Skating

This morning all the Grade Ones went skating.  Thank you to all the parents who came out to help tie skates and skate with the students.  Also, thanks to Mrs. K. and Mr. M. for driving our skates and helmets to the rink, so we could walk there faster!  We had a great time!

Some students used chairs to help them get started!

And some used the chairs to get a ride!

No Words...

Being Crafty!

This afternoon, Grade ones had fun making some Christmas crafts!  Watch for them to come home next week.  Just a few reminders for next week:  we are going skating on Monday morning.  Thanks to all the parents who volunteered to come and tie skates.  Monday is also Winter  or Christmas pajama day.  Students are getting very excited for Christmas - only 5 more school days!  Have a great weekend!

Mr. McPhail came to help out too!

Waiting patiently for the next set of instructions!

Painting snowflakes is painstaking work!

Gingerbread Baking!

 

Our baked gingerbread people!

The best part - eating!  We coloured a "map" to show the order that we ate our gingerbread people.

 

Thank you to Mrs. B. who helped us make gingerbread cookies this morning!  Students rolled out the dough and put on decorations.  After they were baked, we ate them!  We kept track of the order in which parts of the gingerbread person (some were girls, some were boys) were eaten.  Then we wrote  sentences  telling the order that we ate our gingerbread!

Learning to Add

We have started adding in Math!
Our Math lesson today was all about using two-sided counters to show different ways to make 5.  We have done similar lessons to this earlier in the year, but now we are ready to relate this to the idea of combining groups to equal a larger number.
Students were given the problem of finding out how many different ways there are to show 5 using two-sided counters.  They had to shake, spill and count how many red and how many yellow, then record their work.  Students discovered that there are 6 different ways to show 5!  (The hardest one to show was 5 red and 0 yellow, or 0 red and 5 yellow.)

Finger Painting!

The Grade Ones are responsible for the Generosity bulletin board display in the hallway on the way to the Gym.  We are making a huge Christmas tree made out of paper plate wreaths.  Today, students used their fingers to paint their wreaths.  Each wreath will have the student's photo in the center and then we will put all the wreaths together  (complete with gifts below!)  You can see it when you come for the Christmas concert on December 20th.

Christmas Math Centers

This week in Math we are working on Christmas Math Centers.  There are eight activities that practice and reinforce various concepts that we have worked on so far in Grade One Math:  counting, before and after, ten frames, number words, greater and less, number patterns, sequencing numbers from least to greatest, etc.  Students worked with partners to complete the activities.  Each activity involves manipulating number cards or counting and then showing work on a recording sheet.  Here are some pictures to show what the students were doing:

Matching number with numbers of buttons on the gingerbread men

Finding the numbers that come before and after

Putting Santa's sack numbers in order, then recording the numbers (see below)

Choosing three numbers, then putting them in order from least to greatest

Matching number words, numbers and ten frames - different ways to represent numbers to 20

(Credit:  The activities are from "Mistletoe Math Tubs" - created by Cara Carroll - from First Grade Parade blogspot.)

Buddy Letter Picture Sorts

In our Word Study lessons, we've been learning  about consonant digraphs (buddy letters) such as sh, ch, th and wh.  One of the ways that students can deepen their understanding of these sounds is by doing picture sorts.  Today we sorted a collection of pictures under the correct headings by doing a "No Peeking Sort". Students worked with a partner.  One person said the name of the picture and the other student had to point on the chart where the word belonged - without seeing the picture (under "sh" for shoe, "ch" for chair, "wh" for wheel and "th" for thumb). 

T. is saying the words and D. is pointing to show where it belongs.

A partially completed picture sort.

Visiting Cats and Musical Instruments

Whew!  It's Friday!  We have had a very busy week.  (I don't think I've ever posted 5 articles in one week before!)  This morning B.'s mom brought in his 2 cats for Sharing.  They made themselves right at home, as you can see below!

In Music, the students had their first chance to play the barred instruments (glockenspiels, xylophones and metallophones).  Ask your child to sing "Lucy Locket" and pretend to play the pattern on their knees that we played on the instruments.  Have a great weekend and keep warm!

Shining Willow Books and Visualizing

This morning Mrs. Arlene Low (one of the Learning Coaches  in our division) visited our classroom to introduce the Shining Willow book nominees for this year to our class.  She told a little about each book and then read one (The Busy Beaver) to the class.  We will be reading all the nominated books in a few weeks.  Students then get to vote for their favourite book.  Children from all over Saskatchewan vote and the book that receives the most votes wins the Shining Willow award.  For more information about this year's nominees, go to:  http://www.willowawards.ca/nominated-books/2012/shining-willow

Students listening attentively to the The Busy Beaver

We continue to work on the Visualizing reading strategy.  Yesterday I read a book to the students called The Magic Fish by Freya Littledale (without letting them see the pictures!)  We discussed different kinds of mental pictures they might have about different parts of the story.  Today  I read it again and stopped to allow students to draw their mental images on a "thinking strip".  They then used these pictures to help them retell the story.

The children are drawing their mental images for different parts of the story The Magic Fish.

Using clipboards is fun too!

A completed thinking strip

Students using their thinking strips to retell the story to a partner.

Guided Reading, Music and Self-Portraits

This week we have been doing Guided Reading Groups.  Students are placed in small groups (4 or 5 students in each group) and I guide them through a new book that they have not read before.  The lesson usually includes a "picture walk" (we look at the pictures in the book and discuss new vocabulary) and a purpose for reading.  Students then read the book at their own pace while I listen and help students who need a little extra assistance.  This is a good opportunity for me to see how students use the different reading strategies that I have taught, such as:  using picture clues, getting our lips ready to say the first sound, looking for word chunks, etc.  Students who are not reading with me, work on independent activities such as writing and word work or they Read to Someone (including checking for understanding).

Guided Reading Group - each student reads the text at their own pace

Read to Someone - students practice reading the books from their book baskets to a partner to develop comprehension and fluency 

This student is doing Work on Writing

Word Work - using stamps to practice printing words that begin with the "wh" digraph

In Music we've been listening to selections from Camille Saint-Saens's "Carnival of the Animals".  Today's selection was called  "Tortoises".  Students enjoyed moving to the music like turtles.  (Here is a link to a YouTube video where you can hear the music!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mRJfMi3xYw)

Here are the  self-portraits from our recent art project: