In my first grade class we read and write all day long,...it's what we do! We start off our day with a choice we read or write, no morning work for us. Some of my students who are struggling spend the first part of their morning reading books on Raz-Kids, reading fiction and nonfiction books on their reading level. During reading we read and respond to books in a variety of different ways. We incorporate science and social studies standards in reading by using nonfiction read alouds and leveled readers throughout the year. We also keep observation journals, where my students write about experiments that are happening in our classroom.
In math we have math journals where the students solve problems and explain their thinking. We create class books where the students write story problems for others to solve. These books are the most popular in our class library, I see students working on these problems in the morning when they arrive at school almost daily. This is a great way to assess my students knowledge of the math strategies that we have been learning. When we are working through the process of creating word problems the students that do not have a good understanding of the math concept we are learning about really stand out. Allowing me time to review and help them with whatever they are struggling with.
At our math centers students are creating equations for others to solve, writing word problems on white boards for their partner to solve, as well as getting their hands on manipulatives practicing their problem solving skills. Throughout this time in math students are creating, problem solving, and writing in math. It is a great time in our classroom for review and I get to meet with small groups of students that may need extra help or enrichment.
Reading and writing happen in our first grade classroom all day long.
I think it is great that you have your students write word problems for their peers to solve. It is a great way to incorporate reading and writing into math as well as it shows the students have a better understanding of the concept. I also like your idea about having the students create class books with story problems. I would like to try that in my classroom! Since my students are a bit older, I might have them create these problems digitally and continue to add to it throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really impressive that you have found ways to incorporate literacy in all disciplines! That is really a difficult leap for some people to make. At the high school level, there is some resistance to incorporating reading and writing strategies in classes other than LA, but you have made it clear that regardless of the discipline, literacy is a focus. I greatly appreciate your mindset! :)
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