Writing for Varied Purposes

I encourage the Sharks to be writing everyday!  I focus on getting their ideas down, while working on consistently using punctuation, proper letter formation and correct spelling.  Twice a week, the students are writing in their journals.  They write about their daily lives, to things that interest them.  We have worked on expository writing--giving a topic sentence and supporting details to an opinion or idea.  Last week, we starting narrative writing.

This trimester, the Sharks will be using the Writing Process--starting with a prewrite- developing ideas using pictures and phrases; writing a first draft; revising their ideas with partners; editing for mistakes; and finally publishing. 

Reading our stories to our peers during revision helps us to make our story better.

ZK and AE are publishing their story using PowerPoint.

SB is creating a newspaper for our community.

We write in our journal several times a week.

In addition, our "community" time has been evolving.  Today, I observed students bartering goods for services, hiring employees, adjusting inventory to reach more customers, applying sales tax, and adding interest for borrowing money.  All these interactions were based on their personal experiences and they are learning from each other.

Mapmakers

Over the next several weeks, we will be examining maps as we continue to look at Interactions in our community.  We have studied several types of maps, and are learning about key features such as a compass rose and map key.  Later we will incorporate topography and map grids.

Also, we are preparing "Squishyland" as our mock community.  Each Shark has their own business (a lemonade stand, a post office, an art store, a labratory, an airport, police station and library).  The students are earning salaries to use in their store.  As they are designing their store fronts, they are thinking about what their businesses need, and how to advertise store hours and prices.  One student is creating a newspaper about the new businesses in town.

Map of Squishyland

The Lemonade Stand

Busy Busy Busy!!

We have had such a busy past few weeks, that I will let the pictures do the talking!

On November 6, we voted for Head of School, Secretary, and President of the United States.  You need to be a registered voter to participate.

SB in the voting booth casting his vote!

SB is signing in at the polling place

We were testing bouyancy and weight with tin foil boats.  LL created a tin foil boat modeled after a canoe.  It held 14 pennies before sinking.

SP and AK were exploring what happens when water is added to fine solids, such as salt, rocks, and flour.  Each time, there was a different result.

KA and ZK are learning how to use a compass as we begin to examine maps and geography.

Sink and Float-Is There A Set Rule?

Today during our collaborative time, we took our experiences with sinking and floating and began to explore ideas of displacement and density, while thinking about variables such as texture, shape and size.  Some of the objects explored today included a rubberband, a nail, coins, wood chips, leaves, plastic cubes, buttons, and bolts. Afterwards, we starting putting some hypothesis' together to understand what we had observed.  Below in the video is SOR and AK trying to determine whether having a hole in the object determines its ability to sink or float.

During a class discussion, one student had mentioned that a marble sank because it was heavier than the water and the air.  KeA responded that "Well, how does a big ferry boat float?  It's heavier than water!"  A question about displacement came up from ZK "What if (the object) stuck in the middle of the water?" He was referring to an object half floating and half sinking. Some misconceptions also popped up, such as: "a boat floats during the day and sinks at night because it can't see", and "an object sinks because it wasn't moving fast enough." We are very excited to see where this exploration leads us as we continue to examine how water is essential to life.  I will also be working with the ideas of controls and variables as we experiment using the scientific method.

Community Interactions

We had a busy week interacting with our community.  On Tuesday, we, along with the Navigators delivered our food bank donations to the Edgewood Community Food Bank.  It took a large truck and mini-van to haul it all.  Our grand total number of items was 1100+ and it came in at 931 pounds!  Boy did we have fun unloading and weighing it!  The volunteers were so grateful for our donations, and the students even got to help sort and shelve their items!  The students asked really great questions to better understand how their work will make a difference in the lives of others.

On Friday, we did our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  This is always a favorite! This trip gives the students an opportunity to interact with a different type of community (rural) as they had fun and learned some new things too.  The highlights were the cow train and corn maze.

Practicing their scary faces for Halloween!

This week, we are back to work as we are learning a variety of addition strategies to recall our basic facts more rapidly.  This can also be done at home with flashcards or there are lots of online games.  Being able to recall basic facts quickly demonstrates their fluency with this skill, as well as make them less frustrated when working with larger numbers.  Just like reading, we understand best when we focus on the content, rather than the words on the page. Fluency in reading is measured by the rate and accuracy at which we read.  The same for math.  If we know our facts well, we can better focus our efforts on more difficult concepts and patterns.

His sign says "this is just an upside down stair case" LL is using cuisenaire rods to show many ways to equal 10

From Concrete to Abstract Concepts

This month, we have been working on place value.  The concept is that digits form numbers, and that each digit has a value based on it's place in the number.  For example, 36 is 3 groups of 10 plus 6 ones.  Our number system is a Base 10, meaning that values increase by groups of 10.  I use manipulatives all the time to help students gain and demonstrate their understanding of this skill.

