Thursday, November 27, 2008

Native Amercian Picture Writing

We have been learning about the different Native American tribes this month, and how they compare with each other in regards to food, shelter, and clothing. It has been good for the students to understand that not all Native Americans lived in tipis or wore feathers, and to break down that stereotype. They are keeping track of the differences on a chart, and maintaining a pocket book of different activites related to each tribe.
This week we have been working with picture writing. This is the activity that all of the first graders did in my rotation for last week's fun Friday. However I took the activity a bit further in my classroom. Not only did the students write a story using the Native American pictures, they also had to retell it to me adding all of the little words that could not be represented by just pictures. We worked on story starters such as: "long ago, once upon a time, one summer, etc. Then they had to write the story using words, and also type it on the computer in Microsoft Word. Finally they rewrote the pictures on paper that they made to look like deer skin.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Castle Coin Pajama Party




Today was our Castle Coin Celebration for earning 10 coins with good behavior. We voted as a class and decided to have a pajama day. So, just for today we did Reading Working in our pajamas, ate lunch in our pjs, and even went to specials in our slippers. We also worked with Microsoft Word and typed our Native American stories in computer lab. At the end of the day we watched a Reading Rainbow movie about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Fun Friday

Today was a first grade Fun Friday. Students rotated around to each of the different first grade classrooms and did different activities related to Thanksgiving and Native Americans. We practiced math, handwriting, reading, social studies, and following directions. Be sure to ask your child what his or her favorite activity was. We will be doing the activity I did in my classroom next Monday.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Booklets

As we continue our work in Writing Workshop, we have been working on writing longer stories and publishing them in small booklets. Today's lesson was about how to make a cover for the book. Students reviewed the features on a book cover and how to best place them for visual appeal.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Leaf Rubbings

Mrs. Simmons, the art teacher, shared an activity with me that she has done in the past with the 5th graders. Since we have been learning about leaves, I decided to let the students try it out. They created leaf rubbings using pastels as their medium. Here are some of their creations.



Tuesday, November 04, 2008

New Student

We have a new student in our class today. Although she has been at Mary Castle for a month, she has just transferred into our classroom. The students were very kind to her as she was getting used to her new environmant today.
 

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