week of September 21-24, 2009

This week we worked in our Handwriting Without Tears workbook and focused on proper writing posture and pencil grip. During our Writer's Workshop we wrote about real things that have happened to us before and practiced being completely quiet during writing time with the help of writing music. Our classroom library is fully open and we are enjoying reading a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books. We also used our Investigations workbooks for the first time.

Conflict Resolution Skills

Conflict happens to everyone and we are learning how to resolve our conflicts peacefully and constructively in our classroom. After talking about what conflict is, we learned about the "Conflict Escalator." This is a concrete image that first graders can relate to in terms of how conflicts escalate and de-escalate. We read a story about a conflict and then worked in small groups to determine what made the conflict worsen and how we could have avoided the conflict in the first place. We will continue to talk about how to resolve conflicts using role plays, children's literature and real-life situations throughout the year.

Fifth Grade Buddies

On Tuesday, we met our 5th grade buddies from Ms. Lombardi's class. We got to know each other through interviews. We found out how old we were, how many siblings we have and what we love to do. We are looking forward to many more fun times with them this year!