Social Studies
Honoring Dr. King
Room 123 celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Day by learning more about the life of this civil rights leader. Students also learned what life was like when Dr. King was alive by listening to excerpts from “If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King.” Special thanks to Jaki and his family for sharing this book!
Listening to and singing along with music from the civil rights era also helped bring the times to life for first grade learners. This was especially true of songs from Pete Seeger’s 1963 “Live at Carnegie Hall” album—-Seeger’s comments to the audience created a sense of immediacy for students.
After reading, students summarized their learning. Then we discussed the fact that prejudice still exists, that people may treat others unfairly because of the color of their skin, the religion they believe in, or other characteristics. Students were challenged to consider how they would respond if they encountered someone who was treating others unfairly. Here is their thinking:
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More family traditions
Room 123 learned more about family traditions this week!
Harry shared his family’s tradition of picking chestnuts. Every fall, his family goes to Doctor’s Park and gathers chestnuts. To enjoy the beauty of these nuts, they often display them in bowls. Sometimes, they make decorations from them.
Every year, Thomas and his family read special books together throughout their holiday season. They may also enjoy cookies while they read.
Ben G. and his family make gingerbread houses every year. Ben and his sister each decorate a side of the house.
Thank you for sharing, Harry, Thomas, Ben G. and families!
Family traditions
First graders have been exploring family traditions as part of our Social Studies curriculum. First, we read Patricia Polacco’s The Keeping Quilt to learn more about traditions. Then, students discussed their family traditions. Finally, they illustrated their favorite family traditions and shared captions to describe them. Enjoy their thinking!
Travel back in time
Extend and enrich our study of the Colonial Era by visiting Plimoth Plantation with your child!
The Making of “Welcome to Richards!”
When we look at our class blog, one of the things students check out is the ClustrMap that shows where our visitors are from. Students noticed that most of our visitors are from nearby and probably have been to Richards. Some, however, are from farther away and may have never seen our school.
To help these visitors, students decided to use what they have learned about nonfiction text features to create a tour of Richards School. As a class, students identified the most important places in our school for visitors to see. Then, students worked in pairs to take photographs of these key locations and write captions that describe them. Room 123 would like to thank Mrs. Veihmeyer for helping us complete this project!
Enjoy the tour, which follows below!
Welcome to Richards School!
Richards School by Hunter and Ondine
This is our school. The second grades line up here.
Room 123 by Eric and Harry
This is Mrs. Mooney’s class. We learn here.
Our Lockers by Erin and Jaki
These are our lockers. We put stuff in them.
The Playground by Niko and Leyla
This is the playground. We go on this for recess. We can have fun!
The Cafeteria by Michael and Lauren H.
This is the lunchroom. We eat there.
The Art Room by Lauren M.
This is our Art room. We paint in here.
The Gym by Mike and Nate
This is our gym. We play games.
The Music Room by Ben S. and Emilie
This is our school. We took a picture of Mrs. Rottier’s Music Room.
The Library by Thomas and Hannah
This is the Library. You can learn to read and check out books.
The Clinic by Ava and Will
This is our clinic. We go there when we are sick.
The Office by Naomi and Paul
This is the school office. People go here to talk to other people.
New Construction by Ander and Ben G.
We took a picture of the new cafeteria being built.
Building our classroom community
We are a community of learners in Room 123! Students began developing this sense when they drew pictures of themselves on the first day of first grade. Later, they shared what they wanted most to learn about in first grade.
Students also held several lively discussions about how we will need to act to achieve these goals. As they talked, students shared their schema for school. They also added lessons learned from the books we read together, including The Little Engine that Could, Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse, and Cleversticks.
From these discussions, we developed our Class Promise which we all signed. Look below to see our goals and plans to achieve them!