Today, first graders enjoyed trying out various musical instruments at a “Musical Petting Zoo” put on by members of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Thank you to the Kim family for providing our class with this wonderful experience.

First graders were introduced to ocean habitats as they learned about the many different animals living in this habitat.  Through BrainPop Jr., students discovered the three main zones of the ocean: the sunlit zone, the twilight zone, and the midnight zone.  Read alouds such as Clam I Am, introduced students to science vocabulary while reviewing important phonemic awareness concepts of rhyming and syllabication. Students discussed why the ocean is blue, what forms ocean waves, and why the ocean is salty. Through partner reading, students learned about ocean animals identifying the main idea and supporting details while identifying adjectives.

In learning about oceans, students have explored the next animal classification, fish.  We have learned that fish usually have a backbone, breathe through gills, are cold-blooded, have fins or scales, and live in water.  Students are now adding examples of fish to their field guides.

As we learn about Japan, first graders are studying the writing craft from Japanese author and illustrator Allen Say.  Born and raised in Japan, Say worked as a cartoonist when he was only 12 years old.  At 16, he moved to the United States where he began illustrating children’s books before becoming an author himself.  First graders have enjoyed sharing his books including Emma’s Rug and Grandfather’s Journey.  Through the texts, reading comprehension strategies of making, revising, and confirming predictions and asking and answering questions are modeled and practiced.

The fourth classification first graders are learning about is reptiles.  Reptiles, usually have a backbone, have scaly skin, are cold-blooded, hatch from eggs, have lungs, and breathe air.  Using a Venn diagram, students were tasked with finding similarities and differences among reptiles and amphibians.  In reading, first graders have self selected various books about reptiles.  They also researched at least one reptile to be included in their individual field guide.  Tying measurement to our study of reptiles, each student selected one kind of snake to draw and measure.

Students have discovered many features of the desert habitat, and while some are hot and sandy, many are not.  Deserts are all dry as they get very little rain.  In comparing deserts, we learned that the Saraha, located in Northern Africa, has tall sand dunes that stretch for miles.  Students learned about adaptations of the camel that allow it to survive in this habitat including it’s hump which stores fat, it’s hair which prevents sunburn, it’s eyelashes which keep out sand, it’s nostrils which can close to also keep sand out, and it’s feet which have pads that spread out to prevent it from sinking in the sand.  Bringing desert sand into the classroom, students enjoyed conducting sand experiments, writing their spelling words in sand, and applying their understanding of capacity to measure sand.

Studying ancient Egypt, first graders have completed many activities.  After viewing a BrainPop Jr. video, students worked in pairs to read about ancient Egyptians.  They learned about the importance of the Nile river, Egyptian rulers called pharaohs, mummies, pyramids, and tombs.  Comprehension activities linked to their reading involved identifying the main idea and details, identifying long i magic e words, and determining if a word is singular or plural possessive.  Students created cartouches or name tags using heiroglyphics, wrote about Egypt in their journals, and constructed pyramids using equilateral triangles.

First graders are trying out a new strategy to help them edit others and their own writing.  Starting today with the daily review, students applied the COPS strategy to edit sentences.

First, students check for appropriate capitalization by checking that they used a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and capitalized proper nouns throughout the sentence.  Next, they check for organization, looking for word spacing and appropriate word usage.  Moving on, they look for punctuation both at the end of the sentence and throughout. Does the punctuation reflect the kind of sentence written?  Are commas and apostrophe’s used correctly?  Finally, students check for spelling.  After practicing this strategy together through the daily review, students will be asked to apply it to their own writing.

Tommie dePaola’s Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato introduced students to Irish folklore as we explore Irish culture. In the story Jamie shared his large potato with the townsfolk. Students were asked to write about what they would do with a giant potato. Tying into math, students used their measuring skills exploring pounds, ounces, and cups to follow a recipe and make mashed potatoes. In the coming days, we will collect data to created pictographs, bar graphs, and tally charts of our favorite kind of potatoes.

First graders are learning all about insects. Using favorite children’s literature, we have explored fiction and nonfiction literature. Eric Carle’s The Very Quiet Cricket and The Grouchy Ladybug have been two class favorites. I Can’t Said The Ant,  by  was enjoyed so much that we read it multiple times and then created our own silly rhyming word families just like the book. Characteristics of this animal classification that students are exploring include having six legs, an exoskeleton, wings, and three main body parts (head, thorax, and abdomen). Students examined insects up-close as Ms. Grace shared her personal insect collection with us. Using these bugs and online research students each chose an insect to diagram.

Reading aloud The Grouchy Ladybug connected our study of insects to our study of time.  As we read the book, students matched their individual clocks to the correct time.  First graders are working on telling time to the hour, half hour, and minute.  Playing time bingo, using time dominoes, matching analog and digital clocks, and online manipulatives are a few ways students are practicing telling time.