Diaries of a First Grader: Snapshots from the Classroom

Hello All! We have been so busy in class that I have hardly had a chance to think about the blog! I apologize for my lack of posting. Hopefully I'll get into the swing of this soon. The first few weeks of school have been great! I'm exhausted, so I know the kids must be too! :) In reading, we have been learning what it means to retell a story.

We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and ordered the main events. We then glued them on to our story path and illustrated each event.

Once completed, we practiced walking the pathas we retold the story.

The illustrations were great! I was so impressed with all the details that were recalled from the story.

We are also practicing finding just right books in our library and classroom.

Writers workshop is in full swing and I must say I am loving our new writing curriculum. The kids are so excited about writing... and so am I!

We made this anchor chart to review all the wonderful things we have been learning such as:

-Writers use references to help them spell.

-Writers go back and reread their work.

-When you think you're done you've just begun (add to the picture/words or start a new piece).

-Writers can practice writing tricky words on a sticky note in their folder.

-Writers start their sentences with capital letters.

-Writers end their sentences with punctuation.

and the biggest change for me

Writers start by THINKING.

Then they draw their picture.

Finally they write their words.

I always taught that we first write our story, then we can draw a picture that matches our words. Our new curriculum suggests that writers start with an idea, draw it on their paper and then use their picture to help remember details about the event. This is wonderful, especially for the reluctant writers! I suggest using this strategy when writing with your children at home.

We decorated our writer's notebooks to help inspire our creative juices.