Ten Little Seedlings

This week we continue our study on living and nonliving things, specifically PLANTS! We have learned the parts of plants and are now moving on to the life cycle of a plant. Yesterday we planted our very own lima bean seeds and surprisingly they have already begun to grow! I cannot explain the pure excitement on the kids faces when they saw the little roots sprouting out of their seeds. Clearly this is going to be a very interesting unit-the kids are loving every second. Below I have included our shared reading for the week (always a good review activity at home, plus who doesn't love to sing?!), pictures of our growing plants, and a sample from our writing journals where we are recording observations on a daily basis :).




Shared Reading- Ten Little Seedlings (Tune: Ten Little Indians)

One little, two little, three little seedlings

Four little, five little, six little seedling

Seven little, eight little, nine little seedlings

Ten seeds flying in the wind.

One little, two little, three roots sprouting

Four little, five little, six roots sprouting

Seven little, eight little, nine roots sprouting

Ten roots sprouting in the ground.

One little, two little, three stems growing

Four little, five little, six stems growing

Seven little, eight little, nine stems growing

Ten stems growing in the air.

One little, two little, three flowers blooming

Four little, five little, six flowers blooming

Seven little, eight little, nine flowers blooming

Ten flowers blooming in the sun.





Vocabulary/Sight Word Cards

So many of you are probably wondering what your child is doing with a crinkled notecard neckalce....Well, please let me tell you about something that we will be doing EVERY week in our classroom. At the beginning of each week I will meet with each group of students and make them an expert on either a sight word from one of our lists or a vocabulary word from a story we will be reading that week.

The Mission: To get as many tally marks on their card as possible by Friday

How Does This Happen?: Everytime someone asks your student about their card they must read the word AND use it in a sentence. Each time this happens they get a tally mark.

The Goal: Well, to win the game, of course! But more importantly for your student to know that word inside and out!!!

How Do I Choose the Words?: Each week we study ten sight words. At the end of each week I give students a quick assessment to see which words they struggle with and which words they master. I will often choose a word that your student still struggles with; other times I will select an important vocabulary word from a text that we are reading!

How Do I Keep From Losing The Card By the End of the Week?: Find a special place for the card at home where your student can easily grab it on their way out the door- OR- keep it in their OWL binder for use at home and at school!

RAZ-Kids Website

This week I introduced the kids to the RAZ-kids website. This is an AWESOME website that allows your student to listen to fluent readers and take quizzes on comprehension. I have showed the students how to get onto the website but I am going to let you know as well so your students can get on the website at home, as well as at school.

Step 1: Go to www.RAZ-kids.com

Step 2: Log in using the password kcoriell

Step 3: Your student will click on their name

Step 4: Your student will click on their special password (they should know these by now!)

Step 5: Choose books to listen to or read and take a quiz!

The great thing about this website is that it provides incentives for students as they read more and more books. Students earn stars which buy them different cool things for a rocket ship. Because this provides the students with an opportunity to read and be read to they may use this website for DEARABBY!

Literacy Stations

This year students will be working in literacy stations while I meet with small groups. I wanted to give everyone a heads up as to what the stations are, because many can also be implemented at home. I have taken the structure of the literacy stations from the amazing book, The Daily Five, but have also added some different activities that I feel would interest our students!

Basically, students will be working in five different stations all based on choice. Each day students will CHOOSE from the five different stations- each station having a variety of activities to choose from. Below I have described each station and what students will be able to do in each station.

STATION 1: READ BY YOURSELF
In this station students simply read independently. At the beginning of each week students get to fill their book box with "just right" books (books that are on their reading level). During station time students take their book boxes to a special spot in the classroom and read alone.

In this station students may choose to:

• read with our special reading glasses
• read with a magic wand
• Read with a pirate telescope

Our Special Reading Glasses...they help us focus on words!

Our pirate telescope...helps us see words in a new light!

Our magic wands help us stay on track while we read!

Our book boxes

STATION 2: READ TO SOMEONE ELSE
In this station students get to read to another person or "buddy". This helps students with fluency and overall confidence...plus it's just really cool to read to someone else!

