Caring for our Physical, Social, and Emotional Needs

The first graders at Lewis have been learning about caring for one another's physical, social, and emotional needs. This is a project we started at the beginning of the school year. Some of the pieces of work that have contributed include: finding problems and solutions in fiction books, writing about problems and solutions that have happened to us, and asking others in our school building what their common problems are. We have compiled some videos to help teach others how to solve their problems at school and meet the physical, social, and emotional needs of others.

Math Workshop

Math Workshop was introduced to the students this past week. The Math Workshop framework allows for students to be engaged during all of math time and to work on goals designed to meet their learning needs. Rather than working on an assignment that may be too easy or too hard, students are challenged by working on a skill that is their "next step" in learning. For example, the first grade math goal we are currently working on is adding numbers to 20. Students have been taught how to use several "tools" to help them add, including a number line, touch points, a part-part-whole mat, and a ten frame. Some students are using these tools to add to 10. Others, however, are using these tools to help them add to 20 and beyond. Through having different "stations," the students are given the opportunity to experience a variety of activities, while staying engaged and on-task at each "station."    The students are divided into small groups of 4-5 students, and they move through each of the "stations" with their group. Some of the times they are working with another student in their group, but other times, they are working independently.

The video above shows a little piece of each of the stations. The acronym MATH tells students where to go for each rotation. The "M" stands for "Math Fact Practice." The end-of-the-year goal for first grade in addition and subtraction is to be able to correctly solve 40 problems in 2 minutes. Through allowing students to practice their math facts daily during Math Workshop, this end-of-the-year goal is easily reachable. The "A" stands for "At Your Seat Work." This includes worksheet-type activities for students to practice the skill we are working on in math. This will change throughout the year based on the topic we are learning in math. Some of the topics we will learn about in first grade include: addition, subtraction, word problems, telling time to the hour and half-hour, measurement using non-standard units, and identifying 2-D and 3-D shapes. The "T" stands for "Teacher's Choice" or "Teacher Time." During this part of Math Workshop, students will meet with the teacher to continue to practice and improve upon their skills to meet their end-of-the-year goals in math. For students that have already met those goals, they will be challenged with more critical thinking and problem-solving skills related to the topic being learning. The "H" stands for "Hands-On Activities." This includes game-type activities that allow students to practice their math skills with a partner. 

Meet the Student Teacher!

Hello! My name is Shelby Foster and I am the student teacher in Ms. Brandt's first grade class. I am currently a student at Northwest Missouri State University (Go Bearcats!!). I grew up in Liberty, MO which is where I graduated high school. My dream is to teach 1st or 2nd grade. I can't wait to spend the semester with this great group of kids. I hope to teach them just as much as they teach me. I look forward to this wonderful experience!



This is a picture of me and my fiancé. Go Royals!!

Addition War

Students improve their addition fluency in a fun and exciting way! Each student lays a card and whoever can say the sum of the cards first wins that round!

Toothpaste Words

On the second day of school, we did an experiment where the students had to observe how quickly toothpaste comes out of the tube but how difficult it is to put back in. While the experiment was a lot of fun, the concept it represents is not as enjoyable. We discussed how sometimes our words just slip out easily (like the toothpaste coming out of the tube) but they are impossible to take back (just as it is impossible to put the toothpaste back into the tube). Therefore, we need to be careful to choose our words wisely. After the experiment, we developed a list of toothpaste words and phrases that we should avoid saying because they might hurt others, and they are impossible to take back. We followed up the activity by reading My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook. This story tells about a boy who struggles with interrupting others because he claims the words just erupt like a volcano from his mouth. One day in school when it is his turn to share, he gets interrupted twice and suddenly he understands why it is so important to not interrupt. This teaches the students about seeing things from other people's perspective and understanding that if they wouldn't like someone to do that to them, they shouldn't do it to others. 

First Day of School 2015

We're off to a new start to our school year! Things are going great! We are working hard on learning new procedures and getting back into the routine of school.

Here are our First Day of School pictures! (A few days late...) Enjoy! 

Grandparents' Day