Project Work

Today we watched Ms. Dorsel's class put on their class play. They have been working on theater for their project work. The students really enjoyed watching the second graders in their fairy tale play. They were also interested in doing a class play, and I told them we might be able to do one at the end of the year.

We have continued to work on phase two of our project with money. Students are eagerly researching questions and learning more about money every day. We may be taking a field trip to a bank soon with one of the other first grade classes.

Science Fair

Congratulations to our science fair participants! They did an excellent job of researching and learning about a new topic. We were all so interested in their ideas, and the students, eagerly listened to their presentations. I am very proud of you all!

Assigned Seats

We now have assigned seats in the cafeteria. The children are having a really hard time remembering to keep their hands to themselves, and are causing problems for the cafeteria monitors. Please help your child remember that there is no touching other people in the cafeteria. Even if it is in play, sometimes things get out of hand or it is misinterpreted. If students seem to be improving with their behavior, then we may go back to sitting anywhere they want to sit. Children may still choose a guest to sit at the back tables if they have adult visitors.

New Menu Math

We have started double digit subtraction this week with regrouping (borrowing), and to go along with our new focus will be doing some new menu math games for independent work time. Some of these games will reinforce double digit addition, and others will extend our current unit. I've noticed over the years that the children sometimes confuse the two processes, and "forget" which operation they are working on. Thus, the reason for the overlap on games. Any of the past menu math games are still available to play after journal writing in the morning or when they are finished with centers. I know there are a couple of old favorites they love.

Happy Valentine's Day

Thank you to everyone who sent in an item to add to the trail mix today. We had a great mixture of healthy snacks with a few sweet treats thrown in. The students had a really fun time passing out and opening their cards. I hope you enjoy your long weekend, and I will see everyone next week.

Weekly Update

We have been learning many new things this week We read a couple books about George Washington Carver, and learned that he discovered hundreds of new uses for peanuts. He also taught farmers how to do crop rotation and that is was beneficial to their plants.

In math we have continued our practice of double digit addition with regrouping. We will be taking a test on this concept on Friday. Next week we will be starting subtraction with regrouping.

In Writing Workshop, students are working on how-to books, and writing about something they know how to do well. Some of their ideas are how to make oatmeal, how to draw a dragon, and how to build a lego plane.

Many children have moved up a level in Reading Workshop. I am excited to see their progress and that they are making good use of the reading strategies we have learned about.

In science, our amaryllis plant has grown quite a bit. Today the students measured it, and it is already 7 cm. tall.

For project we are learning about money. Students were very interested so far in how it is made, and would like to take a field trip to one of the United States Mints. I explained that they are both too far away, but they said we can just take a plane to get there. So...please let me know if you would be willing to sponsor this trip..HaHa! We will be partnering with the art teacher on an activity to print our own money, and work on other representations in the classroom.