What a fantastic day!!!
Note to parents: If you do not see your student's picture up and would like a copy please e-mail me. I have photos of each student to give to you. :)
3.21.2012
Famous Americans
Wow, the students did such a great job on their famous Americans reports on Friday. I was so impressed by the confidence and enthusiasm they showed during their speeches. We certainly do not have a shy bunch this year! Thank you to everyone who attended and for those of you who couldn't take a look at some of the celebrities that joined our class on Friday.
What a fantastic day!!!
Note to parents: If you do not see your student's picture up and would like a copy please e-mail me. I have photos of each student to give to you. :)
What a fantastic day!!!
Note to parents: If you do not see your student's picture up and would like a copy please e-mail me. I have photos of each student to give to you. :)
3.13.2012
Weekly Reminders
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| Here we are waiting in line to vote for President! |
Presidential Vote- We have been learning about how we vote for President in our class. We have read Duck for President, Grace for President and My Teacher for President. Everyone got to cast a ballot and vote for who they think would be the best President. The students voted between Duck, Grace and Mrs. Murphy and it was a tie between Duck and Mrs. Murphy for President!
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| Connor is casting his ballot for President. |
Once Upon a Lily Pad- Our first grade play is coming along nicely. The students have been practicing their songs and it is sounding great! We are starting practice today in our animal groups where they will learn a dance to their song. We will soon be getting together with all the first graders to practice the whole play. The date for our play is March 29th at 9:00 am and 6:30 pm.
Measurement Unit- We have recently started a measurement unit and the students have loved measuring things in our classroom! We have been comparing objects to each other and estimating how tall or long an object is. Please remember to keep practicing and reviewing their addition and subtraction facts at home.
Famous Americans- We are presenting our famous Americans on this Thursday, March 15th at 8:00 am. Just a reminder that all students need some type of costume and if you cannot find a costume, please let us know and we can try to find one for them. We want everyone to be dressed up like their person on this Thursday.
2.22.2012
Wednesday, February 22nd
Lots of neat activities to share with you this week.
Reading: This week in reading we are focusing our studies on prefixes, suffixes, and root words. I am so proud of the progress our little ones have made in regards to problem solving their way through new and complex words. Learning the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes will only enhance their abilities to use these skills when reading new texts. Yesterday we took a look at root words and we practiced finding the root in larger words.
Today we looked at the prefixes un-, dis-, and re-. We played a memory match game to help us with the meanings. We had a great time and believe it or not, the kids actually beat the adults. We've got some smart cookies in here!
Math: This week in math we have started our unit on addition with regrouping. I know, I know you are probably thinking that this is hard stuff for first graders but I must tell you that the students have really done well with this unit. We have been working mainly with different types of manipultives this week (popsicle sticks, base ten blocks, pretzels and cheerios) in order to form a strong foundation with this concept.
Check out this tutorial we made to show how we are working on addition with regrouping!
Social Studies: "Every heart beats true for the red, white, and blue..." Yes, we are learning about American symbols this week! So far students have learned about what makes a symbol important to America and they have learned some pretty cool facts about the Statue of Liberty and George Washington. Yesterday we were lucky enough to have the Staue of Liberty, herself, come and visit our classroom to tell us some important facts (Thank you to Miss Jones for a WONDERFUL lesson). We also got to make Statue of liberty crowns! Take a look at the students with their crowns.
Reminders:
*Homework and DEARABBY due this Friday
Reading: This week in reading we are focusing our studies on prefixes, suffixes, and root words. I am so proud of the progress our little ones have made in regards to problem solving their way through new and complex words. Learning the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes will only enhance their abilities to use these skills when reading new texts. Yesterday we took a look at root words and we practiced finding the root in larger words.
Math: This week in math we have started our unit on addition with regrouping. I know, I know you are probably thinking that this is hard stuff for first graders but I must tell you that the students have really done well with this unit. We have been working mainly with different types of manipultives this week (popsicle sticks, base ten blocks, pretzels and cheerios) in order to form a strong foundation with this concept.
Check out this tutorial we made to show how we are working on addition with regrouping!
Social Studies: "Every heart beats true for the red, white, and blue..." Yes, we are learning about American symbols this week! So far students have learned about what makes a symbol important to America and they have learned some pretty cool facts about the Statue of Liberty and George Washington. Yesterday we were lucky enough to have the Staue of Liberty, herself, come and visit our classroom to tell us some important facts (Thank you to Miss Jones for a WONDERFUL lesson). We also got to make Statue of liberty crowns! Take a look at the students with their crowns.
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| Take one |
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| Take 2 |
*Homework and DEARABBY due this Friday
2.02.2012
Headbands
Today in math we began our unit on Numbers to 40. Geometry post tests will be sent home in your students OWL binders tomorrow. In this unit students will explore place value, addition, and subtraction to 40.
After looking at place value in our books we played a fun game called Headbands. Each student put on their very own headband and were given a number. The number was placed on their headband before they could take a look. With a partner they asked for clues about their number until they guessed correctly. Take a look at our class playing Headbands!
After looking at place value in our books we played a fun game called Headbands. Each student put on their very own headband and were given a number. The number was placed on their headband before they could take a look. With a partner they asked for clues about their number until they guessed correctly. Take a look at our class playing Headbands!
1.31.2012
Tuesday, January 31st
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Once again, we continue to learn and have fun in our classroom. Take a look at what we have been doing in each subject area this week.
