1st Grade Math

First Grade, 

Hard to believe we've only been in school for 3 whole weeks. I’ve been getting to know the campus, the teachers and administrators, the students and many of the parents. Here is what the students have been working on in Math class. 

We begin the class with a whole group math meeting. Each day students have a “job” to perform and a report for the class to hear, or a song to lead the class in. We had many discussions on what was included in each job and how they would share the responsibility. They voted to work in pairs and asked that the pair change after a full rotation through each job. Jobs include: #1) Add one and count the daily sticks (popsicle sticks are added each day and bundled in 5s and then 10s for the daily count for a 100 day celebration), and then add the number to the pocket chart and lead the count with the class. #2) Take the class vote on how the weather is at their math class period and post the adjectives on the board, change the season when needed and lead the “seasons song”. #3) Post the next date on the calendar, report the date (“today is, day, month, date and year), chart the days of the week “yesterday was, today is and tomorrow will be” arrows, and lead the “days of the week song” (“The Addams Family” tune) and the “months of the year song and dance” (To the Macarena). #4) Check the temperature on the outside thermometer, report the temperature to the class and graph the temperature on our weather graph. #5) Bankers add a penny daily to the piggy bank, then dump the money and count the coins. They exchange 5 pennies for a nickel, and 2 nickels for a dime and so on, practicing counting coins and exchanging change for equivalent coins. #6) Ask the class if any one lost a tooth and tally mark the tooth chart, and ask if it is anyone's birthday and lead the birthday song if it is. Or, we leave the Math Meeting for the end of class and we begin the period with a quiet activity to set the tone for the math class period. Students are working on focusing and attending to the subject of math when they come to the Math Cabin.

First graders have been exploring the Base Ten blocks after reviewing whole numbers, place values, and grouping ten whole 1s to make one ten, grouping ten 10s to make one hundred, and grouping ten 100s to make one thousand. They are practicing identifying number amounts from concrete objects, and writing their numbers in the correct direction in the correct place value. They work with the base ten blocks to create numbers and practice counting up skills. Students are advancing to larger numbers and will be implementing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division strategies as they build on prior knowledge.  They have also been playing a card game called “Top It”. We grew up calling it war, and the same concept applies for single digit comparisons. Some students have been turning over 2 cards, making the highest 2-digit number possible to compare. They will continue to add on to their game as their skill sets increase. 

First graders have begun their Everyday Math lessons. They practiced their number writing and had lessons in pencil grip, directions and ways to write the numbers. Zero is, “ a big O”, 1 is “from the sky to the ground”, 2 is “around to the right, down to the ground and back”, 3 is “around to the right, half way and around again to the ground”, 4 is “a little L then a one”, 5 is “ “down halfway and around to the right then across the sky to the right or across the sky to the left then down halfway and around to the right ”, 6 is “a big C then close the loop in the middle”, 7 is “across the sky to the right then diagonal down to the ground”, 8 is “a big S then back to the to top”, and 9 is “around to the right, halfway down back up to the top and down to the ground”. Most students are still reversing their numbers, so it would be beneficial to work on this at home. They continued to practice ordering numbers through their dot-to-dot pages, a class favorite activity. Dot-to-dot activities including using color pencils for coloring the image to gain is highly recommended for homework as it builds finger strength and proper pencil grip. Students further sequencing skills by building a number line from 0-100 with their classmates. The helpfulness and kindness is evident in this class as many patiently instructed their friends when cooperating during this activity. Students played the “Monster Squeeze” game, where a double digit number is concealed and each classmate takes a turn trying to guess the number. If the guess is higher than the number, the the monster on the right squeezes the number line down and says, the number is less than the guessed number, and visa versa, if the number guessed is lower than the concealed number the monster on the left squeezes the number line and proclaims the number is more than the guess. They love this game! Students also played “Bunny Hop” in small groups, spinning spinners and moving up (adding up in sequence) on an individual number line. They listened to math stories including “100 Hungry Ants” which teaches a number of ways you can group a hundred through a funny and engaging storyline. In the coming weeks students will be continuing to learn about calendars and thermometers, and practice additional skills, making tally marks and counting by 5s and 1s, investigating likely outcomes, and learning how to solve number story problems. This week  we are shifting the focus to our Orchard School Harvest Festival, and the kids will be exploring math concepts such as weight and measurement through APPLES.   

We started the year by brainstorming and discussing topics related to building a safe, meaningful learning community, and how they wanted to be in our classroom environment. We used the idea of “Bee Kind” and the students shared their own “Bee” related words for our Math Cabin Bees. Each child colored a wooden bee with their favorite bee idea for the classroom to inspire a loving, thoughtful and helpful community. For example: Be Brave, Be Helpful, Be Cooperative, Be Yourself… Students brainstormed “What is Math?” and students generated a fantastic list of ideas that covered each of the Mathematical Content Strands: Number sense, properties, and operations, Measurement, Geometry and spatial sense, Data analysis, statistics, and probability, and Algebra and functions. Students also generated ideas about who uses math. They listed many occupations, and each class concluded that everybody uses math. Students examined how they use math in their everyday lives which helped them make new connections to the subject and have a purpose for learning new concepts. Students also drew themselves as mathematicians or using math in some way for their new binders. They spent time practicing writing numbers, and following dot-to-dot activities to warm up their hands and brains for a new year of mathematics. They have also been playing a card game called “Top It”. We grew up calling it war, and the same concept applies for single digit comparisons. In the upper grades, the students have been turning over 2 cards, making the highest 2-digit number possible to compare, and also adding their card numbers to create a single digit addition version. 

The Orchard School “Community Spirit” reminds students to contribute to a learning community by showing respect, acting with kindness, participating in the learning process and taking responsibility for their learning. It is my goal to encourage each and every student in this class to engage everyday with curiosity and inquiry, to use positive communication, to demonstrate care and compassion, and develop cooperative relationships for a productive school year.