Classroom Highlights from 2013-2014!
HTeCV
June 17, 2014
Exhibition!
Thanks to everyone for coming out to our final exhibition for the year, it was great! The kids were all so excited to share their time capsules and all the memories they documented and sealed inside. I wish I could be there to see them when they open them up at the end of 5th grade to compare their 1st grade and 5th grade selves...I hope that will be a fun experience for them and the whole family! |
Time Capsule Project
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Our day at the park!
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First Grade Picnic! We had so much fun at our picnic! The kids played, and played, and played... everyone seemed to have a great day! We were glad to see so many families join us at the park! A special thanks to all the parents who were able to donate food or help with the festivities...we couldn't have had this special day without you!!! |
As our time together comes to a close, I just want to let you know that I have thoroughly enjoyed working
with you and your children and watching them grow this year!
I will look forward to seeing you all again in August! Have a great summer!
May 2, 2014
Here's a peek into what we've been up to...
Project Work
As our year together is coming to a close, we find ourselves often reflecting on how far we've come as learners and community members. This has prompted the beginning of our new (and final) project where we have decided to create a time capsule to remember our 1st grade selves! We have brainstormed ideas for artifacts to include in our capsule that will remind us of our current interests and experiences, and have begun creating our first artifact... a book of our favorite things! Stay tuned for more on this project in the coming weeks!
*Also, please mark your calendars...we have set the date of our final Exhibition for
Thursday, June 12 from 5:00-6:00pm.
As our year together is coming to a close, we find ourselves often reflecting on how far we've come as learners and community members. This has prompted the beginning of our new (and final) project where we have decided to create a time capsule to remember our 1st grade selves! We have brainstormed ideas for artifacts to include in our capsule that will remind us of our current interests and experiences, and have begun creating our first artifact... a book of our favorite things! Stay tuned for more on this project in the coming weeks!
*Also, please mark your calendars...we have set the date of our final Exhibition for
Thursday, June 12 from 5:00-6:00pm.
Math
As you saw at SLCs, our mathematicians have been working on place value. We are continuing to practice trading 10 ones for 1 ten and 10 tens for 1 hundred. We have also begun to use our knowledge of place value to compare bigger numbers using the symbols for "greater than" (>), "less than" (<), or "equal to" (=). Reminder: ST Math is a really great supplement that we use to support student growth in math here at HTe. With only 5 computers in the classroom, students get a limited time to use this program at school... that's why it is important for them to practice at home as well! Ideally, by this time of year, students should have completed approximately 70% of the 1st grade syllabus so that they are practicing our current math topics. If possible, please have your child continue their math practice at home.... here are some ways you can help them: * Have them log in 3-4 times each week for at least 20 minutes. * Sit with them briefly after they log in and check that they understand how to work through their current level. * Encourage them! Celebrate their successes! As always, let me know if you have any questions! |
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Reading We get to share our love of reading with a new group of Buddies now! The 3rd graders from Ms. Valenzuela's class have invited us to be a part of their new project all about books! We look forward to our weekly meetings, which are especially fun for me since many of these 3rd graders were part of my first group of 1st graders here at HTe! |
April 11, 2014
This was a great week back from Spring Break! Everyone was excited to share what they had done over the break! Many kids reported that they used their "First Grade Workout DVD" to exercise with their families... we love to hear that! Thanks, again, to everyone for coming out to our Exhibition and for being such good sports about exercising with us that night...we had fun and hope you did too!
We were super excited to participate in the Eighth Graders' "Mad Scientist Workshops" this week!!! They knew that we already had experience being scientists when we studied matter so we would be great participants for their workshops. The Eighth Grade Scientists presented information in a professional manner and invited the First Graders to get hands-on with some experiments...they even got to take home samples of slime and the beans they planted in cotton (if they keep the cotton moist the beans should sprout in about 5 days)!
This week, we also worked on writing and math, where we are exploring place value (identifying how many ones and tens are in a number and knowing when to trade ones for a ten). We are getting excited to show our families what we've been learning and how much progress we have made this year at our SLCs next week! Here's the link to the schedule in case you have not signed up yet or just need a reminder of your appointment time... HTe Spring SLCs. I look forward to seeing you all next week!
February 28, 2014
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Reading Olympics Our first Reading Olympics was great fun! First graders read for a total of 60 minutes throughout the day, counting the number of pages read. In between reading times, we participated in fun activities with parents who donated their time with us (thank you!), and played games with real Olympic athletes from our local training center - very exciting for the kids! |
As you know, this was not just a celebration of the love of reading and the spirit of the Olympics but a fundraiser for our school! If your child collected donations, please send them to school in the envelope provided by Wednesday, March 5. Thank you, in advance, for your support!
