12/13-12/17

This week we reviewed the content we learned from our unit 2 Reading Street book. We took our unit 2 test on the computer, and every single student earned an A!!!!! I am so very proud of this class! They are very hard workers!

We also read numerous Jan Brett books and completed activities related to her books.

In math we compared numbers using less than, greater than, and equals symbols. These first graders even solved equations (and then asked for more difficult equations)!!!

We had our class holiday party on Friday, and the students had a wonderful time! I appreciate everyone's help with the party!!!

We are entering our last three days at Hampton Cove. Our new classroom is almost ready, and there is no way that I could have gotten it ready this quickly without the help of so many of you! You have carried countless boxes and furniture items for me, hot glued, laminated, and organized!!! It is a treat to have such amazing parents this year! This move is very bittersweet. While we are certainly ready to be in our new beautiful school, we are going to miss our friends dearly! If you have the opportunity, please make sure to hug a Hampton Cove parent or faculty member and share a special memory with them about their wonderful school! I know I loved my time at Hampton Cove!!!

12/6-12/10

The theme for the week was changes. We discussed and read about all sorts of changes. We learned that almost everything changes, and that some changes are easy, while others are difficult. I'm sure you have noticed a lot of changes in your child since the beginning of first grade!

We also learned about action words (verbs) and played a fun little game where I gave the class a sentence with a missing verb. Each student then wrote a verb to complete my sentence. We did a lot of these, and we were quite entertained the whole time!

In phonics we discussed the vowel sounds of y. At the end of a one syllable word, y makes the long i sound (cry). At the end of a multi-syllabic word, y makes the long e sound (happy). Students drew and labeled a t-chart on their whiteboards. They then read a poem and sorted words ending in y by the vowel sound of y.

In math we compared numbers, counted money, and continued to hone our addition and subtraction skills!

We completed our study of land, water, and air by sharing our terrific rock collections!

11/29-12/3

We did a lot of comparing and contrasting this week! The Venn diagram is becoming our best friend, and the students are getting better at comparing and contrasting each time we complete a Venn diagram! On Monday we read about ants. We compared ants to humans and then told the differences between them. We read our story "Honey Bees" and discussed the different jobs of the bees in the hive. There are worker bees, just like many of us work. There are soldier bees, just like there are soldiers in the military who protect our freedom, and there is a queen bee who leads her hive.

Bees make honey, so our class tasted honey on Friday, and it was yummy!!!

In math we learned about ordinal position (1st, 2nd, etc.), and played Ordinal I Spy. The class just loved that game! We are also continuing to count money.

Our unit of study this week and next focuses on air, land, and water. We have discussed oceans and continents, land formations, natural resources, and map skills. We are working in science and social studies books simultaneously! First graders get so excited about the text books. Too bad that excitement fades in a few years. ha!

So many of you have helped with moving items to the new classroom, have unpacked boxes, and have donated money or services to our new classroom, and I am very appreciative of your help! This has been a special year with very special children, and I know we are all excited to get moved into our beautiful new school to make more special memories!!! Thanks for all that you do!

11/15-11/23

We had another amazing week at school—learning all sorts of new information and concepts!!!

We read Life in the Forest, and discussed how the forest is a community of plants and animals that depend on one another. We also discussed survival strategies of forest animals. First graders just love learning about animals! On Wednesday we Buddy Read our story. The students were spread all over the classroom, reading with their partner(s).

In grammar we reviewed plural nouns. For most plural nouns, you just add –s to the base word to make it mean more than one. We quickly talked about how you sometimes add –es to a noun to make it plural (such as dress). We’ll discuss that more later on. We also worked on putting words in ABC Order. I wrote words on the ActivBoard, and the students had to put them in ABC Order on their whiteboards. They loved it!!!

In math we’re still counting money and working on addition and subtraction. Remember, beginning Monday the timed facts quiz will count as a grade.

