Elves Wanted!

***Have you ever played with toys? Do you like to wrap presents? Do you like milk and cookies?  Have you been naughty or nice?***

If you are planning on being an elf, you've got stiff competition if you are up against these kids! Students created and decorated elves through a directed drawing activity last Friday. They continued this week by filling out elf applications, essay and all!

Stop by and read the applications Tuesday night before P.T.O.!

This week during computer science, our future programmers focused on programming commands in the correct sequence. Sequence is one of three basic flow control structures in programming, and is the very first concept a student must understand when learning to code. Also known as order of events, a computer will execute commands exactly in the order or sequence they are written.  As a programmer, it is important to make sure that the commands given to a computer are in the right sequence, otherwise a program might not run as expected.

We used the Kodable app to assess our understanding.  If you would like to use the app at home, download it from the app store and use the classroom code:  kk1111
Want to try a little coding yourself?  Try this link to  Star Wars:  Building a Galaxy with Code

Students enjoyed their second field trip of the year to the Pridemore Playhouse at Radford University to see "Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells."  Written by Allison Gregory and based on Barbara Park's wildly popular Junie B. Jones book series, the play takes place in an elementary school classroom.  Junie B. and her friends sprung vividly to life in this Theatre for Young Audiences production.  

Students were able to speak with the performers after the play.  

During math, students are using several strategies to subtract.  This week we focused on the part, part, whole model which has led into fact families and the relationship numbers share.

Students have had several opportunities to write this week.  We are focusing on writing detailed thoughts and reading over our work to check that it makes sense.

Students are getting into the holiday spirit by visualizing what is happening in stories and poems or by creating a story of their own to illustrate.  

Oh the joy of playing outside with friends in December! ❤

Looking forward to more awesome December adventures next week!  

Dashing into December

We are dashing into December with lots of fun activities!
Pass the Paper is a game we play to work on writing numerals up to 120.  Students have two minutes to see how far they can count on a hundreds chart with their partner.  Students write only one number and then pass the paper to their partner to write.  It is passed back and forth several times before time is up.  We are keeping track of our progress and will be graphing the data later!

Student are learning new ways to practice sight word identification.  Roll, Find, and Highlight was a new activity this week.

Mrs. Ally visited and helped students dabble into computer science concepts with a lesson on coding. Students wrote a code and practiced acting out the programmed sequence. We will continue this lesson using the Kodable app this coming week.

Students continue to learn during workstations.  It is often their most favorite time of the day.

We are excitedly welcoming in December by singing songs, making decorations, and thinking about the winter and holiday traditions our families have. It is a very exciting time of  year for all first graders!  

Don't forget students have a field trip Tuesday to see "Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" at Radford University.  It is based on Barbara Park's wildly popular Junie B. Jones book series. Students are sure to have a good time!