Project Work
All of our First Graders have been working hard on our "Healthy Me" project!
We've been learning about important body parts (how they help us and how we can keep them healthy); what the five food groups are and how to create a healthy plate; and, of course, different ways to exercise our bodies. We have also just decided that we should share what we've learned about staying fit by making a workout video! The kids are really excited about this and it should be a lot of fun!
Take a look at these pictures from the last couple weeks...
February 6, 2014
We've begun a new project called "Healthy Me"! Hopefully, your children have shared with you our fun, and active, project launch which consisted of eleven different activity stations and fun music! The kids moved through each station over the course of an hour, getting lots of exercise and having a great time doing it!
As we progress through this project, all of our First Graders will be discovering the answers to these essential questions:
* How can we live to be healthy?
- How do we feed our bodies to be healthy?
- How do we move our bodies to be healthy?
- How do we care for our bodies to be healthy?
* How can we share this knowledge with others?
Our work has begun by learning new games that exercise our bodies, as well as how our lungs help us and how we can help our lungs stay healthy. We are all excited about this project and look forward to sharing our learning with you along the way! Here's a slideshow with many pictures from our project launch and a few of us playing two new games we've learned, "Stuck in the Mud" and "Ocean Tag". Enjoy!
As we progress through this project, all of our First Graders will be discovering the answers to these essential questions:
* How can we live to be healthy?
- How do we feed our bodies to be healthy?
- How do we move our bodies to be healthy?
- How do we care for our bodies to be healthy?
* How can we share this knowledge with others?
Our work has begun by learning new games that exercise our bodies, as well as how our lungs help us and how we can help our lungs stay healthy. We are all excited about this project and look forward to sharing our learning with you along the way! Here's a slideshow with many pictures from our project launch and a few of us playing two new games we've learned, "Stuck in the Mud" and "Ocean Tag". Enjoy!
We are also working on our skills in reading, writing, and math...
here's a quick peek into the work we're doing:
Our readers are working on reading smoothly (fluently) and using different strategies to help them when they get stuck ("Stretchy Snake", "Skippy the Frog", and "Chunky Monkey" are just a few).
Using just one strategy often isn't enough, so knowing how to use multiple strategies can help
solve problems in reading faster. Soon, I will send home a page with a description of all our strategies
so you can reinforce their use at home too!
Our writers have created a check list of things that we all need in our writing at this time of year...
* It must make sense, so re-read many times.
* Capitals at the beginning of sentences and names only.
* Punctuation marks at the end of sentences (. ! ?)
* Spaces between words.
* Word Wall words are spelled correctly.
* Handwriting is easy to read (tall, small, and underground letters)
Our mathematicians are working on distinguishing between addition and subtraction in equations
and number stories. They are also practicing the use of pictures, number sentences, and words to
show their work (how they figured out these problems). Here are a few examples of the types
of problems we are working on...
* Dylan has 6 books. Lily has 8 books. How many books do they have all together?
* Valentina had 14 pencils. She gave 5 to Maxwell. How many pencils does Valentina have now?
Hopefully, this peek into our work will help you with ideas for discussion starters and
things to practice at home with your First Graders. :-)
here's a quick peek into the work we're doing:
Our readers are working on reading smoothly (fluently) and using different strategies to help them when they get stuck ("Stretchy Snake", "Skippy the Frog", and "Chunky Monkey" are just a few).
Using just one strategy often isn't enough, so knowing how to use multiple strategies can help
solve problems in reading faster. Soon, I will send home a page with a description of all our strategies
so you can reinforce their use at home too!
Our writers have created a check list of things that we all need in our writing at this time of year...
* It must make sense, so re-read many times.
* Capitals at the beginning of sentences and names only.
* Punctuation marks at the end of sentences (. ! ?)
* Spaces between words.
* Word Wall words are spelled correctly.
* Handwriting is easy to read (tall, small, and underground letters)
Our mathematicians are working on distinguishing between addition and subtraction in equations
and number stories. They are also practicing the use of pictures, number sentences, and words to
show their work (how they figured out these problems). Here are a few examples of the types
of problems we are working on...
* Dylan has 6 books. Lily has 8 books. How many books do they have all together?
* Valentina had 14 pencils. She gave 5 to Maxwell. How many pencils does Valentina have now?
Hopefully, this peek into our work will help you with ideas for discussion starters and
things to practice at home with your First Graders. :-)
January 17, 2014
Engineering Week!
