Brain

The students got to learn all about their brain through the specials teacher's fantastic learning expedition "Train Your Brain".  They collaborated to make a brain out of clay, they drew upside down and learned all kinds of new dances.  Of course, this great learning transferred into our classroom.  The students were excited to talk about how to make their brain smarter.  Check out this article about how to GROW YOUR BRAIN.  During CREW, we talked about the parts of your brain and what we can do to help our brain.  Mr. Lucero, Layla's dad and a brain scientist, came in as an expert to tell us more about our brain.

Mr. Lucero helped us learn 3 things we can do for our brain:
1.  Eat fruits and vegetables
2.  Learn how to play an instrument
3.  Learn a new language

So, what does this look like in the classroom?  We are working on HARD things.  We are celebrating process instead of product and grades.  We are learning from our mistakes and taking on challenges.  We are trying new strategies and asking lots of questions.   We are growing our brains by
~using scarves and catching them across our body
~writing on backs
~jumping over moving ropes

What does it sound like?  "Wow! That was hard." "That was too easy, I need a harder problem to grow my brain."  "You must be working hard."  "Keep trying!"
Check our this great article on Raising Smart Kids! 

Sharing Love with our Grandfriends

What a special day with our grand friends!  We brought them each a valentine and spent time visiting while enjoying cookies.  We also helped them with an art project that will be on display at their art show.  Your child's high quality drawing of his/her grand friend will be on display. 

The grand friends are so excited to spend time with their special first grade friends.  Please join us at the Lincoln Meadows art show on Saturday, February 21st.

100th Day of School

We are 100 years old!  To celebrate 100 days of first grade, we came to school dressed like we were 100 years old.  We had a parade with the other first graders.  We read a poem with 100 words and wrote 100 words we know.

Next we got to make a yummy snack of 100 things (10 of each of the 10 different donated items).  A big thank you to all of you who donated snacks and to Mrs. Lyle and Mrs. Ellis for staying to help with our fun day.

 We played a fun 100th day money exchange game and kept track of rolling a dice using 100 tally marks.

We collaborated together to count 100 things by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s.  We wrote about what we would and would not want 100 of.  The best part of today was reflecting on what we got smarter at after 100 days of 1st grade!

Genius Hour with Animals

This week, we started our animal research through Genius Hour. 
1.  Think - What animal do you want to study?
2.  Research
We checked out books about an animal of choice and on Friday, our 4th grade buddies supported us with online research at www.kidrex.org.  Please support us at home by doing at home research online (we love National Geographic for kids and Kid Rex) or going to the public library to check out a book to read about your child's animal.  Thanks for the support!


3.  Learn - The first grade experts are taking notes on their animal. This week we will use non-fiction text features to write a book all about the animal to include a table of contents, glossary, bold words, labels and diagrams. 

Guiding Questions
~How do non-fiction text features (such as a glossary, bold words, diagrams, labels) help us as a reader and writer?
~How is my writing different as a fictional author and a non-fiction reporter?