Hello Stupendous First Graders and Super First Grade Families!
It's the first official day of winter break! I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing break!
Thank you so much to all the parents who donated time and supplies to make our party great! Today was SO much fun! The kids had a great time at our party and they really enjoyed all of the Christmas centers. The party centers were:
1. Shoebox Snow Scene - The kids made a snow village in a shoebox! They used coconut for snow and they used candies, cakes and cookies to make houses and animals for the snow scene. They are cute and tasty!
2. Hand and Footprint Reindeer - This was a fun and MESSY center! The kids made a picture of Rudolph using one foot (covered in paint!) for the body and two hands (covered in paint!) for the antlers. They added googley eyes and a red nose. These are adorable!
3. Movable Santa and Rudolph - The kids colored and cut Santa and Rudolph pieces and put them together with brads. They look very cute!
4. Finger Puppets - The kids colored different Christmas pictures, cut them out and taped them to turn them into finger puppets. They loved this!
Mr. Johnston came to help at the party too! After the centers, he read a Christmas book to the kids. They were a very captive audience! Mr. Johnston really enjoyed his time in our class!
After lunch we read Christmas stories and listened to some great Christmas music and then the kids went to PE to get some energy out! After PE, we had recess and we played a fun girls against boys winter holidays trivia game with Ms. Olson's class.
To end the day, we had popcorn and watched The Polar Express. It was a lot of fun!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Have a wonderful break! See you next year!
Mrs. Johnston
December 16, 2010
December 13, 2010
Weekly Update, December 13 - 16
Hello Stupendous First Graders and Super First Grade Families!
The 1st grade performance at Barnes and Noble was adorable! The kids looked and sounded great!
THANK YOU to all my students and parents for your wonderful support of my marathon! The pink runner "Go Mrs. Johnston" pins are SO cute and I was so touched! A special thank you to Tristan and Jo who came out to cheer for me at mile 22 (with a fabulous bumblebee sign!) when I was SO tired. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive class! Thank you!
It's hard to believe this is our last week before the break! The kids are so excited for our party and for the holidays. We have a lot of fun stuff planned this week!
Reminders:
* If you have not done so already, please send in a shoebox with your child. We'll use these for a fun activity at our party!
* Please send in a plastic water bottle for our upcomping weather unit.
Pajama Party Information:
* Our party is this Thursday, December 16 from 9:20 - 11:20. The children will do 4 different holiday centers.
* We are having an all day pajama party! Your child is invited to wear PJs to school.
* We will make popcorn balls and watch The Polar Express with the other first grade classes in the afternoon. It will be a fun day!
This is our second week in our Christmas social studies unit and the children are really enjoying it! Today we learned about the characteristics of reindeer. We learned the word synonym and that caribou is a synonym for reindeer. The kids worked collaboratively to write 5 reindeer facts. After they wrote their facts, they colored and cut a cute reindeer to glue on their paper. We also learned a little bit about the history of Rudolph and the kids made a darling Rudolph puppet. Tomorrow we will learn about the history of St. Nicholas. The kids will make a St. Nicholas puppet and they will write St. Nicholas facts on the back. On Wednesday we will learn about Christmas around the world! We will learn about Christmas traditions in the USA, Italy and Mexico. The kids will identify the three countries on a map, write 1 tradition from each place and write which country they would like to visit for Christmas.
The kids had a lot of fun in centers today! They visited 2 centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a cute story called "Olive The Other Reindeer," and they worked on sequencing the story by writing what happened in the beginning, middle and end.
2. Science - The kids wrote a recipe for reindeer food and they made their own special reindeer food!
3. Writing - The kids wrote a persuasive letter to Santa to convince him to bring presents to them.
4. Math - The kids made snowman math flash cards. They picked their own problems to write on the snowman's body and then they wrote the answers on the back.
5. Card Making - The kids made Christmas cards to send to our US Military to thank them for their service.
6. Art - The kids traced their hands on green paper and then glued them to a paper plate ring to make an adorable hand print wreath.
There are no new spelling words this week. Spelling will resume after break!
In writing we are working on adding details to our work. We call these detailed words "juicy words." Be sure to ask your child about using juicy words!
In math we practiced addition and subtraction facts. The kids correctly solved color coded problems to color a penguin. Tomorrow we will make a Christmas tree glyph and on Wednesday we will play Christmas bingo!
The kids had fun in computers! If you'd like to see what we did today, click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 12/13."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
The 1st grade performance at Barnes and Noble was adorable! The kids looked and sounded great!
THANK YOU to all my students and parents for your wonderful support of my marathon! The pink runner "Go Mrs. Johnston" pins are SO cute and I was so touched! A special thank you to Tristan and Jo who came out to cheer for me at mile 22 (with a fabulous bumblebee sign!) when I was SO tired. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive class! Thank you!
It's hard to believe this is our last week before the break! The kids are so excited for our party and for the holidays. We have a lot of fun stuff planned this week!
Reminders:
* If you have not done so already, please send in a shoebox with your child. We'll use these for a fun activity at our party!
* Please send in a plastic water bottle for our upcomping weather unit.
Pajama Party Information:
* Our party is this Thursday, December 16 from 9:20 - 11:20. The children will do 4 different holiday centers.
* We are having an all day pajama party! Your child is invited to wear PJs to school.
* We will make popcorn balls and watch The Polar Express with the other first grade classes in the afternoon. It will be a fun day!
This is our second week in our Christmas social studies unit and the children are really enjoying it! Today we learned about the characteristics of reindeer. We learned the word synonym and that caribou is a synonym for reindeer. The kids worked collaboratively to write 5 reindeer facts. After they wrote their facts, they colored and cut a cute reindeer to glue on their paper. We also learned a little bit about the history of Rudolph and the kids made a darling Rudolph puppet. Tomorrow we will learn about the history of St. Nicholas. The kids will make a St. Nicholas puppet and they will write St. Nicholas facts on the back. On Wednesday we will learn about Christmas around the world! We will learn about Christmas traditions in the USA, Italy and Mexico. The kids will identify the three countries on a map, write 1 tradition from each place and write which country they would like to visit for Christmas.
The kids had a lot of fun in centers today! They visited 2 centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a cute story called "Olive The Other Reindeer," and they worked on sequencing the story by writing what happened in the beginning, middle and end.
2. Science - The kids wrote a recipe for reindeer food and they made their own special reindeer food!
3. Writing - The kids wrote a persuasive letter to Santa to convince him to bring presents to them.
4. Math - The kids made snowman math flash cards. They picked their own problems to write on the snowman's body and then they wrote the answers on the back.
5. Card Making - The kids made Christmas cards to send to our US Military to thank them for their service.
6. Art - The kids traced their hands on green paper and then glued them to a paper plate ring to make an adorable hand print wreath.
There are no new spelling words this week. Spelling will resume after break!
In writing we are working on adding details to our work. We call these detailed words "juicy words." Be sure to ask your child about using juicy words!
In math we practiced addition and subtraction facts. The kids correctly solved color coded problems to color a penguin. Tomorrow we will make a Christmas tree glyph and on Wednesday we will play Christmas bingo!
The kids had fun in computers! If you'd like to see what we did today, click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 12/13."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 12/13
Free Choice Day!
Let's start by voting in this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
Today is the free choice day for the quarter!!! Use your schema about the last free choice day we had; what are some things you can do on free choice day? Let's talk about our ideas.
Let's take a look at the blog and see what it has to offer for free choice day.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting in this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
Today is the free choice day for the quarter!!! Use your schema about the last free choice day we had; what are some things you can do on free choice day? Let's talk about our ideas.
Let's take a look at the blog and see what it has to offer for free choice day.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
December 6, 2010
Weekly Update, December 6 - 10
Hello Charming First Graders and Cheerful First Grade Parents!
The kids are really enjoying our holidays social studies unit! Today we began our study of the Christmas holiday. Today we learned about the history of Christmas. We also learned about one symbol of Christmas, the Christmas tree. The kids began a very neat Christmas writing/art project today. They each received a large Christmas tree that they cut out and colored a stem on. They wrote 3 facts on red ball ornaments and they glued them on the tree. Each day this week we will learn about a different Christmas symbol and there will be an ornament to match. The symbols we will learn about this week are: lights, presents, candy canes and stars. The kids will write facts on each ornament and, by the time the week is over, they will have a fully decorated tree filled with ornaments with great Christmas facts! They really enjoyed working on this today. The trees are hanging up all around the room and they are wonderful! This week in social studies we will also learn about needs and wants, a very timely subject!
The children had a great time in our centers today. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The children listened to Santa's Adventure, a story about Santa and how bad weather affected his Christmas Eve travels. The children made a Somebody - Wanted - But - So graphic organizer. They wrote about what it would be like if Santa came to Tucson and there was a monsoon. Somebody (Santa) - Wanted (to deliver presents to children in Tucson) - But (there was a monsoon) - So (the children wrote their own strategies to solve the problem).
