Room 100 Happenings

Hello friends of room 100! Here is an update of what we've been learning in 1st grade. 

Reading

In reading, we have been working on identifying key ideas and details in fiction texts. We have been focusing on retelling stories and including details like setting, characters, major events problem and solution. We've also been working on identifying the beginning, middle and end of a story. 


We also learned about fiction and non fiction text features, connections and predictions. 

Writing

We are continue our exploration of personal narratives. For the next 2 weeks, we are really focusing on writing beginnings that hook our reader and endings that make our stories memorable. 

Science

As scientists, we have continued our study of animals. Most recently, we were able to examine hermit crabs and how they keep themselves safe. This was a major highlight of our science unit!

Routines

Our dailies have been up and running for over a month and students are getting more and more used to the routines. We added something new into our dailies this week. Daily To Do Lists!

Tech

Students have become more familiar and comfortable with our class iPads. They have been using Drawing Pad to share their learning and observations and Wonderopolis to research. Last week, students used Wonderopolis to learn more about hermit crabs. 

So Much Learning!

Wow! The last few weeks have flown by. We have been so busy learning! We are still focusing on classroom routines and expectations. Last week, we made such great choices and we earned our first class incentive! Pajama day!! We had a ton of fun and we were VERY comfy! Here is an update of what else we've been working on in Room 100.

Reading

We have learned all about 3 of our dailies: read to self, read to buddy and listen to reading. Every day, students will participate in these dailies and Miss Walsh and I will meet with small reading groups.

We have also been learning some decoding strategies that will help us when we are reading and we come to a word we don't know. So far we've learned about Using Picture Clues, Getting our Mouth Ready and Rereading. This coming week we will learn even more strategies!

Learning about Getting our Mouth ready to read the sounds in a word from Miss Walsh.

Writing

In writing we have been focusing on personal narratives. We have been working hard on finding the small seed moment stories in our big watermelon topic ideas. For example: Big Watermelon topic: Going on to Disneyworld. Small Seed Story: Meeting Mickey Mouse.



Math

In math we have been using different strategies to help us with addition problems and addition number stories. These strategies include: drawing a picture, using ten frames, using dominoes and using a number line.

Science

Science has been so exciting! The first graders have really transformed into scientists. Our current science unit is about plants and animals. The past few weeks, we have been focusing on plant and animal parts. We even got to watch a seed grow and examine its parts!

Our first grade garden!

We put on our engineering hats to create a tower that stands on its own. We used what we knew about plant parts to help us create our towers. We also used what we knew about animals parts (specifically fur, feathers and blubber) to design a glove that would keep our hands warm in cold water. We are LOVING all the hands on investigations in science!

Up and Running in 1st Grade!

What a whirlwind the last week (and 3 days!) have been! We have already learned so much in 1st grade and we are just getting started. Here is an update on what we have been up to in room 100. Please check our Twitter for more frequent updates of room 100 happenings! @MissGMcDole100

We talked about classroom and 1st grade expectations and we will continue to review these expectations as the year progresses. It is important that we work together to follow these expectations so we are all ready to learn! We are really focusing on listening and following directions and not talking while others are talking. 

We have also been working hard during reading workshop. We have talked about so many things that will help us be focused and thoughtful readers. The first thing we wondered is why people read. The kiddos had some very thoughtful things to share!

We also learned about the 3 Ways to Read a Book and how to find a perfect reading spot. 

Lastly, we learned about Read to Self and we built stamina by practicing!

Not only are we building our reading stamina, but we are also building our writing stamina!

In math, we have been practicing counting to 120 and using a 100s chart. We have also been exploring ten frames. 

We have also been exploring the world around us as scientists. The first we of school we tried to made ant traps using various food items. We predicted which items the ants would like the best!

 

 

We also started a new science unit on living things. We took a virtual field trip to the zoo and observed different animals. 

Whoa! We sure were busy! Please check back soon for more updates. You can also check the Fun Photos tab for more pictures and the Daily schedule tab for a breakdown of our day. 

Happy 1st Grade Faces!!

All About Miss G.!

Welcome to 1st Grade! I'm looking forward to being your teacher and getting to know you better. Here are a few things about me!

1. I have a very big family and friends who I love to spend time with. They are all very important to me so I'm sure you'll hear a lot about them this year! I love spending time with my two nephews. Christopher will be in 3rd grade this year and Alexander will be a 1st grader! I also have a dog, Roxy, and cat, Lana, who I adore! 

2. I recently moved to Schaumburg. It is long way from McDole but I love it and I have really enjoyed decorating my new home!

3. I love to learn and I'm currently in grad school at NIU working towards my Master's in literacy. I'm learning so much and I can't wait to share it all with you!

4. One of my favorite hobbies is doing theater. I love to act, sing and dance (even though I'm not the best dancer!) I try to participate in shows often and just did one this summer. One of my favorite roles was Princess Fred in Once Upon a Mattress.

5. I love reading! One of my favorite things to do with my class is read books to them. I hope you love reading just as much!

All About Frogs

We are going to teach you all about frogs and frog bogs. We became experts by reading a book about frog bogs and interviewing Mr. Berger who is a nature expert!

Types of Frogs

There are 17 to 18 types of frogs in Illinois. Here are some types of frogs: leopard frogs and spring peepers. There are also bull frogs and they can jump up to 6 feet. Some can be big and some can be very big. They could fit on your fingernail!

Food

Frogs can eat all types of insects, not just flies! They can eat anything they can catch. Here are some examples: flies, birds, ants, bees, and spiders. You shouldn't use bug spray because that would kill their food! Bullfrogs can eat birds.

Body

A frog's skin is wet. They have several layers of skin. They are soft. Their legs can be very long. When they are tadpoles, they have tails but when they are beginning to be a frog, their tails go away. The energy from their tails go into their bodies.

Things That Can Hurt Frogs

Oil can hurt frogs. It can go through their skin and can make them die. When pollution is in their homes, the babies could have 2 heads or 5 or 6 legs. 

How Can We Help!

-Create a frog bog or pond

-Don't put goldfish or koi fish in the bog

-Clean it every day

-Don't use bug spray

Written by: GS, AB, and AM

Celebration of the Room 100 Authors!

For the last several weeks, 1st graders have been working hard on become expert informational authors! This is HARD work and they definitely were up for the challenge. Students planned, drafted, revised and editing their books and they made sure to include introductions and conclusions. 

We brainstormed ways to celebrate and one of the ideas was to put our books in the McDole library and that is just what we did! The 1st graders created wonderful books and celebrating their hard work by displaying our writing in the McDole library for every one to see. We are sharing our writing with others and teaching about our expert topics. We have gotten so many compliments already! Check out a few pictures from our celebration. 

We even took some time to sit in the library and read each other's books!