Sand, Rhyming, Root Beer Floats, and Partner Math!

The first grade class has been busy mixing learning with fun! Sand boxes have been added into reading groups. Students use a wand to write heart and spelling words in the sand. The students were very engaged and in the zone while in the sand box station. This is a great way to have students holding a tool and practice forming letters and words. The wands are similarly shaped to a pencil and gives them add support in handwriting. Such a win win — fun and beneficial! 

Rhyming is a difficult skill to master. Listening for the same ending sound can be hard to differentiate. To practice rhyming we played Rhyming Bingo and it was hard! The student had a board with pictures. They had to listen to the words I said to see if one of their pictures rhymed with my word. That’s a lot of steps and close listening! We didn’t have very many winners but we got a lot of great practice at repeating and creating rhyming words.

Science is one of first grade’s favorite subjects. Who can blame them? We’ve been discussing matter as solids, liquids, and gases since school started. A perfect science experiment that encompasses all three forms of matter is making root beer floats. It’s a great visual, hands-on, experience. They see the liquid root beer being poured on the solid ice cream and the creation of the gassy bubbles. It definitely wasn’t their favorite snack, however, seeing what we had been discussing come to life was fun, even if you’re not a fan of root beer floats. 

Is math more fun when you can work with a pal and create your own stories? Sure!! Not only is working with a partner fun, it’s excellent for building communication skills and learning the give-and-take that you have to do in a partnership. It’s hard to take turns. It’s hard when somebody doesn’t want do something the way you want to. Giving the students the opportunity to practice working through those problems in a safe environment is more beneficial than I can explain. I was blown away but how well each group work together. There were zero meltdowns and all of them worked through any difference that arose. 

We are off to a great start. First grade is a huge jump from kindergarten. These students are handling it with grit and positive attitudes!