Last week of September

Hi everyone!
We continue to keep busy in first grade. Every Monday we engaging in learning more ideas about art.  This week we thought about how artists sort colors - into cool and warm colors.  We used water color to create cool/warm art.

We also a rolling along with special person - here are some new ideas.  The stories your children are telling are becoming more detailed and their writing is getting better every day.

Every day we also engage in math ideas.  The Bridges curriculum is ramps ups slowly, but we are beginning to explore odd/even and addition strategies.  The Number Corner gives us more time to explore how numbers work together- and try out subtraction and multiplication!

Here is an example of a typical day - we had the schedule drawn for the first 3 weeks, now we are using photos of our class in action for the daily schedule.

What a great group of learners!

Tuesday September 19

HI everyone!
We continue to learn and create - we have a new Special Person each day....here are a few of their stories:

Last week we began our exploration of art with straight lines:

This week we continued with stained glass-like straight lines:

This week we are moving into mathematical thinking about addition and subtractions.  We will use buttons to help us with these symbolic concepts.  Today we sorted the buttons by color and determined most quantities

It turns out that kids really like sorting buttons - at least Hazel thinks so!

Thanks everyone - ask your child what they did at school today!

Keeping Busy

We are definitely keeping busy in first grade.  We continue to learn routines and expectations as we engage in mathematical thinking, reading, and writing.
We have been working together to write stories during a time that we call "Special Person".  One person each day tells a story about a fun time they had with their family.  We write a group story together about their experience.  Then all of the students write stories about the same topic, then we make a book about those stories FOR the special person - here are a few examples:

This visual way of connecting ideas (pictures) to symbols (words) helps all learners find success with the writing process.

We had buddies for the first time today as well!  Ms. Morioka's third grade will be working with us this year!

We also continue to enjoy choosing, recess, and learning more about each other!
Have a great day!

Moving along with First grade!

Hi everyone!
It was great to see you all last night.  Below you will find the most important bits of information we talked about last night:

Thanks for all of your attendance last night.  It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your children already!

Here is a recap of the topics we discussed last night:

I was born and raised in Portland.  I’ve been teaching now for 22 years.  I earned my doctorate in 2016 in Neuroeducation from the University of Portland, which means that I use principles of neuroscience and language theory to inform classroom instructional practices.  I also am adjunct teaching for the University of Portland School of Education one night a week. 

Volunteers are welcome in room 13.  We could really use your help during literacy block, the first hour of school Tuesday-Friday.  We also learn more about art on Monday from 12:10-1:15 if you like to help with art.  Email me if you are interested.

There will be no official homework this year.  Please continue to read with you child, count money, read a face clock, cook together, measure things and all of the other wonderful activities you enjoy with your child.

If someone you know is not receiving these emails, please contact the office.  They will be able to enter your information into the student management system.

Please turn in supply money as soon as you are able – it really helps our class.

The weekly schedule is attached – now you know basically what your child is doing each day!

Please always send a water bottle to school

Book orders will go home each month.  Ordering online is the most  convenient. Our class code is L6VB8.  This month book order is due September 15.

Please call the office to sign up for a conference time/date when you can.

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:45-8:50	Morning Routine	Morning Routine	Morning Routine	Morning Routine	Morning Routine
8:50-9:45	Story of the week –Interactive Read-Aloud (Direct reading strategies instruction/modeling) Poem of the week	Literacy Block-Differentiated Reading Instruction (Independent writing/reading work)	Literacy Block-Differentiated Reading Instruction (Independent writing/reading work)	Literacy Block- Differentiated Reading Instruction (Independent writing/reading work)	Literacy Block- Differentiated Reading Instruction (Independent writing/reading work)
9:45-10:00	Number Corner	Number Corner	Number Corner	Number Corner	Number Corner
10:00-10:30	Break (snack)	Break (snack)	Break (snack)	Break (snack)	Break (snack)
10:30-11:25	Math	Math	Math	Math	Math
11:25-12:05	Lunch & Recess	Lunch & Recess	Lunch & Recess	Lunch & Recess	Lunch & Recess
12:05-12:25	Classroom Art Instruction (with parent volunteer)	Read Aloud Quiet Choice Reading	Read Aloud Quiet Choice Reading	Read Aloud Quiet Choice Reading	Read Aloud Quiet Choice Reading
12:25-1:25		Integrated Content Instruction-Language development   Reading & Writing Science/Social Studies & Project Work	Integrated Content Instruction-Language development   Reading & Writing Science/Social Studies & Project Work	Integrated Content Instruction-Language development   Reading & Writing Science/Social Studies & Project Work	Integrated Content Instruction-Language development   Reading & Writing Science/Social Studies & Project Work
1:25-1:55	Choice Time	Choice time	Choice Time	Choice Time	Choice Time
1:55-2:25	PE	Music	PE	Library Check Out	Music
2:25-2:50	Writing	Writing	Writing	Writing	Media/Library
2:55-3:00	End of Day Routine	End of Day Routine	End of Day Routine	End of Day Routine	End of Day Routine

 Here are some pictures from our week - feel free to contact me anytime with questions - enjoy your weekend!

math workplaces

math workplaces

geoboard designs

New library helper Diane

A visit from the principal

recess!