In this station students may choose to

• Read to another person
• Read to a buddy (stuffed animal- which by the way I told the students that the buddies could actually hear what they were reading. It is amazing that they believed this and it has greatly helped with this activity. Haha. Thanks, Mrs. Faulconer for that awesome idea!)

Microphones help us know which partner's turn it is to read!

Our reading "buddies"...they listen to us read!

Our shared readings...students may use the pointer to read things around the room to a partner!

STATION 3: WORK ON WRITING
This station is by far the most popular station thus far. The students LOVE to write! In this station students get to complete a variety of writing pieces. The best part of this station is that students almost always get to choose what they are writing about....and this makes a BIG difference.

In this station students may choose to:

• Write a friendly letter to another classmate, teacher, parent, or friend. (We actually deliver the letters!)
• Write a postcard
• Practice handwriting with dry erase markers
• WRITE IN THEIR DIARIES! (they 100% think this is the coolest thing ever!)
• Write and publish a book (students can make a book about any topic or subject. If they really take their time-the book will be placed in our own classroom library!)

Each student has their own very special diary!

Friendly Letters....we deliver!

STATION 4: LISTEN TO SOMEONE READ
I have not yet introduced this station to students but I know it will soon become a classroom favorite. In this station students will be listening to adults read through many different types of technology!

In this station students may choose to:

• Listen to a book on tape
• Listen to Mrs. Murphy read on a voice recorder
• Listen to the computer read on RAZ-KIDS.com (I will write another blog on this one...it is AWESOME!)
• Read a TAG Book (this is a product from leap frog-each book comes with a magic pen that when pressed to the page of the book actually says the word for the student...another idea taken from Mrs. Faulconer!)

TAG books by LeapFrog...students use the special pen to help them read words they don't know!

Read a book on tape!

Listen to Mrs. Murphy read on voice recorders!

STATION 5: WORK ON WORDS
This station has a lot of fun activities for students to actively manipulate letters to make words. This is SUCH a crucial piece of the puzzle when learning to read!

In this station students may choose to:

• Quiz a partner on sight words
• Create words using magnetic letters (they will be making words that follow our phonics lessons for the week)
• Play popcorn (Sight word game)



Students can make words using magnetic letters and cake pans (assignments go with phonics and spelling)



Popcorn- a fun sight word game



Students can quiz each other on sight words



A fun word making game!

Wow....that about covers it! I hope that some of these ideas you can use at home when reading with your students. I have been so very impressed with the students already this year. They are really working hard in their stations and are VERY enthusiastic!

Important Dates

We have some important dates coming up. Please mark the following on your calendars :)

• Tuesday, August 30th- Picture Day...make sure we are dressed to impress!

• Thursday, Septemeber 8th- 1st Grade Parent Meeting: New parents will meet with Mr. Gatliff in the cafeteria at 6:00 p.m. ALL parents will meet with Mrs. Murphy in room 12 at 6:30 p.m.

• Monday, September 5th- NO SCHOOL

Making Text-to-Self Connections

This week we have been focusing our studies on text-to-self connections. The students are making connections left and right and really doing a great job! Today we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Before reading the book we made predictions using invisible paint....just like Alexander does in the book. The invisible pictures was such a fun activity and the predictions were hilarious! Needless to say, all of the students raised their hand to make a connection when Alexander painted an invisible castle in the book. Anyways, keep this in mind when reading with your child at home. Good readers are always finding connections! Take a look below to see some samples of our invisible pictures. (We painted with a special invisible paint when ironed turned brown!)

Haha...a prize goes out to anyone who can tell what the predictions are here...love these kids!!! :)

Sight Word Practice

Every week the students will be studying 10 sight words taken from the Dolch Sight Word list. It is a list of 220 words that students need to know as they show up everywhere. I have placed Sight Word List 1 in students O.W.L binders for review at home. This week we are practicing the first ten words on the list. Please see below for some home activities that can be fun, helpful, and easy when learning sight words.

Happy practicing!

