Special Visitor

Today we had a special visitor from Denmark!  Rush's family is hosting an exchange student and today she came to teach us all about her winter holiday.  After presenting a wonderful power point that explained the traditions and customs of her country, Sofie helped the students make a special ornament.  This ornament is commonly made by school children in Denmark also. 

Water Color Paint

 Today, The Superheroes, were excited to see a new resource being used in the classroom - PAINTS!  We used the paints to finish a project comparing goods and services.  

 Everyone had to create (could be fantasy) a good or service 

they could sell and determine what price.  

You could buy a monster toy or handmade posters or purchase the services of a chef or a dog sitter.  

The final results can be found in the students portfolios. 

Fun Fridays

Every Friday, I set some time aside just for fun.  The students today decided to create a birthday cake using Play-doh and sing Happy Birthday to a friend, just for fun. 

Resources

Students realizing that you need certain resources in order to have what you need to survive. 

Exchanging

Students exchanging products to obtain the resources needed to meet universal needs. 

Summative

Our second unit of inquiry, How We Organize Ourselves, is finished.  The students worked on a summative project using what they know to complete the task.  I separated the students into cooperative groups to represent a country that had certain resources.  Each country was required to provide food, clothing, and shelter which are universal needs.   It was interesting to watch the students barter and exchange for what they needed.  One country exclaimed, "We can't get what we need because we have no resources!"  The final phase of the project was to reflect on how well your country worked together to make things happen.  

SinterKlaas Excitement!!

SinterKlaas Dag

Today was a very exciting day!  This month of December, we have begun to take a look at the different holidays that are celebrated around the world.    The students are learning about different cultures and their traditions and customs.   This week I taught them a little about my culture and holiday which is known as Sinterklaas Dag.  Somehow during the day someone (could it be Sinterklaas??) snuck in and left treats for everyone!  Yesterday, we had a clue that he might be close by because someone left cookie crumbs everywhere and left a special Dutch cookie for everyone!

Spark Park

For the very first time in first grade, we got to have our official recess!  Needless to say, ALL first graders were very excited.  We were lucky that we had the most beautiful day to enjoy the new Spark Park.   And in case your wondering, YES that is me on the equipment and 

NO it was not easy to climb up there!!

Math Work Stations

The Superheroes are hard at work during math workstations.  We spent some time gathering and talking about the work using math vocabulary.  The students are developing higher level thinking processes that will help them become great problem solvers. 

Walking through the Cloud

I took the opportunity to teach about clouds because it was actually foggy in Houston.  That does not happen very often.   So, we went for a walk thru the cloud!  The experience left us wondering about many things such as:  Why is the cloud not white when we walk through it?  Why does it feel wet and cold?  Is it raining? What are clouds made of? 

All these questions are leading us to inquire more about clouds.  It is a great segue into the process of research.  We started by writing down all the questions we wondered about.  Next, we narrowed the process down to one idea that we wanted to research.  We will continue the process in 2018, by learning how to gather information from various resources.  

Our Field Day Shirt

Take a look at this amazing design!  Thank you to everyone for helping to put this together.

 I think it looks spectacular!!  

First Time in First Grade

That we actually got to play on the BIG playground.   Favorite spot may be the hill.  

 Mrs. Patin gave first grade their own tour and time to explore the new playground.  

I am pretty sure that EVERYONE really enjoyed it!!! 

Thank you from Mrs. Patin

Spark Park Certificates

Mrs. Patin had the students create drawings of the Spark Park to use on certificates.  These certificates were given in appreciation to the many people who helped make the Spark Park a reality.  We cannot forget ALL the kids who participated in not one but TWO fun runs to help raise funds to build this amazing park.  

Spark Park Dedication

We ended this fun filled week with the Spark Park Dedication!  The students were so excited to actually be on the field.   Mrs. Bardin did an amazing job teaching the students to sing in unison (all 900 plus students!)  The best part might have been when the Twain Tiger showed up to say hello!

Counting Collections

One way the Superheroes explore math concepts is through counting collections.   The students work with a partner and choose the manipulative they want to work with.  Through discussions and collaborations the partners decide how to organize, count and record their collection. 

Story Book Characters

What a perfect day for a parade!   The new Spark Park looks amazing and it was fun to finally walk through and see all the great equipment pieces just waiting for us! 

Storybook Parade Here We Come...