All HTe students were involved in various engineering challenges throughout the week and it was a lot of fun! Our 1st Graders started the week by identifying the problem in 2 different fairy tales then worked as a team to create a solution to those problems. First, they designed and built different ways to get the Three Billy Goats Gruff over the river to eat yummy grass. Second, they built houses to keep a pig safe from the Big Bad Wolf. Then, they designed and built bridges to that could get a robot from one table to the next. Finally, they were challenged to build a tower out of spaghetti that would hold a marshmallow on top... so fun to see their creations!
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Thanks to everyone who donated
materials for our Engineers! |
The main thing we were looking for throughout the week was not how successful they were at building
but how successful they were at collaboration and perseverance. Communicating their ideas, listening to others' ideas, compromising, and working toward a single goal were difficult for many groups on the
first day. By the last day, though, all groups improved their teamwork and learned to never give up, even
if the work is hard or frustrating, because mistakes or failures are opportunities to learn!
These are things we will continue to focus on all year!
but how successful they were at collaboration and perseverance. Communicating their ideas, listening to others' ideas, compromising, and working toward a single goal were difficult for many groups on the
first day. By the last day, though, all groups improved their teamwork and learned to never give up, even
if the work is hard or frustrating, because mistakes or failures are opportunities to learn!
These are things we will continue to focus on all year!
December 20, 2013
Here's a peek into the big events that have been happening in First Grade!
* Matter Activity Boxes!
All of our Scientists proudly donated the activity boxes that they have worked so hard on to the Ronald McDonald House! We were lucky enough to visit the House to make our donations in person and take a tour. Everyone enjoyed our visit and really understood the importance of giving to others!
All of our Scientists proudly donated the activity boxes that they have worked so hard on to the Ronald McDonald House! We were lucky enough to visit the House to make our donations in person and take a tour. Everyone enjoyed our visit and really understood the importance of giving to others!
* Holiday Party/Exhibition Celebration!
We finished off a busy, busy week with a fun celebration! Thank you to everyone who was able to donate food or your time to help with the festivities! Everyone enjoyed the time to relax, chat, and eat together!!! Happy Holidays! I look forward to seeing you back at HTe on Tuesday, January 7, 2014!
December 6, 2013
In project news - the scientists in each 1st Grade class were asked, "How can we share our knowledge about matter and the fun we had investigating and creating things such as play dough, bubbles, and chalk?" Each class brainstormed ideas and decided that we should make activity kits containing some of those fun things we've created along with some written information about matter. They also all agreed that we should donate these to other kids, particularly those with a special need! Ms. Leahy, Ms. Fox, and I did a little research and found that the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego has activity kits on their wish list of donations!
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Once we explained that this wonderful charity helps families with very sick children, our scientists agreed that this was the charity for us and quickly got to work... they created a decorative label for the front of their "Matter Activity Box" (using peer critique to make their work beautiful!), wrote a personal note to be included, and began working on a brochure with key information they've learned about matter. That's not all... they also created a new batch of bubble solution and packaged it into little bottles, then conducted a new investigation creating Goo (aka slime) - a type of matter called a polymer that acts like a liquid and a solid! They had such a great time playing with this and decided that other kids would enjoy it too... so they packaged some of it to include in their activity boxes. We are all super excited to continue preparing our "Matter Activity Boxes" for this very deserving charity and the families who benefit from it!
November 15, 2013
Bright spots from the past two weeks...
* Project Work: Our scientists have been very busy! They continued their investigation of solids by combining a solid (plaster of paris) with two liquids (water and paint) then poured their mixture into a mold. They had to wait for it to dry to find out what they had created ... chalk! Then they had some fun testing it out on the playground and it worked great!
They also investigated liquids... First, they discovered how liquids take the shape of the container they are in and that the same amount of liquid can look different depending on the size and shape of its container. Second, they observed how liquids move depending on how thin or thick they are. The scientists are really working on recording their observations by writing about their investigations in their Science Log.
Finally, our scientists also investigated gases and had so much fun! We observed what happens when you drop Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke... a bubble explosion! Then we experimented with "dancing raisins" - we put raisins in a cup of Sprite and watched as the bubbles (gas) attached to the raisins and floated them up to the top, then popped making them sink back down. This happened over and over so it looked like they were dancing :-). Finally, we mixed together three liquids to create a bubble solution. We added our own gas by blowing through the wand and made bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles... that was very exciting!
