Math

So lovely to get to know this small group of 1st grade students.  The very first day they all sat at one table in the math cabin, demonstrating their closeness and comfort with each other.  I was so unused to this small class size that I thought I was missing half the class!

During these first few weeks, we have begun by establishing routines and procedures.  Every day, we begin outside with some movement or songs.  We have been singing ‘Brother Come and Dance with Me’ and in Spanish:  ‘Palmas, Palmitas’ (a partner clapping song, similar to Patty Cake) and ‘Un Elefante’ (about elephants balancing on a spider web).  On Mondays, we care for the animals, with the help of Natalie, Riley’s mom. 

In class, we have gone over our ground rules:  Be kind, Raise Your Hand to Speak, Care for Our Class materials, Be A Good Listener.  We have begun our weekly rotating jobs of calendar, attendance, temperature, days in school, and weather.  We begin each day with a quiet activity, so far students have been introduced to template drawing, scrolls, geo boards, and pattern blocks.  On Thursday mornings, they begin by choosing a Preferred Math Activity, P.A.T. and many chose to play mancala, an African game of strategy, this past week. 

After quiet time, we have our main lesson or activity.  So far, students problem solved to figure out how many feet our Orchard chickens have; learned a game called Monster Squeeze that teaches the number line concept as well as more than, less than; played the Penny Dice Game, a game that reinforces one-to-one correspondence, being a good partner, and counting skills; played Bunny Hop; and Top It (War card game).  Great start!