Student Led Conferences

Thank you to all the families who came to listen to your child at his/her student led conference.  The students worked hard at putting their student portfolios together and personalizing them.

We spent crew time this week, practicing alone and with friends from class.  Students persevered to have the courage to engage in public speaking.

We discussed criteria with our 4th grade buddies from Ms. Lindsey's crew as we practiced presenting to them as well.

I can use a level 3/4 voice.

I can make eye contact.

I can sit still.

I can sit up straight.

I can speak clearly.

We also practice our long term learning target:

I can actively listen to others.

~eyes on the speaker

~mouth quiet

~body still.

Problem Solving

As a CREW, we are working hard on problem solving throughout our day.  In CREW, we are working to problem solve during collaborating in: groups, our relationships and with any conflict that arises.  We use CFR to express how we feel.

We use restorative practices to help us problem solve when conflict arises.  This may mean we meet as an entire crew or I may take individual students or small groups in the hall to talk and problem solve.


In math, we are problem solving using strategies in both addition and subtraction.  Students are excited to teach you their strategies at Student Led Conferences.  

In reading, we are working on problem solving tricky words by using multiple strategies.  The students have been reflecting on themselves as readers and what they are doing to help themselves.

In writing, we are working on problem solving writing words.  Students are using multiple strategies to help spell words.  Students are reflecting on their writer's notebooks to see what strategies they use most often.

You can support problem solving and independence at home by asking:
How can you problem solve this?
What strategies can you use to help yourself?

Healthy Kids = Smarter Brain

Healthy habits are a big part of being a student who is ready to learn.  Teachers wear workout clothes on Wednesday to encourage students to BOWOW (Bike or Walk on Wednesdays) and to teach students about our Colorado State Health Standards.

 In regards to healthy eating, we discuss green light, yellow light and red light foods.  Green light foods are foods we should eat a lot of!  We encourage students to eat 2 green light foods per meal.  Green light foods help us feel good and exercise.  Yellow light foods are foods that are good for us too.  Red light foods are foods we should STOP and think about.  These are foods for special occasions.  How can you help at home?  Serve green light foods at each meal and send them for snack.

Hydration is so important for our brain.  We take breaks throughout our day to drink water.  You can help at home by offering water and encouraging your child to drink 2 water bottles each day.

We are meeting Colorado State Standard for Physical and Personal Wellness by eating healthy, drinking water and exercising.  Students should be moving 60 minutes per day.  Here at school we do lots of recess and enjoy our time in P.E. 

You can help at home by helping your child play outside 30-60 minutes each day!

Lastly, we also discuss emotional and social wellness.  Colorado State Health Standard states that students should demonstrate how to express emotions in healthy ways.  Many problems are discussed and solved through brainstorming at morning CREW or end of day CREW.  We use "CFR".

C is for compliment or complaint...."I like it when..., "I don't like it when...."

F is for feeling.  "It makes me feel...."

R is for request.  "Next time, please..."

In first grade, we are working on expressing our feelings in a calm voice without yelling, crying or harming others.  

Ask your child how CFR works and practice it during meal time.

Thanks for helping our kids stay healthy, both physically and emotionally!

Writing in First Grade

We are now writing independently for 15 minutes each day.  We are working on using spaces, capitals at the beginning and periods at the end.  Students are encouraged to write independently using:

We even took our writing outside to the outdoor classroom.  Students were excited to observe and record.  

Students found special places to write about whatever they wanted.  

We are CREW, not passengers

We were so excited to get our yellow tie dye crew t-shirts.  This week we have been talking about that we are crew, not passengers meaning that we all need work together and not just sit back and watch others.  As a crew, we created our norms and have been working to show respect by following them.

For the next few weeks we will be reviewing the Fox Creek Habits of Character.  We are discussing and modeling how these habits of character look in all areas (specials, recess, lunch room) with all teachers (P.J., Mr. B, Mr. Joel, Ms. Chris, etc.)

Things to talk about at home:
~What habit of character did you show today?
~What habit of character is easy for you? Why?
~What habit of character is hard for you? Why?

Talk about family or home norms that reflect the same habits of character.

Everybody Has A Story

Our first learning expedition is under way! 

The title of our first learning expedition is Everybody Has a Story.   

Our essential question is:  How do the stories in our lives help us learn about each other?

We kicked off this expedition with our first visit from our story teller, Mrs. Judy Hill.  She is a Spellbinder from Douglas County Library.   She will be visiting our classroom every month.  Mrs. Hill is a master at oral story telling, integrating song and reading books that keep first graders attention.  We have loved sharing our brown bags, listening to the stories of others and listening to the stories of important Fox Creek staff (Ms. Angel, specials teachers, etc.)  We are now persevering to do a high quality self portrait.  We worked with our 4th grade buddy to get some kind, specific, helpful feedback on our first draft.

Our learning targets for this expedition are:

I can describe myself using details.

I can actively listen to others.

I can describe and apply the story elements in narrative writing.

I can persevere to do high quality work.

Playing in First Grade

Our first week of first grade has been super fun. We have learned lots of skills this week through play and exploration.  In math, we have been exploring wooden blocks, connecting cubes, pattern blocks and power polygons.  We have learned how to collaborate with friends.

Through play we have learned how to take care of our classroom by cleaning up after ourselves, helping others and taking care of our learning materials.

We have spent plenty of time outside to learn how to work together.  We have learned our friends names, how to talk kindly and how to play fair.

 
Much of this week has been reflecting in a crew circle.  This is where we can talk about how things are going, what we need help with and celebrate our successes.  We are working hard at the classroom routines, school wide expectations, specials (P.E., art, music) routines and playground norms.

Have a great weekend and get outside and PLAY!