We Are Special

In social studies, we are starting a unit on making friends.  This week we discussed how being a good friend starts with being kind to ourselves.  In addition to learning the song above, we read the wonderful book Rainbow Fish (click on the title to see a video of the book read aloud).  In Rainbow Fish, the fish has all these sparkly scales, but he is not truly happy until he shares that special part of himself with others.  We talked about the things that makes each of us special, our likes and dislikes, and our similarities and differences.  We even made a glyph to represent some of these things.

Our fish glyphs followed these directions.  The students had to color the fish to represent his/her different characteristics.

When the students were finished we discussed how respectful students and friends are good listeners.  We practiced good listening and speaking skills by sharing our glyphs with a partner.

The Rainbow Fish activity allowed us to learn lots about each other.  We kept the learning going by playing a game called "Find a Friend Who..."  In this activity, the students had a list of items like "likes to dance" and "lost a tooth."  The students walked around with clipboards.  They had to shake a friends hand and then find a category the friend could sign.  The goal was to find a different friend to sign for every category.  So fun!

Count On Us

The first seven days of school has been getting to know each other, establishing routines, and reviewing some of the foundational skills the students learned in kindergarten.  In math, we began by reviewing counting and understanding the place value concepts behind those tricky teen numbers.

The teen numbers can be very difficult to learn.  We have been doing many activities to not only learn how to read and write the numbers but also to understand the place value behind the tricky teens.  We started by building these cube towers.  Then we ordered them.

The students noticed that each tower had a ten green cubes in it.  They also found that the black cubes increased by one each time.  I introduced them to the "math way" of counting.  Instead of saying eleven, the math way maintains the place value and we would say "one ten, one."  Twelve is "one ten, two."  Saying numbers the math way, also helps students remember to put the one first when writing teen numbers.  Next, I started to move the kids to the symbolic representation of the number with these cards.

Instead of just a one in front, the students see a green ten stack like the cube towers.  Now they can "see" that the number 18 is a ten and an 8.  We ordered and matched these numbers to the cube towers. Of course, a song and video always helps to solidify tricky concepts.



We played several different games where the students had to identify, order, and write the teen numbers.  For example, we made number crowns.  The students wrote the numbers 1-20, then mixed them up and reordered them.  Some classmates even had races to see who could build the number line the fastest.  We also played a card game where students placed numbers on a number line when the numbers were drawn in random order.

See if your child can show you the "math way" of counting.  Ask them to identify, order, and write the numbers 1-20.  Any extra practice you do at home always helps! 

Honored Guests

We had a busy classroom on Thursday morning! Some honored guests stopped by for a spelling lesson! As part of his "Back to School Tour" Governor Bullock came to Eagle Cliffs and spent a half an hour with the Connected Ones. He is interested in innovative teaching and learning across the state. The children were super stars!

Not only was Governor Bullock in the classroom, he also had State Superintendent Denise Juneau and Billings Public Schools Superintendent Terry Bouck with him. The guests were amazed at how much the students could do with technology on only the sixth day of school. KTVQ news and The Billings Gazette were also in the room to record the days events. Follow the links below to their reporting.

Billings Gazette- Dual Credit, iPads Featured in Bullock School Tour 

 KTVQ- Bullock Sees School District 'Innovations' First Hand

Learning Letters

We are off and running in first grade. We are starting the year by reviewing letters. We are working on handwriting, knowing the letter sounds, matching capital and lower case, distinguishing beginning and ending sounds, and reading and writing words beginning with the focus letter. To practice these important foundational reading skills, one tool we are using is the ipads and a series of phonics apps.

We have developed a phonics routine to review and develop these skills. First, we watch and sing Jack Hartman's Letter Sound Song. Then, we introduce the focus letter. The children are really enjoying watching the StoryBots video clips for each focus letter. You will notice I have linked all the StoryBots videos to the button bar at the top of the blog.

After doing the introduction of the focus letter as a whole group, the children set to work on a series of apps.  The students work through Letter School, Starfall, Letter of the Day, and Sound Sort.  In each app, the students get specific and guided practice at writing the letter, identifying and discriminating the sound, and reading words beginning with the focus letter.  The students get to work at their own pace and receive specific and immediate feedback on how they are doing on the skills.  The apps are designed to help students on areas of struggle and challenge and advance students when they are ready.

Last, we come together as a group and review what the students have learned on the ipad.  So far, we have reviewed the letters M, R, and B.  Next week we will work on F, T, and S as focus letters.

There's An App For That!

 So many apps, so little time!  I have had several requests to find out what apps we are using in class.  I've also heard the children saying that many of you have already downloaded some of the apps we have done in class.  That is so great!  I love to share!  There are bunches and bunches of educational apps.  Here a few of our class's favorites.  As we add more in class, I will continue highlighting student and teacher favorites.

 Letter School- This is an incredible handwriting and phonics app.  It helps children with correct letter formation and letter/sound association. $4.99
Starfall- In this app, students see, hear, interact, and play with letters and sounds.  $2.99
 Letter of the Day- This app, again, works on letter and sound identification and association.  The game provides instant feedback and helpful hints.  $1.99
 Sound Sorting- Here is an interactive game that let's children sort pictures by beginning sound. $0.99
 Sight Words PhotoTouch- The ipad says a sight word and the kids have to touch the correct word out of 4 different choices.  The same app is also available for just letter identification.  Free.
Reading Rainbow- (with subscription)  This is an amazing resource.  With this app, children have access to an incredible library of wonderful literature.  Children can read the books themselves or get the books read to them.  Further, the app has short video clips that compliment the stories.  How do children become better readers?  They read, read, read!  This app is packed with reading opportunities and probably my all time favorite.
Scribble Press- I have this app on the students' dock because we use it all the time.  This app allows the children to write and illustrate books then has an option to share/ publish their creations into ibooks.  $2.99
Teach Me First Grade- This app has several games that cover and practice important first grade skills, both math and reading.  Plus, the app tracks progress and has an parent screen where you can monitor your child's progress.  This app also has a kindergarten and second grade version. $1.99

On our math page, we also have several awesome apps.  Here are just a few for now.
Quick Images- This app is spectacular for developing number sense and mathematical strategies.  See the post below for more specifics.  I highly recommend this app. $0.99
Counting Board- A great app to practice counting and identifying the numbers to 100.  Free.
123 Number Magic- An app to practice counting and number identification.  Free.
PrestoBingo Shapes- This app explores geometry.  Students have to find shapes hidden in pictures.  $1.99
Sid's Science Fair- Here is a science app that really engages the kids.  $2.99
Math Tappers- Find Sums- This app builds a foundation for addition and develops early addition skills.

This is certainly not everything, but a good start.  Like I said, I will continue to update as we introduce new apps in class or as I discover new apps.  You will notice at the top button bar of the blog there are links to Reading Apps and Math Apps.  Here you can see apps we will use through out the year.  If you click on the icons for the app, it will take you to the itunes store and more information about the app.  I appreciate your interest and support!