Geometry Fun!

Shapes, shapes and more shapes is what our math focus was in First Grade this week!  Students did a great job challenging themselves to construct polygons using straws and twist ties and we did our best to get creative and create unique polygons that followed the rules of straight lines that connected together at a point, with no intersecting or curving.  Last, we were introduced to 3-D shapes in our world!  What a blast it was to create 3-D shapes out of toothpicks and marshmallows!  Of course, after all of our hard work, we got rid of the evidence!:)

Meet Katalina Matalina

Over the course of our 1st grade year, we have had a blast singing about a beloved character named 'Katalina Matalina'.  This funny, special gal has some different characteristics that may have her looking a little different from us, but it is her 'gold heart' that truly stands out.  Her distinct outward features have provided great discussion in our classrooms about not falling into the trap of 'judging a book by it's cover'.  We also visited about what it means to have a heart of gold and how this extends into how we treat others.  Ask your child to sing this fun song to you!!

Guidance with Mrs. Kehoe

For the last month, we have seen a friendly and familiar face in our classrooms.  From January until mid-March, Nora Kehoe, our guidance counselor will be leading half-hour guidance lessons in the first grade classrooms. Topics covered will include: feelings, friendship, problem solving, and safety. Mrs. Kehoe also brought along her pal, Carmen the Cat, who is pictured above with Mrs. Kehoe. Guidance is a great opportunity for students to learn new strategies for solving problems peacefully and making healthy choices.   

Snowmen at Night

In the spirit of all of the snow, we enjoyed hearing the story, Snowman at Night by Caralyn Buehner.  This fun loving story has us wondering about the snowmen we build and what they do when it is dark and no one is looking?  We then came up with our own ideas finishing the sentence, 'If I were a snowman at night...'  Great conversation was shared as students discussed their ideas of what it would be like to be out and about sneaking around;) Last, we added a snowman face to compliment our writing!

"I would slide to the park and drink hot cocoa.  I would go home and grab my skates and go skating and eat pizza and ice cream.  We would play games and do our homework, then color and go home!"

"I would grab a pink sparkly sled and go sledding down a hill and I would have a crazy party with my friends."

"I would give food to the poor people then I would go sledding with my friends."

"I would go to the movies.  I would skip to the movies and the people would say, "It's freeeeezing in here.  Then the police came and I would have to go home.  So I walked home sadly."

"I would step into the snow and I would dance into the street and be excited.  Then a man screamed he saw a snowman!"