Enigma Room :: First Grade

Our classroom is filled with learning and laughter as my students work and play. They work in groups, help each other on individual assignments, read to one another, and play games. All students in our classroom are treated with respect, integrity, and cooperation and are expected to do the same with peers and adults. Along with our schoolwork, citizenship is something we practice everyday. Though there is much to accomplish throughout the year and even throughout the day, but the main goals of our classroom are to treat others with respect and have fun while learning. These are goals that we work on everyday and help make school somewhere children are happy to be. Our character education is incorporated throughout our day in all activities we do. Any social interaction is a learning experience as well as our class work which is centered on student interest, individual learning abilities, and problem solving. We start our day in Morning Meeting where we do Share Time, Calendar, Weather, Math, and Inter active Reading and Writing activities. Our activities include, but are not limited to, Spanish, calendar math, place value, writing numbers, money, addition and subtraction, more or less, counting, weather, prediction, temperature, and sight words. From Morning Meeting, we move to Math Lab, where activities are created to promote problem solving. Students work as a whole, in groups, partners, and individually to learn skills. Math skills are taught through games and hands-on activities rather than worksheets and memorization. Literacy is also a part of our math curriculum as we read stories to go with math concepts. Finally, we use manipulatives such as Cuisenaire Rods, pattern blocks, number lines, etc. to help with visualizing math concepts and to show the “why?” behind math. Balanced Literacy is implemented in the classroom utilizing read alouds, Shared Reading, Literacy Centers, and Guided and Independent Reading. We begin with a read aloud focused on a skill such as inferring or comprehension. Then, we move on to shared reading with a poem or predictable chart. Students then move to the literacy center for the day. Most centers include a job or practice to be turned in before working on other center tasks. During this time, I meet with guided reading groups. Each afternoon has a different schedule. However, they always include Writer’s Workshop. In Writer’s Workshop, a mini-lesson is taught focusing on a skill, editing or adding details are examples. When the lesson is over, students are asked to use this skill in their writing. Our writer’s workshop includes structured assignments for students and the freedom to create their own stories. The books are edited and published and read aloud by the author to their peers. Subject Study topics are based on student interest. They can cover octopuses to the states of matter to dragons, whatever students would like to learn. Through these subjects teachers cover the objectives in the school curriculum. Subject studies are not just social studies and science. These subjects can be brought in through math lessons, read-alouds, and even writer’s workshop. This year, our class has studied pirate history. We made our own pirate flags and did reports on famous pirates. We even got to visit the MO History Museum to see the Treasure! exhibit.