Reading/Writing: Last week we finished up our unit on polar animals with an opinion piece. This month we have learned about polar animals and all of their special adaptations that allow them to live in such extreme environments. On Friday, each student chose one animal that we have read about or studied and answered the question, "which animal is best adapted for the polar environment." Students had to back up their opinion with at LEAST three facts. We are now working on podcasts so that we can share our opinions with you, the parents. We would love to hear what you think!
Our reading strategy for this week is author's purpose/theme. This is truly a higher level concept as students must try to figure out the lesson the author is trying to teach the audience. In order to help us understand some underlying themes a little better we watched clips from some of our favorite children's movies (Pinnochio-Honesty, Toy Story 3- Perserverance, Charlotte's Web- Kindness).
This week we are also studying contractions. I have noticed recently that our students are getting caught up on contractions when they read. They are having difficulty understanding their meaning, so we had a little fun today to help us understand contractions and how they really work. Check it out:
Calling Dr. Murphy, calling Dr. Murphy....
Today we did surgery on some familar words. To help us understand what contractions are we actually cut and made contractions ourselves using our scissors, glue, and bandaids we were able to fix those word right up. Take a look!
Math: Today we took our post test on 2-D and 3-D shapes. Our students have worked so hard during this unit and have really had a lot of fun, as well. Shapes are all around us and it is so easy to find them everywhere if you just look. Even though we are moving on with our curriculum, please continue to review shapes at home with your little one. It can be as easy as going on a quick scavenger hunt in your yard or in your house!
This week we are moving on to numbers to 40 and with this brings 2-digit addition and subtraction. The students are becoming real experts on their facts from 1-10 so I do believe this will help greatly as we head into this new journey. Keep up the practice at home!
Science: In science we are now studying food chains. This topic was breifly touched upon at the beginning of the year but this unit takes us even more in depth and looks at food chains in numerous habitats. We have been learning an awesome song about food chains and I have been so impressed with the vocabulary the students have been able to retain.
Well, that's all for now folks. I will be sending home MAP scores at the end of this week as well as news regarding the Valentine's Day party coming up on February 14th.
Reading/Writing: Last week we finished up our unit on polar animals with an opinion piece. This month we have learned about polar animals and all of their special adaptations that allow them to live in such extreme environments. On Friday, each student chose one animal that we have read about or studied and answered the question, "which animal is best adapted for the polar environment." Students had to back up their opinion with at LEAST three facts. We are now working on podcasts so that we can share our opinions with you, the parents. We would love to hear what you think!
Our reading strategy for this week is author's purpose/theme. This is truly a higher level concept as students must try to figure out the lesson the author is trying to teach the audience. In order to help us understand some underlying themes a little better we watched clips from some of our favorite children's movies (Pinnochio-Honesty, Toy Story 3- Perserverance, Charlotte's Web- Kindness).
This week we are also studying contractions. I have noticed recently that our students are getting caught up on contractions when they read. They are having difficulty understanding their meaning, so we had a little fun today to help us understand contractions and how they really work. Check it out:
Calling Dr. Murphy, calling Dr. Murphy....
Today we did surgery on some familar words. To help us understand what contractions are we actually cut and made contractions ourselves using our scissors, glue, and bandaids we were able to fix those word right up. Take a look!
Math: Today we took our post test on 2-D and 3-D shapes. Our students have worked so hard during this unit and have really had a lot of fun, as well. Shapes are all around us and it is so easy to find them everywhere if you just look. Even though we are moving on with our curriculum, please continue to review shapes at home with your little one. It can be as easy as going on a quick scavenger hunt in your yard or in your house!
This week we are moving on to numbers to 40 and with this brings 2-digit addition and subtraction. The students are becoming real experts on their facts from 1-10 so I do believe this will help greatly as we head into this new journey. Keep up the practice at home!
Science: In science we are now studying food chains. This topic was breifly touched upon at the beginning of the year but this unit takes us even more in depth and looks at food chains in numerous habitats. We have been learning an awesome song about food chains and I have been so impressed with the vocabulary the students have been able to retain.
Well, that's all for now folks. I will be sending home MAP scores at the end of this week as well as news regarding the Valentine's Day party coming up on February 14th.
1.26.2012
MAP and Celebrations
Well, hello, hello! A couple of things to add to our blog for this week.
MAP- We have been MAP testing every day this week and the students have been doing a downright wonderful job! I have been so pleased with the results and how hard the students have been working. I look forward to sharing the scores with you when they come out next week. Conferences for this semester will be optional- please know I would love to meet with each and every one of you so do not hesitate to sign up.
Celebrations- We had Celebrations of Success last Friday and the students and I made a podcast to express our pride in the work we have accomplished this 9 weeks. Take a look (more like a listen)!
MAP- We have been MAP testing every day this week and the students have been doing a downright wonderful job! I have been so pleased with the results and how hard the students have been working. I look forward to sharing the scores with you when they come out next week. Conferences for this semester will be optional- please know I would love to meet with each and every one of you so do not hesitate to sign up.
Celebrations- We had Celebrations of Success last Friday and the students and I made a podcast to express our pride in the work we have accomplished this 9 weeks. Take a look (more like a listen)!
1.13.2012
Video Conference with Alaska
Wowee! This has been just the most exciting day. Today we had the opportunity to participate in a video conference with an Alaska Sea and Wildlife Associaton and it was truly an amazing experience. This week we have been studying animals and their different adaptations in their environments. Students have learned about the walrus, the snowy owl, and the orca whale. The video conference was about seals and other marine mammals and the structures they have on their body that allow them to survive in such harsh environments. Students interacted with a counselor at the wildlife center and were able to ask and answer questions as well as see live seals and sea lions that they have there at the center. Oh yes, and how could I forget, the students actually got to make little clay seals at the end of the conference. So cool!
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