So Much Measuring!!

First graders have been learning all about measuring and have been measuring up a storm!  Last week they measured a collection of things using linker cubes. After measuring the items they had to list them in order from shortest to longest.  

Their next task was to measure some lengths of tape around the room using their own feet, or "kid steps".  While sharing our findings, we noticed that we all had different numbers!  Students engaged in a great discussion about why this happened and they were off to their next task.

So, the next task was to measure the same lengths of tape but this time students used baby steps, basketball player steps and craft sticks.  When all of the measuring is completed we will compare and discuss our findings, like should we all expect to get the same answer when we measured the same length of tape with the same units?  And why do we get such different numbers when we use different units?

Snowmotion Day 1

First graders had an amazing first day on the mountain!  The weather was beautiful, the smiles were huge, and everyone from the beginners to the more experienced skiers and boarders had a wonderful time.  Unfortunately I could only get a few photos but here they are!

Trait Detectives

First graders have been learning about features and traits of various organisms, and today they became detectives to try and figure out which puppies belonged to which set of parents based on their  physical appearance.  After matching the puppies to their parents they then had to identify the traits they noticed that they based their decisions on.  

"Read All Day" Day

Last Friday first graders enjoyed a day to get cozy with blankets and stuffies and read most of the day away!  This was their reward for doing another 60 hours of reading at home!!  Keep up the hard work, first graders!!

Reading Nonfiction Texts

In first grade, in this new year, we have jumped right into learning all about nonfiction!  We will be studying nonfiction texts during our reading workshop as well as learning about how to write nonfiction books during our writing workshop. We are off to a great!  

During reading workshop we have begun learning...

We started reading this book on insects and were amazed at how much we could learn just by really studying and thinking about each page!!

During writing workshop students are learning  about special features in nonfiction texts and how they help the reader learn as much as possible about the topic of the book.  

So far we have learned about...

Students are making their own pages for each feature which will be staples together into a book eventually.