Happy November!

We had another great week in first grade!  From meeting with our Learning Buddies to working to identify shape attributes during math, we have continued to think hard in our learning community.  Read on to learn more about what we have been doing in first grade.  As always, thanks for visiting our blog this week!

• Conversation Starters
• Learning Buddies
• Geometry
• Veterans Day
• Kirkwood Public Library
• A Smile for You!

Conversation Starters:

• Your teacher read two books nominated for the Show Me Award this week.  The books were The Day the Crayons Quit and Wilfred.  Your class talked about what the main idea was in each book.  What did you decide was the main idea in each of the books?  Why do you believe this to be true?
• Tell me your favorite part of the Veteran’s Day assembly on Wednesday.  Why was this your favorite part?

Learning Buddies: As you know from the post last week, we visited with our Learning Buddies on the day of our Halloween Party.  Ms. Fry (the teacher of our Buddies) and I have decided that we are going to begin meeting on a weekly basis to work on our skills as readers.  When we meet, it is for only 15 minutes, but it is an AWESOME time in which amazing learning takes place.  Seriously!  The kids were R-E-A-D-I-N-G extremely engaged in their reading. Check it out below!

Geometry: We worked on identifying shapes during our math time this week, similar to last week.  It is very difficult to remember the names of shapes as well as the attributes that differentiate them from one another.  You will see the rubric descriptor below for what specific content skills we are working on in first grade.  Additionally, we took some time to make shape posters one day so each first grader could sort shapes into categories and identify that attribute that made all of the shapes similar.  We have made some great progress with our geometry study.  We will end our study next week and move into fractions.  Until then, look at some of our shape posters below!

The rubric above shows the expectations for our geometry study. The goal is for each child to be at the “meeting” descriptor.

We made a shape poster together so we could remember the names of our shapes. It is HARD work remembering such long and tricky words!

Veterans Day: This week, we celebrated Veterans Day and if you have been a part of Robinson for awhile, you know that we do an INCREDIBLE job honoring the many amazing heroes in our midst.  This year was no different.  We were honored to have many heroes attend our celebration and the Robinson students (particularly our first graders!) did a beautiful job.  Check out a few photos from the special day below.

Look at all of the students as they watched our honored guests enter the gym.

First grade did a spectacular job as they performed their song for their audience.

Callie and Paiton were our readers during the assembly. They spoke to the ENTIRE audience about what first grade had learned about the armed forces. Great work girls!

Third grade created beautiful artwork to honor our heroes.

Kirkwood Public Library: Our Robinson Librarian, Mrs. Meihaus, wanted to pass along some exciting information to you and your family about the Kirkwood Public Library.  The Kirkwood Public Library Winter Reading program is quickly approaching!  It will run from November 21st through January 10th this year, with online sign-ups beginning on November 21st.  Check out the flyer below!

A Smile for You! Since the end of September, we have regularly kept fresh flowers in our classroom.  The children LOVE taking ownership in picking flowers outside, cutting them off the plants, pruning them and arranging them in vases.  This week, I thought I would share what it looks like when a first grader works diligently to care for our environment. His obvious engagement makes me smile on the inside and out, so I hope it does the same for you.  Thanks for visiting our blog this week.  Have a wonderful weekend!