We had an exciting day today! We ate roasted pumpkin seeds and learned more about the pumpkin life cycle. We also did a science activity with our 5th grade buddies. We learned about why we have so many bones in our bodies, and we made pictures that look like x-rays of our hands!
10/26/17
Groups counted their pumpkin seeds this morning. We learned how to log onto the laptop computers in library today too.
10/25/17
We sent home the lyrics to the ERASER song that we are performing for Community Meeting, in case your child would like to practice at home. Today we did pumpkin predictions! Groups of students were given a pumpkin and asked to predict how much it weighs, how many inches around it measures, and how many seeds are inside. We weighed and measured our pumpkins, but we are still in the process of counting the seeds...
10/24/17
It's official! Our class has been selected to perform for Community Meeting on Thursday, November 9th! We are psyched! Community Meeting begins at 8:30 in the school gym.
We had a very busy day today, with vision screenings, a spider obstacle course in gym class, and a fire safety demonstration! Ask your child what he or she learned about fire safety. Please talk with your child about what to do in case of an emergency at your home. Where is your meeting place outside the home in case there is a fire?
10/23/17
Happy Monday! We are focusing this week on what makes a good friend and what friends like to do together. We will also be working with pumpkins quite a bit, and we will be learning about fire safety too.
Today the Science Squad "auditioned" with some members of the Joe's English board to see if we can perform at the first community meeting of the year. If our performance is accepted, we will be singing and dancing to a song called ERASER. Keep your fingers crossed!
10/19/17
We improved our umbrella designs and tested them. It was so fun! We practiced spelling words today, but these are tough ones! Please practice words tonight. ALSO - Michaelmas is tomorrow! If you can, please send spending money in (in a bag with his or her name on it) for your child. Thank you!!
10/18/17
We did a fun science activity today! Students examined the structures of trees that keep them from blowing down in the wind, and they used their observations to design umbrellas that could stay up in a strong wind. We will have a chance to improve our designs tomorrow and then the students will take their "umbrellas" home. Ask your child about it!
Michaelmas is coming up on Friday! It is nice for first graders to have one or two dollars to spend at the Michaelmas Fair. On Friday morning, please send any spending money for your child in a bag with your child's name on it! Thank you!
10/17/17
Today we practiced hopping backwards on a number line to solve subtraction problems. We also started writing about pets. Some students were sent home with prizes or with tickets to choose a prize earned from magazine fundraising. If your child got a ticket, please circle his or her choices, and send it back to school. Thanks!
10/16/17
Students have papers in their folders for you to check out today! You will find the Wonders letter for this week, which includes some pretty tricky spelling words. There is also a contact list so you can connect with families for play dates and parties. There is login information for your child to access the online resources of our math and literacy programs from home. Finally, if you did not return the Fire Safety permission slip, please return it to school by Thursday.
10/13/17
We celebrated another birthday today. We made a birthday book for Colton! We also had a totally awesome lunch celebration! Students earned gold coins for good behavior in the cafeteria, and they earned enough coins to get a picnic lunch reward. We sat on blankets in the garden and listened to music and danced. It was lovely!
I am so proud of the Science Squad's hard work this week. I know that "tests" can be a source of anxiety for most students, but the Science Squad has handled our spelling tests beautifully. They are using their sound knowledge and trying their best - that's what we want!
10/11/17
We had our first birthday celebration today! We honored Daphne by creating a special birthday book for her, and we read Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss. We also had art class today, and we learned about pumpkins and made construction paper pumpkins with green tendrils!
10/10/17
We are starting a writing piece, describing where we live. Chat with your child tonight about words that could be used to describe your home! The Science Squad did a great job in P.E. today. They earned the golden shoe!!
10/9/17
We had another indoor recess kind of day. We started a new spelling word list today, and we read some new stories from the Wonders program. Please check your child's folder for the weekly Wonders letter so you can see what we are focusing on this week and practice at home if it feels right. :)
10/6/17
We had indoor recess this afternoon, and we made scarecrows for a new and improved bulletin board! Enjoy the weekend!
10/5/17
During our library time today, we participated in the global cardboard challenge! Before we left, we read Rosie Revere, Engineer, then we used graph paper to make some plans. When we got to the library, we built all kinds of cool buildings, cars, and inventions. Ask your child about it!
Tomorrow is our first spelling test of first grade! Please practice the words with your child tonight, if you have not done so already. Thank you!
10/4/17
Today we worked on combinations of ten, we practiced reading strategies, we wrote about what we do at school, and we did lots of storytelling! Most students brought home their Very Hungry Caterpillar storytelling kits today. Enjoy!
10/3/17
We started Unit 2 in math today - it's all about addition! We read If You Take a Mouse to School, and we began to write about what we do at our school. The students had P.E. this afternoon. Unfortunately they did NOT earn the "golden sneaker" this week. Ask your child what that is!
10/2/17
Happy October! We are finishing up our study of insects and moving forward with a study of plants and their life cycles. Our Harvest Festival was the perfect kick-off to study apples and pumpkins! Today we learned about what apple trees look like in the different seasons. We also made applesauce! Yum!! Please check your child's folder and check your email... We are finished with review and are now beginning Unit 1 of our Wonders literacy program.
