WEEK EIGHT & NINE

Overview:

Lots to repot on from the last two weeks, including a heartfelt goodbye to my fantastic first graders and a trip to the other side of the world.  Last week I had my last three weeks in first grade.  It was a great last week and I got to observe some amazing teachers in other grades of the school.  On my last day we had our readers theater play The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.  The students preformed really well, and I was very pleased with how many parents were able to make it to the show.


Over the weekend I headed to the airport ready for the adventures to come in the next five months. After three planes, two buses, 1 ferry and what felt like a hundred hours I made it to Norway.  My host family had a lovely meal waiting for me and they opened my into their beautiful home with open arms.  Over the next few days I was able to catch up on some rest and dip my toes into my new school.

Activity Highlights: 

Fairy Tales- To finish up our fairy tale unit we read some lovely Cinderella stories.  We read Scholastic Reading’s version of the classic Cinderella, Cinder Ellen A wild Western Cinderella by Susan Lowell, BIGFOOT CINDERRRRELLA by Tony Johnston, The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Clima, and the beautiful Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin. 
 

Roll and Write- This was a fun independent activity that the Norwegian 3rd graders did.  The would role a die to choose from a list of a subject for the sentence. Then they would role again to choose a verb and a third time to get a location.  Then they would write down the silly sentence they had made. 

 

Friday Assembly-  Every Friday morning the school has a short assembly.  Each week a different class hosts the assembly and this week it was first grade.  They performed several adorable dances and songs.

 

 

Notes About Norway

School-  The students take their shoes off when they are inside and only put them on when they go out to recess.  They even keep them off for gym! Another unusual thing they do here is call their teachers by their first names. This is a custom that only came about in the last 20 or so years.  At the school I am working at the teachers all have lunch together in the teachers lounge.  They all chip in and take turns preparing the meals for each other.  This is not something that is common for all schools in Norway, just something my school does to help build positive relationships among the teachers.   

Meals- Norwegians typically eat four meals a day.  Breakfast in the morning usually consists of cereal or yogurt and muesli (granola) or bread with cheese and sliced meats.  For lunch, it is common to have open faced sandwiches with various toppings such as, butter, mayonnaise, sliced meats and Norwegian cheeses, hard boiled eggs, pickled herring, liver paste, bell peppers, cucumbers, tiny shrimp, and jam. These toppings are mixed in numerous ways and eaten on bread or thick crackers.  There is also usually a fruit component to the lunch time meal.  Dinner in Norway is typically eaten around four o’clock and then there is a fourth smaller supper meal eaten later around 7 or 8.  Sundays are often considered ‘family days’ and people will visit with their extended families and have dinner even earlier, sometimes at noon! 

WEEK SEVEN

Overview:  

Halloween door!

Week seven marks my last full week at in my first grade placement.  Next week we only have a three day week and then I am off to Norway!   It was a fun week full of school spirit.  We had themed spirit days all week and it was a blast to see all the student and some of the teachers going all out. I also took some time this week to  decorate the classroom for Halloween.  

Spirit Week Themes

Activity Highlights: 

Math

Mid-Module Assessment

Turkey Fact Families

Mid-Module Assessment-  On Tuesday we had our mid-module assessment to evaluate how the student our doing with the material we have covered so far.  I am happy to say everyone preformed very well!

Fact Families-  This week we focused on fact families to help student learn how numbers are related and how addition and subtraction are intertwined. 

Reading

Independent Vowel Sorting

Vowel Practice-  This week in reading we began our reading foundations assessments to provide concrete data on what basic reading skills students know and what they need to work on.  These assessments are done every quarter and involve identifying basic reading skills like know what the first word in a sentence is or how to decode words.  While this testing was being done, student practiced identifying the vowel sound in a word and categorizing it as long or short.  This is a skill that is sometimes very challenging for students but important for reading skills to come. 