Morning Tubs

Morning Tubs replaces the low level thinking worksheet with a group challenge.  Every morning the students are working with different materials with a different purpose.  Each cooperative group uses their Approach to Learning Skills to work together.   The end results are always interesting.  Today this group created a human sculpture.  Something no one has ever done!  That's what I call thinking outside the box!  Way to go, Team.  I wonder what you will accomplish next??

Monster Tales

The Superheroes had fun this week creating MONSTER TALES!  We are working on developing the plot in stories.  First we had to think about who the characters were and where our story would take place.   Next, we had to think about what would happen to our monsters.

  Last, we had to solve whatever problem the monsters had. 

 Monster Tales are posted in the hallway for your reading enjoyment!

Pumpkin Investigation

Next, we took a closer look at the inside of a pumpkin.  The students were very curious why it looks the way it does.  Lots of questions arose so I think we will have to cut another pumpkin to investigate further.  We wondered why it was wet, why it looks like a spider web inside and why were the seeds hiding?  We thought there would be less than 100 seeds, but we surprised to find out there were almost 200 seeds! Does every pumpkin have the same amount of seeds?

What else can float?

We decided to try something that resembles a boat to see if it would indeed float.

Sink or Float

  Today we experimented with pumpkins?   We had a huge discussion as to why we think the pumpkins will float or sink.  There was a debate about a heavy object will sink, but a boat floats.  Then I threw it in the water and it floated!!  We tried another heavy object, a rock and it sunk!  We decided it has something to do with what's inside the object and if the object has water in it. 

Candy Corn Science

We are working on developing our scientific skills of observation and inquiry.   Today we wrote a hypothesis about candy corn.  The question posed was which ingredient do you think will make candy corn dissolve faster; water, vinegar or soda.   The results were very interesting.  After about twenty minutes a white coating seemed to separate from the candy corn.  This was more evident in the water and vinegar solution.   The soda solution created a pink forth at the top and this made us inquire more about how that could happen since the candy corn is orange???

Pinata Time

Thanks to Kaiden's mom for the pinatas and to all parents for contributing the candy to put inside.  I would say that the pinata part of the day was very successful!!  What I really liked was the way everyone was sharing the candy to make sure it was fair for everyone. 

Mystery Reader Part II

Mystery Reader

Our special guest on NO Teacher Day was a mystery reader!  The Superheroes were very surprised to Ms. Patin at the door.  She choose a very interactive book!

Litter Patrol

Another way our students are taking action is the Litter Patrol.  Rush brought the idea to the classroom and together with some friends they devised a plan to help clean up our school grounds.

   This of course tied right into our unit of inquiry which stated that actions affect the community.   Once the students had a plan in place they went to talk to Ms. Patin about implementing it.    It just so happens that a fifth grade class is working on the same idea so the two classes are now working together to make a difference.  

Pumpkin Challenge

I was not allowed to give work on No Teacher Day, but they didn't say anything about challenges!  (Which of course turned into a lesson on measurement).  The students had to create a pumpkin using only 6 pieces of orange  paper.   The 6 pieces of paper had to be 6 inches long and 1 inch wide.  The results are quite interesting and are posted on our bulletin board. 

No Teacher Day!

I am not sure how this idea came about, but I love how my students were taking action!   They developed this idea and then presented it to Ms. Patin for approval.   Once approved we determined as a class community what should happen before we have teacher day.  The students decided on earning compliments based on our Learner Profile.   They worked hard to follow the essential agreements and to help others in their community be successful.  

Musters' Magical Magicians

It's official!  We have a field day name:  Musters' Magical Magicians!!   

Math Collections in Action

This is what math collections should look like and sound like...  

students working together and encouraging each other! 

Collections

As part of our math instructional time, we work on something called collections.  The students work with various materials counting by 1's, 2's, 5's or 10's.  The students work with a partner to determine how to organize the manipulatives and count the total. 

Morning Tubs

Morning Tubs are a great interactive way to start the day!  The students work at their tables with whatever materials they are given. This play-based learning activity will happen all year long.  It will be interesting to see what develops along the way!

Litter Club

 So proud of Rush for bringing the issue of trash on our campus to the attention of the class.   He came to school one day with gloves to pick up trash and I asked him for a plan of action.   Several students wanted to join in this action to help take care of our community and helped with the plan.  Next step was to go to Ms. Patin for approval.  Well,  it turns out that some fifth graders are working on the same plan!  We have now joined forces with Ms. Watts fifth grade class to take action and help the fifth graders with their exhibition project.  How cool is that!!