2. Social Studies - Shhh! It's a surprise! The kids are working on a gift for YOU!
3. Writing - The children wrote friendly letters to Santa on a Santa beard. They told Santa about themselves and asked him questions. After they wrote, they colored a picture of Santa and they attached it to the beard.
4. Math - The children made advent bells. They used a template to trace and cut a bell. Then the children numbered red and green strips of paper to make advent chains. They made the odd numbers green and the even numbers red to form an a-b pattern with the red and green paper loops.
5. Reading - The children read 1:1 with me. We focused on retelling and sequencing.
This week in writing we are working on fact writing and acrostic poetry. The children have had a lot of practice writing facts and they are getting quite good at this skill! The kids had a bit of practice with acrostic poetry last week and they are enjoying poetry writing.
We have new spelling words this week. The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in working with words we will practice alphabetizing to the 1st letter.
Today in math we reviewed concepts from chapter ten (greater and less than, one more and one less, counting up and down by ten) and we will take the test later this week. We will also complete a lot of review and and complete testing to get ready for the 2nd quarter report cards.
The kids had fun in computers today! If you'd like to see what they did, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 12/6."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
The kids are really enjoying our holidays social studies unit! Today we began our study of the Christmas holiday. Today we learned about the history of Christmas. We also learned about one symbol of Christmas, the Christmas tree. The kids began a very neat Christmas writing/art project today. They each received a large Christmas tree that they cut out and colored a stem on. They wrote 3 facts on red ball ornaments and they glued them on the tree. Each day this week we will learn about a different Christmas symbol and there will be an ornament to match. The symbols we will learn about this week are: lights, presents, candy canes and stars. The kids will write facts on each ornament and, by the time the week is over, they will have a fully decorated tree filled with ornaments with great Christmas facts! They really enjoyed working on this today. The trees are hanging up all around the room and they are wonderful! This week in social studies we will also learn about needs and wants, a very timely subject!
The children had a great time in our centers today. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The children listened to Santa's Adventure, a story about Santa and how bad weather affected his Christmas Eve travels. The children made a Somebody - Wanted - But - So graphic organizer. They wrote about what it would be like if Santa came to Tucson and there was a monsoon. Somebody (Santa) - Wanted (to deliver presents to children in Tucson) - But (there was a monsoon) - So (the children wrote their own strategies to solve the problem).
2. Social Studies - Shhh! It's a surprise! The kids are working on a gift for YOU!
3. Writing - The children wrote friendly letters to Santa on a Santa beard. They told Santa about themselves and asked him questions. After they wrote, they colored a picture of Santa and they attached it to the beard.
4. Math - The children made advent bells. They used a template to trace and cut a bell. Then the children numbered red and green strips of paper to make advent chains. They made the odd numbers green and the even numbers red to form an a-b pattern with the red and green paper loops.
5. Reading - The children read 1:1 with me. We focused on retelling and sequencing.
This week in writing we are working on fact writing and acrostic poetry. The children have had a lot of practice writing facts and they are getting quite good at this skill! The kids had a bit of practice with acrostic poetry last week and they are enjoying poetry writing.
We have new spelling words this week. The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in working with words we will practice alphabetizing to the 1st letter.
Today in math we reviewed concepts from chapter ten (greater and less than, one more and one less, counting up and down by ten) and we will take the test later this week. We will also complete a lot of review and and complete testing to get ready for the 2nd quarter report cards.
The kids had fun in computers today! If you'd like to see what they did, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 12/6."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 12/6
Christmas Comments!
Let's start by voting in this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
It was fun learning about the history of Christmas and the Christmas tree! Today we're going to explore Christmas and practice writing comments on the blog. Go here: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/holidays/christmas/ to learn more about Christmas! We'll go to the website together to learn how it works.
After you've explored the website, you'll work with a partner to post a comment on the blog. Here is what you need to post:
1. I learned...
2. I want to know more about...
Remember to post your names!
Watch and we'll review how to post on the blog.
If you have time after you're done, you may explore the links on the website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting in this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
It was fun learning about the history of Christmas and the Christmas tree! Today we're going to explore Christmas and practice writing comments on the blog. Go here: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/holidays/christmas/ to learn more about Christmas! We'll go to the website together to learn how it works.
After you've explored the website, you'll work with a partner to post a comment on the blog. Here is what you need to post:
1. I learned...
2. I want to know more about...
Remember to post your names!
Watch and we'll review how to post on the blog.
If you have time after you're done, you may explore the links on the website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
November 29, 2010
Weekly Update, November 29 - December 3
Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break! Parents - I hope you enjoyed your child's Thanksgiving decorations!
This week and for the rest of December, we will study holidays for social studies. This week we began a social studies unit on Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Today we learned about the celebrations, traditions, and symbols of Kwanzaa. The children wrote about their favorite family holiday tradition. Tomorrow we will learn about a special Kwanzaa symbol, the mkeka (a placemat) and the children will write Kwanzaa facts and create their own mkekas. On Wednesday we will learn about how some holidays share similar symbols and transition to our Hanukkah study. The children will create a menorah. On Thursday and Friday, we will learn about the history and symbols of Hanukkah and the children will write a Hanukkah fact on each of the candles of the menorah.
The children enjoyed our holiday centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The children listened to "The Magic Dreidels," and they wrote about their favorite part of the story. After they wrote they created their own dreidel.
2. Science - The children enjoyed making their own butter last week and this week they got to do even more! The children followed a recipe to make their own potato latkes! The children measured, mixed and shaped the pancakes and the parent helper cooked it so they could try it.
3. Writing - The children practiced writing an acrostic poem with the word Hanukkah. This was a challenging activity and the kids did a great job!
4. Math - The children followed directions to play a dreidel counting game. This was a lot of fun for the kids!
5. Reading - The children read 1:1 with me.
We created a gingerbread glyph in math today. We collected data in a new way today; we worked collaboratively as a whole class to collect our data and record it in the form of a bar graph. This was a challenging activity and the kids did well!
We began chapter 10 in math. This is a very challenging chapter and it focuses on greater than, less than and equals. The children made greater than and less than signs with pipe cleaners and practiced comparing numbers with their pipe cleaners. The kids will bring home some additional homework to help reinforce this difficult concept.
The kids had a fun time in computers today! If you'd like to see what we did, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/29."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break! Parents - I hope you enjoyed your child's Thanksgiving decorations!
This week and for the rest of December, we will study holidays for social studies. This week we began a social studies unit on Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Today we learned about the celebrations, traditions, and symbols of Kwanzaa. The children wrote about their favorite family holiday tradition. Tomorrow we will learn about a special Kwanzaa symbol, the mkeka (a placemat) and the children will write Kwanzaa facts and create their own mkekas. On Wednesday we will learn about how some holidays share similar symbols and transition to our Hanukkah study. The children will create a menorah. On Thursday and Friday, we will learn about the history and symbols of Hanukkah and the children will write a Hanukkah fact on each of the candles of the menorah.
The children enjoyed our holiday centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The children listened to "The Magic Dreidels," and they wrote about their favorite part of the story. After they wrote they created their own dreidel.
2. Science - The children enjoyed making their own butter last week and this week they got to do even more! The children followed a recipe to make their own potato latkes! The children measured, mixed and shaped the pancakes and the parent helper cooked it so they could try it.
3. Writing - The children practiced writing an acrostic poem with the word Hanukkah. This was a challenging activity and the kids did a great job!
4. Math - The children followed directions to play a dreidel counting game. This was a lot of fun for the kids!
5. Reading - The children read 1:1 with me.
We created a gingerbread glyph in math today. We collected data in a new way today; we worked collaboratively as a whole class to collect our data and record it in the form of a bar graph. This was a challenging activity and the kids did well!
We began chapter 10 in math. This is a very challenging chapter and it focuses on greater than, less than and equals. The children made greater than and less than signs with pipe cleaners and practiced comparing numbers with their pipe cleaners. The kids will bring home some additional homework to help reinforce this difficult concept.
The kids had a fun time in computers today! If you'd like to see what we did, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/29."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 11/29
Kwanzaa KWL
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
It was fun learning about Kwanzaa today! Kwanzaa was unfamiliar to many of you and when we learn about something new, it's good to make a list of questions so we can answer them to keep track of our learning.
Today we're going to make a KWL chart! This stands for Know, Want to know, Learned. You'll work with a partner to create this word document. Watch and I'll show you how! You'll work with a partner to complete your chart.
After you finish the Know and Want to know section, it's time to see what you can learn! Go to Scholastic's website: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/holidays/kwanzaa/ to read to find out! After you've read and listened, see if you can add anything to the Learned section of your chart!