Our unit on Thanksgiving has been extremely interesting. It seems as though every year I learn something new about our early immigrants. This year I learned that Squanto was actually a slave at one time, but escaped and returned to America, just to find his whole village dead. The students were mesmerized by the fact that the Pilgrims didn’t have forks, but used knives and their hands to eat. After reading many books about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, we created a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast our lives today with the life of a Pilgrim. We wrapped up our unit by making the cutest edible turkey and a Harvest Blessing mix.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please remember to attend Tuesday night’s GSES Sneak Peek!!! It begins at 6 pm. Visit the library to bid on baskets and to sign your child up for clubs. To get to our classroom, enter the main doors and walk straight to the library. At the library make a right. Go to the next intersections and make a left. We are the second classroom on the left. I can’t wait to see you and your children there!!!

11/8-11/12

It’s difficult to believe we are nearing the end of the first semester already! Soon we will be in our brand new building, and I just can’t wait! You and your children are going to love our new classroom and the school’s beauty. I was there last week, and new decor is being added daily! Moving is going to be a huge undertaking, but I know I have willing and wanting parents to help me! For that I am thankful!

In class this week we read The Big Circle, a story about dinosaurs. When the T Rex wanted to eat the baby triceratops, the triceratops all made a big circle and drove the T Rex away. I explained to the class that in life, they are the baby triceratops, and the adults in their lives are the big triceratops, trying to protect them with all that we have! They just love learning about dinosaurs! I need to learn to relate every life lesson to a story about dinosaurs!

In phonics we continued to study long vowels with sneaky e. We also learned about contractions. I explained that a contraction happens when two words collide and make a smaller word, only some of the letters fall out in the collision, so we use an apostrophe to replace the missing letters. We played a game called “Car Crash Contractions” that is a lot of fun! In the picture below we sang about a baby dinosaur and then underlined words with long o and circled contractions.

In math we are still practicing our addition and subtractions strategies. Here is what we looked like during a math test this week. Students put their head down after they finish to a certain number on the test. We stay together so that I can explain the direction thoroughly. Beginning the week after Thanksgiving I will take the timed facts quiz (just addition for now) as a grade, so please practice at home.

In math we are also counting money. So far we have learned about pennies and nickels. We will continue to count these two coins until after Thanksgiving, at which time I will introduce the dime, and later the quarter.

We finished our body unit this week. We learned tons about our body! Ask your children about their eyes, brain, blood, heart, and skin. See what they remember. On Friday we made a model of our body, using everyday items to represent some of our internal parts. They are quite cute!

11/1-11/5

In class this week we read about community helpers and made Sparky, the Firehouse Dog. We discussed sounds that we hear in our community and learned about different jobs, thanks to our guidance counselor, Mrs. Carr.

We are continuing to learn about long vowels with sneaky e at the end, and all of the students are really paying attention to the sneaky e! Please continue to read words with and without sneaky e at home. Students must be able to differentiate between the vowel sounds! In a few months time, this task will be simple, but for now it takes a little more thinking. We have also learned the th, sh, wh, and ch sounds. This week we listened to our sing along song, and the students made a t chart on their whiteboards. They then labeled the two columns as ch and long i. They then found and wrote words from the sing along song that fit in each column. After a few minutes they told me which words to circle. This a great phonics activity that we complete almost weekly.

In grammar we are perfecting our knowledge of proper nouns and titles.

We began counting pennies this week, and next week we will count pennies and nickels. Counting money is a developmental task, which some first graders learn, while other students will not master this task until second or even third grade. The best way to help your child is to give him/her money to count.

We are also perfecting our addition and subtraction skills. We are trying to memorize basic facts. We visited the Math Magician website this week, which the students were crazy about!

The class has loved learning about the human body. So far we’ve discussed skin, bones, eyes, ears, muscles, and cartilage. We used q tips to make a skeleton model. The coming week brings more learning about the human body! If any of you parents want to share your knowledge about the human body with us, please e-mail me so that we can set up a time.

I can’t believe we are less than two weeks away from our big move! At the end of the month we will have a sneak peek at GSES. You and your children are invited to attend! You will get to view classrooms and other areas of the school. I can’t wait! There’s so much to do though! YIKES! I get a little worried just thinking about it! So many of you have already offered to help, and don’t worry, I will be taking you up on your offers!!! J Thanks!

