Writing Fiction Stories

We have begun our final writing unit: Realistic Fiction!  First graders are just beginning their first attempts at writing fictional stories and it is very exciting!  We are trying to write realistic fiction, focusing on coming up with a character, a setting and of course a problem, some trouble, or an adventure that the main character encounters.  This is tricky stuff!  But so far they are showing that they have gumption and giving it a go!

Cones and Cylinders

Today first graders explored some 3-D solid shapes during math.  They were introduced to a rectangular prism, a sphere, a cylinder and a cone.  They had to look closely at the cone and the cylinder and compare and contrast them.  They came up with some great observations!

Our Communities from Small to Large

Last week first graders read a book called Me on the Map which highlighted many of the different communities we all belong to.  They color-coded their own "map" of the communities they belong to beginning with the smallest going out to the largest. 

Some of Our Communities

First graders examined three different communities that they are a part of. The first was their home and family, the next was their classroom, and the last was their school community.  They identified why each is considered a community, what the purpose of each community is, their role is each community and the important community helpers in each one.  

A Note from Mr. G.

Beginning the week of May 18th, 1st graders will be starting a whiffle ball unit in P.E.  We will be focusing on running the bases, throwing, catching, fielding, and hitting.  A combination of whiffle balls and tennis balls will be used to help develop scholars skills. It’s not required to use a glove; however 1st graders are welcome to bring in their gloves from home to use during the unit.

Happy Spring!

Mr. G

Beach Day!!

Quarters for Kathmandu

Fourth graders have started a fundraiser for the American Red Cross to help provide relief to the people of Nepal who have been affected by the recent earthquake.  A notice about this is coming home in your child's folder today.  We have a container in our room for collecting any monies that come in.  Thank you!

Homework Assignment

Yesterday we read On the Town to kickstart Our Community unit which will officially begin next week.  You may have noticed a letter and a small booklet in your child's folder.  Please be sure to read the letter from me explaining in detail what the students are being asked to do.  It is meant to be fun!  

Thanks for your support!!

Math

Today first graders continued working on the concept of place value, as well as adding or subtracting 10 to a 2-digit number.  Students could choose what they wanted to do after finishing their Plus or Minus Ten game.  Some chose to play a memory game, matching a 2-digit number with a picture of the same number represented with Base 10 blocks, others chose to do a packet of worksheets, and some chose to play the game again but instead of a 120 chart they used a 200 chart and used greater numbers.  Great math work going on in our classroom!!  

Frog Eggs

Thank you so much to the Crary family for sharing some of their frog eggs with us!!  We are excited to watch these organisms go through the different stages of their life cycle!  It will be a great connection to our study of the monarch butterfly's life cycle way back at the beginning of the year.  

Fair Test

As part of our Force and Motion unit, first graders also explore the concept of a fair test.  After engaging in quite a few discussions about this concept, students watched a short video on youtube about it as well.  They were then asked to write about a given scenario and explain how they could ensure that it would be a fair test.