Mrs. Dagley's First Grade Classroom: Happy New Year!

Snowglobe writing

We are beginning 2020 with lots of new units, themes, and skills! In a nod to winter, we read all about snow and were impressed that even though all snowflakes have 6 sides or points, each one is different from the other. We have learned and written about how snow helps plants, animals, and rivers, and of course the many ways to have fun in it too. Everyone loved reading the fiction tale, The Snow Globe Family, which then inspired us to make a paper snow globe and write an accompanying story.

Cutting out snowflakes never loses its appeal- the exclamations when the folded up papers are opened to reveal the snowflake are worth the millions of paper bits on the floor! We used a snowflake to make a snowman to hang in the class:

Nice job!

Completing the snowman

Keeping to the snow theme and integrating maps, weather, and animal adaptations to cold climates, we are beginning a unit on the arctic. Our library now features loads of fiction and non fiction books about polar animals and the arctic region. Some books we have read so far are pictured below.

Arctic library

New book themes!

Lots of new units are beginning- in social studies we have begun a unit on maps and globes, science will focus on Living/Non-Living and then move into plants and animals, math finds us measuring and comparing as well as telling time to the half hour, and writing will introduce the personal narrative genre.

Sharing a map puzzle from home!

In phonics we have introduced long vowel words with 'King Ed' as a visual. Sometimes referred to as 'silent e' or 'magic e', words ending with a silent e change the vowel from its short sound to its long sound. To generate excitement, everyone wore King Ed sparkly capes as we worked on a booklet of short vowel words being changed into long vowel words with the help of King Ed (kit to kite).

Sparkly capes

Changing hop to hope!

Here comes King Ed

Phonics fun!

Pin to pine

The power to change the vowel!

Here we are measuring in math- what is taller or shorter than a string, cubes, or ourselves? Comparing heights with friends was fun, and ordering objects from shortest to tallest or shortest to longest was also a hands-on activity.

Math center addition game

Recording measurements

Measuring butterfly wing spans

Using string as an indirect measurement tool

Building and comparing heights

Comparing heights

What can I measure next?

Reading is such an important part of our day whether it's reading with a friend, reading independently, or reading in a reading group. Reading to the class remains popular too!