Hello! I'm glad you're visiting my blog - which is really a 'diary' of my last several years of teaching. I hope that, maybe, some of my former students might visit to reminisce! I also hope that current educators can use it as a resource if you're teaching JK, SK or Grade 1. Best wishes! 'Mrs. C.'
0 Comments
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian, Over the next few days, your child will be bringing home his/her various notebooks in all curriculum areas. I’d just like to give you some information so that you can gain a better idea of what, exactly, you are seeing when you look them over! This is grade one, and worksheets are NOT the way that kids this age learn best! They learn concepts and gain understanding through experiences, and we’ve been busy all day every day with ‘hands on’ activities, discussions, group inquiries, all kinds of technology, books, media, collaborative projects, and even art and music – all to support our learning and build a strong repertoire of skills. Having said that, your child has to develop independence and have the chance to practise some of the skills that come with doing written work. I want to assure you that BEFORE these tasks are assigned and the students sit down to work, your child has had many, many opportunities to learn the material and skills necessary to complete them. As a teacher, if I discover that the students are having difficulty with the work, I know that I have to reteach it or find another way to present it to the entire class. If just a few students are having trouble, then I will work with them in a small group. If you look carefully at the work, you will notice that I often write notes on it to help you see what I noticed while your child was doing the work. If your child needed help, you will see “teacher assistance” or “adult assistance” written on the paper. You will also see pictures that I have taken of some (but certainly not all) of the other related activities your child has experienced in math and literacy. These kids LOVE art class! They also LOVE dinosaurs! Both are good motivation to write. I was impressed with what they did, but most especially so when the fossil 'skeleton' they made really matched up with the dinosaur they drew!
Balanced literacy continues to be a daily part of Grade One. I'm really trying to get the kids to write more and we've been concentrating on writing complete sentences. I think I should just put my voice on a loop that repeats "start with an upper case letter, put spaces between the words and a period at the end" all day long! It's OK we will persevere!
Learning to tell time can be tricky, especially when we start talking about 'half past' or 30 minutes past the hour. That's where really understanding what a HALF is, and being able to count by 5's, comes in handy! We have been using individual clocks and many activities to help out.
This will be a loooong post since I haven't uploaded any artwork in a while! We'll start with these lovely kites, which we did when we were studying fractions. The kites are divided into four equal parts or quarters. We also learned how to make a legend or key to explain our fractions. What could these be? Totem poles? Strange creatures? Well, look closely and while you're looking be sure to admire the symmetry! And now on to some artwork in the style of early Picasso. . . And then this final project to finish off this delightfully artful post! We used a collage method with ripped tissue paper to create the background for these dandelions. As the saying goes. . . some see a weed, and some see a WISH! We've been exploring the built and natural features of a community and talking about how they meet our needs. Through books, online resources, videos, nature walks and discussions we've learned a lot. Part of this unit includes mapping (as discussed in a previous post - mapping involves spatial awareness which is an important math skill) and last week we worked on a magnificent collaboration! While I acted as the scribe to write down their ideas, the children certainly came up with all of these things on their own. As part of our art lesson, we incorporated our mapping skills to create a community map. The kids were super excited and we extended the lesson to three periods, but I think they would have gladly continued. After we put the map in the hall, they started coming up with ideas for things that should be added (like a Shoppers!) but we had to call it finished! I mean, my goodness! They've got a water treatment plant, landfill, recycling truck, power lines! I was very impressed!
|
About Mrs. C.Mrs. Cuckovic, or "Mrs. C." as she's called, is a retired educator who spent a long and varied career with the Greater Essex County District School Board in Windsor, Ontario. Archives
November 2020
Categories |