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
It was fun learning about Kwanzaa today! Kwanzaa was unfamiliar to many of you and when we learn about something new, it's good to make a list of questions so we can answer them to keep track of our learning.
Today we're going to make a KWL chart! This stands for Know, Want to know, Learned. You'll work with a partner to create this word document. Watch and I'll show you how! You'll work with a partner to complete your chart.
After you finish the Know and Want to know section, it's time to see what you can learn! Go to Scholastic's website: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/holidays/kwanzaa/ to read to find out! After you've read and listened, see if you can add anything to the Learned section of your chart!
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
November 24, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! The kids had so much fun today! THANK YOU so much to all the parents who donated their time and supplies to help make our day special for the kids. The kids and I appreciate you!
This morning we finished collecting the data for our turkey glyphs and the kids did a great job! They are getting very skilled at using efficient strategies to accurately collect data. They really enjoyed this glyph! We heard a great story called, "The Night Before Thanksgiving," and then it was time to get our Thanksgiving Party Centers started! The Thanksgiving centers were:
1. I Am Thankful Turkey - The kids colored and cut a turkey body. They took colored paper feathers and wrote different things they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.
2. Potato Turkey - The kids colored and cut a turkey head, wings and tail feather. I helped them attach the pieces to toothpicks and stick the toothpicks in the potato to make a darling turkey decoration.
3. Tabletop Turkey - The kids measured rice to fill a plastic bag. They put the plastic bag in a paper bag and used pieces of the paper bag and other papers to make a head, wings, a tail feather, and legs for the turkey. They finished their turkeys with a recipe to use with your leftover turkey!
4. Butter Making - The kids made their own butter using just heavy cream and arm strength! The kids were amazed that butter could be made by simply shaking a jar of cream! They topped cornbread muffins with butter and honey.
The kids had a great day!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Johnston
This morning we finished collecting the data for our turkey glyphs and the kids did a great job! They are getting very skilled at using efficient strategies to accurately collect data. They really enjoyed this glyph! We heard a great story called, "The Night Before Thanksgiving," and then it was time to get our Thanksgiving Party Centers started! The Thanksgiving centers were:
1. I Am Thankful Turkey - The kids colored and cut a turkey body. They took colored paper feathers and wrote different things they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.
2. Potato Turkey - The kids colored and cut a turkey head, wings and tail feather. I helped them attach the pieces to toothpicks and stick the toothpicks in the potato to make a darling turkey decoration.
3. Tabletop Turkey - The kids measured rice to fill a plastic bag. They put the plastic bag in a paper bag and used pieces of the paper bag and other papers to make a head, wings, a tail feather, and legs for the turkey. They finished their turkeys with a recipe to use with your leftover turkey!
4. Butter Making - The kids made their own butter using just heavy cream and arm strength! The kids were amazed that butter could be made by simply shaking a jar of cream! They topped cornbread muffins with butter and honey.
The kids had a great day!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Johnston
November 22, 2010
Weekly Update, November 22-24
Hello Terrific First Graders and Tremendous First Grade Families!
Homework Update:
There are no new spelling words this week. Spelling will resume next week. There will be a modified reading log this week along with some practice math homework. Please remind your child to bring the homework sheets to school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Normal homework will resume next week.
We had a wonderful week last week learning all about Thanksgiving. We began work on persuasive writing. The kids wrote from the point of view of a turkey and persuaded the reader not to eat them! The kids really enjoyed writing these persuasive essays and they came out great!
Our week ended with a very fun 50th birthday celebration. Happy 50th Birthday Harelson! The kids had a wonderful time at the assembly and they loved seeing their pictures on the slideshow. Thank you, Mr. Konency, for putting together such a wonderful slideshow!
This week is a short week in first grade and there are a lot of exciting Thanksgiving activities planned, including our party on Wednesday! This week we are doing several hands on activities to learn more about Thanksgiving. Today and tomorrow, the kids will go to 3 centers! They LOVED going to 3 centers today! The centers for today and tomorrow include:
1. Thanksgiving Finger Puppets - The kids color pictures of Pilgrims and Indians, cut them out and use them for finger puppets. They are so cute!
2. Turkey Hands - The kids paint their hand prints to make an adorable turkey.
3. I Am Thankful - The kids write a short story about all the things they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.
4. Turkey Counting - The kids make a paper plate turkey. The feathers are numbered and to put them on in the correct order, the kids must count by 10s.
5. Happy Thanksgiving Turkey - The kids make a turkey and attach it to a sign that says Happy Thanksgiving.
6. Movable Turkey - The kids received a picture of a turkey (head, body, feet and feathers) and they colored them and cut them out. The pieces are attached with brads so the turkey can move.
This week in writing we are working on thank you notes and the kids are so good at these! We have several to write:
Mrs. Anderson (2nd grade teacher) gave great place value tools to our class. The kids love these and the tools really help them understand the concept. When we started working with these new tools, the kids said, "We should write a thank you note to Mrs. Anderson!" I was so proud! :)
Mr. Konecny made the wonderful slide show for our assembly.
Ms. Cheryl from the Oro Valley library came to our class and gave them library cards and neat stuff.
We will also make another class book, "We Are Thankful." We already have several class books (I try to do one per unit) and the kids really enjoy reading these.
This week in math we are finishing chapter 9. We reviewed the concepts in this chapter and the kids took a test today. Tomorrow we will make a turkey glyph. The glyphs make great decorations!
The kids had a fun time in computers today. If you'd like to see what they did, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 11/22."
Our party is on Wednesday from 9:30 - 11:15. Parents are welcome to attend!
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Homework Update:
There are no new spelling words this week. Spelling will resume next week. There will be a modified reading log this week along with some practice math homework. Please remind your child to bring the homework sheets to school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Normal homework will resume next week.
We had a wonderful week last week learning all about Thanksgiving. We began work on persuasive writing. The kids wrote from the point of view of a turkey and persuaded the reader not to eat them! The kids really enjoyed writing these persuasive essays and they came out great!
Our week ended with a very fun 50th birthday celebration. Happy 50th Birthday Harelson! The kids had a wonderful time at the assembly and they loved seeing their pictures on the slideshow. Thank you, Mr. Konency, for putting together such a wonderful slideshow!
This week is a short week in first grade and there are a lot of exciting Thanksgiving activities planned, including our party on Wednesday! This week we are doing several hands on activities to learn more about Thanksgiving. Today and tomorrow, the kids will go to 3 centers! They LOVED going to 3 centers today! The centers for today and tomorrow include:
1. Thanksgiving Finger Puppets - The kids color pictures of Pilgrims and Indians, cut them out and use them for finger puppets. They are so cute!
2. Turkey Hands - The kids paint their hand prints to make an adorable turkey.
3. I Am Thankful - The kids write a short story about all the things they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.
4. Turkey Counting - The kids make a paper plate turkey. The feathers are numbered and to put them on in the correct order, the kids must count by 10s.
5. Happy Thanksgiving Turkey - The kids make a turkey and attach it to a sign that says Happy Thanksgiving.
6. Movable Turkey - The kids received a picture of a turkey (head, body, feet and feathers) and they colored them and cut them out. The pieces are attached with brads so the turkey can move.
This week in writing we are working on thank you notes and the kids are so good at these! We have several to write:
Mrs. Anderson (2nd grade teacher) gave great place value tools to our class. The kids love these and the tools really help them understand the concept. When we started working with these new tools, the kids said, "We should write a thank you note to Mrs. Anderson!" I was so proud! :)
Mr. Konecny made the wonderful slide show for our assembly.
Ms. Cheryl from the Oro Valley library came to our class and gave them library cards and neat stuff.
We will also make another class book, "We Are Thankful." We already have several class books (I try to do one per unit) and the kids really enjoy reading these.
This week in math we are finishing chapter 9. We reviewed the concepts in this chapter and the kids took a test today. Tomorrow we will make a turkey glyph. The glyphs make great decorations!
The kids had a fun time in computers today. If you'd like to see what they did, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 11/22."
Our party is on Wednesday from 9:30 - 11:15. Parents are welcome to attend!
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 11/22
Pilgrims and Wampanoag
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
It has been fun learning about the Pilgrims and Indians to get ready for Thanksgiving! Last week we compared the way the Pilgrims live with how we live. Today we are going to compare the way the Pilgrims and Indians, called Wampanoag, lived during the time of the First Thanksgiving.
We'll practice on the Smart Board together! Go to: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/daily_life/ . Read the story called "Daily Life." You can click on the headphone picture and listen to the paragraph too. After you listen and read, click on the different tabs called housing, clothes, food, chores, school and games. You can read and listen to compare and contrast what life was like for the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. Make sure to read and listen to each tab.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
It has been fun learning about the Pilgrims and Indians to get ready for Thanksgiving! Last week we compared the way the Pilgrims live with how we live. Today we are going to compare the way the Pilgrims and Indians, called Wampanoag, lived during the time of the First Thanksgiving.
