Blasting Off with Rocket Math!

We are blasting off with our addition facts in first grade!  Students have learned how to practice with a partner and take a 1 minute test to help them learn addition facts!  Research supports that students who know their math facts will be more successful when solving harder math problems. 

Practice makes perfect!!  We practice Rocket Math everyday!  Students start on Level A (simple addition facts) and move up the Rocket everytime they pass their goal!  On Fridays, we take a 3 minute practice test that has 50 mixed addition problems.  Your child's goal is to be able to complete 50 problems in 3 minutes by the end of first grade.

Passing their Rocket Math goal helps your child to be fluent with their addition facts.  If they bring home a rocket math paper and didn't pass, you can orally practice at home! 
Here is how you practice:
*Sit with your child and listen to them say the addition facts around the perimeter of the rectangle. 
*If they get one wrong, say to them:
Stop
Check your answer.  The answer is _____.
Say it three times. 
*Then have your child go back three problems and start again. 

We are Readers!

This week, we started to practice our independent reading time.  During this time, students sit in a quiet, comfy spot around the room and read books that they selected from our classroom library. 

We learned that there are 3 ways to read a book:  Read the words, Read the pictures, or Retell a familiar story.  All the kids did a fantastic job building their reading stamina this week! 

On Monday, students will pick new books from our classroom library.  They learned that the Five Finger Rule can help them choose a book that is just right.  You can also try this at home!
Our Five Finger Rule:
step 1:  Open a book to any page.
step 2:  Read the words and put up a finger for every word you do not know.
             If you know all of the words--Too Easy
             1-2 fingers up--- Just Right
             3-5 fingers up----Too Hard                  

Welcome Back! Our First Week at Klein West!

We had an amazing first week in First Grade!  This week we learned lots of rules and procedures.  We aslo explored the classroom and discussed the difference between a good friend and a bad friend. 

We made Elephant Toothpaste (a simple science experiment) to emphasize how good friends help each other.  Even elephants need help sometimes brushing their teeth!  :)

If you would like to try this experiment at home, visit www.stevespanglerscience.com

I think we are going to have a great year in First Grade!!

Popcorn, Pillows, and Poetry

This week we celebrated poetry in Writer's Workshop!  There were 23 poets in my classroom during the month of April.  They learned how to write awesome poetry by using different techniques and different forms of poems. 

On the last day of April, all of the kids brought in their favorite pillows, we ate popcorn, and we listened to everyone's favorite poem!