Burchfield Art Center

Today we traveled to the Burchfield Art Center.  The students were so excited to be outside exploring nature.  







Students were instructed to pay attention to their senses; What did they see?  What could they hear?  smell?  How did different objects feel?




My group began by exploring the creek.  It was very shallow, but slippery.  Two boys immediately began exploring the different rocks under their feet.  I listened as they compared the shapes and sizes of the different rocks.  


 
Other students enjoyed throwing them into the water, trying to skip a stone.  They were experimenting with the different ways to throw the stone, in order to get it to skip in the water.  Yet another student really enjoyed trying to climb up the embankment.


Next we began our hike through the woods.....although any chance of running into an animal was lost on our group. They were so excited to begin exploring, many were running and yelling down the trails.  I think I actually saw animals running for cover when they heard us coming. 

The students were very observant; they commented on the leaves, the sticks, the bird houses.  We discovered several arrangements of branches that could be forts for the children to play under. 

The colors of the leaves were really accented by the dark, gloomy skies.  As we began our observational drawings, the collection of beautiful leaves that had fallen to the ground, became a fun game, and also souvenirs of our trek through the woods.      

My friend Orfrelis was captivated by this
sculpture, and insisted that he had
dreamed about it.

 

Our Noun Books

Students began illustrating their favorite nouns and used these illustrations to create a book.  There are four noun categories: people, places, things, animals.  Each student chose a favorite in every category, and then discussed their pictures with me.  I transcribed their writing on many of the pages.  The students enjoyed seeing their effort result in a book. 

NYS: CCLS:ELA & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects PreK-5, NYS: 1st Grade , Language
Conventions of Standard English 1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
	1b. Use common, proper, and possessive nouns. shark candy bar Treehouse Super Miguel

Our First Trip to the Museum

Making Waves

Today was the first of several visits to the Burchfield-Penny Art Museum.  This year there is a nautical focus and a theme around Buffalo's waterfront. 

Making Waves

I was surprised and impressed to learn how much my group already knew about work at the grain silos and life on the ships.  

Un Cangrejo

Several of the students live right in this part of Buffalo, so it was very meaningful to them.  They were very excited to see a part of their community featured in museum displays.  (Not to mention, this is area is very close to our school.)

Making Waves

The students began in a workshop where they began making waves and adding creatures to their water scenes.





Next, we began the tour and viewed many different displays and pieces of art.  Our tour concluded with a trip around, on top of, and inside of the giant ship which is the centerpiece of the exhibit. 


It was a valuable experience for these students to make such strong connections with not only a piece of history, but also with their community.

Sequencing

Students worked very hard on their sequencing project.  We read a story together about Curious George.  Students paid close attention to the details that happened in the beginning, middle, and end of story.  Later, they had to illustrate and quote passages from the story in order of occurrence.  Here is one student's interpretation of the story's events. 

A Tree House

During ESL, my group has been working with nouns.  We have identified, categorized, and now selected our favorite nouns in order to create a book. 

Previously, we have discussed and expressed our favorite people, animals, and places.  Yesterday, we began discussing our favorite things.  The students draw and explain their thinking to me, while I journal about their work. 

This has encouraged some interesting and emphatic responses.  I have received answers such as hot showers, superheroes, and candy bars. 

However, a very interesting response that has emerged (among different groups-not interacting at the same time) has been the tree house. 
Apparently this is a favorite "thing" for most of my students.  I thought this to be an unlikely response for students living in the city. 
Some assured me that they were talking about when they lived in Puerto Rico, but some insisted that they did indeed have one at their houses, here now in Buffalo. 

Their lively discussions about this topic has me thinking about a possible project and way to bring this into our curriculum. 
Another interesting aspect of this discussion, it that it came up while we were discussing our favorite 'things,' and not during our favorite 'places.'  If that is how the tree house is viewed, then we should be able to recreate this 'thing,' inside the classroom.

Inquiry Math

This year I have organized our math period different from last year.  We begin warm up fluency exercises on the rug, during our morning meeting.  Some of the exercises include skip counting, math games, or mini-lessons.



We then split into small groups.  The groups change daily.  Sometimes it is purposeful, and sometimes it is random.  Each group is then presented with a math problem that is challenging.  They are given 10 minutes to try and solve it.  My focus is on the process, rather than the end result. 





As the students work together to solve, I walk around and observe what strategies the students are using to solve the problem.  I am also watching how they work together.  This little inquiry exercise in our day is teaching the students much more than math.  It is teaching them how to problem-solve in a collaborative effort. 


It is also a window for me to see how they work with one another, and how they begin to solve a problem. 

On Friday, a couple of the groups were fighting over the manipulatives that I had passed to each group to help solve the problem.  I sat back and watched them.  This became a topic for discussion after the exercise because those two groups did not even come close to solving the problem because they were arguing.  Their lack of cooperation and positive communication became a perfect learning experience for the rest of the class.

One group got the answer right away in the correct format.  It was a student who is usually difficult, working with two other female students in the class.  He was the recorder.  They worked together, and finished before any other group.  I championed their problem-solving and collaboration skills for the rest of the class.  They were extremely proud.   

After the inquiry piece, I explicitly solve the problem incorporating feedback and strategies I observed as I walked around the room.   
 

Bienvenidos!

Bienvenidos a un ano nuevo llena de productividad y creatividad!

Our class has been working diligently on perfecting our classroom routines and following expectations. 



 I am very excited and thankful for the hardworking, respectful, students I have inherited this year.

Our first few days we discussed and finalized what our expectations should be for the year.  The students brainstormed on a thinking map what rules we would need for a safe and enjoyable classroom environment. 

 Eventually we wrote out our shared expectations and each child signed and later illustrated their interpretation. 

Thinking Map