Current Links

Here is a collection of links that are being posted to let kids explore during our class computer lab time.

A Pictorial History of US Currency, created by Mint.com, displays twenty-three different pieces of US currency from throughout the history of the United States. We have been practicing a lot of coin counting again in the classroom and this link is an interesting one to show children how American money has changed over the years.

Math Run is a simple and fun game for practicing math skills. Math Run presents players with a scrolling series of mathematics problems. The players respond to each problem by using the right and left arrow keys on their keyboards. I like this simple fact game because it calculates "brain speed" at the top. How fast can your brain think?

Feed Fribbit Addition and Feed Fribbit Subtraction are more "child-friendly" fact games. These match better with Everyday Math facts because every once in awhile the user needs to select the missing number and is not always asked for the sum or difference to a problem. Fact families have been commonplace in the classroom over the last two weeks and this game supports that line of thinking.

Sticking with arguably the most popular sport trend in the classroom this week is a Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics webpage. This page is part of the "official" winter Olympics website and introduces children to the Olympic mascots and dreams behind being an olympian.

Hope you enjoy the links! Happy browsing and GO USA!

A Valentine Recap

A whirlwind of a Valentine week left plenty of need for a day off from school in observation of Presidents' Day. The past week in Room 108 saw an Art Appreciation session that introduced children to pop art sensation Andy Warhol. (Hopefully all the parents out there were surprised with a pop art creation from your young artist.) Finally, the week was capped off with a highly anticipated harmonica concert and enthusiastic Valentine's Day party! The video you see below are of the Room 108 students performing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Pictures from all the above mentioned events can be found in the slideshow on the right hand side of the blog.

Halftime

Let me begin by first thanking everyone involved in the Room 108 first grade experience. Thank you parents for your attendance and valuable input and feedback regarding your child and their academic, social, emotional and behavioral development in the first half of this year. It is the team effort that has created the collaboration and support necessary to provide the best educational opportunities for all children to learn.

Looking ahead to unit 6 in both Open-Court Reading and Everyday Math brings a host of new skills and concepts but also a review and application of skills acquired in previous units. Unit 6 in reading is titled Journeys and uses stories about travel to enhance comprehension strategies like summarizing, making predictions, and making connections. Students will also be exposed to new vocabulary terms through reading about journeys like that of Captain Bill Pinkney.

Unit 6 for Everyday Math continues with a constant diet of addition facts, presented with a variety of manipulatives. Fact families should become a common term as students use these groups of three numbers to practice addition and subtraction relationships between numbers. Time-telling will resurface along with some measuring skills and continued practice with the hundreds chart.

Be sure to keep your calendars up to date with the upcoming events for Room 108 and keep up the good work with the homework. This week should be a great one with a big harmonica concert and Valentine's Day celebration. Hope to see you there!