* Project Work: Our scientists have been very busy! They continued their investigation of solids by combining a solid (plaster of paris) with two liquids (water and paint) then poured their mixture into a mold. They had to wait for it to dry to find out what they had created ... chalk! Then they had some fun testing it out on the playground and it worked great!
They also investigated liquids... First, they discovered how liquids take the shape of the container they are in and that the same amount of liquid can look different depending on the size and shape of its container. Second, they observed how liquids move depending on how thin or thick they are. The scientists are really working on recording their observations by writing about their investigations in their Science Log.
Finally, our scientists also investigated gases and had so much fun! We observed what happens when you drop Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke... a bubble explosion! Then we experimented with "dancing raisins" - we put raisins in a cup of Sprite and watched as the bubbles (gas) attached to the raisins and floated them up to the top, then popped making them sink back down. This happened over and over so it looked like they were dancing :-). Finally, we mixed together three liquids to create a bubble solution. We added our own gas by blowing through the wand and made bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles... that was very exciting!
* New Buddies: We are very excited about a new partnership with 9th Graders! We have been invited to participate in their Night Light Project where they will be building solar powered night lights for the 1st Graders in our class and Ms. Leahy's class! In their initial meetings this week, the "Littles" and "Bigs" started to get to know each other and began the first stages of the design process - the 1st graders gave them ideas about what they would like their night light to look like. We are really looking forward to working together throughout the entire process!
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November 1, 2013
Following our exciting Ooblik project launch, first grade scientists have
spent the last two weeks exploring the world of matter! We discovered that matter is EVERYWHERE and is anything that takes up space. We took our 4th grade buddies on a matter scavenger hunt on HTe's playground...
and found that matter really is everywhere.
spent the last two weeks exploring the world of matter! We discovered that matter is EVERYWHERE and is anything that takes up space. We took our 4th grade buddies on a matter scavenger hunt on HTe's playground...
and found that matter really is everywhere.
We started to notice that even though matter was everywhere...
it could look very different! After some research, we found that there are 3 states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases. We spent a week learning
about solids...and we discovered that they are pieces of matter that have
their own shape. We brainstormed different ways to describe
solids and brought some in from home to share!
it could look very different! After some research, we found that there are 3 states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases. We spent a week learning
about solids...and we discovered that they are pieces of matter that have
their own shape. We brainstormed different ways to describe
solids and brought some in from home to share!
We ended our week of solid exploration by....creating!
We had some solids (flour, salt) and some liquids (water, oil).
We worked as science teams to mix these ingredients...
but not before predicting if our creation would become a solid or a liquid:
After gathering all of our ingredients, sharing responsibilities, and mixing, mixing, mixing...we had PLAY DOUGH! |
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Fall Student Led Conferences
I am so excited to invite you to our first round of student led conferences this year
(Tuesday, November 19 - Friday, November 22)! HTe really believes in student ownership and pride in their learning...and SLCs are a time for your child to share their learning, accomplishments, and goals with you.
In this 20 minute block of time, your child will take you on a "tour" of their first grade learning.
They are feeling immensely proud and can't wait to share with you. They will be 'running the show'
and teaching you all about first grade (progress reports will be sent home over our Thanksgiving break,
and that's where I will share my noticings).
Please click on the link below, which will take you to SignUp Genius.
There you will be able to see available time slots and get yourself signed up.
SLC Sign Ups
Looking forward to seeing you all!
October 18, 2013
I am SO excited to share what has been happening in first grade! We spent the week preparing to become
first grade scientists so that we could launch our very first project on Friday! Students came in from lunch
and found that our classrooms had been transformed into a science laboratory!!! They put on 'lab coats' and 'observation glasses' and got ready to explore a new mixture! Students mixed corn starch and water to create...OOBLIK! This is a very mysterious mixture because sometimes it "felt slimy and slippery" and sometimes it felt "hard as a rock." Scientists were able to scoop it, squeeze it, try to roll it into a ball, etc.
I encourage you to ask your first grade scientist what they noticed in this exploration (...this is a relatively
easy exploration to try at home... the mixture is just 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water!).
first grade scientists so that we could launch our very first project on Friday! Students came in from lunch
and found that our classrooms had been transformed into a science laboratory!!! They put on 'lab coats' and 'observation glasses' and got ready to explore a new mixture! Students mixed corn starch and water to create...OOBLIK! This is a very mysterious mixture because sometimes it "felt slimy and slippery" and sometimes it felt "hard as a rock." Scientists were able to scoop it, squeeze it, try to roll it into a ball, etc.
I encourage you to ask your first grade scientist what they noticed in this exploration (...this is a relatively
easy exploration to try at home... the mixture is just 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water!).
