This week's academic spotlight shines on our entire first-grade teacher team at Lansing Elementary School! In celebration of Election Day, first-grade students at Lansing Elementary School participated in a classroom election, casting their votes for their favorite pet. Each class chose between a dog, bird, fish, lizard, guinea pig, or cat. After counting all the ballots, the results were displayed on a hallway graph, with dogs declared the winner!
The activity provided a fun way for students to practice important math skills. As they tallied votes, they worked on identifying the greatest and least amounts, counting by fives, and basic addition.
First-grade teacher Amber Lovejoy highlighted the value of this activity, saying, "We were able to incorporate math, social studies, reading, and social-emotional learning all in one. Anytime we can blend multiple subjects into a real-life context, it's much more impactful for the kids."
Teachers noted that the voting process sparked excitement and interest among students. Lynda Schimke shared, "My kids were thrilled to be part of an 'election.' They're already asking for more voting and graphing activities."
Andrea Shepard added, "The students loved it! They even asked for 'I Voted' stickers, which we'll definitely include next year."
This activity also provided a great opportunity for collaboration among the teaching team. Jennifer Leitsch said, "I enjoyed the chance to team teach and pre-teach math content that we'll cover later in the year. It was a fantastic project to work on together as a team."
New teachers Stormy McClanahan and Callie Johnson also appreciated the experience:
"I really enjoyed seeing the students come together and learn so many different skills through this activity," said Stormy.
"It was so much fun getting the whole first-grade team involved!" said Callie.
As always, students were engaged due to their interest in and excitement for the activity, a testament to the planning and know-how of our teachers.
"The kids had so much fun participating in our Firstie "election," They were excited to see which animal won!" said Christina Pennington.
Another new teacher, Teya Villalpando added, "The kids had a lot of fun with the election and were eager to find out the results."
Thank you to our dedicated first-grade teachers for creating a memorable and educational Election Day experience for our students! We're lucky to have you shaping our young minds here in Lansing!
