Who Is Martin Luther King, Jr.? 1/17/14

We kicked off our study of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a "splash" of ideas on the dry erase board. They have a good start on understanding who this influential leader was, and will soon learn more about how his life's work impacted how Americans viewed the fairness of (un)just laws.

Guided Math Workshop: What it looks like. 1/17/14

Our Guided Math stations incorporate the use of the Common Core State Standards, and provide me with a chance to work with students in small groups for instruction of grade level skills (and beyond). We have the Math Facts station (M) where we practice skills directly related to building our "fact power." There is an All By Myself station (A), where students have time to independently practice skills previously taught in my lesson from that day or one preceeding it. There is Teacher Time (T), which is my own small group instruction of four different groupings of students based on similar skill bases. Finally, we have the Hands on Game station (H), which allows students the chance to apply CCSS skills in a game format of some sort. If you'd like to come visit our MATH Workshop, please let me know! We'll put you to work at one of the stations.

Can You Find My Mitten?

This fun, writing game tied into our author study of Jan Brett, and her wonderful book, The Mitten. Children made their own matching mittens, but somehow one of them was lost. We wrote clues to describe our mittens, and the children were able to help their friends find their missing mittens through the very descriptive clues that were written.

This One Just Left Me Scratching My Head....

The children of 1C were amazingly respectful, responsible and safe when working to contain any extra nits that might be hopping around. Kudos to families for being vigilant!

Class of the Week... AGAIN!

All Grace McWayne students have the opportunity to work collectively on grrrreat behavior in order to earn a CLAW from another teacher. When they are CLAWed (Caught Learning And Working) appropriately, we earn a bright orange award, and a portion is sent off to the office for a random weekly drawing as the Class of the Week. Our class has earned 21 of these CLAWs since August, which is far and away the highest total that one of my classes has achieved. Way to go, 1C!

Math is "Snow" Awesome!

This interactive display was developed by our first grade students. Each was assigned the task of writing a math word problem, and then proving the answer. Later, we gave our problems some pizazz by adding some snowmen. We turned this grade level display into a "Scoot" where students come and answer each of the numbered snow stories, and check answers against an answer key to see how they did.

Our Last Day of 2013, 12/20

We had fun writing about what special gifts we would give to our loved ones, which would make them say, "WOOOOOO!!!!" Our Winter Party included a snowball fight in the gym, and all were treated to special gifts from Mrs. Schmalzer.

So Long 2013, and to Our Good Friend M.I.

We closed out the month of December with some happy memories and a touch of sadness as we wish a dear friend great luck with her new adventures in Arkansas. M.I. will always be a part of our class, and we look forward to communicating with her throughout the rest of our year.