Mr. Herrera's 1st Graders at Work!
3-D Shapes with Food Lesson!
Today, students had the opportunity to apply their 3-D shape knowledge to real life objects....FOOD! Students sorted the objects into their 3-D shape classification. Once finished they enjoyed them as a snack =)
Field Day!
Students had a BLAST today enjoying all of the different activities!
April 8th - 12th
This week students explored Fact and Opinion statements using Fact/Opinion signs. Students determined if various statements were facts or opinions and joined different sides of the classroom. Students then had a debate to explain their reasoning.
Career Day - March 22nd
Our class had a blast today during Career Day! Our class was able to learn about many different careers and what a day is like for them. We listened to a Tae-Kwan-Do instructor, Veterinarians, a Flight Attendant, a Photographer, an Optician, Smokey Bear and the Fire Department, a Crane driver, a Police Officer and an author!
St. Patrick's Day
To help prepare our 6th graders for their upcoming CRT's, our class constructed a very LARGE four - leaved clover along with good luck messages! GOOD LUCK 6th Graders!
Week of February 25th - March 1st
Nevada Reading Week
Week of February 11th - 15th
Our Earth Project Presentations!
February 14th - Valentines Day!
Students shared thier Valentines Day Book Reports to the class.
Week of January 28th - February 1st
This weeks math investigation was to use various units of measurement to measure various tape lengths around the classroom. Students used Kid Steps, baby feet, basketball player feet and craft sticks to measure these lengths.
Weeks of January 14th - 25th
Throughout the past two weeks, students worked together to think of different ways they can conserve many of our natural resources. For their Inquiry Project, students brainstormed different ways to conserve air, land, water, forests, plants and soil. After brainstorming, students designed their own poster on ways to conseve specifc natural resources and then presented them to the class.
An Emotional Homecoming for Andy! (1/10/13)
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Andy's father had been deployed in Africa for the past 3 months. These 3 long months were a very difficult time for Andy and his family as they wouldn't be able to see their father until after the holiday's. Andy had heard from his mother that his father would be returning next week. Little did he know however that a surpise was awaiting him with a surprise homecoming from his father. On Thursday, January 10th Andy's father surprised Andy by coming to our classroom unexpectedly! As Andy's father opened our classroom door you could see the joy in Andy's face and his excitement in seeing his dad once again. "DAD!" was all that was said as Andy peered at his father and rushed to give him a BIG hug. Andy's father was nice enough to bring our class a gift all the way from Africa! Congratulations Andy for having your dad back home!
Week of January 7th - 11th
During Math, students described different shapes and buttons with a partner. These basic characteristics would help them when engaging in the game called Guess My Rule later in the week. The purpose of this game was for 1 student to chose a specific characteristic for their shape/button. Their partner would then place a shape/button in one of the posters titled "Does Fit My Rule" or "Doesn't Fit My Rule". Their partner was responsible for trying to guess the rule their partner had chosen.
This week for our Reading Inquiry Project students were responsible for creating a Puppet of an important worker in our community. Students designed puppets of many different types of community workers such as teachers, doctors, police men and mailmen.
Week of December 10th - 14th
During writing, students used their Peer Editing skills to check the writing of their classmates using editing marks. Students were able to help one another in checking their Rough Drafts before publishing their Final Drafts on why they should not be a bully.
During writing, students used their Peer Editing skills to check the writing of their classmates using editing marks. Students were able to help one another in checking their Rough Drafts before publishing their Final Drafts on why they should not be a bully.
SHOW - AND - TELL!
This week students who averaged an 85% or better from all of their A.R quizzes earned the reward of Show - and - Tell! Students were able to bring something from home and share it with their classmates! Please remind your child that if they work hard and receive 100%'s on their AR quizzes they will be elgible for the next class reward.
This week students who averaged an 85% or better from all of their A.R quizzes earned the reward of Show - and - Tell! Students were able to bring something from home and share it with their classmates! Please remind your child that if they work hard and receive 100%'s on their AR quizzes they will be elgible for the next class reward.
Week of December 3rd - 7th
This week, students began to use dictionaries during Writing. Students are learning the importance of dictionaries and how they can be useful for spelling words, identifying its form of speech and understanding a words meaning.
For our Inquiry Project this week, students created murals with their group members. These murals portrayed three different types of communities we have learned of (big city, small town and a farm). Students used crayons, markers and paint to create these beautiful murals!
In math this week, students were introduced to the mathematical term AREA. Students participated in an activity where their job was to help their partner trace their foot and then find the area of their foot using pennies and square tiles. Students then organized their data on a chart in order to find out who had the biggest foot in our classroom and who had the smallest foot in our classroom.