9/29/17
We had a fantastic Harvest Festival! Thank you sooooo much to the parent helpers - you were great! A big, special thank you to the Dodge family and Rodney Towne too for a super fun hayride! Ask your child about his or her favorite part... hayride, gourd race, snack time (of homemade donuts, apples, and cider), pumpkin obstacle course, cider press, scarecrow relay, or the sing-along with Mr. Fallu...
9/28/17
Tomorrow is our Harvest Festival day! Yee-haw! We turned our classroom tree into an apple tree today, and we made apple crowns. Please make sure your child is dressed for the cooler weather tomorrow morning. If your child would like to dress like a farmer or cowboy, go for it! If not, that's ok too. Parent volunteers, please come in to school with your child and I'll put you to work! Thank you!
9/27/17
We taste-tested three different colors of apples today! Ask your child which one he or she liked best. Which one was the class favorite?
9/26/17
Thank you so much to everyone who donated items for our festival and/or for our classroom! Today was a little rough with so much heat, but we made it through! We told and solved number stories in math, we started reading groups, we wrote about what we like to play, and we had some Very Hungry Caterpillar Storytelling presentations. The students had a special challenge in P.E. class too... Ask your child about the golden shoe!
9/25/17
We made a funny class book today. It's called Willoby Wallaby Woo... Ask your child about it!
9/22/17
Happy Fall! We discussed signs of Fall and read Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelly. We have been learning about insects (ask your child what makes a bug an insect) and today we focused on bees. We read nonfiction information about bees, we read a poem about bees, we created bee pictures and diagrams, and we had a special presentation from a beekeeper! We also had one of the monarch butterflies hatch in our classroom today, so we let her go in the garden this afternoon. She is currently sipping from flowers, gaining energy for her trip to Mexico!
Picture Day is Monday! If you are ordering pictures, please send in the paperwork on Monday. Thank you!
9/21/17
Thank you to everyone who came out for Back to School night! If you were not able to come and have questions for me, please do not hesitate to call or email. Today we went to the gym for the big magazine drive kickoff. Your child has (or should have ;) a packet in his or her folder for our NBCS magazine fundraiser.
We have been working on making tally marks to keep track of data in math, and in literacy we finished our Very Hungry Storyteller kits! We had Library time today, and we had a Social Thinking lesson with Ms. Dana. Busy day!
9/19/17
We played Top-It in math today! It is just like the card game War. Students flip a card at the same time, determine whose card has the larger number, and that player keeps both cards. It is a fun way to practice comparing numbers. We also worked on out Very Hungry Caterpillar storytelling kits today, and we observed the very hungry painted lady caterpillars that are munching and growing in our classroom. See you at Back to School night tonight!!
9/18/17
We played Bunny Hop in math today, we practiced some letter sounds and high frequency words in literacy, and we painted butterflies during our science time! We also had music today.
Reminder: Tomorrow is Back to School night! Parents are invited to come in from 6:05 to 6:35 to discover the ins and outs of first grade.
9/15/17
We met our 5th grade Learning Buddies today! We will buddy-up with Ms. Lydon's class each Friday to read, write, play math games, or do science experiments. We worked on rhyming during our reading block. Rhyming is difficult for many members of the Science Squad, yet it is an important early literacy skill. Try doing some simple rhymes with your child when it feel right. (For example, when you're riding in the car, ask "What rhymes with car?" far, bar, tar... it could be nonsense words too! lar, sar, yar...)
9/14/17
We worked on counting strategies today, and we read Count the Monkeys. We had library time and Social Thinking with Mrs. Dana this afternoon.
Check your child's folder for papers today! We will be having our Back to School night next Tuesday the 19th from 6:05 to 6:35. We are having a Harvest Festival on Friday, September 29th too!
9/13/17
The behavior in our classroom today was AWESOME! The Science Squad is settling in and showing that they can follow directions and be calm and quiet during learning activities. We played a new math game today - Penny Dice. We read The Three Billy Goats Gruff and discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction books. We also started learning our ABCs in sign language!
9/12/17
Today we read a story called Mr. McGinty's Monarchs. We also re-read the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and now we are working on retelling the story in our own words. We learned to play Monster Squeeze in math today too.
9/11/17
The Science Squad has been observing some monarch caterpillars in our classroom, and we watched one form a chrysalis today!! Check the Photo Gallery for pictures!
We started formal lessons in math, reading, and writing today. Each student wrote a sentence that started with I like... Ask your child what he or she wrote about! We also started music class today with Mr. Saunders, and we read a story called The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.
9/8/17
Did you see the Class Dojo information that went home? We are earning dojo points like crazy! The dojo is an online behavior management tool that we will be using throughout the year. If you would like to access the dojo and see the points that your child is earning for good behavior, follow the directions on the handout to sign up!
9/7/17
We have a class name! We are the Science Squad! The Science Squad was busy observing bugs this morning, starting with a cicada that Justin brought in (Thank you, Justin!) and then they added grasshoppers, crickets, and caterpillars to our terrarium. Some students also found slugs and worms at recess, which we fed to Duke and Buddy!
We read several cool books today, including Chrysanthemum, Pete the Cat Rockin in My School Shoes, and Everybody Needs a Rock. We had library time with Mrs. Charles today too.
9/6/17
We did some fun Find a Friend activities today, we read two "David" books by David Shannon, and the students had their first art class with Mrs. Chalson. We had indoor recess due to the downpours, but we kept it sunny in the classroom!