One of the most important words a first grader knows (how to read and how to write) is their name. We have done lots of work with this, including making sure everyone knows how to write it neatly with only 1 capital letter. Along with knowing the letters in our names, we will soon officially begin to focus on the SOUNDS in our names, as well as the chunks, blends and patterns in our names that can help us read other words! We practiced in many different ways with many different materials. We are getting SUPER good at names now and are using beautiful handwriting in other places, too!
Check out our work from the last few weeks!
Playdoh
Just like when we use our pencils, using our “pinchers” to make the Playdoh into sticks and curves is a challenge. Our goal was to make the Playdoh letters look just like the name on our name tags.
Inch Tiles
Who’s Name is Longer?
This one was a name practice that we used as a math investigation. Each kiddo made their name on inch tiles and groups worked together to figure out who’s was longest, shortest, and how many letters their group had altogether.
Legos!
Boo…so I just realized that most of the pictures we have of this activity are on kiddos’ iPads. 😦 Maybe I’ll come back and add them after I get them transferred to me, but for now, trust me that this was a challenge! I had to nudge many kids to create 3D versions (to actually connect the Legos, rather than just lay them on the floor) and that up’ed the ante on the thinking. Plus–it was a really fun and totally engaging way to practice letters and names! Goodness, what can you NOT use Legos for?
I was so excited to find out about Global School Play Day 2015 right before it happened. It was the first one ever and my class helped inaugurate the new tradition! For some reason (I’m not sure why except that maybe I just forgot??) we didn’t participate last year. This time around I was ready, and even got some other Robinson friends to join in, too!
Last time around I wrote a really long (but great!) post about all the things I thought we learned from our play, and while that was all true and good, this post will be more about what we actually did. There are some great stories, pictures and videos to share, and yes, indeed, also learning. 🙂
Ok…so we started our GSPD 2017 with our normal easel question. Sometimes it’s math, sometimes it’s writing, sometimes it’s review of something else. Today it was a question about the day:
I really wanted them to get the idea that while it would definitely be a FUN day, it would also be a day where they would indeed be learning something. I hoped this would focus their minds on that idea and help them see the opportunities in a new way.
After we got through our morning announcements and the pledge, I had everyone gather on our rug for a meeting to start our day. We talked about the answers they had put on the easel question, and I also gave them an idea for what they could expect ME to be doing throughout the day. We talked about ways that I like to play–with words, puzzles, drawing, painting (this is a new love for me since we had our experience with Figy earlier this year!), teaching new games (we have many on our game shelves that kiddos have never played!), or just kid-watching. I started with the whole word play piece by sharing a few books I had found in the library that morning. We couldn’t let a day go by with out books for our #classroombookaday challenge, could we?
Some were songs, all were rhymes and many of them had directions that the listeners had to follow. We read them throughout the day and it was a LOT OF FUN!
Kiddos have been invited to bring along a toy or game, with the directions that it had to fit in their backpack, or they had to be able to carry it up on their own. Also, it could not be electronic.
Before we got into the actual business of the day, we set the guidelines–because of course, just since the day was different, that didn’t mean there weren’t still rules. 🙂
Then we got busy. 🙂
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It was so fun to watch how the morning unfolded. Kiddos started with playing with their toys, and then quickly began MAKING things for their toys or inspired by their toys. We noticed that no one chose to play with Legos; we inferred that it was because that’s a “normal” thing we always have and today kiddos wanted to play with their “home” toys.
I was impressed by their creativity and was super excited when Aadish and Allie suggested that we should have an art parade to share all the things they were making!
The parade planners announced on the microphone that we would be having a parade at the end of the day, and that anyone who wanted to join in could do so by making something. Pretty simple. A problem quickly arose when Rachel realized she had to leave early to go to the dentist and she would have to miss our parade. I suggested she talk to A and A and see what they could figure out. The three decided we could add another parade, and do one after lunch as well as one later in the day. Super first grade problem solving, eh?
At one point I’m pretty sure the whole recycling station (which is usually housed in the hall) was in our classroom, as kiddos created instruments, costumes (elephants were popular!), and many Star Wars related items. They were SO EXCITED and as we got back in from lunch and recess, we lined up for our first parade of the day.
Oh wait–there were even flags! I had forgotten about that! Such first grade festiveness! 🙂
Isn’t that about the greatest thing you’ve ever seen? Not yet? Ok, check out this one:
After this we went to specials (like a normal day) and came back to finish up anything we wanted to add or redesign for the second part of the parade. What I loved was hearing so many friends that were thinking about how they were going to improve their art/instrument/ship/costume for the second time around. It was definitely not in the plan for this day to include engineering design challenges, but it happened and it was amazing!
Jack had a drum for the parade that we worked to improve. What great thinking!
Our second parade was special because it was the second one, but also because of where it went.
Abderdeen Heights, our neighbor to the north, and a building full of amazing residents!
