First Grade Is Better Because YOU Are In It!
Welcome to first grade!!! We had an amazing week, packed full of learning routines and procedures, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones, practicing skills from kindergarten and learning what it means to be a first grader! Even better yet, mixed into all of that learning was a ton of fun!
We began our week with a fun little story and activity which I am sure you heard all about! We read a story called First Day Jitters. This fun little story helps to put our nerves aside, because we find out that everyone gets the jitters before experiencing something new and that is OK! After our story we all got to try a tasty treat called Jitter Juice. I loved hearing our friends talking about how they had the jitters that morning but not anymore. One friend said, "Mrs. Quist, I had the jitters but now I don't! Now I wish I could stay here forever!" You can listen to the story here:
You probably noticed many little badges coming home, some attached to your child's work that said things like 5-STAR certified, classroom certified, and school certified. We have been working SUPER hard at learning, reviewing, practicing, practicing and practicing some more how to be STAR students here at Forest View. We have read stories, roamed the halls, played outside and even visited special places at school where we have talked about what it means to be Safe, Trustworthy, Accountable and Respectful!
As your child has practiced all of these things, they have been come certified - knowing they will work hard to be STARs this year!!
Our class was excited to learn that they can be producers of 5-STAR work, meaning they work their hardest to draw detail into their pictures including using a variety of colors and adding background detail. Although it is going to be an ongoing thing we continue to work on all year long, we made some great progress already this week!
Thankfully it didn't rain all week and there were some moments when we were able to get outside and play, as well as enjoy our newly revamped Nature and Learning Trail (if you get some time make sure to take a walk with your family one of these nights)! We had a blast getting to take a buddy walk and stop periodically to learn more about our buddy!
This year we will be working hard to develop a variety of social-emotional skills that will help your child to interact and learn with his/her peers. We will strive to maintain a positive and cooperative learning environment for all of our students! We learn how to be good friends and citizens in our classroom and school as well.
As a part of this effort, in our classroom we do a lot of team building. Each student sits with their team when eating breakfast, doing independent work, projects and Daily 5 (to name a few). It is very important that we share positive interactions and experiences with our teams as well as allow everyone their own independence to complete tasks. As we change seating arrangements, teams change and we get to continue building relationships all year long!
This week we began building some camaraderie and collaboration in our teams as we worked together to build structures together as a team. The challenge was for students to work together to build a tower that could stand and hold up a marshmallow using only uncooked spaghetti noodles, marshmallows and tape. They had a blast and although not everyone's towers were standing by the end, it was amazing to see their strategic thinking and problems solving skills at work!
In addition to our team tables where we do a lot of our independent work, our class has gotten to learn how to choose their own work spaces that best fits everyone's needs! We have talked about how everyone needs to be able to do their work and sometimes that might mean that they need to find a better spot, away from their tables where there may be distractions. We had a variety of opportunities this week where, after learning expectations, everyone was able to choose a quiet place to sit around the room to complete their work. Sometimes, this might entail bringing a clipboard along and sitting on the couch, the rocking chair, on beanbag chairs or pillows, at the counter or on a yoga ball or even simply laying on the floor to complete work.
We learned through this process that it can be a lot of fun choosing places to sit and work independently, however ultimately it is important that our work is getting done and therefore if we don't use our new spot to work then we go back to our table to work instead (of course working at the table is always an option for all students)!
I am hoping that as the year progresses you find these blog posts helpful and fun, as you will be able to see what your child is learning throughout the year....because we all know that kids don't always like to get home after a long day of learning and tell you what they did each day! Make sure to check out our website homepage here for important dates (updated each month), birthdays as well as more pictures in our picture gallery!
This coming week brings a lot more fun including Art (Monday), PE (Tuesday and Friday) and Music (Friday), new learning activities, practicing rules and procedures, learning Daily 5 stations and so much more! I can't wait to update you again on your child's learning experiences!!
Here is a little sneak peak into the amazing 5-STAR artwork your child has worked on creating for our hallways! They are creating some amazing self portraits that are just as fun and unique as each of them!
