Math Centers

On Friday, the Firsts had a chance to experience some math centers.  The students had a blast working with calculators, finding a mystery number, working with numbers one more and one less, and adding with watermelon math.  Some tasks were more simple, but we worked hard on using complete sentences and good math vocabulary when they found an answer. 

This is a little peek into our Friday!  Have a great week. 
Cheers,
Mrs. Sienknecht

 

School Rules and Worries?!

This year, we will be studying one Caldecott book each month and doing some activities related to the books.  One Caldecott medal is given each year to an outstanding illustrator of a picture book. Our first book is Officer Buckle and Gloria.  It's about a wonderful relationship between a dog and police officer surrounding safety rules.

 

Then, during our buddy time, the students each thought of a safety rule to write down and illustrate.  Here's an example.

I absolutely LOVE their creativity and out of the box thinking!

We also discussed our worries when we read Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes.  We brainstormed our own worries on a circle chart, then the kids illustrated themselves looking worried.

AMAZING, huh?  Yes, first graders grow up quickly and have wonderful abilities!  I am so super impressed with all their hard work.

Cheers,
Mrs. Sienknecht

Using Your Resources!

Well, it's Thursday, so we did a lot of learning today!  First of all, the Firsts did a pretty good job turning in their first homework assignment.  Just a little reminder that your child should bring the homework folder WITH the homework in it every day to school.

On to the day...we spent the morning learning how to properly write tally marks by doing a Listen and Tally Activity; Dice, Roll, Tally game in our journals, and graphing with tallies.  Here's what we found out about the Firsts and what pets they own.

Our next project included using our resources and learning to research information to write a class book!  Sounds so advanced, huh?  Well, the Firsts learned to look in ABC books to gather information about what pictures they could draw for a class ABC book.  They were very focused and serious about their research assignment.  They did a wonderful job illustrating their pages, and some Firsts even referred back to the books for more ideas.  I'm so proud of their first project.


Research books



Class ABC Book

Thanks for letting me share about our productive day!  Hope this message finds you all well.  Have a great evening, and we'll see you all Friday!

Cheers,
Mrs. Sienknecht

Explorations!

Each unit of our math curriculum (Everyday Math), there is an Explorations lesson.  In this lesson, the students use math are introduced to a variety of math tools that they will learn to use in the unit or some time this year.  This allows them time to experiment and have free time to discover what is the purpose of the tool.  And, they have fun, too.



Linker Cubes

Base Ten Blocks

Geoboards

The firsts had a blast visiting all the centers and trying out the new tools.  Next job, learn how to use them in math!

Reminder:  Back-to-School Night is scheduled for Tuesday, September 3rd!

Cheers,
Mrs. Sienknecht

Just a Little Test...

I haven't posted here for awhile...Learning new tricks has not been easy for me in the area of technology.  So, let's give the blog another chance.  I'd love for this to be a place where my parents can get a window into Room 12.  My lovely little firsts sometimes have some difficulty bringing home details about their day.  Their brains swim with all sorts of thing and yet, nothing comes out of their mouths except, "I don't remember," or "I don't know." (I have personal experience with this as I have a first of my own this year.)
I will try my best to give you a little glimpse this year.  Hold on to your computers...it's going to be an exciting and fun filled year.  I can feel it in my toes!

Catch you soon,
Mrs. Sienknecht

Catching up!

Hello!  We've all been very busy in Room 12.  I have so many projects to share with you, so here goes....  First, the kiddos did some A-mazing writing about their favorite jammies.  I didn't get to join in the festivities that day, but I was so impressed when I came back and read their writing.  They are growing up!  <<sniff, sniff>>

 The, we read a book called Tacky the Penguin  by Helen Lester.  It's a hilarious book about a penguin that wears a hawaiian shirt and does things a little differently than the other polite and orderly penguins.  We just had to make some tacky penguins of our own. This is one of my favorite activities.  The kids are always soo creative.

Time to get a little more serious.  While many of you were enjoying your three day weekend this past week,  I attended a half day training on writing.  I now have sooo many ideas that my brain can't handle it!  I am soo excited.  I am someone who needs to implement things right away, or I will forget all the details required to make it successful.  So, here's a picture of two kids sharing their work after a writing session. We worked on sequencing and using transition words to write our weekend news.  They learned to listen to each other and compliment one another's writing.

Finally, there's math tubs for this week.  We are having a blast reviewing addition and subtraction skills and learning more about greater than, less than, and equal to.




Adding Skills with a game



What's Missing?



Go Fish for Tens





Greater Than, Less Than, Equal to



Whew!  Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek.  Oh yes, I am preparing some new math tub activities and I am in need of plastic bottle caps.  If anyone drinks soda from 2 liter bottles or uses plastic water bottles, could you please collect them for me?  I need quite a few.  Thanks!

Cheers,

Mrs. Sienknecht



Gung Hei Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!  It is the first day of the Asian New Year, the year of the Dragon.  I love teaching the kids about my cultural background.  We have read a few books about chinese new year.  The students have learned about some of the traditions.  They even tasted some traditional chinese snacks served in the new year.  I saw some happy faces when something tasted good, and some not so delightful tastes when it didn't taste so yummy.  Ask your child today what they tasted.  You may be surprised at what they ate!  Here's a few pictures of our time with Chinese New Year.

Happy New Year!  I'll be posting again soon-er!

Cheers,

Mrs. Sienknecht