First graders have been talking all about gratitude this week. Click here to listen. 

Below are books students created to celebrate some of the many things that they are grateful to have in their lives.

First graders learned all about fire safety yesterday. We had the opportunity to see gear being put on by a fireperson and we saw some of the special equipment that is carried by fire trucks. Ask your child to tell you about what they learned.

Today we took a walk, explored and created with nature. Some of us even made some SNAP words. Can you spot them?

This week we finished up our work with our comunity rules and our dreams for the 20-21 school year. 

See our dreams here!

This week, we launched Writing Workshop. We are working on writing Small Moment stories. Pictured below are childrens' heart maps. Heart maps will be a source of inspiration for young authors throughout the year.

Writers think, plan by touching each page and verbally rehearsing their stories, sketch and write. Sketches serve as important tools to help kids organize and tell their stories.

And then we write! We stretch words across pages to tell our Small Moments. A small moment is zooming in on one particular point in time.

First grade mathematicians are building good habits by learning to use and show their thinking with math tools.

We have been working on building good habits during independent reading too! We take sneak peeks, check our sneak peeks and do something at the end. Today we had the opportunity to practice outside!

First graders start everyday with choice time. Play dough is a choice where students can exercise their imaginations!

First graders are learning how to study words. Today we went on a hunt for words in our classroom that had blends and digraphs in them.

Today was a powerful first day of learning for first graders. They walked through the door with so much knowledge, experience and readiness to take on new learning.

Below students are engaged in guided discovery with their crayons. We reminded each other how to use crayons in safe and responsible ways. Children created bags labeled with their names so they have a safe place to store their masks when outside.

We explored our outdoor classroom today. Below students are working on showing 10 with things found in nature.

Welcome to a brand new year in first grade. I am beyond excited to be back in school with a new community of learners.

We are learning all about each other and how each one of us brings unique experiences, personalities and strengths to our community.

Today we worked on new routines for safely distancing from others and what that looks like and feels like when making different transitions throughout the day.

New snack routine.

This afternoon we visited our outdoor classroom. We learned about how we will use this space in a safe and responsible way. We even did some math thinking. Below students worked on showing the number 10 (an important number in first grade!) with items found in nature. We talked about taking away and how many more would be needed to make 10. We have a community of mathematicians!

Even though we are not physically together, we are still connected in so many ways. Here are some photos of our first grade community members continuing their learning.

Listening to Charlotte's Web.

Here are some of our first grade community members writing, doing math work and practicing SNAP words!