Math Stations

Come and take a look at what Math stations looks like and sounds like in our classroom. 

Learner Profile

As we begin to wrap up our first unit of inquiry, students explore what part of the Learner Profile they would like to work on or one aspect that they think they are really good at.  We created pennants to exhibit the word they chose with an illustration.  Three (the magic number)cheers for the Superheroes!  They make a great team!

Lemon of A Lesson

The scientists in Room 104 are trying to find the missing lemon.  King Lemonhead is looking for the prince...  you must use your powers of observation to find him!  Students used science tools and their senses to explore, discuss and record. 

Dramatizing the word: Responsible

Learner Profile

This week we took a closer look at the Learner Profile.  The goal was to determine what does it mean? To be principled?  To be caring? or To be reflective?  

The students worked in small groups to read and respond to the word by creating a skit to perform in front of the class.  This led to a great discussion and hopefully a deeper meaning of what it means to exemplify the Learner Profile.  

Writer's Workshop

The Superheroes are working on expressing themselves through writing.  During Writer's Workshop we write about our lives and who we are.  The students begin by learning how to create a draft.  Next, we take a second look at our writing and revise.  This process involves several steps such as rereading, reading out loud, and conferencing.  We will soon be on our way to publishing! 

Math Station

There are so many new and exciting things happening in first grade.  One is our Math Station time.  The students work with a partner on different math skills every morning.  We have worked together as a team to define what a math station is, what you do there, what it sounds like, and what you learn.  As we learn the procedures we continue to add to our anchor chart.  It was very impressive when Ms. Rawson came in the other day and all the students were so engaged they did not notice her!

Fun Friday!!

Every Friday students redeem their golden tickets to choose something fun for Fun Friday!  As you can see from the pictures everyone is enjoying this free time.  What are Golden Tickets?  Just my way of saying thank you for following the essential agreements.  Students can receive a golden ticket for just walking in the hallway!  Anytime you exemplify the Learner Profile I could acknowledge it with a Golden Ticket.  The students love this idea and love the choices for Fun Friday!  

Chrysanthemum

After reading Chrysanthemum today, we wondered about our own names.  Whose name is the longest? Shortest?  Do you know the story of how you got your name?  Next, we had to refer to a chart that assigned a value to each letter in the alphabet and create a unifix tower for each letter in our name. Then we counted all the cubes to determine whose name had the greatest value.

Glowing Names

Another fun cooperative group activity where we used a tool (venn diagram) to compare what is the same and what is different in our names.  It was fun to listen to the discussions when they found out they had no letters in common or when they had a lot of letters in common!

Essential Agreements

Today we worked in cooperate groups to decide what the most important rules or agreements will be in our classroom.  Together we decided that it is important to listen, be respectful and cooperate.  One student wrote that we should have fun while we are learning!  

How Many???

Our first graphing activity of the year was to figure out if we have more boys than girls.  After creating a physical graph we used the information to create a pictorial graph.  Next, we shared what we learned.   We have 15 boys and 10 girls.  One savvy first grader stated that if we had five more girls then we would have 30 kids in the classroom! 

Marshmallow Toes

Today we discuss the Learner Profile and how it impacts our community. 

 The word of the day was principled.  What does it mean?  What does it look like? 

For fun, we learned the poem Marshmallow Toes.  Then we explored the idea that marshmallows are quiet and soft and hardly make a sound.  Finally, we explored the hallways, but first we popped a marshmallow in our mouths!  No one was able to make a sound! 

Find A Friend

We had a lot of fun trying to 'scoot' around the room to find a friend.  This is one of our first assignments in learning how to work like a cooperative team.  

Students are required to listen and share information as we learn about each other.  

We found out that we are dog lovers, piano players and Megatron (sp?) fans!  

This first week of school is so important as we learn about each other

 and form this new school community.  

Rumble Part II

It is always so much fun to see who walks in the door for first grade.  I met a lot of students in kinder while they were walking the hallways or when I visited my teacher friends.  Last year at lunch I had a group of kinder girls who liked to give hugs!  How great to now see them in MY classroom! 

Rumble

It was so exciting meeting everyone during rumble on Thursday.  I know it's going to be a super year!

