Establishing Routines and Exploring Our Schoolyard Habitat

We have been busy establishing routines in our classroom these first couple of weeks of school.  Even though it has been extremely hot we did manage to accomplish quite a bit! We even practiced bus safety!

Our morning begins with "Wake Up" work.  Students settle in first thing and work on practicing their word wall words, math problems, handwriting, etc.

"Wake Up" Work

The majority of our morning is spent with the "Daily 5" where students are working on reading, spelling, and writing.  We are working on building stamina as we establish and practice the expectations for each routine.

"Read to Self" 

 

"Read to Someone"

Another important part of the Daily 5 is "Work on Writing."  Students choose any topic to write about in their monthly journals.  Right now we are working on developing an idea or topic.

"Work on Writing" - August Journals

 One of our word wall words was the word "as" which can be kind of tricky for 1st graders.  After we read the book "Easy as Pie", students wrote one of the sayings from the book and illustrated it.

 

We explored our schoolyard habitat using our five senses.  We discussed how scientists always record or document their findings and how they use special tools to explore nature.  Then, students used a special habitat booklet to draw what they experienced.  They even got to use magnifying glasses and binoculars!  Later on, back in the classroom the boys and girls wrote sentences about their pictures. 

Another part of our beginning of the year ritual is the school bus safety review.  The kiddos did a great job!  Here they are practicing exiting the bus safely.

As you can see we have been very busy!!

The First Days of School 2013-14

We are off to a great start in Mrs. Nelson's first grade classroom!  It has been very warm in our classroom, but we are managing with many trips to the water fountain and some icy cold popcicles!
Backpack night was fun as I got to meet parents and siblings as the families helped bring in supplies for their special first grader. There are 20 students in our room made up of 11 boys and 9 girls.

The first few days were filled with activities to help my kiddos get acquainted with one another and learn how to work with a partner.  Of course, we reviewed our school's PBIS expectations.  I was so proud of my "firsties" as they exhibited wonderful behavior and could recite most of the rules. We use Class Dojo, an online classroom management tool, and the boys and girls were very excited to see their own special "avatar."  Even though we have only used it a couple of days, the kiddos are already setting class and personal goals, as well as, looking forward to seeing the results at the end of each day.

I am very excited at the prospects for each and everyone of my special first graders.  I know it is going to be a wonderful year filled with lots of fun, learning, and growth for each child.

Here is a peek into our first few days:

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