Reading Strategies

using strategies in a creative way to read

The kids are learning to make inferences. When making an inference, they use what they know and what the text says, to make a conclusion or guess about what's happening in the story.  I reinforced "finger pointing" that was introduced in the beginning of the year.   "Wicked" pointy fingers were needed to get the job done.  

A royal retelling of The Emperor's New Clothes

A royal retelling of the story

In writing, the students are learning the elements of a story include: setting, characters, problem, solution, and events: beginning, middle, & ending. 

Finsihed pieces of retelling sashes, crowns, and necklaces.  

Knowing words by sight

The kids are learning their first grade list of 100 Fry words.  Each student has their own book, with their own list of words they need to practice reading by sight or spelling the word correctly.

Each week 5 new words are added

Words are hightlighted in yellow, traced by the student and then I use a blue marker when they correctly identify the words.  Yellow and blue make green, green means go... and that you can keep going with new words!

Authenticity

au·then·tic·i·ty

ˌôTHenˈtisədē/

noun: the quality of being authentic.

The first grade bulletin board showcasing our Life Is Good superpower

1. 
   

Game Day = Fun Day!

We are bucket fillers!  When we fill our reward jar with popcorn... we celebrate with a day of fun! On this day, the kids chose to bring in their games from home!

 

 

January is Egg-citing!

Class meeting

 We had an egg-citing day learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.  We discovered that two different colored eggs on the outside are egg-actly the same on the inside!

Our most recent Mystery Guest Readers!  If you would like to be a mystery reader let me know...it's one of our favorite things!

The Gingerbread Exchange

our gingerbread display

Ms. Klipfel's letter and gingerbread girl

our class of gingerbread kids

First Grade teachers across the Tri-Town (Boxford, Middleton, and Topsfield) exchanged letters and gingerbread people to learn more about each other and our communities.  The students made gingerbread people, crafted a letter, and sent them off to make new friends.  We had so much fun!  

The Daily Five

rhyming word sorts

reading  and writing the room

listening to stories

reading to someone

read to self

clapping like a penguin to find syllables in words

scooping up digraphs

BE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF!

DEAR FAMILIES,

As part of Steward School’s “Life is Good” movement, we have continued to explore and incorporate “Superpowers” into our daily lives at school.  Last month, our main focus was the superpower of Gratitude. The Shining Stars continue to reinforce and express their knowledge of this superpower and enjoy discussing and making connections to things in their life that make them feel a sense of gratitude. Way to go First Graders!

In January, a new “Life is Good Superpower” has been introduced!

MEET THE SUPERPOWER OF…

Discovering and embracing your authentic, genuine and real self is what we are striving for this month! The first graders have done an incredible job discussing and brainstorming why it is important to be an authentic person. Some responses were…

* Why would anyone want to be like anyone else?

* You should always be yourself!

* Being different makes us special!

* Being YOU makes you happy.

* Being you makes you honest.

We came to the conclusion that being an authentic person makes you unique, special and happy. The more that friends find the authenticity within themselves, the better friends we can be.

FOLLOW YOUR INNER COMPASS

Throughout our discussions, the connection we made to a compass was very helpful for us and made us think even more deeply about the parts of us that make us happy to be our true selves. Just like a compass helps to provide direction to travelers, our INNER compasses provide us with direction and guidance to following our OWN paths in life.

As a whole first grade community, each first grader created his or her very own Inner Compass in a display.  Keep a lookout for a blogpost showcasing our beautiful and AUTHENTIC work!