During math, students continued to practice with addition and subtraction story problems. Students worked with a partner to solve 2 story problems. Students worked together to create a picture, number sentence and a how sentence that explained how they solved thier problems. Students then presented them to the class.
November 21, 2012
In celebration of Thanksgiving, our class learned all about the history of Thanksgiving, made pumpkin pie in a bag, created turkey fact families and we even created our own turkey's with feathers depicting everything we are thankful for. We learned so much about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it today!
Week of November 12th-16th
This week, students began to use the Writing Process to write a Persuasive Essay on why the farmer (aka Mr. Herrera) should NOT eat the turkey's (1st grade students) for Thanksgiving. Students were warned that Mr. Herrera (the farmer) LOVES to eat turkey for his Thanksgiving dinner. The only way he will be stopped is if they can persuade him with a friendly letter on why he shouldn't eat the turkey's for his dinner. Students began the process by brainstorming many ideas and reasons why the farmer shouldn't eat them for Thanksgiving. They then used those ideas to write their Rough Draft letter to the farmer. By the end of the week, students were able to edit their classmates letter's and determine if 1) They included capitals and punctuation marks, 2) Their writing was legible and spelling was correct and 3) If they had good reasons on why the farmer shoulnd't eat them.
Week of November 5th - 9th
This week students focused on our Inquiry Question: How does the moon change? Students had the opporunity to observe the moon for themselves, read books related to the moon and listen to Annie and Moby as they described the phases of the moon in a kid-friendly video. After learning all about the moon, students despicted the phases of the moon using Oreo cookies!
An Example by: Hannah G. :)
An Example by: Hannah G. :)
November 6, 2012
Today our class enjoyed our very first field trip to the Smith Center for Clifford the Big Red Dog LIVE! Students enjoyed this interactive musical that depicted Emily Elizabeth along with Clifford the Big Red Dog as they transition from living in the city to Birdwell Island.
Week of October 29th - November 2nd
This week during Math, students took part in two games involving missing numbers. Students took part in one game called How Many am I Hiding? where their job was to determine how many counting blocks their partner was hiding given that there were 10 blocks in all. Students first counted the blocks their partner was not hiding and then used the strategy of Counting On to determine how many were hidden. A second game students participated in was Counters in a Cup. Again, students determined how many counters were hidden under a cup by using the Counting strategy.
Halloween, October 31st
Students took part in many great Halloween activities this week. During Writing, students wrote a step-by-step writing sample on how to carve a pumpkin. At the end of the week, students used their step-by-step writing samples to help me carve out a class pumpkin. Students helped out in the process by pulling out the "gooey guts" and "slimy seeds."
Week of October 22nd - 26th
This week students focused on 4 Inquiry Questions. 1) How do seeds change? 2) How do people change? 3) How does our weather change? 4) How do animals change? Students were given the task of creating a collage to help them answer thier Inquiry Questions in their groups. Students looked through many magazines and created visuals to create their collage. Students then presented their collage to the class.
Week of October 8th - 12th
This week students explored Pattern Blocks and identified the attributes of different shapes, including Squares, Rectangles, Triangles, Trapezoids, Rhombus, Hexagons, and Circles. Students were then asked to fill in shape outlines with thier Pattern Blocks in different ways.
October 5, 2012
Throughout the week, students learned how to properly use a period, question mark and exclamation mark. By the end of the week students had become Punctuation Super Hero's and used each punctuation mark in their very own super sentences!
Week of October 1st - 5th
This week students took part in the Seven Peas and Carrots Investigation during math. Students worked with the number 5 to find different combinations of peas and carrots. Orange cubes signified carrots and green cubes signified peas.
Week of September 10th - 14th
Students worked on creating Staircases using counting cubes during Math. Students were able to determine that the next number in a staircase was either one larger or one less than the previous set. Students explained how they built their staircases, how they knew their staircases were correct and determined which "step" was missing or incorrect in a completed staircase.
Students also took part in a Mystery Box investigation this week. This investigation required students to count objects from 1-30 to a partner. Students used a Kagan Strategy called Rally Coach to ensure they were counting correctly.
First Week of School (August 27th - 31st)
During the first week of school, students took part in many Get to Know You activities in order to build a safe classroom community. Students had the opportunity to connect with their classmates by learning about each others favorite colors, books, subjects and much more! Be sure to ask your student what they learned about their classmates this week.
After reading the story The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, students created their very own version of Chester the Raccoon and wrote all about the things they love and cherish.