I am so excited to keep exploring with my first grade scientists! Be sure to ask your child to share
their learning each day...they are becoming, after all, 'official' scientists!
their learning each day...they are becoming, after all, 'official' scientists!
October 11, 2013
Over the last two weeks we have been working on several things! Our writers are trying to stretch out words they don't know and use resources around the room, like the Word Wall, to help them write their stories. Our mathematicians have been playing fun math games to help them compare numbers (identifying which number is more). Our readers have been building their stamina while reading independently - each day we see how long the whole class is able to stay focused on their reading... we're up to 12 minutes so far! Coming up... we will be launching our first big project next week! It's top-secret for now, so stay tuned for more information! We are all excited to get started! |
Our first annual HTe jog-a-thon was so much fun! The kids all ran their little hearts out for the entire 30 minutes! Thanks to everyone who was able to help out that day, we could not have done it without you! If you have collected donations, please make sure to send them in this week - Thank you! :-)
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In other news... we have a new addition to our room 149 family! Paul North is a visiting teacher who will be working in our class this year and we are feeling very lucky to have him join us! Here's a little bit about him: Originally from the United Kingdom, Paul is a visiting teacher through High Tech High's Graduate School of Education. As a resident of the Teacher Leadership program, he spends his mornings working with students and collaborating with teachers throughout High Tech Elementary. To develop his teaching practice, Paul will base himself in our classroom, teaching whole-class lessons, leading small groups, and working with students one-on-one. As the year progresses, he will embark on a research project around improving teaching and learning in our classroom community. More about that later on! In the afternoons, Paul works with HTe's special education program as an Inclusion Support Teacher. As a new member of the HTe family, he is excited to contribute to our team and design rich learning experiences for children. You can follow him on his journey here: http://paulnorth.weebly.com/. Paul is already getting to know our kids and is looking forward to meeting families so please say "hello" the next time you stop by our classroom!
September 27, 2013
Here's a peek at what we've been working on... * Becoming a Caring Community: This is something we have been working on since the first day of school and will continue to work on throughout the year. Together we have developed a set of agreements that help guide the way we act as community members. I'd like to share them with you so that you can help reinforce these characteristics with your kids by asking them how they, or their friends, are showing that they are positive members of our classroom community! This is what we have all agreed on... We are community members who... - show respect with kind words and actions! - work together as a team! - celebrate and encourage each other! - take care of our classroom and school! - never give up, even when something is hard! We have also identified some of our strengths and struggles, then illustrated and wrote how our strengths can help someone else. After critiques and multiple drafts, we are ready to post these in our room so that friends will know who to go to when they need help (tying shoes, hula hooping, writing, playing basketball, and pushing the swing are just some of the strengths they highlighted)! |
* Working in Small Groups: We have been practicing working as a team with our small groups on literacy and math centers. Staying on task, working quietly, and cleaning up quickly/quietly/carefully are the things we've been focusing on. * Buddies!: We are so lucky to have two sets of big buddies... 4th Grade Buddies and 10th Grade Buddies! So far, we have gone to HTe Community Meetings and read with the 4th graders... the 10th graders have read with us a few times and are hoping to participate in different kinds of activities with us! All the kids, big and small, seem to really enjoy their time together! The 1st graders are always excited to see "Buddies" on the schedule for the day! |
Enjoy the slideshow! |
September 13, 2013
We have spent the past two weeks really diving in the world of critique. We drew self portraits and then worked together to make them even better! We realized that sharing kind and specific ideas with our friends helps them to make their work stronger. After 3 rounds of critique and drafts, the students finished with self portraits that they are incredibly proud of. If you haven't had a chance, be sure to check the finished products out...they are hanging right outside our classroom!
We have also been exploring all the tools and activities that we have in first grade that will help
us to become readers, writers, and mathematicians. We have been reading many books, both independently and together. We have explored numbers and counting with some fun math games, and we continue to share our messages through writing. We have also explored what it means to be a community...and how we can have fun when we learn, explore and play as community members!
Take a look!
us to become readers, writers, and mathematicians. We have been reading many books, both independently and together. We have explored numbers and counting with some fun math games, and we continue to share our messages through writing. We have also explored what it means to be a community...and how we can have fun when we learn, explore and play as community members!
Take a look!
August 30, 2013
What a great first week of 1st grade! We have begun to learn about each other and are working on building a caring classroom community. We also created cubby name tags, drew and wrote about our hopes and dreams for 1st grade, and explored the books in our classroom library. I know we will have a fun and successful year with many adventures together! |
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