We like to share

We spend time after lunch writing about small moments from our lives. Everyone is writing their stories in 3-page books that have an illustration for each page. Ask your 1st grader what they do when they are "done" with their stories. Our writing motto is "when you think you are done, you have only begun". The correct answer should be that we add more details to our pictures, add more writing to each page, and use our writer's eye to watch for capital letters and punctuation. Our "reward" for using our writing time productively is having something to share at the end of writing. A great way to learn how to add more details to a story is to learn from other 1st graders. You can tell by our photos that sharing is a time of collaboration and engagement.

Dot - 3D style

International Dot Day encourages courage, creativity, and collaboration. We discussed how we could do that as 1st graders and as a class. We spent some time this morning creating 3-D dot art together. Then we enjoyed working with partners to see it "come to life" using the Quiver app on I-pads. It was so much fun to "play" with our dot art. The Quiver app is free at the Apple App Store or at the Google store if you want to try it at home. I will send a blank dot art page In the Friday folders so everyone can create another 3-D dot masterpiece. 

Getting ready for International Dot Day

Tomorrow we will be celebrating International Dot Day in Room 14. It is a celebration of courage, creativity, and collaboration. We have read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and have talked about what it means to "leave your mark" on the world, be it big or small. If you would like to read it tonight and see what we mean here is a link for the book online. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS5YU66s5tc

If your child has polka dot clothing or socks, this is the day to wear it. I am going to make my shirt with a white t-shirt and some Sharpie markers. That is an easy idea too.

Stay tuned tomorrow for photos of our dot celebration.

Math at home

If you're wondering what to do at home some evening, pull out a deck of cards and let your 1st grader teach you Compare, Double Compare, or Pick up Ten. Just remove the Jacks, Queens, and Kings. One big math goal is to have 1st graders be very comfortable with different combinations of 10. Instead of drilling math facts or doing problems on paper, play a game with your child. Games lead to strategy, conversation, and social skills. Take a look at them playing Pick up Ten together.

Here are the rules we wrote down in class.

Stamina reading

During reading time we have been building our stamina. We know that stamina means getting stronger and better. With reading, stamina means getting stronger at reading and reading for a longer time without quitting. The first thing we do is pick our spaces and stay there with our book boxes. Then we read the books in our book boxes. If we get done before our stamina reading time ends, w read our books again. We can read our books in 3 ways - read the words, looking at the pictures, or reselling a story we already know. Each day we have gotten longer with our stamina reading. Take a peek at what it looks like when we are reading to ourselves during stamina reading time.