First Grade Advice

It has become a tradition in my class to end the year by providing advice for the incoming first graders.  I eventually turn these pictures into a book for our reading area.  The kids love reading what their siblings and friends had to say.  Here are a few pieces of sage advice from those that know!

Try your best every time you do something. 

Always stretch your brain.

Always believe in yourself.

Follow the rules. 

Keep on task. 

Be ready for anything.

Work together.

Write sentences that answer who, what , when, where and why.

Always try to learn new things. 

The Evolving Classroom

Here are a few pictures to show how the classroom evolved in the weeks prior to the first day of school.  It's like unpacking a small apartment!  Every year I have to change something to make the room special for the new group of students!  This year I was forced to leave the classroom before I was ready to prepare for Hurricane Harvey.  Of course, nothing could have prepared me for what transpired over the next few days and then over the next few weeks.  Now the empty classroom is filled with students (finally!) and it has become a busy hub of learning and fun! 

It's officially the end!

Today I had to make sure that all items were packed away for the summer.  The classroom is empty and bare and it's hard to believe that just yesterday it was brimming with excited Superheroes exchanging tickets for classroom items.  How it did it all happen so quickly?  It's hard to believe this empty classroom was once buzzing with students working together during Writer's Workshop or playing 'Scoot" with short vowels.  Where are all the amazing math stations and math journals that you worked on so hard this year!  You were the BEST class and you taught me so much.  I learned and grew from working with you all this year.  I hope you keep writing, reading, exploring and inquiring as you move forward through the grades.   

Love, Ms. Musters 

The Last Day of First Grade!

I cannot believe it is time to say good-bye.  We had such an amazing year together- so much learning and fun all wrapped up together.  Today was a special last day because it was TICKET DAY!!  The students got to redeem their tickets to 'purchase' items from the classroom.  As you can see from their faces- they were quite excited about this prospect.   I hope you enjoyed your first grade year as much as I did.  Good-bye to the BEST class ever!!!

Ticket Day

The excitement has been building the last month of school! 

  I am giving out tickets to anyone exemplifying our essential agreements.  Anytime I see someone or hear someone being an H. E. R. O. they get a ticket.  The tickets will be redeemed on the last day of school for any of the items that we made as a class this year.   As I am dismantling the room, I am saving all the good stuff for ticket day!  The person with the most tickets gets to choose first and so on. There are enough items that every Superhero can leave first grade with a memento. 

End of Year Party

WOW!!  What a blast we all had at the end of year party!  Thanks so much to all my parents for the photo booth, pictures, super hero bags, and super hero masks and gifts.  We had so much fun we didn't want to leave for ancillary class!

Final Performance!!

For the final performance, The Superheroes took a line out of one of our favorite books (Toys Go Out) and added a little to it.  I was so proud of the ideas they came up with that incorporated things we learned this year.  It was wonderful to see the class working together to figure out how to present the song.  The song is the perfect theme song for us as a class! 

Awards Ceremony

Here is part two of quotes by the Superheroes.

Awards Ceremony

The Superheroes received their awards and then offer a quote.  

The quote may be their own creation or a from a favorite author. 

Awards Ceremony Part I

An introduction to the AMAZING Superheroes!

Awards Day!

As our year draws to a close, The Superheroes begin to prepare for awards day.  We had a lot of fun choosing moments to decorate our folders with. It's always interesting to see what part of the day or what part of the classroom the students focus on.   This year, The Superheroes decided to include a famous quote. (This was inspired by our week doing morning announcements.)  Each students either made up their own quote or chose a favorite quote.  

Rice University

As part of my work at Rice University, I had the privilege of bringing a few of my students to read at the annual Spring Reading.   The students read poetry and stories in front of a packed auditorium! They did such an amazing job standing on stage and sharing their writing.  In addition to the reading their work will be published in the magazine, Impressions.  Congratulations Writers!

Memories....

Memories on PhotoPeach 

NOTE:  Will not play on google chrome

The Memory Cards!!!

The Superheroes are super excited because we finished ALL the memory cards!  The students have been working diligently on their nightly homework perfecting these post cards.  We have had so much fun talking and sharing stories about our time in first grade.  Parents, I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane too.  The deal was everyone had to have a completed set of 20 memory cards before anyone could read any.  We cannot wait until its time to READ!