9/20-9/24

This week we read and wrote words with the short e sound. The short e sound is the most difficult vowel sound for students to recall and distinguish in words. I blame our southern accents. :-) We also learned to blend two consonants when they appear at the beginning of a word (as in block). We played several fun matching games to help us with this. The two trickiest blends are tr and dr, so I really try to emphasize their sounds.

We have practiced taking AR Quizzes, and some students have their AR Folder and are quizzing on their own (almost). The other students should receive their AR Folder this week! I love that AR motivates students to read. They love that it is done on the computer and that they get a sticker if they make a 100! AR Quiz grades NEVER count as report grades in my class, so if your child has a little trouble on a quiz, don't get too alarmed. There is a learning curb to this process!

In grammar this week we distinguished telling sentences from other sentences. To practice, I wrote a telling sentence starter on my board and let the class complete the sentence on their boards. They could only write a telling sentence though. They caught on pretty quickly. Next week we will learn about asking sentences, or questions. This should be easy, since they are already such fantastic question askers! ha!

In math we began subtraction. We used cubes to help us subtract and we played a fun ActivBoard flipchart game.

We wrapped up our Farm Life unit this week, and began studying apples. We will continue our apple study until fall break. On Friday we had an apple tasting, in honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday. We had apple slices (with 3 dips), dried apples, apple chips, applesauce, and apple juice. I think the students were pretty shocked that they actually liked the apple chips. After we tasted our apple products, we made a chart to show our favorite way to eat apples. I truly appreciate the parents who sent items or volunteered to help with our apple tasting! Your children love seeing you at school, and I love for you to come too!

This coming week brings our Burritt Barnyard field trip! YEAH! It is such a fun trip. Please check the weather that day. Your child may need a sweater. Also, your child will definitely need to wear tennis shoes. We will pet animals, learn about food chains, enjoy a picnic lunch, and so much more!

I hope you all have a well rested fall break. We are leaving early, so the class will have a sub on Thursday and Friday. Normal tests will still be given on those days. Our sub is fabulous. Her son was in my class a few years ago, and she has subbed for me a little bit (as well as for other 1st grade teachers), so I know she'll do great!

9/13-9/17

A lot of new learning took place, as always!

In phonics, we worked on adding suffixes s and ing to words. To help us, we traced our spelling words with brown beans. When it was time to add suffix -s to a word, we traced the -s with white beans. That was a center this week, and the students enjoyed it immensely! If your child has difficulty reading a word that has a suffix, try covering up the suffix, and having your child to read the base word. Then let him/her add the suffix. This helps tremendously. We also counted syllables (or word parts). We count syllables by holding our hand slightly under our chin and saying a word. Each time our chin drops to hit our hand, that is a syllable. Syllabication is very important, as it helps us to spell long words by breaking them into chunks. Call out a few words so that your child can count the number of syllables (s)he hears.

We read A Fox and a Kit from our Reading Street book, and we discussed the main idea of a story. When you read a book with your child, ask him/her what the story is mostly about. We also read LOTS of books in small groups. The progress your children are making in their oral reading is outstanding! I could not do what I do with them without your help, so please keep up the reading at home! It really pays off!

In grammar, we worked on word order in sentences and completing cloze (fill in the blank) sentences. At the vocabulary center, students had to solve jumbled sentences. I wrote about seven sentences (using story words), each on a different sentence strip, and then cut them apart and put them into their own numbered Ziploc bags. Students took turns reading their cards, and making a sentence with the cards. They loved it! After completing the sentences, students used foam letter tiles to spell each story word.

In math we continued to study place value. When a completed math worksheet comes home, please remember to review it with your child. Place value is a tricky skill that is extremely developmental. We will revisit it throughout the school year, and it will be one of the first skills reviewed in 2nd grade. Below are a few pictures of the class working with place value.

On Fridays, students love to visit math stations. There are quite a few different activities at math stations. This week students worked with pattern blocks, legos, play-doh, and dot cubes. They rotate to each station and have a blast with math manipulatives!

We talked about farm life during our unit of study. The students were read a few farm themed books. We talked about the many jobs of farmers, and they learned about habitats. They even got to watch some online videos of animals in their natural habitats. We will continue our farmlife study for a few days next week and then we will begin studying all about apples to honor Johnny Appleseed's upcoming birthday. I'm looking forward to our apple tasting on Friday!

First Glimpse

Today was our first opportunity to walk through Goldsmith-Schiffman Elementary School. May I just tell you that the school is bEAuTIFUl and pHENoMenAL?!?!?! You are going to love it! We toured the entire school, and teachers were shrieking constantly! We are all so excited for the big move (and I hope you're ready to assist). :-) Our classroom is conveniently located to the office, computer lab, library, recess area, lunchroom, and courtyard. In fact, we can see the courtyard from our windows! This is such an exciting time.

I know already that I will need help with making nice curtains, and I need some book shelves to fit under the windows. This classroom is a bit smaller than what we are in now, but it's so much prettier, and I have some ideas for how to maximize space. One way to maximize space is to have book shelves under the windows. We're not supposed to block windows, so putting the shelves under them will work perfectly. Please let me know if you can help with either of these tasks, as I would like to get them started soon. I will be happy to pay for supplies.

Without further ado, I give you your first glimpse of GSES!!!

