Saturday, September 20, 2025

Starting Off Grade 1 Math!

 

We’ve been off to a fantastic start as we dive into early addition skills. Our young mathematicians have been working hard and having so much fun exploring what it means to add, combine, and make sense of numbers in meaningful ways. It’s been a joy to watch their confidence and curiosity grow!

🎵 We Start with Song and Skills!

Every day, we kick off our math block with a fun math song and a quick skill warm-up. These routines help us review important math ideas and get our brains ready to think like mathematicians. Songs help reinforce number patterns, counting, and basic facts—all while keeping things upbeat and engaging!

Here is our Counting By 10's Song


Here is our Counting Down From 100 Song

🎯 What We're Learning:

Our focus has been on building a strong foundation in addition strategies. We’ve been learning to:

  • Solve addition word problems using tools like 10-frames, modeling with counters, and counting on strategies.

  • Visualize addition by showing our thinking in more than one way.

  • Understand and apply the commutative property (knowing that 3 + 2 is the same as 2 + 3).

These strategies help students see that numbers are flexible and that there’s more than one way to solve a problem.

🎲 Games That Make Us Think:

We’ve also introduced some hands-on math games that help build fluency and deepen our understanding of addition.

  • Roll and Record – In this game, students roll two dice, find the total, and record it on a chart. This helps us recognize number combinations and patterns.

  • Double Compare – A twist on the classic card game “War,” this game helps us practice comparing two sets of numbers and quickly finding their sum.






















Saturday, June 15, 2024

Field Day and Community Necklaces

Wow, we packed a lot into this week! Field Day was a fantastic time with games and activities all morning. In addition, our class created community bead necklaces. Each student had a unique color of clay and created 22 beads. I took them home, baked them, and then brought them back! On Friday we passed out the beads and made the necklaces!
































 

Saturday, June 8, 2024

Creating Nature T-Shirts with our Local Artist Chris Gluck!

 

LOCAL ARTIST IN RESIDENCE AT UCS!!!

Chris Gluck visited UCS on June 5th and assisted all students in making

T-shirts using leaves as stencils.

Chris is an artist and teacher who has taught an after school art program, summer camps, adult art and craft classes and birthday parties for over 25 years at Poker Hill Arts. Her two daughters and now granddaughter are UCS graduates. Chris wrote the book "Art from Nature ABC's" which she sells at craft shows, and in local bookstores. See more at her websites: www.pokerhillarts.com and www.studioacanto.com



















 

Saturday, June 1, 2024

Make Way for Ducklings!

 

This week we enjoyed watching the ducklings hatch in Mrs. Bernier’s class. Make sure you check out our blog for pictures with the ducklings!