Spend a Morning in Grade 1!

Ever wondered that a morning in Grade 1 looks like? Come spend some time with us! Although the pandemic has changed how we move through our day, our learning continues to be rich and our classroom community strong. 

We begin each day in a similar way. After announcements and agendas, we head to the empty room next door for Connection Time! We always begin with prayer. Then we greet each other in different ways each day . . . and today was a dancing greeting! "1, 2, 3, 4, Come on (student), hit the floor! We're so glad you're here today! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!"

Then we all share our news! Today we heard about wiggly teeth, a cat's birthday, a new outfit, a homemade movie theatre, and a show and tell that was earned from reading!

Then we solve a social problem as a class, and close Connection Time with a carefully chosen story. For more about our daily Connection Time, click here!

We head back to our classroom to count our days! We also work with the same poem or rhyme all week long. This allows the children to build their reading fluency. This week's focuses on reading with expression.  

Can you believe we have only been in class for 40 minutes?!?

We sharpen our literacy and numeracy skills using our daily Building Skills activity!

We are starving! Snack time, and then out for recess! Each day our grade 1 cohort has a different place to play. Today we are on the big wooden park!

Back inside and we are off to buddy read! We re-read the home reading book we took home last night to a friend, then quietly exchange for a new book. 

Each day we review our 5 weekly words, and today we played an individual dice game and did some play dough to practice!

Today in Math we continued to focus on writing addition sentences. We acted out a variety of problems, and recorded the addition sentence on our whiteboards. We also practiced this skill in our math books, too! 

Thank you for "joining" us in our classroom for a morning. Please know that I very much miss having family members present in our school, and it is my hope that this post helps you get a feel for what learning looks like during this pandemic. These children have adapted to the protocols and we have created a wonderful classroom family to learn with each day. 

Come Spend the Day with Us!

Ever wondered that a day in Grade 1 looks like? Come spend the day with us!

We begin each day in a similar way. After announcements and agendas, we head to the rug for Connection Time! We always begin with prayer. Then we greet each other in different ways each day ... today was the shoe greeting! We each toss a shoe in the centre, pick up a buddy's shoe, find the shoe's owner, and greet them!

Then we all share our news! Today we heard about Minecraft, a McDonald's hot lunch, a bracelet filled with chapstick, and a few even shared baptismal items connected to this week's Religion focus. 

We work with the same poem all week long. This allows the children to build their reading fluency. Then we count the days, review spelling words, and subitize. Whew! 

Then we close Connection Time with a story. Today's reinforces one of the Indigenous' 7 Sacred Teachings! 

Can you believe we have only been in class for 40 minutes?!? 

Off to buddy read! We re-read the home reading book we took home last night to a friend, then quietly exchange for a new book. 

We sharpen our language and math skills using our daily Building Skills activity!

We are starving! Snack time, and then out for recess! 

Today in Math we were laying the foundation for addition and subtraction. We used coloured blocks to make number trains with a friend. We are learning how numbers are composed and related.

Off to the gym for a rousing game of "Garbage Ball"! We can only take 3 steps before we have to pass the ball to a friend. Sink the ball in the "garbage bin" for a point! Wahoooo!

Back outside for recess, and then in for lunch. Yum!

Today we are tackling our Daily 5 Literacy Centers. Students choose their stations and move through Word Work, Work on Writing, and Listen to Reading tasks. These stations reinforce so many language skills and the students LOVE the choice they are given within each centre. 

At Word Work, we practice our 5 weekly spelling words using several interactive activity bins. 

At Work On Writing, students are challenged to complete the sentence! 

At Listen to Reading, students hop onto a laptop and hear stories on the websites Epic or RazKids! 

Another quick recess break! Look at that blue sky!

So excited to head to Library to see Mrs. Nixon! She is a very animated reader and we love the stories she chooses for us!

Today in Science we began a unit on colour! We made viewfinders using three transparent circles in red, yellow and blue, and are experimenting with these colours to see how the colour wheel is made up. 

We began our day in prayer and we close in prayer. Hugs, high fives and handshakes and we are out the door! What an amazing day!

Learning in Grade 1 is hands on, collaborative, messy, creative, and so engaging! Is it any wonder we all come home exhausted? Thanks for joining us today! 

Today's learning brought to you by
Mrs. Beliveau's coffee machine!