***the lobby entrance, complete with bricks and stacked stones...

***Mrs. Kachelman 'washing' her hands; boys and girls will come out of hallway bathrooms to use common sinks

*** the huge, gorgeous gym

***the amazing cafeteria that resembles a lodge

***OUR CLASSROOM***

9/6-9/10

What a super terrific week. Thank you all for making my birthday so special! I was treated with muffins, rice krispy treats, flowers, two gift cards, a Vera Bradley purse, lunch from Steak-Out, ice cream, and Bath & Body Works goodies! We had a fun-filled day. All of my cards were incredibly special and brightened my day!!! I love your children dearly. It's a love so great, and it always saddens me when they leave at the end of the year!

We are continuing to learn our vowel sounds. Students are sounding out written words and learning to read and write sight words. Each student has a 'dictionary' in his/her desk, full of 1st grade words. When they need help spelling a word, I always tell them to look in their 'dictionary' first. If it's not there, I write it in for them. More and more I see students getting out their 'dictionary' before asking for my help. This sort of independence will continue throughout the year. It's amazing (and somewhat sad) how much they mature during 1st grade!

Spelling is going very well. On Mondays, we begin our spelling worksheets for the week. We do the front of the first page together. Then those worksheets become the first Job on the Job Board (to complete after Centers each day). If your child brings home spelling worksheets on Thursdays, then that means (s)he did not complete them during class. ALL students have more than enough time to complete these during the week, and as the year progresses, almost everyone will. It's just a matter of learning to use our time effectively. We'll get there!

This week we also began adding suffix -s to words. After discussing this concept, I wrote up singular naming words on the ActivBoard and students told me the plural form of the naming word. Then each student chose a naming word to write on his/her paper and then wrote the plural form. Students then illustrated each word (pictures below).

When you walk by the classroom, be sure to check out our big blue oxen in the hallway. The students did a fantastic job creating them! And, they loved reading The Big Blue Ox!!!

We have been studying place value in math. Right now we are learning about the tens and ones places. Students are given towers and cubes to represent numbers. We also have some fun flipcharts to go along with our place value study. I'll try to remember to take pictures this week!

During our unit of study, we are learning about farms. We watched two educational videos this week, courtesy of DiscoveryEd.com. One video was on farmers' jobs and the other was all about farm animals. I think we all learned something new (myself included). we are also working on a cute farm book!

We enjoyed going to the computer lab this week, where we typed capital and lowercase letters. I can definitely tell which students spend time typing. This is a great skill to learn. How about opening a Word document each week and letting your child type his/her spelling words?

This coming week we will enjoy music, art, and the Book Fair (Thursday afternoon). If you will not be at the Book fair, you may send money (in a labeled envelope).

Speaking of money, I can no longer accept money that is not in an envelope or Ziploc bag. This past week, I received tons of checks falling out of folders or being handed to me by students. This is just not good practice. I do not want any of your money lost! From now on, please place the money (and form, if required) in an envelope or Ziploc bag. Label the envelope or bag with your child's name and grade, GSES and my name, and purpose for money. For example:

Patrick Reagan-1st grade

GSES--A. Clark

re: Grandparents' Breakfast

I do not want any checks or cash lost or misplaced. Thanks so much for your help with this matter!

Have a great Sunday. I'm sure I'll meet lots of grandparents on Friday!!!!

8/30-9/3

Every day at school is such an adventure!

This week we reviewed the sound of short i, as in pig. The students love using the Making Words Tins to spell words related to our Phonics Focus each week. We also practice spelling words on our whiteboards almost daily.

In grammar we began to identify the naming part (or subject) of the sentence. This skill is a bit tricky, but after we find the action part next week, it will be easier to find the subject of the sentence. The order that these skills are introduced really needs to be switched in our grammar curriculum. To review before our test, I wrote a sentence on my whiteboard, with the subject missing. Then each student thought of a subject for the sentence and wrote it on their whiteboard. It’s always very interesting to see where their minds are!

(transformer)

I loved this subject!

We read Pig in a Wig and discussed fantasy vs. realism. To cap off the week we make the cutest pig cookies. I appreciate everyone who donated supplies for our edible project! The class LOVED making the cookies!!! They followed directions so well the entire time, and they even got to (carefully) lick their knives when they finished.

Our class has really caught on to addition! Please buy flash cards and begin flashing addition cards at home. Students should know that any number plus itself equals the same number (identity property) and that the addends can be in any order and will have the same sum (order property). For example, 6+4 is the same as 4+6. I have taught them to draw dots beside each number and to count the dots. I have also taught them to put the bigger number in their head and count on for the smaller number. For instance, if the problem is 7+2, they would put 7 in their head and count on two times, which would sound like 8,9 they may even stomp each time they count forward). At this point, the process, not the speed, is more important. If students know how to solve an addition problem, that’s great. Speed will come! We are also beginning to learn about fact families, which we will delve into even more in a few weeks when I introduce subtraction.

We finished up our Nursery Rhyme unit of study this week. After reading Hickory, Dickory Dock, we learned about analog clocks. We even made cute clocks with mice running around them. Throughout the day, while transitioning, we sing Nursery Rhymes to help our minds stay focused on our task (and to keep ourselves from talking to our neighbors). We also dance to get our bodies and minds awake! Just ask your child how great of a dancer Mrs. Clark is. Ha!