Mrs.Gatyas & Mrs. Cole's First Grade Classes
Liberty School
Great Meadows, New Jersey

 

The students in the first grade classes at Liberty School have been busy all month reading, writing, drawing, talking, and whatever else about SNOW. They have had a great time!

They started the unit by first reading the book Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.This led to a discussion on shadows. The students learned first hand the meaning of the big words: transparent, translucent, and opaque.

The students then broke up into small groups and after selecting a rhyme for their group they made shadow puppets out of construction paper and rulers to go with their rhyme. After practicing for a few times each week they performed their plays for the kindergarten and second grade classes during Community Gathering on January 31st. Here is a picture
of one of those terrific plays.

 

During the month they also played a math game involving "snow". The game was called "Blizzard". Each child was given 6 snowballs (mini-marshmallows) and placed in a group. Each group was given a pair of dice. The game started with each player putting 2 of their "snowballs" into the "snowbank" in the middle of the table. Then each player took turns rolling the dice and adding the numbers on the dice. For each sum there were different things you were to do.

Sum
Weather Condition
PlayerMust
3,5,7,9,11
cold, cloudy day
do nothing
2
sunny

put in 2 snowballs
4
partly sunny
put in 1 snowball
6
light snowfall
take 1 snowball
8
moderate snowfall
take 2 snowballs
10
heavy snowfall
take 1/2 of snowbank
12
blizzard
take all of snowbank

 
The children loved this game and it really helped then with their math skills. The best part of the game may have been eating the marshmallows when the game was over! Here is a picture of the children playing the game.

Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Gatyas also read to the children the book Katy and the Big Shovel by Virginia Lee. This was a great book. The children practiced their map skills using the map of Geopolis in the center of the book. They also had great fun practicing their measuring skills when they took part in The Giant Boot Jump. Wearing snowboots (a few too many sizes too big) they jumped from a designated line and then took turns
measuring the distance jumped in inches. They also recorded all the distances on the board and then used their calculators to determine the total distances jumped!! Here is a picture of some of the students jumping!

They also practiced sequencing skills by writing and illustrating the directions for making a snowman. But even more fun than this was when after reading the book Snowed In At Pokewood School by they wrote their own stories about the day they were snowed in at Liberty School. They had to explain why they had to stay, what they did, what they ate, where they slept, and how they felt about the event. Here are a few samples of what some of the children wrote.

The snow is over the school. We have to stay had to stay at school. We played games and watched television. We ate chicken. We slept on the floor. I was very happy.
By Ali
I am snowed in at school because no one could drive. I went into the gym and rolled on the mats. I ate french toast sticks. I slept in the nurse's office on the one bed. I felt sleepy because I had been so busy.
By Bobby
If I was snowed in at school I would do a puzzle. I would sleep in the library because there are bean bags there. I would make pizza and the pizza would be good. I would play a game. The game we would play would be called Candy Land.
By Erin

Language Arts and Literacy Standards and Progress Indicators

New Jersey

Standard 3.5:
All Students Will View, Understand, And Use Nontextual Visual
Information

Descriptive Statement: In the language arts literacy classroom, students learn how to view in order to be able to respond thoughtfully and critically to the visual messages of both print and non-print. Effective viewing is essential to comprehend and respond to personal interactions, live performances, visual arts that involve oral and/or written
language, and both print media (graphs, charts, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, and graphic design in books, magazines, and newspapers) andelectronic media (television, computers, film). Students should recognize that what they speak, hear, write, and read contributes to the content and quality of their viewing.

1. Use speaking, listening, writing, and reading to assist with viewing.

2. Demonstrate the ability to gain information from a variety of media.

3. Respond to and evaluate the use of illustrations to support text.

4. Recognize and use pictorial information that supplements text.

5. Use symbols, drawings, and illustrations to represent information that supports and/or enhances their writing.


Math Standards and Progress Indicators

New Jersey

4.1 All students will develop the ability to pose and solve mathematical problems in mathematics, other disciplines, and everyday experiences.

4.3 All students will connect mathematics to other learning by understanding the interrelationships of mathematical ideas and the roles that mathematics and mathematical modeling play in other disciplines and in life.

4.5 All students will regularly and routinely use calculators, computers, manipulatives, and other mathematical tools to enhance mathematical thinking, understanding, and power.

4.8 All students will understand, select, and apply various methods of performing numerical operations.

Technology Skills Grade Level Objectives for Schools in Warren County New Jersey


Grade Level: 1

Competency Goal 1
The learner will understand important issues of a technology-based
1.4 Identify the Internet as a source of information.

Competency Goal 2
2.5 Participate in the creation of a class multimedia sequential/linear story.

Competency Goal 3
The learner will use a variety of technologies to access, analyze, interpret, synthesize, apply and communicate information.
3.2 Gather, organize, and display data

 

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