We'll practice on the Smart Board together! Go to: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/daily_life/ . Read the story called "Daily Life." You can click on the headphone picture and listen to the paragraph too. After you listen and read, click on the different tabs called housing, clothes, food, chores, school and games. You can read and listen to compare and contrast what life was like for the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. Make sure to read and listen to each tab.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
November 15, 2010
Weekly Update, November 15 - 19
Hello Smart First Graders and Super First Grade Families!
I hope everyone had a nice weekend! The kids are still talking about our Awesome America week! They really enjoyed this unit and they LOVED meeting Sergeant First Class Miller! The kids loved asking questions, learning about his uniform and learning how to do the army crawl. They did an excellent job of writing thank you notes to him. They thanked him for his service, for visiting our class and for the presents. They asked a lot of good questions in their notes too! It was a fun day!
Today we had a special visit from the Oro Valley Library. The children received their very own library cards! To activate the cards, please take your child to a Pima County Library to fill out a short form. Your child also received a bag, a bookmark and some information about the library. The kids loved this!
Today we began our social studies unit on Thanksgiving; we are learning about the Pilgrims and Indians. There are several fun projects planned and the kids will come home with a lot of cute Thanksgiving decorations. Today we read a neat story called "The Tale of the Bear's Tipi." The kids learned about tipis and learned that there are two ways to spell it: tipi and tepee. After the story, the kids made their own tipis. This was so much fun! On Tuesday we will read "The North Wind and the South Wind" to learn about pueblos and the kids will make their own pueblos. On Wednesday we will learn about the history of The First Thanksgiving and the kids will create their own cornucopia. Our studies on Thursday and Friday will focus on Pilgrims. On Thursday the kids will learn about how Pilgrims had a very different life than we do. The kids will compare and contrast elements of our lives to those of the Pilgrims. On Friday the kids will learn about what it was like to be a Pilgrim kid. They will decorate their own pilgrim kids to bring home.
The kids had a great time with the Thanksgiving centers today. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a story about Native Americans. They created a traditional Native American story sack. They decorated the bag with symbols and then filled it with found objects. To use the story sack, the kids pull an object from the bag and tell a story about it. They had so much fun gathering objects and sharing their stories!
2. Art/Science - The kids used the inside of a paper grocery bag to write an Indian symbol story. The kids received a page of symbols and then they used them to tell a story. They could only use the symbols (no words).
3. Writing - The kids did a neat color poem. They colored a picture of pottery and then used the colors they chose to write a poem about it.
4. Math - Pottery geometry and Indian Symbol addition. The kids created patterns with pottery and they used symbols to write number sentences.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me.
The kids have new spelling words this week. In addition to our spelling words, we have Thanksgiving theme words. The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. The kids have a new spelling challenge this week! If the whole class spells Thanksgiving and turkey (another alliteration test!) correctly, the class will get a prize.
We began chapter 9 in math today. This chapter focuses on groups of 10 and place value. Your child came home with a parent letter that provides information about the chapter. The kids practiced counting in 10s and adding on by 1s, writing number sentences and identifying numbers by looking at pictures of groups of 10s and 1s.
The kids enjoyed computers today. If you'd like to see what they did in computers today, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/15."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
I hope everyone had a nice weekend! The kids are still talking about our Awesome America week! They really enjoyed this unit and they LOVED meeting Sergeant First Class Miller! The kids loved asking questions, learning about his uniform and learning how to do the army crawl. They did an excellent job of writing thank you notes to him. They thanked him for his service, for visiting our class and for the presents. They asked a lot of good questions in their notes too! It was a fun day!
Today we had a special visit from the Oro Valley Library. The children received their very own library cards! To activate the cards, please take your child to a Pima County Library to fill out a short form. Your child also received a bag, a bookmark and some information about the library. The kids loved this!
Today we began our social studies unit on Thanksgiving; we are learning about the Pilgrims and Indians. There are several fun projects planned and the kids will come home with a lot of cute Thanksgiving decorations. Today we read a neat story called "The Tale of the Bear's Tipi." The kids learned about tipis and learned that there are two ways to spell it: tipi and tepee. After the story, the kids made their own tipis. This was so much fun! On Tuesday we will read "The North Wind and the South Wind" to learn about pueblos and the kids will make their own pueblos. On Wednesday we will learn about the history of The First Thanksgiving and the kids will create their own cornucopia. Our studies on Thursday and Friday will focus on Pilgrims. On Thursday the kids will learn about how Pilgrims had a very different life than we do. The kids will compare and contrast elements of our lives to those of the Pilgrims. On Friday the kids will learn about what it was like to be a Pilgrim kid. They will decorate their own pilgrim kids to bring home.
The kids had a great time with the Thanksgiving centers today. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a story about Native Americans. They created a traditional Native American story sack. They decorated the bag with symbols and then filled it with found objects. To use the story sack, the kids pull an object from the bag and tell a story about it. They had so much fun gathering objects and sharing their stories!
2. Art/Science - The kids used the inside of a paper grocery bag to write an Indian symbol story. The kids received a page of symbols and then they used them to tell a story. They could only use the symbols (no words).
3. Writing - The kids did a neat color poem. They colored a picture of pottery and then used the colors they chose to write a poem about it.
4. Math - Pottery geometry and Indian Symbol addition. The kids created patterns with pottery and they used symbols to write number sentences.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me.
The kids have new spelling words this week. In addition to our spelling words, we have Thanksgiving theme words. The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. The kids have a new spelling challenge this week! If the whole class spells Thanksgiving and turkey (another alliteration test!) correctly, the class will get a prize.
We began chapter 9 in math today. This chapter focuses on groups of 10 and place value. Your child came home with a parent letter that provides information about the chapter. The kids practiced counting in 10s and adding on by 1s, writing number sentences and identifying numbers by looking at pictures of groups of 10s and 1s.
The kids enjoyed computers today. If you'd like to see what they did in computers today, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/15."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 11/15
Thanksgiving Web Quest!
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll learn about today's activity.
It was fun learning about Thanksgiving today! What could you do if you wanted to find out more about Thanksgiving? READ TO FIND OUT!!! Today we will do a Web Quest to find out more about Thanksgiving!
Go to: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/feast/webquest.htm to play the Thanksgiving Web Quest. You'll work with a partner to complete this activity. There are several questions to answer. You can answer them in two ways: you can use your schema about Thanksgiving to answer the question, or you can do the webquest! If you don't know the answer, click the button that says "Visit the Web site to find out." This game is a lot of fun! Watch and I'll show you how to play!
After you play the Web Quest you can explore the websites on the links section of my blog.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll learn about today's activity.
It was fun learning about Thanksgiving today! What could you do if you wanted to find out more about Thanksgiving? READ TO FIND OUT!!! Today we will do a Web Quest to find out more about Thanksgiving!
Go to: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/feast/webquest.htm to play the Thanksgiving Web Quest. You'll work with a partner to complete this activity. There are several questions to answer. You can answer them in two ways: you can use your schema about Thanksgiving to answer the question, or you can do the webquest! If you don't know the answer, click the button that says "Visit the Web site to find out." This game is a lot of fun! Watch and I'll show you how to play!
After you play the Web Quest you can explore the websites on the links section of my blog.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
November 8, 2010
Weekly Update, November 8 - 12
Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Parents!
The kids are still batty for bats! They are still talking all about bats and sharing what they learned. It is so great to see! Be sure to check out the links section of my blog. I added the echolocation video that we watched in class. We watched this again today at the start of computers and the kids LOVE it! Kids - watch the video and sing the song to your parents. You can show them how much you know about echolocation and bats!
Our patriotic week is off to a great start! Reminder: there is no school this Thursday, November 11 in honor of Veteran's Day.
This week we are doing a social studies unit on Awesome America. Kids - we did Outstanding Owls, Perfect Pumpkins, Brilliant Bats and now we are doing Awesome America. What is this called??? Today the kids learned what the word pledge means. We studied The Pledge of Allegiance and the kids learned the meaning of all of the words. They also wrote a pledge to themselves. The rest of the week will will learn all about the things that make America great. On Tuesday and Friday we will learn about the symbols of our country, we will learn about and make a flag and have a parade with patriotic music. We will learn about the reason we don't have school on Thursday: Veteran's Day. A member of the military, Sergeant First Class Stephen Miller (the dad of one of my students from last year), will come to our class to talk with the kids on Wednesday.
The kids had a great time with our patriotic centers today. The kids went to two centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a CD of patriotic American songs. While they listened, they drew pictures of what they heard in the song. They also wrote their favorite parts of the music.
