10/12-10/16

We returned to school after fall break very revived and ready for review and new learning!

We did not have a new reading story, so instead, we devoted our reading time to a study of nocturnal animals. We learned all about opossums, owls, bats, and raccoons. We read nonfiction and fiction books about these animals. We loved watching the Stellaluna DVD, as well as listening to Mrs. Clark read about Epossomundas! That is one silly opossum. At the end of the week we numbered off, met in groups numbered 1-4, and wrote facts about our assigned animal. We also had some fun art projects!

In math we honed our addition and subtraction skills, having fun with fact families! In a few weeks we will begin counting money, so it’s very important that we can add and subtract well first! Please continue to help your child with number recognition and counting by 10s and 5s.

In science we completed our weather study. We read about and watched short videos about earthquakes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and the water cycle. We had a lot of fun!

We also took a walking field trip to the fire station. The firefighters taught us about fire safety. If our clothes catch on fire, we should stop, drop, and roll. If our house is filled with smoke we should fall and crawl. We took a tour of the inside of the fire station and got to sit in the fire truck. What an exciting day we had! Next week we will learn more about fire safety.

9/28-10/2

What a week! Miss Brawley finished her solo teaching, so once again she and Mrs. Clark shared teaching responsibilities. It was so nice to get back to my sweet children (and finish conferences)!

This week we took a safari as we read Animal Park. The students LOVED reading about the safari animals. They learned new facts about lions, zebras, hippos, and elephants! We made a koala at our Following Direction Center. Those koalas are too cute! Our boys and girls are really improving their tracing and cutting skills!

We finished our short vowel review, so your child should be able to instantly read words that contain short vowel sounds.

We also finished Unit 1 of Reading Street, but don’t throw away the spelling and story words lists. Keep them in a safe place and pull them out from time to time for review. Unit 2 words have already been updated on my website, so go ahead and be studying!

In math this week we sang the Doubles Rap and learned about fact families. The numbers 3, 8, and 5 are a fact family because you can use those three numbers to make four number sentences: 3+5=8; 5+3=8; 8-3=5; and 8-5=3. We have a really fun way to write fact families, in which we begin with skeleton number sentences!!! Our minds and hands are always so busy during math!!!

Our greatest adventure of the week was our field trip to Burritt Barnyard and Treasure Trail. The bus ride was very bumpy (It always makes me sick)! When we arrived, we went on a treasure hunt to find out what living things need: food, water, shelter, and care. Then we visited the barnyard animals: mules, goats, chickens, ponies, sheep, a cat, and a cow. The students got to pet several animals. When the guide asked the class what a mammal was, Hannah responded, “A mammal is a warm-blooded animal with fur who does not hatch from an egg and feeds their baby milk.” Many jaws dropped. What a definition! I am sure there are adults who would not even give such a detailed definition! These kids always amaze me!! After we petted and washed up we had a picnic lunch and some run around time. We made it back to school for PE and computer class! What an adventure!!!

Friday was a sad day because it was Miss Brawley’s last day with our class. She will be going to sixth grade to teach math. She assures us that she will be back to visit though. We had a nice farewell part for Miss Brawley. Thank you for the nice items you sent to fill her basket. You are so thoughtful!!! We know that miss Brawley is going to be a terrific teacher!

Well, it’s fall break! Enjoy the rest and be ready for some new learning next week!

9/21-9/25

It was of course another exciting week of school. We continued to take a trip to the farm, and we got to watch several animal habitat videos on the ActivBoard. We also learned all about subtraction and asking sentences.

Check out our ‘Favorite Farm Animal’ graph. Please notice that only one person (myself) voted for the goat. Goats are so misunderstood!

We made Humpty Dumpty, and lined them all up on a wall. Hopefully they well not fall.

Friday was an especially fun day because we had a special visitor: Johnny Appleseed!!! Yes, a Johnny Appleseed impersonator visited our first grade and told all about Johnny Appleseed’s life. Interesting!! In celebration of Johnny Appleseed’s birthday we had an apple tasting. We enjoyed applesauce, sliced apples (with dips), apple juice, dried apples, and apple chips. We even made a graph to show how we like our apples best! Thanks to all of the parents who sent in items for the apple tasting! We enjoyed our apples SOOO much!