Editors

We are working on editing and illustrating our finest pieces from our Small Moments writing unit!

Learning Adventures

Many of our mealworms have turned into darkling beetles. The first one was such a surprise for the class! The students were expecting the pupae to turn into something, but they didn't know what. When the first beetle was discovered, the whole hall probably heard shouts of, "A BEETLE!"

We went on another kind of learning adventure, too ... a noun hunt! We traveled around the school, inside and outside, writing down words to name the people, places, and things we saw.

finding nouns in the library...

...nouns in the office...

... nouns outside...

... and this noun was the biggest surprise of all. Clifford appeared during our noun hunt!

Math Time

In math, we usually learn new things by doing something in a hands-on way, then we do it with pictures, and then we try it in more abstract ways.  Here are a few pictures of our math learning from the last several lessons. 

Turning dominoes around to see how turnaround facts work

Measuring real objects with chain links, paperclips, Unifix cubes, and orange pattern blocks

Measuring objects pictured in our math journals with the same non-standard units

Autumn

In First Grade, we learn about the seasons in social studies, later in the school year. We do try to take a hike in the woods once each season, so we can observe the changes first-hand. Here we are on our Autumn hike last week!

Observing what we see, smell, feel, and hear

Hooray! Autumn is a fun time to play in the leaves!

Celebrating Different Cultures

We have continued to learn about different cultures. America is made up of people from so many cultures, and the groups of people each brought food, music, games, clothing, holidays, art, languages, and more to our country!

The First Graders tried some Chinese calligraphy.

 They learned the African game, Mancala.

We even broke a pinata, a custom from Mexico!

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center

We had an excellent day for our field trip to Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. Our program was called "Nature's Neighborhoods." We learned about three different habitats -- the forest, the prairie, and the pond. 

Here are some First Graders showing what living things need in their habitats (soil, sun, space, food, air, water, and shelter).

Then, the large group split into smaller groups, and we hit the trails with our guides.

Nature is a great place for learning, fun, and making memories with friends!