2. Science - The kids looked at different symbols of The United States. They looked at pictures of astronauts and they discovered that American astronauts often take a symbol of our country, the flag, with them. The kids used paper towel rolls to make their own space shuttles. Thank you for all the toilet paper and paper towel roll donations! The kids loved this center!
3. Writing - The kids wrote about promises. They wrote about a promise they made and a promise someone made. They wrote about what the promise was and how they felt about it.
4. Math - The kids looked at a flag and they estimated how many stars and stripes are on the flag. After they estimated, they discussed the best strategies to find the number of stars and stripes on the flag. After they talked about their strategies, they counted the stars and stripes on the flag.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me.
We have new spelling words this week. In addition to our spelling words, we have America - theme words. The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. Since the kids did so well with their challenge this week, I gave them a new and more difficult challenge. If the whole class spells America and allegiance (a little alliteration test!!!) correctly, the class will get a prize.
We began chapter 8 in math today. This chapter focuses on more difficult concepts of subtraction: counting down, vertical addition, related facts and story problems. Your child came home with a parent letter that provides information on this chapter. The kids did very well with the subtraction and they got some good practice learning about related facts. This is a tough concept and the kids are doing a nice job.
The kids had a fun time in computers today. If you'd like to see what they did in computers today, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/8."
Have an A+ Week!
Mrs. Johnston
The kids are still batty for bats! They are still talking all about bats and sharing what they learned. It is so great to see! Be sure to check out the links section of my blog. I added the echolocation video that we watched in class. We watched this again today at the start of computers and the kids LOVE it! Kids - watch the video and sing the song to your parents. You can show them how much you know about echolocation and bats!
Our patriotic week is off to a great start! Reminder: there is no school this Thursday, November 11 in honor of Veteran's Day.
This week we are doing a social studies unit on Awesome America. Kids - we did Outstanding Owls, Perfect Pumpkins, Brilliant Bats and now we are doing Awesome America. What is this called??? Today the kids learned what the word pledge means. We studied The Pledge of Allegiance and the kids learned the meaning of all of the words. They also wrote a pledge to themselves. The rest of the week will will learn all about the things that make America great. On Tuesday and Friday we will learn about the symbols of our country, we will learn about and make a flag and have a parade with patriotic music. We will learn about the reason we don't have school on Thursday: Veteran's Day. A member of the military, Sergeant First Class Stephen Miller (the dad of one of my students from last year), will come to our class to talk with the kids on Wednesday.
The kids had a great time with our patriotic centers today. The kids went to two centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a CD of patriotic American songs. While they listened, they drew pictures of what they heard in the song. They also wrote their favorite parts of the music.
2. Science - The kids looked at different symbols of The United States. They looked at pictures of astronauts and they discovered that American astronauts often take a symbol of our country, the flag, with them. The kids used paper towel rolls to make their own space shuttles. Thank you for all the toilet paper and paper towel roll donations! The kids loved this center!
3. Writing - The kids wrote about promises. They wrote about a promise they made and a promise someone made. They wrote about what the promise was and how they felt about it.
4. Math - The kids looked at a flag and they estimated how many stars and stripes are on the flag. After they estimated, they discussed the best strategies to find the number of stars and stripes on the flag. After they talked about their strategies, they counted the stars and stripes on the flag.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me.
We have new spelling words this week. In addition to our spelling words, we have America - theme words. The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. Since the kids did so well with their challenge this week, I gave them a new and more difficult challenge. If the whole class spells America and allegiance (a little alliteration test!!!) correctly, the class will get a prize.
We began chapter 8 in math today. This chapter focuses on more difficult concepts of subtraction: counting down, vertical addition, related facts and story problems. Your child came home with a parent letter that provides information on this chapter. The kids did very well with the subtraction and they got some good practice learning about related facts. This is a tough concept and the kids are doing a nice job.
The kids had a fun time in computers today. If you'd like to see what they did in computers today, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/8."
Have an A+ Week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 11/8
Free Choice Day!
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
Today is a free choice day!!! We'll have one free choice day per quarter, but since we didn't have one in the 1st quarter, we'll get two this quarter!
What kind of stuff could we do for free choice day? Let's brainstorm some ideas!
Let's take a look and see what the blog has to offer that we could use during free choice day.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
Today is a free choice day!!! We'll have one free choice day per quarter, but since we didn't have one in the 1st quarter, we'll get two this quarter!
What kind of stuff could we do for free choice day? Let's brainstorm some ideas!
Let's take a look and see what the blog has to offer that we could use during free choice day.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
November 5, 2010
Week in Review
TGIF!
We had a fun and exciting week in our first grade bat cave! The kids absolutely LOVED learning about bats. It was so neat to see them so eager to learn and happy to share their knowledge. We learned about bumblebee, fruit, little brown and vampire bats. The kids learned a lot of information. Kids - be sure to share what you know about bats with your family!
We had a special day today! Tristan's aunt Janet, a bat biologist, came to visit our class to teach us about bats. The kids got to see neat pictures and even watch a movie about a vampire bat. It was so great!
We had two tests today: spelling and math. I challenged the kids to all spell "nocturnal" correctly and THEY DID IT! They came home with a special "Smartie Pants" prize. This spelling test had the highest average score for the year! I just finished grading the math tests and they are WONDERFUL! We covered some tough concepts with counting up and down and the kids did an amazing job. I am so proud of my bright and busy little bees!
Get ready for a patriotic week; we are studying America to honor our Veterans!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Johnston
We had a fun and exciting week in our first grade bat cave! The kids absolutely LOVED learning about bats. It was so neat to see them so eager to learn and happy to share their knowledge. We learned about bumblebee, fruit, little brown and vampire bats. The kids learned a lot of information. Kids - be sure to share what you know about bats with your family!
We had a special day today! Tristan's aunt Janet, a bat biologist, came to visit our class to teach us about bats. The kids got to see neat pictures and even watch a movie about a vampire bat. It was so great!
We had two tests today: spelling and math. I challenged the kids to all spell "nocturnal" correctly and THEY DID IT! They came home with a special "Smartie Pants" prize. This spelling test had the highest average score for the year! I just finished grading the math tests and they are WONDERFUL! We covered some tough concepts with counting up and down and the kids did an amazing job. I am so proud of my bright and busy little bees!
Get ready for a patriotic week; we are studying America to honor our Veterans!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Johnston
November 1, 2010
Weekly Update, November 1 - 5
Hello Super First Grade Families and Spectacular First Graders!
Wow! It's hard to believe it's November already; it feels like October went by in the blink of an eye! I move the desks around on the first of the month and the kids look forward to working with new friends. Kids - be sure to tell your parents who is in your table group!
The kids brought their pictures home today. They turned out great! Nice smiles, everyone!
This week we are doing a science unit on bats. Each day we will learn about a different type of bat, do a bat experiement or activity and write facts on the wing of a construction paper bat. Today we learned about the bumblebee bat; the kids loved this! The kids learned that the bumblebee bat weighs less than a penny. The kids felt a penny in their hands and then they chose objects from around the room to compare them with the weight of a bumblebee bat. Our schedule is a little bit different this week and so we got to learn about another kind of bat today, the fruit bat! The kids learned that the fruit bat uses its sharp teeth to eat through the tough skin of fruit. We pretended to be like a fruit bat and we practiced eating an orange like a fruit bat! The kids had a blast with this! During the week we will also learn little about brown bats and vampire bats. On Friday we will have a visit from from Tristan's aunt. She is a bat biologist and Director of Education at Bat Conservation International in Austin, Texas. This should be a great day for the kids!
The kids had a fun time with our "batty" centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to Bats Around the Clock and then they completed a cloze passage with bat vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids did experiments to simulate bat echolocation and vibrations. They used rubber bands to see and hear vibrations and they also made different call sounds and tapped their throats. This was a lot of fun!
3. Writing - The kids made a book of nocturnal creatures. Some of the nocturnal creatures were review and others were new to the kids.
4. Math - The kids identified bats by their wingspans. The kids were given clues about bats and then they looked at construction paper bats and they identified them based on the clues. After that, they estimated the wingspan of each bat and then they measured the wingspan of each bat. There were some surprises! The kids were surprised to learn that some fruit bats can have a 6 foot wingspan!
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me. The kids have made a lot of progress with their reading during the month of October!
We have new spelling words this week. This week in addition to our spelling words, the kids have bat theme words. They loved this! The kids brought home Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. I gave the class a special challenge for this week's test. We have used the word nocturnal a lot and it is a tough one to spell! Since it is a spelling word this week, the kids and I made a deal! If everyone spells it right on the test, the class will get a special prize!
We began chapter 7 in math today. Chapter 7 focuses on subtraction strategies. Today we worked on counting back 1, 2 and 3. The kids learned to count back using clapping strategies and a number line. The kids did a great job with this! Your child came home with the parent letter that provides information about this chapter.
We did a neat bat activity in computers today to practice writing in a word document. If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/1."