Today however, the manipulatives changed.  Each partnership was given a bag of blocks of a different base system.  They had to determine the value of the blocks by comparing sizes and determining the pattern to which each block increased.  Without realizing it, the students were patterning, building, skip counting, and using repeated addition (and someone figured out that was the same as mulitplication) to define the value of their blocks.  They were plain wooden blocks with no markings on them. Many went on a and made a counting strip in that base, and could see that in a base 5, you never used the 6, 7, 8, or 9 digits!  This lesson reached out to all levels, and I was very shocked how everyone got it! Be sure to click on the video as AK explains what every child was doing today.

To see how many rods KA needed, he stacked them on top of the large flat piece.

Everyone had their own system to calculating totals.  Repeated addition and counting on were a big part of today, and many had to use calculators for the higher numbers.

Understanding Place Value and Using Observation Skills

I always like to start the year with strengthening our understanding of numbers and patterns in math.  I have a large collection of games, dice and other manipulatives to help students demonstrate this concept at a variety of different levels.  This is a crucial concept that builds into all aspects of math later on, especially when doing computation with larger numbers.  Many of my activities are in game form, so you won't see much "paperwork" done in class on it.  I connect your child's homework to whatever skill we practiced that day at the level that they are performing at.

This week we also went on our first field experience to the Tacoma Nature Center.  We hiked around Snake Lake, observing nature and making connections between what we see, and who may be living in this natural habitat.  If gave the students an opportunity to use observation skills to describe what they see/hear/smell, etc. and draw conclusions based on that information.  We have been working on that in our science lessons as we have been describing liquids and solids.

AE is using the place value dice to roll an expanded number (100+30+5) to "shrink" it into standard form (135).  I have dice that go all the way to 100,000.  It's always a class favorite

Using a variety of strategies, the students had to put the 100 chart together.  Some used counting to find missing numbers, while others noticed patterns in the 100 chart to put their puzzle together.

Our hike at Snake Lake.  Our guide did an outstanding job getting the students to use their senses to observe this natural habitat.

These boys were looking at the fungus on the tree when they noticed a centipede walking around it.

Playing the "Role" for Understanding

In the primary years, most of a student's learning and understanding comes from their experiences.  It is vital that children get the opportunities to act out parts, and use a variety of tools and manipulatives to form a strong concrete understanding of the world around them.  As they mature, they will be able to move more towards abstract thinking and rely on what they have experienced to assimilate new learning into their lives. At Seabury, even at the first grade level, I am beginning to build abstract thought by looking for ways events and objects are similar or different, or how they relate to each other or other events, in addition to the acting and "playing" that it sometimes appears as.  Below are some examples on how your Shark is learning through structured play by "being" a scientist or city planner or whatever they wish to be!

Working with different age groups brings in different perspectives.  Here an airport is being drawn, complete with a parking lot, terminal, tower, jetway, airplanes, and ground traffic controllers.  Who knew they were that observant??

KA is making a sign for our Wacky Wheels day.  Notice it is in the correct shape, something that wasn't discussed as a class!

SP is writing out what he is seeing under the microscope in his science journal.

We looked at different ways to sort our current food donations.

We then decided to count and record our results to see which class brings the most.

So far, we are at 104 food items!!

The class LOVED the microscopes, and they got to play the part of a scientist using real tools!

Welcome to a New Year at Seabury!

Everyday is a new adventure here in first grade.  I structure the classroom to create an evironment that fosters cooperation and creativity.  Oftentimes, the students are spread out all over the room, working on a variety of projects.  The work I do with your child allows them to guide their own learning, while have access to a variety of materials and manipulatives for understanding.  I observe each child during these times through the work they do, or the conversations they have to assess several learning skills, such as compare/contrast, cause/effect, asking questions, testing hypothesis, and sharing what they have discovered.  During conferences I will share in detail about what your child is doing both with thinking skills, as well as share their path to mastery with skills in reading, writing and math.

This year we are continuing our studies using the lense of "Interactions."  That means as we discuss a variety of topics, we are looking for ways people, events, and places connect with each other and within our own lives.  This trimester, we are looking at the idea of "community,"  and how states of matter interact in the world around us.  I plan my instruction based on the class' prior knowledge and interests. Please check back weekly to catch a glimpse of what we do!

We use the smartboad A LOT as a learning tool

The answer today is 4.  What is the problem?  An open  ended activity that meets all levels in math.

We are organzing a community service project already.  Stay tuned for more info next week!

This group is helping to put together a parent letter for our community project.

Building with manipulatives is a HUGE part of learning and understanding several math concepts.



AH is designing his perfect community.  So far, it has an apartment complex, a park and a grocery store.

This is our current understanding of what makes up a community.  I will do this at the end of our study to compare/contrast new understandings.