Busy Week!

Last week was so busy with Hopes & Dreams conference nights, the beginning of PALS testing, and other events.
Here we were last week, busy and focused, creating our final representations for Hopes & Dreams conferences.

We also worked on using our Drawing Pad app to represent our thinking after reading workshop.

Thanks to Cooper's mom for volunteering to help out!

After we responded independently, we shared our thinking with our reading partners.  We know we get smarter by talking about our thinking with others.

What do you like about the Drawing Pad app?

Reflecting on our Thinking & Learning

We have been doing some self-assessing and reflecting on our work.  For a while we have been reading the book James and the Giant Peach aloud during snack time.

It is a great story that starts out with James and his two hideous aunts.  A peculiar thing happens to James, and the peach tree in his yard starts to grow an enormous peach.  The tree bends over from the weight of the peach, and soon breaks free and rolls all the way to the ocean.  James meets some very strange creatures who soon become his friends (life-sized insects), and they go off on an amazing adventure together.

We learned that...

We discussed the difference between sketching and drawing, and then took five minutes to sketch what has "stuck with us" so far about the book, James and the Giant Peach.

We shared our sketches with the whole group and practiced our listening and sharing skills with the document camera and the microphone.  We remembered our classroom rule of "taking care of each other" when someone else is sharing.

Watch the video below to see what "stuck with us" about James and the Giant Peach:

We also took STAR testing for the first time.  This 20-minute testing done on the ipad helps me figure out what our focus will be for teaching and learning.  It will also be a great tool to track learning across the school year.

We are busy getting ready for our Hopes & Dreams conferences coming up next Tuesday and Thursday.  At the beginning of the year we came up with something we hope to learn about in first grade.  We revisited these Hopes & Dreams and learned that it's good to revisit and reassess our thinking and learning.  After revisiting our original Hopes & Dreams, we decided if we wanted to totally change them, keep them the same, or change them just a  little bit.  Most of us decided to totally change our Hopes & Dreams.  After re-writing them, we used classroom supplies to represent our Hopes & Dreams in some way.  Here we are, hard at work.

We can't wait to share our Hopes & Dreams with you!

I can't believe we have been in school for three weeks already!
Enjoy your weekend!

Partnerships

This week we focused on partnerships and worked on several projects and activities in small groups.
We learned that we are better thinkers and we get smarter when we talk about our learning.

Watch the video below to see us fine-tuning our partner skills by working on some team projects:

What is your favorite time to work alone?  What is your favorite time to work with a partner?

Teamwork

Teamwork is so important, especially in Room 408.  Today we read an article about schools of fish out of Ranger Rick magazine and were amazed at how all the fish worked together to swim as one big blob to protect themselves.

We learned that fish have eyes on the sides of their heads so they can watch out for each other's movements and be copycats. 

We also learned that fish in schools can sense each other's lateral lines (see above).

Watch on the video above to see some scads schooling to protect themselves from their swordfish predators.

This made us think of the book called Swimmy that we recently read together.

Click on the book cover to reread Swimmy by Leo Lionni.

In this story a fish named Swimmy encourages his school to swim all together like one big fish in order to chase the big fish away.


How do we use teamwork in the classroom?

Serious Readers

We started our day by drawing ourselves walking the wire with Philippe Petit on the Morning Message.

Anderson made a throwing star by following printed directions (literacy in action!):

...And we had a fabulous Reading Workshop time.  We talked about why we read a lot in first grade.  Room 408 said we could get smarter, we could learn new words, we could read better when we're an adult, and it helps us learn to talk.  We discussed what the students' job is, as well as what the teacher's job is.  Here we are getting smarter by reading!


What have you been reading?

Room 408 Expectations

We are in the process of representing our Hopes & Dreams in Room 408.  We have also been talking about what we want it to be like when we work, learn, and play together this year.  We brainstormed ideas such as helping others, no pushing, finding your best learner spot, etc.  Then we sorted these ideas into three easy categories to help us remember our expectations:  I can take care of myself, I can take care of others, and I can take care of our place.

We also learned a fun new poem today, and the kids made up motions to go with it:

We ended the day with activity time.  This is a time when we explored the art materials in the room and learned about the care and clean up of these materials.

At the end of the day we shared our creations.  Check out these proud faces!

What did you like best about your project?

Hopes & Dreams

Today we read the book The Man Who Walked Between The Towers:

It's about a man named Philippe Petit, who in 1974 had a dream to walk between the Twin Towers in New York City.  He snuck up with his equipment at night and accomplished his goal.  Room 408 was amazed to find out it was a true story!

Above is the news video that aired around the time when it happened. Enjoy!

Would you do something daring like this?  Why or why not?

Friday Learning

We did a Guided Discovery of construction paper and gluesticks so we could practice learning how to use them and take care of them properly.  They made so many great creations.

Mrs. Going came to read with us and talked about her "pet book."

We did a Guided Discovery with watercolors, as well.

We learned that we get smarter when we talk about our thinking.  We practiced turning and talking.  We learned about disagreeing respectfully by saying, "I beg to differ."

We also worked really hard in Writer's Workshop.

What a great Friday!