Have an A + week!
Mrs. Johnston
Wow! It's hard to believe it's November already; it feels like October went by in the blink of an eye! I move the desks around on the first of the month and the kids look forward to working with new friends. Kids - be sure to tell your parents who is in your table group!
The kids brought their pictures home today. They turned out great! Nice smiles, everyone!
This week we are doing a science unit on bats. Each day we will learn about a different type of bat, do a bat experiement or activity and write facts on the wing of a construction paper bat. Today we learned about the bumblebee bat; the kids loved this! The kids learned that the bumblebee bat weighs less than a penny. The kids felt a penny in their hands and then they chose objects from around the room to compare them with the weight of a bumblebee bat. Our schedule is a little bit different this week and so we got to learn about another kind of bat today, the fruit bat! The kids learned that the fruit bat uses its sharp teeth to eat through the tough skin of fruit. We pretended to be like a fruit bat and we practiced eating an orange like a fruit bat! The kids had a blast with this! During the week we will also learn little about brown bats and vampire bats. On Friday we will have a visit from from Tristan's aunt. She is a bat biologist and Director of Education at Bat Conservation International in Austin, Texas. This should be a great day for the kids!
The kids had a fun time with our "batty" centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to Bats Around the Clock and then they completed a cloze passage with bat vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids did experiments to simulate bat echolocation and vibrations. They used rubber bands to see and hear vibrations and they also made different call sounds and tapped their throats. This was a lot of fun!
3. Writing - The kids made a book of nocturnal creatures. Some of the nocturnal creatures were review and others were new to the kids.
4. Math - The kids identified bats by their wingspans. The kids were given clues about bats and then they looked at construction paper bats and they identified them based on the clues. After that, they estimated the wingspan of each bat and then they measured the wingspan of each bat. There were some surprises! The kids were surprised to learn that some fruit bats can have a 6 foot wingspan!
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me. The kids have made a lot of progress with their reading during the month of October!
We have new spelling words this week. This week in addition to our spelling words, the kids have bat theme words. They loved this! The kids brought home Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. I gave the class a special challenge for this week's test. We have used the word nocturnal a lot and it is a tough one to spell! Since it is a spelling word this week, the kids and I made a deal! If everyone spells it right on the test, the class will get a special prize!
We began chapter 7 in math today. Chapter 7 focuses on subtraction strategies. Today we worked on counting back 1, 2 and 3. The kids learned to count back using clapping strategies and a number line. The kids did a great job with this! Your child came home with the parent letter that provides information about this chapter.
We did a neat bat activity in computers today to practice writing in a word document. If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, click on the post directly below this one, "Computers, 11/1."
Have an A + week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 11/1
Bat Facts!
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
It was so much fun learning about bats! What is your favorite bat? What is your favorite thing you learned? What would you want to tell someone about bats?
Today we are going to practice writing...on the computer! Watch and I'll show you how to write in a word document. You will work with your bat partner to complete your task. Here are your jobs once you open a word document.
* Write your names (then skip a line).
* Write your favorite bat (then skip a line).
* Write your favorite thing you learned.
Print your paper and turn it in to me! Watch and I'll show you how to print.
When you're done, you may go to one of the links on my website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board and we'll talk about today's activity.
It was so much fun learning about bats! What is your favorite bat? What is your favorite thing you learned? What would you want to tell someone about bats?
Today we are going to practice writing...on the computer! Watch and I'll show you how to write in a word document. You will work with your bat partner to complete your task. Here are your jobs once you open a word document.
* Write your names (then skip a line).
* Write your favorite bat (then skip a line).
* Write your favorite thing you learned.
Print your paper and turn it in to me! Watch and I'll show you how to print.
When you're done, you may go to one of the links on my website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
October 29, 2010
Boo!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Reminder:
Please remember to bring your penny to school on Monday!
What a fun week we had! Mrs. Hicks had a great time in our busy beehive and she said she would love to be our guest teacher again. The kids got a great report from Mrs. Hicks. I am happy but I am not surprised! :)
The kids loved learning about pumpkins! On Tuesday the kids did a combination science/math experiment. They learned about pumpkin seeds and then estimated and graphed their guesses for the number of seeds in a pumpkin. After the estimation it was time for the fun and messy part! Each table worked together to count the number of seeds in groups of 10. There were 477 seeds all together! On Wednesday the kids learned about the uses of pumpkin seeds. After that, the kids used the seeds from Tuesday to plant their own pumpkin seeds to begin the pumpkin life cycle. Kids - be sure to tell your parents what will help your pumpkin seed grow! On Thursday the kids learned about the history of Jack - O - Lanterns and they got to make their own Jack - O - Lantern!
The kids did a great job in math and they made a lot of progress with adding and patterning. We even had time for some math races and the kids loved that!
Our Halloween Party was a blast! THANK YOU so much to all the parents who donated their time and supplies to make the party great! We had 5 Halloween centers at our party and the kids got to do all 5. The centers for the party were:
1. Spider Glyph - The kids make a spooky spider glyph. They turned out so cute!
2. Grapefruit Carving - The kids carved grapefruits with plastic knives to turn them into Jack - O - Grapefruits.
3. Owl Puppet - The kids colored an owl pattern, cut it out and glued it on a paper bag to make a cute puppet.
4. Mini Pumpkin Decorating - The kids decorated mini pumpkins with googly eyes, gems, colored cotton balls and markers.
5. Cookie Decorating - Yum!
The Halloween parade was so much fun! Everyone looked so great in costume! The kids had such a great time with this!
Get excited for next week...we are learning about brilliant bats!
Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminder:
Please remember to bring your penny to school on Monday!
What a fun week we had! Mrs. Hicks had a great time in our busy beehive and she said she would love to be our guest teacher again. The kids got a great report from Mrs. Hicks. I am happy but I am not surprised! :)
The kids loved learning about pumpkins! On Tuesday the kids did a combination science/math experiment. They learned about pumpkin seeds and then estimated and graphed their guesses for the number of seeds in a pumpkin. After the estimation it was time for the fun and messy part! Each table worked together to count the number of seeds in groups of 10. There were 477 seeds all together! On Wednesday the kids learned about the uses of pumpkin seeds. After that, the kids used the seeds from Tuesday to plant their own pumpkin seeds to begin the pumpkin life cycle. Kids - be sure to tell your parents what will help your pumpkin seed grow! On Thursday the kids learned about the history of Jack - O - Lanterns and they got to make their own Jack - O - Lantern!
The kids did a great job in math and they made a lot of progress with adding and patterning. We even had time for some math races and the kids loved that!
Our Halloween Party was a blast! THANK YOU so much to all the parents who donated their time and supplies to make the party great! We had 5 Halloween centers at our party and the kids got to do all 5. The centers for the party were:
1. Spider Glyph - The kids make a spooky spider glyph. They turned out so cute!
2. Grapefruit Carving - The kids carved grapefruits with plastic knives to turn them into Jack - O - Grapefruits.
3. Owl Puppet - The kids colored an owl pattern, cut it out and glued it on a paper bag to make a cute puppet.
4. Mini Pumpkin Decorating - The kids decorated mini pumpkins with googly eyes, gems, colored cotton balls and markers.
5. Cookie Decorating - Yum!
The Halloween parade was so much fun! Everyone looked so great in costume! The kids had such a great time with this!
Get excited for next week...we are learning about brilliant bats!
Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!
Mrs. Johnston
October 25, 2010
Weekly Update, October 25 - 29
Hello Spooky First Graders and Ghoulish First Grade Parents!
Reminders and Updates:
* Our Halloween party is this Friday in the morning. We will have our normal activities for the first hour and then the party is from 9:30 - 11:20. The Halloween parade is from 2:15 - 2:45. Kids will wear their costumes all day. Parents are invited to the party and the parade!
* I will not be at school this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; I will be at an off-site training with teachers from many different school districts in Tucson. Our guest teacher this week will be Mrs. Hicks. The kids and I have discussed the importance of treating our guest teacher with respect. Please join me in reminding your children to be respectful, patient and helpful when Mrs. Hicks is here.
It's Halloween week and the kids are SO excited for our party on Friday! This week is going to be such a fun week learning all about pumpkins, doing Halloween centers and Halloween math activities!
This week we are doing a science unit on pumpkins! Today we learned the characteristics of pumpkins. Many of the kids were surprised to know that a pumpkin is a fruit. Kids - be sure to tell your parents why a pumpkin is a fruit! We also learned the 6 stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin. Kids - do you remember them all? After the guided reading lesson we began our fact pumpkin. The kids made a pumpkin out of orange construction paper and divided it into 4 sections. Today they wrote something they learned about pumpkins. Each day this week we will do a guided reading lesson to learn something different about pumpkins, add more to the fact pumpkins and then we will follow it up with a fun pumpkin science experiment!
