Another Great Week!

We had another great week in first grade.....and boy were we busy!

In reading we learned all about making inferences. We learned that when you infer something, all you are doing making a guess about what is going to happen next. We learned that we can think about other books we have read of something we have done in our life to help us infer.  We practiced making inferences all week.....and got very good at it! 

In math we learned about comparing numbers, ordering numbers and practiced making tally marks.  When we compare numbers, we learned about the hungry alligator and how he always "eats" that bigger number.  We also learned a neat poem about tally marks and got to practice making them popsicle sticks!

In Science we talked about clouds and storms.  We read lots of books about storms and clouds.  One of our favorite books was It Looked Like Spilt Milk.  We went outside and looked at clouds and the pictures that they created.  Then we got make our own cloud pictures with white paint and decide what it turned into.  We made robots, trees, flowers, bees, and so many other things!
We ended the week by making clouds in a jar!  This was so neat!  First we learned what a cloud is.  Did you know that a cloud is just tiny drops of water and when it gets too full.....it rains! 

First we put water in the jar and topped it off with shaving cream (the cloud).  Next we put a few drops of food coloring(rain) in the "cloud" and waited.  When the food coloring got too heavy.......it RAINED! 

If you would like to try this at home here is what you need:

1 jar

water

food coloring

shaving cream

This upcoming week is going to be just as busy and fun!  We will be learning all about apples in Science and doing a fun math activity with OREO's on Friday. 

Please remember to send in 1 apple by Wednesday and 1 pack of OREO's by Friday!

 

Learning Through Games

It is hard to believe the first 2 weeks of school are over!  The kiddos have been working SO hard and really getting the hang of the 1st grade routine.  First grade is SOOOO different from Kindergarten- there is more written work, more assessments,  and more responsibilities.  This is just a reality of school!

BUT....my goal is to still have fun while learning in first grade. 

I incorporate as many "games" into our learning as I can throughout the day.  Its my way of "tricking the kids"....they think they are  just playing a game....little do they know that they are actually practicing the skill we just talked about.  I heard more than once this week...

"Math is so fun because all we do is play games"...LOL! 

This week, I hope to incorporate  more of these "games" into our reading block as well! 

It has been an amazing start! I am so excited  how quickly and easily everyone adjusted to the 1st grade routine. Everyone is  eager to learn and really stepped up to meet the challenge of whatever I asked of them. This is going to be an awesome year!!!


Last week.........
In Reading we learned about the parts of a book and how to read and care for a book.  We also practiced partner reading and sitting EEKK style.  We also talked about words with the short a sound and  learned how to play a few of our phonics games. 


In math, we played with some of our math tools, learned how to play several math games, and got to graph skittles! 


Please note that for the first few weeks of school, we will be reviewing skills and pretesting.  For some, this stage may seem boring or just too easy.  Reviewing is very important so I know exactly where to start your child in reading and math.    My hope is to start  reading and math groups next week!  If you have any questions or want to come see what we are doing, please stop by!