Class Comparison Poster

Language Arts

Fairy Tales Unit- This week we started our exciting unit on fairy tales.  In this unit students learn about the parts of a story through different fairy tales.  They also work on compare and contrast skills through reading the different variations on the classic tales.  We also use this unit as an opportunity to get parent in the classroom.  At the end of the unit we have  a readers theater play for parents to come and see.  We have been working hard all week for the play that will be next Wednesday. 

Books We Read:

The Three little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig 

~By James Marshall

The Three Ninja Pigs 

~by Corey Rosen Schwartz

The Three little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig 

   ~By Eugene Trivizas

Student Sample of Ordered Writing 

The Three little Dassies

 ~By Jan Brett

The Three little Javelinas 

 ~By Susan Lowell

Goldilocks and the Three Bears 

 ~By James Marshall

Dusty Locks and The Three Bears

~By Susan Lowell

Teacher Sample: Bear Craft

The Three Snow Bears

~By Jan Brett

WEEK SIX

Overview:  

·        With week six down, there are only two to go!  We had another great week, full of fun crafts, exciting learning opportunities, and our very first field trip.  We were the first ever 1^st graders to travel to UPS for a tour of their Missoula base.  This trip helped us learn how goods are distributed in our community, one of our social studies standards.  

Doubles Aren't Trouble Game 

Activity Highlights: 

Math

Doubles Aren't Trouble-  This week in math we practiced math fact fluency by playing a version of connect four highlighting doubles.  In this game student rolled a die with a partner, doubled that number and placed a token on the answer sheet.  The first student to get four in a row won.  

Reading

Long or short-  This week we continued to practice identifying the vowel sounds in words and categorize them as long or short.   We used pocket protector sheets as white boards to help practice this skill. 

Milk Carton 3-D Map

Social Studies

3-D Map-  This week all three first grade classes made models of streets in our neighborhood out of milk cartons.  Each student was assigned a plot of land to build and decorate.  Everyone had a wonderful time and learned loads about spatial orientation and symbols. 

Student Sample
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Ordered Writing-  After our great field trip to UPS, we used the information we learned to write an ordered list on how packages are delivered. This assignment focused on developing writing and language art skills and well as providing a nice wrap-up activity for our trip. 

WEEK FIVE

Overview:  
I can't believe how time is just flying by!  Another week over? Inconceivable! We had a great week in first grade, filled with maps, math centers, and cat stories.  We started a social studies unit aimed at teaching basic map skills and the hierarchy of communities from neighborhood to world. In math, we played several different math games that reinforced the concepts we have been learning over the last couple of weeks and dipped our toes into the concept of equivalent expressions.  In reading we practiced decoding words that have the hard C sound, like cat, the double SS, as in Hiss, and consonants blends, such as SC in scat.  

Activity Highlights: 

Math

Dice and Dots-  This fun math game helped students use the counting on with thinking dots strategy to solve missing addend problems.  

Domino Go Fish- This fun twist on go fish helped students understand equivalent expressions and the commutative property of addition. 

Student Sample- Bear Hunt Map

Social Studies

Going on a Bear Hunt- After reading and singing the Bear hunt book and song, students created their own maps of the bear hunt adventure.  Then they wrote ordered directions for how to go on a bear hunt.  This fun activity taught cardinal directions and while incorporating MCC Language Arts Standards.

Class Sample- Our Classroom Map

Mapping our World- In this activity students helped to create maps of our classroom and our school.  We talked about how things would look from a birds eye perspective, relative sizes, the cardinal directions, map title, and map keys. 

Pirate Treasure Map- The student created their very own pirate treasure maps that are hidden inside a special book.  The maps include a title page, a key, the maps, and written directions for how to find the treasure. 

Image of Me on the Map,
Borrowed from Ms. Gardenia's Speech Room 

Books We Read:

Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

~Great book with beautiful illustrations to accompany a fun song. 

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

~This book helps kiddos understand they're spot in the world by 'zooming out' of a bedroom all the way to a world view, and then back in again.  

Mapping Penny's World by Loreen Leedy

~This book helps students understand the different components of maps by following a little girl who is mapping the world of her dog, Penny.