It has been an exciting week in the starfish classroom. Each day we continue to add new routines to our readers, writers, and math workshop! We also began our first unit on learning to become first grade scientists. With each passing day, the children are becoming more comfortable in their new first grade classroom.
The Starfish are learning new strategies to be independent within the four walls of our classroom. We introduced "Ask 3 before me". This encourages the children to ask their friends for help to figure out a problem like opening their snack or figuring our a tricky word in the morning message. We also created a "There's a Friend for That" poster. Each Starfish came up with an area where they were willing to help their friends. Some of the categories include...Ipad Expert to help navigate our classroom set of Ipads, Lost and Found detectives to help a friend find a lost item, Shoelace Helpers to help kids tie untied laces, and snack openers to help open those tricky containers and lids. This promotes both a collaborative learning environment and building personal Independence. We strive for increased independence all year long!
Some simple ways to start encouraging independence for your child at home include packing their blue folder in their backpack, allowing your child to choose their own outfit for school, and allowing your child to pack their own snack for their lunchbox.
Meet Mrs. Eichholz
I wanted to introduce you to one of the most important members of our classroom community. We are so excited to have Christine Eichholz as our papa educator in the Starfish Classroom this year! Mrs. Eichholz spends most of our morning and part of our afternoon in our classroom supporting our starfish learners. Her kind and thoughtful disposition makes her loved by her students and colleagues. Christine has lived in Stratham for 22 years with her husband and three daughters. Mrs. Eichholz has been teaching at SMS for 13 years. 10 years working with Mrs. Wigode in the library and this is her 3rd year in the Starfish classroom. When Christine is not teaching, you can find Mrs. Eichholz hiking a New Hampshire trail in summer, spring, or fall. In the winter, she spends almost every weekend skiing the New Hampshire and Maine slopes.
Learning to be Scientists
This week our class learned what scientists do and what tools they use. We focused on the vocabulary words Observe and Record. We talked about how scientists observe with a careful scientist eye. We used the science tool magnify glass or hand lens to help us look at tiny details of objects. Thursday afternoon we used a variety of shells and rocks to record in our science notebooks. We learned and practiced that every scientist writes a date, title, and name on their recording page. We used careful drawings and legible labels!
What's Happening in Social Detectives?
This week our starfish learned about social smarts. Learning to think about our behavior around other people. We discussed how we use our social smarts when we are in a variety of places with other people. We talked about places like restaurants, libraries, schools, sports fields, etc. Ask your child if they can remember how to use a social smart around other people.
Homework Update
Starting next Tuesday I will send home your child's homework folder for the first time. We have been reviewing tally marks and a variety of ways to count a group of objects (counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, or 10s). I will send home a homework page and a few games that the kids have really enjoyed playing in our classroom. Our Reading at Home Folders or as we like to call them (R.A.H folders) will also be coming home next week with a just right book Monday-Thurday).
A look at Math Workshop
As we begin to dive into our first unit of our math curriculum, we have introduced a variety of math tools that 1st graders will use during math workshop. Some of these tools include a number line, a pattern block template, decks of cards, and dice. We start each math workshop playing a game called "Last Starfish Standing". This is a counting game that practices counting by a patterned rule. This week we counted up by 1s and down by 1s starting at a variety of numbers. As the school year progresses, we will introduce more challenging patterns including counting into the three digits. Counting is such an important daily skill for 1st graders. It allows them to build confidence with their understanding of number patterns. The game continues until there is only one starfish last standing and this game is a real hit for our class!
Some math games that we played this week include: Starfish Squeeze (a number line game), Rock, Paper, Scissor (practicing using tally marks to record data), Top It (learning to compare numbers), Penny Plate (helps 1st graders to recognize dot patterns quickly), and Bunny Hop (a number line game)
Questions to ask your child about Math:
1. How do you play penny plate?
2. Who did you play rocky paper scissors with today?
3. What math tool do you use to play Starfish Squeeze? Have you been the squeeze master yet?
A sneak peak into Reader's Workshop
As a class we have been learning about good habits as readers. We learned the importance of finding a just right reading space, laying out our books to make a plan for reading. The kids learned to lay out their books to decide which book they would read first, second, etc. We learned that good readers don't just open up a new book...we take a good look at the cover to try to figure what might happen in the story. (Trying to preview the book will hopefully help with trying to figure tricky words and help with the children's understanding of a text)
We also did a just right book lesson. Just like shoes, books need to be a just right fit! The kids were excited to go "shopping" in our classroom library for the first time to find just right books to put in their book boxes.
We also started our word of the day. Each day we put a new sight word outside our classroom. As the students exit and enter the classroom they can either choose to read the word or spell it out. We call it our secret password to come into our classroom.
Questions you may want to ask your child about Reader's Workshop:
1. Where is your reading spot during independent reading?
2. Who did you buddy read with in your classroom?
3. What does it mean to book shop for books? How often will you book shop?
Other questions you can ask your child about their week at school?
What teachers come in for social detectives?What do you like to listen to at snack time on the board?
What did you do in art class today?
Can you tell me what number your book box is? How many books did you put in your book box this week?
Can you tell me about Go Noodle?
What object did you observe during science?
Can you show me how to draw tally marks?
Are there any other starfish on your bus? Who are they?
Can you show me what the starfish wave looks like?
IMPORTANT STARFISH DATES:
1. We have an early release on Wednesday, September 23. Dismissal is at 12:50
2. Scholastic News Book Orders are due Wednesday, September 30. Once I place the order, it takes less than a week for the books to arrive to SMS!
3. This weekend you will see a Sign Up Genius email arriving in your email inbox. This will allow you to sign up for our November conferences and for upcoming center dates.
*Now that I have everyone's permission...more pictures will be posted to the blog soon!!!
Have a fantastic weekend! :)
Megan Murphy
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