We had another fantastic week here on planet first grade.  We had testing, Constitution Day and science…oh my. We will finish up our NWEA testing for the fall next week, but the class has done fantastic so far.  As soon as parent results are ready I will let you know. 

September 17^th was also Constitution Day and we celebrated in an appropriate way—We made a class Constitution.  This was an entirely student driven exercise with the exception of the first rule: You’ll Never Walk Alone.  YNWA is a phrase you will hear a lot from your child over the course of the year.   This is a message I will be teaching and reinforcing throughout the year.  My message is that in Mr. Hagen’s classroom we are family.  We are a group.  We are a team.   These kids will always have a bond that connects them.  We help one another out.  We support one another and if they can remember that and keep that message in his/her heart then he/she will never walk alone.  I believe it is an appropriate and positive message that I look forward to exploring more with the class.  This is a great group of kids and I am so excited to be their first grade teacher. 

Now onto the highlights…

Math:

In math this week we organized a lot of data using tallies.  The class worked in small groups to sort and tally several types of animals.  We also tallied how everyone gets home at the end of the day.  We also spent time exploring some mathematical manipulative materials.  We capped off the week by talking more about number stories. 

Phonics:

We have been making ABC books dealing with beginning sounds.  Although this sounds a bit rudimentary for first graders I am adapting the assignment to meet the individual learners.  We also spent time with rhyming words, spelling words and changing the first letter to make a new word.  

Science:

We practiced using our thermometers to check the temperature of three different cups of water.  We also recorded our findings in our journals.  The class had a blast with that lesson.  We also began looking at the collecting and examining life aspect of our science curriculum.  We will spend more time on that next week.