Monday, September 28, 2015

Couldn't Wait Until Friday...

I know it's only Monday, but I just couldn't wait to share today's amazing writing with you! 

It doesn't quite look or feel like fall outside yet, but it's here in first grade! (And at Starbucks...)

To start off Writer's Workshop today, we had a little discussion about fall. How can we tell that fall is here? What do we like to do in the fall? What do we like to eat? The first graders got to hear me ramble on and on about my love for caramel apples and apple pie, and they shared their favorite parts of fall too. I even found out what a few of them plan to dress up as for Halloween! We made a few lists together and then off to their seats they went!

The kids rushed back to their tables, and in what seemed like no time at all, their pencils were scratching and notebook pages were flipping... they had a lot to say! Check out what these first graders wrote about fall!







Are you a lover of all things pumpkin spice? Have you been waiting all year to wear your boots and scarves? Are you already planning this year's Thanksgiving feast? What do you love about fall? Leave us a comment below!

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Friday, September 25, 2015

Peacocks, Peacocks, and More Peacocks!

Peacocks, peacocks, and more peacocks! That's repetition! Ask your first grader why authors sometimes use repetition in their writing!


We did Star in Motion in the gym. -Cedrus

We had two Kind Kids Club meetings this week. -Cooper

We did "F is for Fireworks" for our America book. -Juan Carlos

We learned about iridescent feathers. -Nya


We read Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Day with Ms. Hines for Kind Kids Club. -Ryan

We learned about a new animal, the Indian Peafowl. -Aaqil

We learned that peacocks have long feather trains. They are longer than their bodies. -Anshika

We read Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. -Alex

We learned that peahens don't have colorful feathers because they have to blend in to protect their babies. -Deniz

We made a panda song with adjectives, a noun, and a verb. -Jaykob
Ask your first grader to sing it to you!

The peacock's feathers shine to get the females' attention. -Isandro

We did the "I Can Spell Anthropologist" chant. -Fabiana

I remember from last week that there is a mountain in Asia called Mount Everest. It's so tall that you can touch a cloud. -Damion

We learned the word "solution." -Jade

We do fireworks for 4th of July to celebrate independence. -Allyson

We added some pictures to our charts. We put a picture of a mom with her eggs on the peacock chart. -Anahi

We sang "Pandas Here, Pandas There." -Lorenzo

Miss Kloczko used a real peacock feather for a pointer one day. -Tanaya

We did a team task of a peacock. -Tianna
(The photos below are of the "Pandas Here, Pandas There" team task and the peacock team task.)

We used repetition in our writing this week. We learned about repetition from Panda and Polar Bear. -Jules

We made a story map for Panda and Polar Bear. -Indigo

We put the pictures from Panda and Polar Bear on a chart to help us remember the story. -Carol

I liked Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. -Liam

The kids got to "Read to Someone" this week. We talked about sitting "elbow to elbow, knee to knee," and taking turns reading in a whisper, so only our partner can hear us. They did great! -Miss Kloczko

Check out two of this week's homework digital challenges!


A few "proud teacher" moments this week...
"LOOK! It's repetition!"
"I just learned that the boy peacocks show off their feathers to make the peahens fall in love."
"Tigers live alone! That's like our signal word, solitary!"

Finally, a special thank you to Lorenzo's mom for being this week's mystery reader!

Thanks for reading! Leave us a comment! :)

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Friday, September 18, 2015

Welcome to Asia!

Our first week studying a new continent... Welcome to Asia! Here's what your first graders wanted to share about this week:

We had picture day. My friends and I dressed up. -Anahi

I liked learning about the panda. I love science. -Kendall
One of this week's homework digital challenges!

I wrote a lot! -Jared

We had a spelling test today. -Lea

We decorated our new writer's notebooks. -Parker

We jumped to move to the side in "Boom Boom Pow." We learned that from watching Mrs. Mandujano. -Alex

"Informative" was one of our signal words. -Nya

We read Three Hens and a Peacock. I liked that the peacock couldn't even lay an egg and the chickens couldn't get the cars to stop. -Juan Carlos

We learned that the panda has a bone that acts like a thumb so it can hold stuff like bamboo. -Damion

Now we have "Pandas Here, Pandas There." -Jade

We made a chart for kindness and got team points for kindness. -Isandro

Parents came to read with us. -Indigo

When we put our smart cards on the world map, Miss Kloczko forgot Europe. -Kyara

We put pictures on the world map for Asia. -Aaqil

We had a mystery reader. It was Nya's mom and she read One to us. It's about being kind. -Cooper

New books came in the mail. -Allyson

We got new teams. I'm on the orangutans. -Liam

We read Chickens Aren't the Only Ones. -Fabiana

We put smart cards on the map and on the panda. -Jules

We made pandas during Fun Friday. -Carol

We read Panda and Polar Bear. -Lorenzo 

We read Panda-Monium! with Mr. M. -Tianna

We wrote about ourselves in our writer's notebooks. -Jaykob

We watched a video about pandas. There was an earthquake. -Tanaya

Mr. M read us a book. -Anshika

We put sticky notes on posters for Asia during workshop. -Deniz

This week, the kids jumped right into Asia, wrote in their new notebooks, began a new chapter in math, and did great on their first spelling test! We reviewed expectations for writer's workshop after decorating our new notebooks, we learned new chants and signal words, and had our pictures taken! We LOVED having parent volunteers in our classroom! Thank you, parents, for all of your help and support and for sharing your smart and silly first graders with me every day! -Miss Kloczko

Thanks for reading! Leave us a comment! :)

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