Reading Tips for Parents

Well, the year has officially started and we are going to hit the ground running! This year, reading is HUGE! There is nothing more important than getting your little hoot to read anything and everything. There are so many ways to help your child at home and I want to give you a variety of options. It always amazes me how much our little guys and girls pick up on...they literally take in everything we say and do. So the most important thing you can do for your student is show and model good reading habits. 

Happy Reading!

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

FRIDAY we are reading the popular children's book, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. It is such a fantastic book and lends itself easily to sharing about ourselves. In order to get to know your student better we are having our very first homework assignment this weekend...don't worry-it's a super easy task! All your student has to do is fill their purple plastic bag with items that tell something about themselves and their interests. If you don't want your student bringing anything in, have them draw pictures!!! I will be handing out the purple plastic bags on Friday along with the instructions for the bag. I really want this to be a fun assignment for you and your student and a fun way to find out more about your little guy/girl. Can't wait to see what they come up with :).

Our First Day is Here!

Wow....I can honestly say I am in love. We have the kindest, most precious class in the entire school (I'm not biased or anything)! We had a fun filled day full of lots of ACTION. 


First we learned how to come into the classroom. It is important for students to know that we always start each new day fresh. And of course, we learned that you must have a smile on your face in order to enter the room. 


Next, we discussed our classroom expectations and what it takes to be a good learner. Ask your students about character coins...they were a huge hit!!!


After our expectations, we played "Find a Friend" and learned cool facts about our new classmates. The kids were so excited to find out different things about each other. They are just so cute!


Once we finished our friend activity we took a long anticipated movement break and worked on hallway expectations. It took a little while but we eventually got the hang of it. Hands to self, walk on the blue line, voice level 0. 


After our movement break we had Japanese, and I have to say, this may well have been my favorite part of the day. Being in fourth grade for the past three years I never had the pleasure of watching Mrs. Hunter teach and , boy, is she good!


Once Japanese came to an end we read our first class book, Wemberly Worried. The kids loved it and we had a chance to talk about some things that we worry about. This was, to say the least, an interesting conversation. Haha!


Of course, lunch was the most anticipated event of the day, and the students were overjoyed when this magical time came. They did such an awesome job in the lunchroom earning their first class compliment from MR. GATLIFF, himself!


After lunch, we had a compilation of specials, recess, and independent reading time. During independent read the students had the chance to choose a buddy (stuffed animal) and choose a book. I am so excited to get this rolling as are the students. If they don't love to read by now, trust me, they will by the end of the year!!!


Overall it was a great day full of smiles, "I love you's" and hugs. Tomorrow we will begin to follow our regular daily schedule and get into the content. First grade, here we come!!!

Parent Reading Tips

We will be doing LOTS of reading this year both in school and out of school. Use the following tips to help your little guy/girl be the best reader they can be!

When your child comes to an unknown word…

·        Wait 5-10 seconds to see what attempts are made. Ask: "What would make sense there?"

·        Use the picture to help figure out the word.

·        Skip the word and continue reading to the end of line or sentence.

·        Go back and read the sentence again.

·        If the word was on a previous page, go back and try to find it.

·        Look for a smaller word in a big one (and in sand).

·        Cover the ending (-ed, -ing) with your finger and try the word.

·        Look how the word begins. Let the sound "pop" right out.

·        Help with blending (sounding it out).

·        Tell the word and keep on reading.

·        It is important that children learn to use these strategies independently. When your child figures out a word, you might ask how he/she did it. Telling about their reading helps to reinforce learning.

Getting Ready for a GREAT Year

So, it's been quite the task getting the room ready for my little hoots. I have been working nonstop for days to make sure it is just perfect. It took a while to figure out the best arrangement and I am so very happy with how everything turned out. Now I'm just ready for the students..... :)

Our theme this year is "owls"- hence the stuffed owl. I just love the tree...I think the kids  will really enjoy sitting underneath it's lush branches during group time!

Classroom library- one of my favorite little nooks!

A teacher can always use an extra hand :)

Front of the classroom

View from the doorway

Owl word wall