First Week of First Grade!

It has been a super fun and busy week in first grade! It is so good to be back. I have fully enjoyed my first week with this class. I can tell these students are coming into first grade with strong foundations from Preschool and Kindergarten. I am so impressed with what I am seeing, and can tell that we are going to go far this year! I am excited for all the things ahead of us!

Day 1 is always an adjustment as we leap back into life at school. There are so many rules, routines, and procedures for every part of our day to learn. Once we establish those rules and expectations, we are able to dig in and really enjoy each other's company! We spent a lot of time discussing friendships, and doing several team building and community building exercises. We strive to create a classroom atmosphere where everyone is kind, caring, respectful, and hard working. We learn to help each other out, and treat each other like family.

This week, we.....

...played Hula Hoop Tic Tac Toe with Mrs. Quist's class! It's a fun game that gets the kids up and moving, and also thinking and trying to play strategically. Some students were familiar with tic tac toe, but some have not played before, and didn't know the strategies to winning. Try this game at home on a piece of paper, whiteboard, or even in your yard like this!

We also played "Find a Friend" with Mrs. Quist's class. This game helped get to know each other, talk, mingle, and ask people questions. It was a fun one!

Writing was another big part of our week. We wrote about our friends and families! Some of the work went home, and some will be saved to show you at conference time.

Many students think first grade is: awesome, epic, cool, fantastic, and amazing! Their words! Come check out our self portraits and "First grade is ____________________" writings in the hallway! They did an outstanding job. We have lots of artists and great writers in our class!

First grade is cool!

Recess is always a hit! Playing outside with our friends always proves to be a good time!

Not all things are easy......not even in first grade! We learned that things may be challenging this year, and it is all about having a good mindset and attitude when it comes to challenges. We discussed what to do when we get mad, sad, or frustrated at school, and how to PERSEVERE!

Check it out, here!

Speaking of challenges, we were able to conquer our first team challenge successfully! Students were charged with the task of creating the tallest tower with a few spaghetti noodles, a marshmallow, a piece of string, and some tape. The catch is that the marshmallow had to be on top of the tower, and the tower had to stand up on it's own. It was great to see everyone work cooperatively, problem solve, build, rebuild, laugh, and think deeply. This would be a fun family game night activity, too!

This team was really thinking when they added pieces of spaghetti noodles around the marshmallow to try to balance the weight distribution and keep it from tipping over. Deep thinking going on here!

This team got a little creative with the directions and said '....but it is standing by itself against the fish tank!"

This team is putting the noodles in bundles of three to make them more sturdy!

Here are some of our read alouds from this week. Many students like to re-watch them at home, and it is a great conversation starter!

First Day Jitters....as your child about Jitter Juice!

First grade is a lot different than Kindergarten. We discussed the similarities and differences. Despite not having a nap time, we agree that first grade does NOT stink!

My Teacher is a Monster! This book is all about perspective, and it's very entertaining.

Cool Dog, School Dog

Again, it has been a great week! Thank you for sharing your child with me; I truly enjoy having each one of them in my classroom! Please feel free to call, e-mail, write a note or stop in before/after school if you have any questions or concerns.

Additionally, THANK YOU for all of the classroom supplies! Everyone brought plenty of items and we are definitely stocked for the year!!! You guys are so amazing, and generous! I wonder if anyone might be willing to send in wet wipes/handi-wipes for washing hands after snack and lunch times? With the peanut allergies in our classroom, it would speed up the hand washing process, as we try to stay on top of cleanliness and safety for our students!

Lastly, please be sure to check your child's ROCKSTAR folder each day, and your child's snack day on the calendar in the folder. We have already used up the extra snacks on hand! If you are unable to send in a snack on your child's day, please give me a heads up so that I can make other arrangements. If you forget your snack day, you can send in something extra for the cabinet so that we have more back up snacks to replace the ones used. Please remember to check the safe foods list. Thank you!!

These next few weeks, students will continue to focus on school and classroom rules, procedures, and routines, and we will also begin our review units in math and reading next week. We're off to a great start! More updates to come next week!