Children's Museum

Our trip to the museum was fantastic!  It was the perfect rainy day adventure.  The Superheroes had so much fun creating and exploring.  They said the best part was the Mexico room (I think they really liked the van and pretending to drive)!  You can see from these faces that we were VERY excited about this trip!  Even eating lunch at 9:30 A.M. did not dampened our spirits! 

Collage

We continue to explore how to express ideas, thoughts and feelings through art.  This week we experimented with a new medium: torn paper collage.  Our inspiration came from Leo Lionni and Eric Carle, two authors famous for their illustrations using paper collage.  The next step is to write the story that goes along with the setting we created. 

All About the Author

This week we are preparing our classroom anthology.   It will contain our stories, artwork and an original poem.  The poem will tell all about the author.  Here we are working very hard to go through the writing process.  Did you know that writing is not an easy job?  The final published piece will be printed in our anthology titled:  The Superheroes Save the Words.  

Morning Meeting

Everyday this year we held a Morning Meeting.  The purpose of the meeting was to start each day on the right foot and feeling like a community.  We would greet each other in a new and interesting way such as:  ET greeting, Unifix cube greeting, or a greeting chosen by our leader.  Next, we would engage in a fun activity that brought the whole class together.   This is a picture of one of our favorite activities: cups.  We had to chant and move the cup with the heart all the way around the circle. 

Classroom Storytelling

The Superheroes have enjoyed being a part of the Classroom Storytelling Project.  As a participant in the Early Literacy Leadership Academy, I was trained to implement this amazing program.  Students dictated their stories to me and chose their cast of characters.  Next, we act out the story.  This came to be our favorite part of the day.  Using this method I was able to help each child move at a developmental appropriate pace to the next level of understanding vowel sounds, sentence structure, sequence and plot of a story, along with contractions and suffixes.  The growth and excitement of learning continued to surprise me throughout the year.  The Superheroes have developed their story telling skills which is evident in the narrative structure of their stories.  

Field Trip!!!

We went on a new adventure to the gardens today.  We had no idea what to expect and were so excited when we arrived.  The Last Organic Outpost is a community garden.

  Everyone on site was wonderful, helpful, and informative.  

We got to dig up worms, feed chickens, and examine plants grown without soil. 

Thank you to all the parents who came and helped out. 

 This was a great learning experience.  

Superhero Day!

Well, The Superheroes did it again!  They worked cooperatively together and earned jewels.  Next, we had to decide what to do...  show and tell day or a Superhero day.  Well, Superhero day won with one vote-it was close!  The Superheroes did a great job creating their special capes and masks!

Memory Cards

Here is a sampling of the memory postcards that we have been working on.  This project is so much fun because I get to listen to the students sharing stories about our first grade adventures!  

How We Express Ourselves

We have begun our final planner:  How We Express Ourselves.  Our lines of inquiry encourage us to explore how we express our ideas, thoughts, and feelings.  This week we have been reading books by Leo Lionni who is known for his torn paper collages.   Our first step was to brainstorm a story that we would like to write.  Next, we read about Eric Carle, another author who illustrates with torn paper collage.  From Eric Carle we learned it is important to sketch your idea before beginning the collage.  We choose a part of our story to sketch.  Finally, we got to tear paper!! The Superheroes tore, cut and glued paper to create an illustration to match the story.  

Plant Experiment

We are very excited about our plant experiments.  We started with a few bulbs and a few beans.  We began by trying to prove that everything needs sun, light and water to grow.   The beans that had water began to sprout, but the beans with no water did not do anything.  The bulbs that had water did not sprout, but when we added the nutrients (soil) they grew!  

Memories in My Pocket Project

The month of May has arrived! 

 That means our first grade year is coming to an end.  It is also time to begin Memories in My Pocket.  I love ending the year with this project.  Students create (with the help of fifth grade buddies) a poster of themselves.  They can use different art mediums to color and create the background.  While that process is happening - we write a memory card to each of our friends.  When we are finished each child will have a memory written by each of his Superhero friends. 

Student Led Conferences

Thank you everyone for coming to Student Led Conferences.   I love watching and listening to my students teaching you about their learning.  They are so excited to share everything with you.