Random Photos

Below are just some random photos that haven't been used in other blog posts that I found while going through my camera roll. Enjoy!

Nature Items for Our Playground

Here is the video our crew made to ask others in our school to bring in nature items to play with on our playground. They decided who would speak, what they would say, and who would build models. Enjoy!

Nature Items for Our Playground

Math

One day I asked the crew what the biggest difference between kindergarten and first grade was and after we talked about having fewer recesses in first grade, they said that we do different math in first grade. I thought I would share with you some of the things that we have been working on in math so far this year:

• writing the numbers correctly and neatly
• counting by 2s
• counting by 5s
• what comes before and after a number
• one more, one less
• counting on a number line
• grouping items to make them easier to count
• solving number stories (word problems)
• explaining our thinking to others and listening to their ideas
• composing and decomposing numbers (earlier post about that here) 
• pennies - how do you know it is a penny and how much is it worth

  In the coming weeks we will be learning about:

• getting information from a data chart
• what are calendars and timelines
• counting on a number grid
• counting on from a number (start at 6 and count up 4 ~ 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
• complements of 10 (5 and 5, 6 and 4, 7 and 3, and so on)
• how to use a calculator
• comparing lengths of objects
• nickels - how do you know it is a nickel and how much is it worth
• counting the value groups of pennies and nickels (counting by 5s, counting on from a number and using tally marks will help us with this)
• writing number models using +, -, =  (5+6=11, 6-4=2, etc.)
• more on reading a data chart and graphs 
• telling time to the hour and half hour

Feel free to talk with your child about any or all of these topics as they come up in your daily life. That is the best way to learn about many of them.

Also, some of the crew really needs to practice writing numbers so any extra practice they can do at home is great. Ask them to write their numbers and see if they need more practice. Fun ways to do this include:

• write them in chalk on the driveway
• use a clean paintbrush and paint them with water on the driveway or sidewalk
• use special/fancy pens, markers, crayons and paper
• write them on a whiteboard, chalkboard or magnetic board (MagnaDoodle)
• have them write a number on your back with their finger and you guess what they are writing, then change places and you write on their back or you can write on each others' palms, too
• have them write them with their finger in the air or on the carpet

It is normal for students to be writing some numbers backwards at this point in the year. We are starting to work on that and point out to them that they have some numbers that they need to "fix". The earlier they correct this the easier it is to correct.

Library

We have had several visits to the school library so far this year. Our regular library time will be on Thursdays at 12:35 pm. Please help your child remember to bring their books back to school on or before Thursday mornings so that they can check out new books. We love visiting Ms. Kelly and the library!

Reading

By now you know that your child is choosing books to bring home to read to you each night from Monday through Thursday. You may be wondering how to help your child with their reading or what to say as they are reading aloud to you. The 5 minute video below will answer those questions for you. The video will explain some of the best ways to help your child and will let you hear a child reading to a parent so you can hear the parent responses. Please continue to read aloud to your child, too. If you get this post by email, you will need to click through and go directly to the crew blog to view the video. It won't appear in the email.

Drumming and Reading with Our 6th Grade Buddies

Now that we have 6th grade buddies, we plan to drum with them every other week. We will read with them once a week for about 10 minutes. We love having them come to our classroom and are already learning so much from them.

Important Dates
9/21 No School - Professional Development Day for Teachers
10/8-10/19 Fall Break
10/22 No School - Teacher Work Day
11/6 No School - Professional Development Day for Teachers
11/21-11/23 No School - Thanksgiving Break
12/24-1/7 Winter Break

Drumming Video