I realize I say this every single month, but it still blows my mind how quickly this year is flying! The end of this month will mark the three-quarters-of-the-school-year mark...absolutely mind-boggling. Some days I just feel like I need to sit back and soak it all in because every time I blink, another moment and first grade memory has passed. They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but it's been smooth sailing so far!
I also realize that I have been awful about blogging, and I apologize about that. Most afternoons/evenings I sit and peruse other people's blogs, but I've been in much more of a reading than writing mood recently. I hope it's just a phase, because I love sharing the adventures of Room 106 with anyone who's willing to listen (or in this case, read!). That being said, there's a lot to catch you up on! Sit back, relax, put yourself in a first-grade-mindset, and enjoy!
How do you spell...
tiyol = tile
chect = checked
deskuvrd = discovered
litnin = lightning
asperimet = experiment
elcktrisede / elchrisade / alechistey = electricity (can you tell we recently studied Benjamin Franklin and learned about his experiment to find electricity in a lightning storm?)
Also, when making predictions for a story:
Jimmy*: "Ms. Weissberg, how do you spell gonna?"
Me: "What do you mean? Can you use it in a sentence?" [I knew what he meant, I was just looking for a giggle :) ]
Jimmy: "In the last chapter of this book, I think Josh is gonna run in the race and maybe win!"
Me: "I think what you mean is 'Josh is going to run in the race,' right?"
Jimmy: "Nope. I mean gonna. That's why I need to know how to spell it!"
Quotables
Some people write books that are entirely filled with jokes; I think that within a few years' time I will have collected enough quotes to write a book of kids' quotes! I've collected a lot of quotes since my last post...enjoy!'
- "I'm so glad we live on Earth. I wouldn't want to live somewhere else and have to have three eyes!" (...after reading a book about the Solar System and reading that though it may be cold on Mars, the planet might be able to sustain life.)
- ("Does anyone remember where Mount Rushmore is?") "Hmmmmm...I'm pretty sure that it's in Russia."
- (On Valentine's Day: "Can anyone tell me who Cupid is?") "I know! It's what you clean your ears with!" (...and then we had an impromptu class discussion about Q-tips and hygiene...)
- "It means how good your brain is. Like, if you can read this, then your brain is at a level 18." (...a child's take on what the Level 18 sticker meant on the back of the book they were reading.)
- (One of my reading groups was reading a book about a guinea pig, Mop, who had baby guinea pigs and a question I asked was, "As we keep turning pages, Mop keeps getting bigger; why does she get bigger?") "Well, it's not because she's feeding Mop too much, Ms. Weissberg. It's because there are baby guinea pigs growing inside of Mop!" (...and that's where we ended that conversation.)
- (After a rainstorm in the morning, the sun came out...) "It's sunny now! That means we can go to New York City!!!" (??? I cannot even tell you the last time I've talked about/our class has talked about New York...)
- "I wish 2nd grade was college. That way I could dress like a big person!" (...I can't wait to see their outfits as they walk down the hallways as second-graders next year!)
- (Upon looking at the March calendar:)
Student 1: "Clover Day! I forgot Clover Day was in March!"
Me: "St. Patrick's Day?"
Student 1: "I thought it was Clover Day."
Me: "Well, one of the symbols of St. Patrick's Day is a four-leafed clover. I think that's what you were thinking of."
Student 2: "Are we going to celebrate it at school?"
Student 3: "No, silly! [Runs over to calendar] Look! It's on a Saturday so we can't celebrate it in school." [Insert "duh" look on student's face here.]
Student 2: "Ms. Weissberg, are you going to celebrate it?"
Me: "Well, actually, I'm running in a race on that day."
Student 2: "You always run in races! I hope you win this race, Ms. Weissberg. I really want you to win and bring your trophy to the classroom."
(...I'll make sure to tell the thousands of competitors in the race that I need to cross the finish line first!)
- Student: "Ms. Weissberg, Alex* was being mean to me."
Me: [the day has not even started and I was still at the door greeting students] "Do you think you can be a 1st-grade-problem-solver and use your kind words to work things out?"
Student: "Okay..." [walks back to desk] "Alex, when you said that to me, you broke my heart. You broke my heart into a million little pieces and you really hurt my feelings. Do you think we could be friends again?"
Alex: "Sure."
(...precious.)
- (I let the class know that during a math game, we weren't going to be using the wild cards in our decks of counting cards...)
Student 1: "What does the Wild Card even mean again?"
Student 2: "It means you need help."
Student 3: "It means the teacher chooses."
Student 4: "It means it's not tame!"
Student 1: "Ohhhh, okay."
(...in response to Student 4: at least he remembered from our study of the rainforest that the opposite of wild animals were tame ones!)
- "Wow. (Sigh.) That is such a beautiful dress. She just looks so beautiful."
(In response to this picture of Eleanor Roosevelt:
- (More Eleanor...) "We've only seen black and white pictures of Eleanor Roosevelt, but I think that if the pictures were in color, she would have been wearing blue on her eyes and red lipstick:"
- "Don't they know that's not a sleeping bag?!?" (...I have absolutely no idea what sparked this one-liner; I didn't write down the context of the quote in my notebook! But I still thought it'd be fun to include...feel free to use your imaginations to create a circumstance :)
Lucky for Daisies!
One of the best parts of having Daisies in my class is that spring brings Girl Scout cookies! The cookies are in, and there are now four boxes on my kitchen counter :) We'll see how long they last!
(In case anyone was wondering, my picks this year were Trefoils, Tagalongs, Dulce de Leche, and Savannah Smiles...yum!)
Fun with Math
You may remember that earlier this year, we had a math consultant come to our school for some professional development. If not, let me remind you :) He recently visited again, and for his demonstration lesson, he was in my classroom. To say that the kiddos enjoyed Mr. Tom's visit to Room 106 would be an understatement--they loved it! I feel really lucky that my class got to have a guest teacher for the afternoon, and it was really neat to watch another adult teach the 21 children that I teach every day.
In addition to the neat experiences of observing my class, my kiddos were rock stars. I felt like a proud momma, y'all. The lesson was split into two parts: one on time, and one on probability, and if someone took a picture of me in the back of the room, I probably had a goofy smile on my face. I just love it when things work out. Whew! Thanks, kids, for cooperating :)
Famous Americans
In first grade, there are five famous Americans that we study in depth:
- George Washington
- Abraham Lincoln
- Benjamin Franklin
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- George Washington Carver
We've covered the first four over the past month, and I thought I'd share a few work samples with you that I was especially fond of.
A writing sample of Benjamin Franklin's contributions:
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| "Benjamin Franklin proved there was electricity because he flew a kite in a storm. Lightning touched the string [of the kite]. And it came all the way down and when he touched the key [that was attached to the kite string] his hand got shocked. That is how he proved there was electricity." Not too shabby! |
Drawing and labeling Eleanor Roosevelt's contributions:
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| "She helped other people." |
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| "She volunteered for many organizations." "She was leader of all of the people's rights." [equal rights] |
There is so much more on my "to-blog" list, but bedtime is beckoning. Stay tuned for updates on our 100th Day of School, Valentine's Day, and Read Across America Day (Dr. Seuss's birthday)...coming soon to a blog near you! (This blog right here!)
Off to another week of first grade in the morning--I hope your Marchs are also off to a great start!
Love from Room 106,
Allie
*As always names have been changed.
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