Writing About Our Writing Celebration

The day after the writing celebration, students were invited to write one more narrative piece. This writing was used as the end assessment piece for the Narrative Unit. This is Leland's piece and in it he writes about what led up to our writing celebration and the celebration itself. We really liked his piece and wanted to share it.

 One Thursday, me and my class had a PARTY! for Writer's Workshop

because tomorrow is the LAST  Small Moment story. The song was called

"Celebration Time Come On! It's Funke.

 But, before the shabangalanga we put(ted) our writing out. I mean

the ones we were working on. It had letters, pictures, blurbs and title. The 

one's that are good.

This is kind of (cindav) a How To but it's not in order.

First you set out your writing.

Second the party.

And third is the museum.

And the fun begin(s).

Writing Celebration - Celebrating Good Times!

It is time to celebrate. We are finished revising and editing our writing our favorite piece of writing from the Small Moments Unit of Study. The children were SO excited to dance to "Celebrate Good Times" from Kool and the Gang. We use that song at the end of each unit because it is just the best to get the kids excited.

Each student put their revised and edited piece at their seat. Our writers were invited to visit each table and read what their classmates have written.

Some traveled in pairs and read together.

They gave compliments to their fellow classmates about their writing.

Afterwards, each shared the back of his/her book "blurb" about what their story is about and then put it in a bin with everyone's writing.  It was a great way to celebrate all the hard work they have done since the beginning of first grade!

Reading Partners Add Some Spark

 Partner reading is one of the components of our Reader's Workshop. Students have the chance to share their book bin books with their partners and use their reading strategies to help each other. They learn how to work as a team and build good reading habits together.

 Sometimes partners work in groups of three when the other partner is on the computer or absent.

Partners enjoy sharing their books and strategies. They learn so much from each other.

Visiting 5th Grade Science Teacher

We were very fortunate to have Mrs.Shannon, a fifth grade science teacher, visit us with some science magic tricks that had the children all excited. They learned that a bucket of water will not spill out if you swing it around really fast. They experimented with a tube that used human electricity to light up and she conducted experiments using straws and cups. Thank you Mrs. Shannon for engaging our first graders with such interesting science experiments!

Asking Questions and Using Tools

Today is Science, students were given a tray of white liquid with food dye and asked to use their questioning skills to try and figure out what was in front of them. Four different colors were added to whole milk and detergent. They were then asked to put a Q-tip into the food coloring and chart and record what they saw using their five senses.  This was a simple experiment where children had chance to use the skills they have acquired so far in Science.

Scooping Up Words

We are scooping up words a few at a time in order to gain fluency and comprehension in reading. Students are using a plastic spoon as a visual scoop in order to read more than one word at a time. Before given their spoons children were told: "Just like you don't eat one Cheerio at a time for breakfast - you don't read one word at a time."  They have been scooping up a few words on their spoons and then going back for more!