The kids had a great time in centers today! The kids went through 2 centers today so that everyone will get to do all the centers before our Halloween party on Friday. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to the story "Alice and Greta," a story about 2 witches. They made a broom out of construction paper and wrote their favorite part of the story and what it would be like to be a witch.
2. Science - Apple Bobbing! The kids made prediction about what kind of tub would be best to apple bob in, and what kind of apples would be the easiest to get. After they made their predictions, they got to bob for apples! This center was a big hit and all the kids are looking forward to this one!
3. Writing - The kids are writing about the 5 Ws of Halloween:
Who - is going with you?
What - are you going to be?
Where - are you going trick or treating?
When - are you going trick or treating?
Why - did you pick your costume?
This center got the kids thinking about Halloween and it got them really excited!
4. Math - Pumpkin Measuring: Estimate and check. The kids estimated the height, weight, circumference and number of creases on a pumpkin. After they recorded their prediction, they checked.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me to work on reading strategies.
We have new spelling words this week. The kids have Rainbow Words for homework and they are due tomorrow. This week we are doing Halloween words instead of a word family.
In math today we did a Jack - O - Lantern glyph. We haven't done a glyph in a few weeks and the kids had a great time with this! They turned out very cute and they are hanging up in the room. We began chapter 6 today, a unit on counting up and patterning. We will continue to review counting on and doubles, and these skills will be a big help with patterning in counting up.
In computers today we learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin. If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 10/25."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminders and Updates:
* Our Halloween party is this Friday in the morning. We will have our normal activities for the first hour and then the party is from 9:30 - 11:20. The Halloween parade is from 2:15 - 2:45. Kids will wear their costumes all day. Parents are invited to the party and the parade!
* I will not be at school this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; I will be at an off-site training with teachers from many different school districts in Tucson. Our guest teacher this week will be Mrs. Hicks. The kids and I have discussed the importance of treating our guest teacher with respect. Please join me in reminding your children to be respectful, patient and helpful when Mrs. Hicks is here.
It's Halloween week and the kids are SO excited for our party on Friday! This week is going to be such a fun week learning all about pumpkins, doing Halloween centers and Halloween math activities!
This week we are doing a science unit on pumpkins! Today we learned the characteristics of pumpkins. Many of the kids were surprised to know that a pumpkin is a fruit. Kids - be sure to tell your parents why a pumpkin is a fruit! We also learned the 6 stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin. Kids - do you remember them all? After the guided reading lesson we began our fact pumpkin. The kids made a pumpkin out of orange construction paper and divided it into 4 sections. Today they wrote something they learned about pumpkins. Each day this week we will do a guided reading lesson to learn something different about pumpkins, add more to the fact pumpkins and then we will follow it up with a fun pumpkin science experiment!
The kids had a great time in centers today! The kids went through 2 centers today so that everyone will get to do all the centers before our Halloween party on Friday. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to the story "Alice and Greta," a story about 2 witches. They made a broom out of construction paper and wrote their favorite part of the story and what it would be like to be a witch.
2. Science - Apple Bobbing! The kids made prediction about what kind of tub would be best to apple bob in, and what kind of apples would be the easiest to get. After they made their predictions, they got to bob for apples! This center was a big hit and all the kids are looking forward to this one!
3. Writing - The kids are writing about the 5 Ws of Halloween:
Who - is going with you?
What - are you going to be?
Where - are you going trick or treating?
When - are you going trick or treating?
Why - did you pick your costume?
This center got the kids thinking about Halloween and it got them really excited!
4. Math - Pumpkin Measuring: Estimate and check. The kids estimated the height, weight, circumference and number of creases on a pumpkin. After they recorded their prediction, they checked.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me to work on reading strategies.
We have new spelling words this week. The kids have Rainbow Words for homework and they are due tomorrow. This week we are doing Halloween words instead of a word family.
In math today we did a Jack - O - Lantern glyph. We haven't done a glyph in a few weeks and the kids had a great time with this! They turned out very cute and they are hanging up in the room. We began chapter 6 today, a unit on counting up and patterning. We will continue to review counting on and doubles, and these skills will be a big help with patterning in counting up.
In computers today we learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin. If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 10/25."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 10/25
Watch a Pumpkin Grow!
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board to learn about today's activity.
It was fun learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin today! Today you get to watch two videos about the life cycle of a pumpkin.
FIRST, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvbUPySKNI4&feature=related
and watch a neat story about how a pumpkin seed becomes a pumpkin.
SECOND, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5b90tspJCo&feature=related
and watch a really cool video that shows a pumpkin growing. This video is a lot of pictures put together; it's kind of like animation with real pictures! Make sure you watch the whole thing because there's a surprise at the end!
When you're all done, you may go to the links on my website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board to learn about today's activity.
It was fun learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin today! Today you get to watch two videos about the life cycle of a pumpkin.
FIRST, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvbUPySKNI4&feature=related
and watch a neat story about how a pumpkin seed becomes a pumpkin.
SECOND, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5b90tspJCo&feature=related
and watch a really cool video that shows a pumpkin growing. This video is a lot of pictures put together; it's kind of like animation with real pictures! Make sure you watch the whole thing because there's a surprise at the end!
When you're all done, you may go to the links on my website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
October 22, 2010
Week in Review
TGIF!
Our owl week was outstanding! The kids are owl experts now! In addition to the barn owl, we learned about burrowing, pygmy, elf and snowy owls. The kids were very engaged with these lessons; they loved reading about and seeing pictures of owls up on the board. We pretended to fly, burrow, hunt and call like owls and this was so much fun! The owl books turned out great! Kids - be sure to share all the neat owl facts you learned with your parents.
The kids made a lot of progress in math. Counting on (counting up) can be a tricky concept and the kids started to really make progress with added practice. It was so neat to watch them work through the problems; there were a lot of "a-ha" moments when the kids realized that counting on is just counting! We also explored doubles and doubles plus one. The kids had a test today and they did a really excellent job with these tough concepts!
The kids are getting SO excited for Halloween week next week! We read one Halloween story each day this week to get in the spirit. We'll do the same next week and we'll learn all about pumpkins. It's going to be a fun and messy week!
Kids - be sure to check the questions for the week. Can you answer them all? You can answer the questions to show your parents how smart you are!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Johnston
Our owl week was outstanding! The kids are owl experts now! In addition to the barn owl, we learned about burrowing, pygmy, elf and snowy owls. The kids were very engaged with these lessons; they loved reading about and seeing pictures of owls up on the board. We pretended to fly, burrow, hunt and call like owls and this was so much fun! The owl books turned out great! Kids - be sure to share all the neat owl facts you learned with your parents.
The kids made a lot of progress in math. Counting on (counting up) can be a tricky concept and the kids started to really make progress with added practice. It was so neat to watch them work through the problems; there were a lot of "a-ha" moments when the kids realized that counting on is just counting! We also explored doubles and doubles plus one. The kids had a test today and they did a really excellent job with these tough concepts!
The kids are getting SO excited for Halloween week next week! We read one Halloween story each day this week to get in the spirit. We'll do the same next week and we'll learn all about pumpkins. It's going to be a fun and messy week!
Kids - be sure to check the questions for the week. Can you answer them all? You can answer the questions to show your parents how smart you are!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Johnston
October 18, 2010
Weekly Update, October 18 - 22
Welcome Back!!!
It's great to be back at Harelson! I hope everyone had a wonderful time during Fall Break. The kids were happy to be back in the routine of school and they enjoyed sharing their stories with their friends. The kids did a wonderful job working hard and staying focused after the week long break. I was so impressed with everyone!
This week we are doing a science unit on owls! Each day we will learn about a different type of owl. Today we learned about the characteristics and life cycle of a barn owl. The kids loved learning about the barn owl! The kids learned what wingspan is and they even practiced making their own wingspan and flying like an owl. They learned that a barn owl makes a different sound than most owls. Kids - be sure to show your parents what a barn owl sounds like! We are making a neat book. It is in the shape of an owl, and each day the kids will write owl facts on one of the owl's "feathers." The books are off to a great start already! The kids had a lot of fun with this activity.
The kids had a great time in centers today. I switched the center groups so the kids will work with different friends over the next few weeks. The kids enjoyed working with and getting to know new friends. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched two National Geographic Kids videos, Snowy Owls and Vampire Bats, on the computer. After that, they wrote characteristics specific to each animal and characteristics shared by both animals.
2. Science - The kids sequenced the 4 stages in the life cycle of a barn owl. They made a neat book in the shape of an owl egg that shows each stage.
3. Writing - We learned that most owls are nocturnal. The kids used white crayons and they wrote on black paper. They wrote about what it would be like to be nocturnal.
4. Math - We are learning about measurement and different tools that can be used to measure. Today the kids measured various items in our classroom with unifix cubes.