10/25-10/29

This week was a blast! It was Red Ribbon Week, so the students and teachers participated in fun spirit days. The purpose of Red Ribbon Week is to teach students about the dangers of using illegal drugs and of using legal drugs illegally. In first grade terms, I explained that an illegal drug is something harmful that you put into your body. I told them that sometimes medicines are called drugs, but as long as we use them like the doctor tells us to, we will be fine. They seemed pretty content with that explanation and told me that they will never put harmful drugs into their bodies.

I love the innocence of a first grader’s mind. If only we could keep them innocent and sheltered forever. Unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live, but I pray for these children daily, and I will continue to do so for all of my days. I may not call each of their names in prayer (though some days I call a few), but I do ask that God keep them safe and help them to make good decisions. I pray that they will love long, prosperous lives. I pray that they will know the value of a dollar and will grow to be helpful citizens. I pray that they will find happiness, even if it is hard work. I pray that they will be people of their word and hard workers. I pray that they will be responsible, trustworthy, and productive. I pray that they will multiply their talents. Most of all, I pray that I can touch their lives in a way that reaches far beyond the four walls of our first grade classroom. I pray that one day I will pass them in the mall and they will tell me of their wonderful accomplishments, and that just maybe they remember something that I taught them. Their impact leaves a lasting impression on my heart, and I can only hope and pray to have just a fraction of that impact on their hearts and lives. I count being a teacher as one of God’s greatest blessings of my life! I am so fortunate to teach and to learn from your darlings!

In other news, we learned about proper nouns this week. A proper name names a particular person, place, animal, or thing, and must begin with a capital letter. At our Word Work Center we went on a noun search through magazines. That was a fun mess!

We continued to practice our addition and subtraction strategies in math.

During our unit time we had some Spooky Fun. We did spooky math activities (‘Dem Bones), made spooky BINGO cards, and read lots of spooky books. Friday was a particularly interesting day with all of the fun crazy hair! The class was treated to goodies form a few classmates and Mrs. Clark. We also made an edible witch’s hand, thanks to the parents who sent the necessary ingredients.

10/18-10/22

Whoa! A whole week of school, and I somehow did not take a picture. We must have been SUPER busy (as if we're not always).

This week we began unit 2 of our Reading Street series. We read A Big Fish for Max and even made fish at our Following Directions center. We discussed the main idea of the story, as well as the main idea of other stories we have read. We also learned about the sh and th sounds. Please continue to work on these sounds at home. Sometimes we forget them.

In grammar we extended our knowledge of naming words by calling them nouns and by learning that a noun names a person, place, animal, or thing. We even illustrated nouns (which I totally meant to photograph, but got sidetracked). We will do a noun search in class this coming week!

In math we used a number line to add and subtract. I'm very impressed with how well the class is doing with learning their facts.

Weather was the unit of study this week, and the class LOVED the books we read and the activities we did! I think they would be happy to learn about weather every day of the school year. ha! I hope your child can tell you something new that (s)he learned about weather. I have a little more to do Monday in regards to weather, and then we will move to Spooky Fun.

I have really enjoyed meeting you at conferences over the last few weeks! It is so fun to brag on your children and get to know you better. I have one conference left tomorrow (YAY!). Please contact me if ever you need to talk to me. It is a joy to teach every one of my twenty students, and I definitely want them to have a great year!

10/11-10/15

We returned from Fall Break revived and ready to learn and review!

Since it was unit 1 review week, we had fun activities and websites to visit to help us prepare for our unit test (which the class did extremely well on)!

We also studied nocturnal animals. Rylee’s hedgehogs even came for a visit! We watched a fun, informative Reading Rainbow episode about bats (Stellaluna), read about silly Epossomundus, learned about raccoons and hedgehogs, and painted owls. At the end of the week we wrote facts about four nocturnal animals.

In math we continued to add and subtract related numbers and even learned to use a number line to help us add and subtract.

It was Fire Safety week at school. We read several books on fire safety, visited websites to help Sparky the Firehouse Dog, walked to the fire station, and made firefighters!

It was a spectacular week! This has been an amazing year so far, and it just keeps getting better!