100th Day

We had lots of fun learning on the 100th Day of school.  It is hard to believe that we have been in first grade for more days than we have left.  Thanks to all the parents who sent in supplies to help make our 100th day more special!!  We first rotated in groups to complete several different stations.

Students rolled a dice and drew tally marks in a game to see who could get to 100 first.

Jakoby made it to 100!!

Students are filling in missing numbers on the 100s chart, solving +10 equations, and discovering the mystery picture (100).

Students are writing about what they would do with $100.

Students are making a 100th Day trail mix by counting ten pieces of each of the 10 foods.  We learned that 10 X 10 is 100.

In the remainder of the pictures, students are counting their 100 items with a buddy that they were to bring to school for the 100th day as part of their homework.

To conclude the 100th day, we also had fudge Popsicles. (Sorry there are no pictures... It takes a while to open 21 Popsicles :) Students had to predict how many licks they thought it would take to reach the Popsicle stick.  Then we discussed if their estimate was greater or less than 100.  Finally, students enjoyed eating their Popsicle while counting to see how close they were to their guess.   

Math and Science Lab

In math we have been using ten frames to help build our number sense.  Students have shown numbers 0-20 using the ten frames and then relate them with addition and subtraction.  For example, thirteen is ten and three more or nineteen is one less than twenty.

In science we have been answering the question: What is a scientist?  We have also been learning about the scientific process and how to use safety rules in our school's science lab.  Last Friday we conducted an experiment to answer the question: What will make an egg in water float?  The students made their own hypothesis as to whether cornstarch, food coloring, salt, or vinegar would make the egg float.  In conclusion, we discovered that salt made the eggs float.

Goodies with Grands

We celebrated our grandparents this week at Oakland in honor of grandparents day.  The children had a wonderful time sharing cinnamon buns with their grandparents.

We also had a surprise Mystery Reader this past Friday who read "The Lorax" and brought us truffla tree cupcakes.  Thanks to Nicholas' mom for reading to us and sharing a special treat!!

Mystery Reader and College Colors

We LOVE Mystery Readers in first grade!!  Edwyn's dad was our first Mystery Reader of the school year.  He came and read the story "Diary of a Worm" to us.  The kids thought it was really funny!!  Then he shared gummy worm treats with us :). If you would like to be a Mystery Reader in our class this year, please email me to set up a time: Erica.mcdowell@spartanburg2.k12.sc.us 

We also celebrated the beginning of college football season by wearing our favorite team shirt.  We talked about how important doing our best in school even in first grade is because it will help prepare us for all the next steps that lead to college.

Clemson fans

Gamecock fans

Other fans

Watermelon Day

We had a fun day in first grade last Friday with a Watermelon Day.  We began by reading the book Peter Spit a Seed at Sue, which has a surprise ending.  We talked about how writers can write surprise endings for their stories too!

Then we shared watermelon as a class together outside for snack time.

Then the students completed a Watermelon Glyph to practice their listening skills and their ability to follow multiple step directions.