We took our little parade down the street (rather loudly, I should add–we had drums, remember??) and over to Aberdeen. This had been included in our plans from earlier in the day, and another teacher suggested we just show up and see what happened. If they had some time for us, we’d parade around inside, and if not, we’d just entertain them through the windows from the parking lot. 🙂
Well, it so happened that we got there just as our friend Ms. Cutler was getting of the bus and we told her our little plan. She was so pleased to have us visit, and we spent the next little bit of the afternoon traveling the halls of Aberdeen, sharing our joy and first grade smiles with the residents who were available for a visit. It was “happy hour,” and many residents were awake and allowed us to just come right on in their rooms! Wow! It was so much fun and definitely filled our hearts and theirs. 🙂
I think maybe my favorite picture of the day came on our walk back, as we joked that “Old Man Lemcke” had come back from Aberdeen with us. Ciyah was his helper as they traveled back to Robinson. 🙂
Then it got even better as they pretended that Old Man Lemcke and Old Man Carter were celebrating their 100th birthday. Ciyah had made them a cake! See how those candles even have flames on the tops of them? Love it!
After that she cut the “cake” all apart and shared pieces with the class! She even asked me if I wanted some. This is play at its best! 🙂
Ok, and so the best way to end a story of an amazing play day is to share what they said when I asked them what they walked away with (this was the easel question the next morning):
There are some pretty great things on that list! What a successful LEARNING day in Rm. 202!
As I look over the pictures I’ve taken the last 8 days, as well as think about what we’ve been doing during our first days, I’ve found some things that don’t really fit into their own blog post, but are all connected because they’re all about the friends in Rm. 202. Hope you’ll stay to check out the first grade menagerie I have to share. 🙂
First Grade Victory Dances!
If you’ve been here since the beginning of our first grade journey, you’ll remembering reading the welcome post I put up for my new friends. Well, I got two fabulous videos from two very brave first graders that I keep forgetting to share. So forget now I no more!
Keira
Callahan
Who’s That Smiley 1st Grader?
I had a picture posted on our welcome screen for a couple of days, with a question of who they thought the smiling face might be. Strangely (at least I thought!), not many figured out that it was me. None of them thought it looked like me. Well, I guess when you add 30 years and change the hair it messes people up. LOL
My favorite part of this picture? It was the year I decided I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up! My first grade teacher Mrs. LeGrand was pretty much the most amazing lady I had ever met and I wanted to become her some day. I am not sure I did that–but I think (hope) I have become my own version of a great teacher! 🙂
Day 2 Plusses/Deltas Reflection
We don’t have the opportunity to sit down to “officially” reflect (although we almost always talk about how things went), but this was a fun one to talk about. After we worked super hard on our 2nd day together, we sat down to practice more with “plusses and deltas” and we were SO EXCITED to see the things we were able to write down. We also talked about how easily we could work the next day to solve the struggles we had on Day 2. To be able to see brand new first graders doing such fabulous things so early in the year together was so commendable. Way to go, Rm. 202 friends!
Grit and Growth Mindset AT RECESS!!
The other day at recess, Cal came running to me to show me something he can do now that he couldn’t do before. He told me he’s been working for a really long time and now he can do it! Way to keep trying, friend!
Ok…there are other things I could add, but really–what could follow that awesome video? 🙂
On Open House night, I had up a wish list that families could grab from and donate items to our class if they liked. One thing on the list was play-doh. I hadn’t ever asked for it before, but got the idea from another teacher, and thought I’d give it a try. Play-Doh is one of those things (kind of like Legos and blocks) that can be used in so many ways. Thanks to the Ella and her family, we got a huge box of Play-Doh a couple of days before school started! THANK YOU, KOHRINGS!!
On Thursday is was time to whip it out and discover what we could do with it! Part of a guided discovery is for kiddos to just play and have fun, to figure out what they can and want to do with a certain item/manipulative. So after we went over some basic guidelines (only use the color from your can, keep it on the table, be sure to clean up all the bits and pieces when you’re finished, etc.) Rm. 202 kids got the first 5 or so minutes to do whatever they wanted. Then we spent some time using the Play-Doh to share some of our thinking.
Kiddos were asked do create something that represented the following things: 1) their FAVORITE thing to do when they aren’t at school (by the way, lots of Rm. 202 kiddos made TVs), and 2) their FAVORITE thing to do at school.
Then I had kiddos make their names. Not a hard thing, really, but some kiddos needed encouragement with figuring out how to use the amount of Play-Doh they had to make the letters they needed or to shape the “curvy” letters so we knew what they said. Some kiddos had time to make both their first and last names, and we even had a couple of Rm. 202 friends share tips for how to make their dough super flat (Allie used her forearm, and Peter used his fist and pushed real hard!).
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I was excited for how they were excited, as well as for the things we learned about each other during this seemingly “easy” activity. It’s a first time I’ve done an intro survey this way, and am glad that I did. After we had had a chance to investigate and play, then Play-Doh then became a choice during afternoon choice time. I’m excited to see the other ways we’ll use it to represent our learning as we go further into the year, too!
Students: What did you make with your Play-Doh to show what you like to do outside of school? What did you find that was easy about this? What was tricky for you?
Parents: What did your kiddos tell you about our Play-Doh investigation? Were you surprised with what they made?
Teachers: What ways have you used Play-Doh in your classroom with your learners?
20somethingkids and 1kookyteacher 