The end of March

This month's weather has been unpredictable.  There has been a good sign to all of this though.  Last night the temperature did not go below freezing.  That is a step in the right direction.  If this winter has taught us anything the children can identify what is the freezing point and where it is on the thermometer.

We have been following March Madness this past week and this week.  Yes it is true, my beloved St. Joe's hawks were bumped out early in the second round of the 64 teams but we have had fun cheering on the other teams.  Just think about it.  You child is learning the following skills during this unit.
March Madness teaches:

• time (you need to know what time the games start or how much time is left in the game)
• difference (aka subtraction)
• skip counting (3, 2,or 1 points)
• addition 
• geography (where the team is from and where will they play)
• predictions
• odd and even numbers
• number sense and 100 grid
• sportsmanship and teamwork
• identifying numbers 0-100
• calendar (need to know the dates of the games)

We have also been learning about homophones and inferences.  Friday we visited Mrs. Wilkinson's class and taught them how to play the addition game BUMP.

Next week we will be practicing Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for our First Grade Musical.  Your child will be on stage with the entire 1st grade.  It may be warm from all the people there and the stage lights. Please dress your child in layers and comfortable shoes to stand and sing in.  Thank you 

Pi day was Friday

Did your child come home talking about Pi on Friday.  No, not the pie we eat but rather the Greek symbol and its meaning in math?  I hope so.  Every March 14th I showcase this great date in math.  You see March 14 is written as 3.14......... get it?

 

So your child learned about this way cool number and all of its developmentally appropriate meanings for a first grader. 

We read

  

 

 

We also saw so YouTube videos that helped us understand the meaning of Pi.  Check them out:

 

 

 

 And lastly we made pi bracelets.  Each colored bead refers to a number in Pi.

 

 

Read Across America in Review

This week started like so many of our weeks this winter... SNOW DAY.  However, that did not get in our way of celebrating Read Across America Week at FLW.

On Tuesday we had guest readers from the Lumberton Township Police and Lumberton Board of Education come and read to the class.

We also taste tested Fasnacht Donuts for Fat Tuesday.  These are special donuts only made on this day.  Yum. Yum

On Wednesday we came to school in our pjs and the whole school read "all around the Mulberry Bush so early in the morning...."

 In class we have what Dr. Mueller calls "Dessert".  This is when we can read Dr. Seuss booksafter our work is done.  What fun.

We also made a Dr. Seuss treat. It was made of some of Dr. Seuss's books:  Hop on Pop(Popcorn), Oh the Places you Go (Cheerios), One Fish, Two Fish(Goldfish), The Many Colors (M&Ms), If I ran the Circus (animal crackers)

On Thursday we ate Dr. Mueller's version of Green Eggs. Dr. Mueller is not a cook, so these eggs were delicious. 

 On Thursday we also had our Finale.  This is Needa Rita Book and Illie Strator.  They brought their friends from Mother Goose Land to come visit with the students.

Listen to your child read EVERYDAY

I saw this post on a blog and wanted to share it with you.

It is from beginningreadinghelp.blogspot.com

 Helping a child learn to read is easier than most parents think.

 

Find books that are at your child's reading level. If your child makes a mistake or takes a long time to sound out more than one in ten words, the book your child is reading is at frustration level. Easier books should be chosen.

Be patient.
Let your child know you are his or her audience.
You expect the story you hear to make sense, so you expect your child to fix anything that is confusing.

You can explain it like this. As you listen to a story there's a movie playing in your head. If something is not read correctly, the movie in your head gets fuzzy or stops. Ask your child to make a movie in his or her head too.

Hopefully your child will fix his or her reading or ask for help when something stops making sense. Let your child know if something didn't make sense to you. Give your child time to use and combine reading skills. Wait for your child to ask for help before pointing out a mistake or jumping in to show how to read a word.

It's okay to tell your child a word sometimes. You can point out letter sounds or ask your child to look at pictures and think about what might make sense, but you don't have to do it every time. You want to keep the flow of the story going, so your child's movie doesn't stop.

Many children learn to read easily after a little instruction and being read to early and often. About thirty percent of children struggle. If a child starts to fall behind in reading and attends school, parents should not wait to get help for their child. School is all about reading. Even in math, children have to read story problems and directions. If a child falls behind in reading, they begin to feel stupid. Every day it gets worse. I've seen this first hand, and it breaks my heart.

100 day fun

It may have been a few days later than expected but we finally got to celebrate our 100 days of First Grade.  We are 100 days smarter.  Our "old" friends came in ready for day filled with 100 day surprises.

Some of the activities that we did were:

splitting the class into two groups and trying to build the highest tower out of 100 solo cups,

We also raced to see how many times can you write your name in 100 seconds.

We got to meet a 100 year old person.  Dr. Mueller had her grandmom, who is 100 years old, come in and talk with the class.  She answered lots of questions we had about being 100 and what it was like back when she was a child.

We worked in our table groups to estimate and count different objects.

It was a great day.