5. Reading - The kids conference 1:1 with me.
We are back with spelling words this week! The kids received Rainbow Words for homework and it is due tomorrow, Tuesday, 10.19. This week we are working on the "ing" family. There are also two tricky homophones: aunt and ant.
In math we practiced skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s. We did this with math races. The kids LOVE these! In math races each table group works together. They pass around a white board and count by 2s, 5s or 10s. Each child has to write the correct number before passing it on. The first table to count correctly to the designated number wins a prize. The prize is different every time and the kids have so much fun with this! This is a great way to practice skip counting and it is something you can do at home. We began chapter 5 in our math book, a unit about adding on, counting up and doubles. Your child came home with a parent letter and an activity. This paper does not need to be turned in. Today we focused specifically on counting up. This was a bit of a challenging concept for the kids, and they worked hard to understand the material and stay focused. We'll have a lot of practice with this concept over the next few days.
In computers today we learned all about owls! If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, please click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 10/18."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
It's great to be back at Harelson! I hope everyone had a wonderful time during Fall Break. The kids were happy to be back in the routine of school and they enjoyed sharing their stories with their friends. The kids did a wonderful job working hard and staying focused after the week long break. I was so impressed with everyone!
This week we are doing a science unit on owls! Each day we will learn about a different type of owl. Today we learned about the characteristics and life cycle of a barn owl. The kids loved learning about the barn owl! The kids learned what wingspan is and they even practiced making their own wingspan and flying like an owl. They learned that a barn owl makes a different sound than most owls. Kids - be sure to show your parents what a barn owl sounds like! We are making a neat book. It is in the shape of an owl, and each day the kids will write owl facts on one of the owl's "feathers." The books are off to a great start already! The kids had a lot of fun with this activity.
The kids had a great time in centers today. I switched the center groups so the kids will work with different friends over the next few weeks. The kids enjoyed working with and getting to know new friends. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched two National Geographic Kids videos, Snowy Owls and Vampire Bats, on the computer. After that, they wrote characteristics specific to each animal and characteristics shared by both animals.
2. Science - The kids sequenced the 4 stages in the life cycle of a barn owl. They made a neat book in the shape of an owl egg that shows each stage.
3. Writing - We learned that most owls are nocturnal. The kids used white crayons and they wrote on black paper. They wrote about what it would be like to be nocturnal.
4. Math - We are learning about measurement and different tools that can be used to measure. Today the kids measured various items in our classroom with unifix cubes.
5. Reading - The kids conference 1:1 with me.
We are back with spelling words this week! The kids received Rainbow Words for homework and it is due tomorrow, Tuesday, 10.19. This week we are working on the "ing" family. There are also two tricky homophones: aunt and ant.
In math we practiced skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s. We did this with math races. The kids LOVE these! In math races each table group works together. They pass around a white board and count by 2s, 5s or 10s. Each child has to write the correct number before passing it on. The first table to count correctly to the designated number wins a prize. The prize is different every time and the kids have so much fun with this! This is a great way to practice skip counting and it is something you can do at home. We began chapter 5 in our math book, a unit about adding on, counting up and doubles. Your child came home with a parent letter and an activity. This paper does not need to be turned in. Today we focused specifically on counting up. This was a bit of a challenging concept for the kids, and they worked hard to understand the material and stay focused. We'll have a lot of practice with this concept over the next few days.
In computers today we learned all about owls! If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, please click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 10/18."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 10/18
Night Owls!
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, come to the floor in front of the SMART Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
I hope you had fun learning about barn owls today! Now that we've read about owls, let's watch a video to learn more about owls. Go to http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/wild-detectives-kids/wd-ep2-owls.html to watch the owls fly and learn facts about them!
Do you remember how to comment on the blog??? After you watch the video, please comment on this blog:
* One thing you learned about owls.
* One thing you want to learn about owls.
Let's practice together! Watch and we'll review how to comment on the blog.
After you have watched the video and commented on the blog, you may go to the links on my website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, come to the floor in front of the SMART Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
I hope you had fun learning about barn owls today! Now that we've read about owls, let's watch a video to learn more about owls. Go to http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/wild-detectives-kids/wd-ep2-owls.html to watch the owls fly and learn facts about them!
Do you remember how to comment on the blog??? After you watch the video, please comment on this blog:
* One thing you learned about owls.
* One thing you want to learn about owls.
Let's practice together! Watch and we'll review how to comment on the blog.
After you have watched the video and commented on the blog, you may go to the links on my website.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
October 8, 2010
Week in Review
Happy Friday! Happy Fall Break!
Reminders:
* Kids - Please remember to take Flat Stanley with you during Fall Break! You can even take pictures of Flat Stanley on his Fall Break adventure! Your Flat Stanley and your activity page are due back to school by Friday, October 22.
This was such a fun and busy week! The kids LOVED learning about Flat Stanley and getting even more information about Johnny Appleseed!
The kids waited anxiously each day to hear about Flat Stanley's adventures! They were so excited to read a chapter book! On Tuesday we read about how Flat Stanley gets mailed across the country, so the kids wrote friendly letters to Flat Stanley to introduce themselves. On Wednesday we read about how Flat Stanley gets flown like a kite so the kids made their own Flat Stanley kites! It was a nice windy day so the kids flew their kites outside! This activity was definitely a class favorite!! On Thursday we read about Flat Stanley and the museum thieves and how being flat helped Stanley. The kids explored their surroundings to find flat things in our class and decide how they are helpful. On Friday we read about Arthur's (Flat Stanley's brother) good idea and so the kids wrote about all the good ideas that had for taking Flat Stanley on adventures over Fall Break. This was such a fun study for the kids! They are all very excited to take their own Flat Stanley on an adventure!
The kids are making so much progress in math! We moved quickly through both subtraction chapters because the kids were doing such a great job. When we come back from Fall Break we will begin more challenging concepts, such as adding on, doubles and doubles + 1.
Kids - be sure to check the questions for the week! Can you answer them all? You can answer the questions to show your parents how smart you are!
Have a wonderful Fall Break! I'll see you on the 18th!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminders:
* Kids - Please remember to take Flat Stanley with you during Fall Break! You can even take pictures of Flat Stanley on his Fall Break adventure! Your Flat Stanley and your activity page are due back to school by Friday, October 22.
This was such a fun and busy week! The kids LOVED learning about Flat Stanley and getting even more information about Johnny Appleseed!
The kids waited anxiously each day to hear about Flat Stanley's adventures! They were so excited to read a chapter book! On Tuesday we read about how Flat Stanley gets mailed across the country, so the kids wrote friendly letters to Flat Stanley to introduce themselves. On Wednesday we read about how Flat Stanley gets flown like a kite so the kids made their own Flat Stanley kites! It was a nice windy day so the kids flew their kites outside! This activity was definitely a class favorite!! On Thursday we read about Flat Stanley and the museum thieves and how being flat helped Stanley. The kids explored their surroundings to find flat things in our class and decide how they are helpful. On Friday we read about Arthur's (Flat Stanley's brother) good idea and so the kids wrote about all the good ideas that had for taking Flat Stanley on adventures over Fall Break. This was such a fun study for the kids! They are all very excited to take their own Flat Stanley on an adventure!
The kids are making so much progress in math! We moved quickly through both subtraction chapters because the kids were doing such a great job. When we come back from Fall Break we will begin more challenging concepts, such as adding on, doubles and doubles + 1.
Kids - be sure to check the questions for the week! Can you answer them all? You can answer the questions to show your parents how smart you are!
Have a wonderful Fall Break! I'll see you on the 18th!
Mrs. Johnston
October 4, 2010
Weekly Update, October 4 - 8
Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!
Reminders:
* Conferences are this week.
* We have early release days Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Updates:
We do NOT have new spelling words for the week.
This week we are doing a social studies unit on Flat Stanley! We are also continuing our study of Johnny Appleseed in our center activities. Flat Stanley is a chapter book and the kids are so excited to read a chapter book. I will read one chapter to the kids each day and then we will do a Flat Stanley activity. Today we read chapter 1 and we learned how Stanley became Flat Stanley! After we read, the kids made their own Flat Stanleys. They turned out so great! The kids will take their own Flat Stanley with them on Fall Break and write about their adventures! Please stay tuned for more information!
The kids had a great time in centers and they worked so hard! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched a story about Johnny Appleseed on the computer. It is a neat video where a narrator tells the story of Johnny Appleseed and he draws an illustration as he talks. After the video, the kids write about Johnny Appleseed using Johnny Appleseed specific vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids loved practicing the scientific method to complete a science experiment! The kids did an experiment to see what would happen when you put a carrot and an apple in water. They hypothesized, performed the experiment, recorded their results and made their conclusions. They even got to draw a picture! They were excited to learn a lot of great science vocabulary and they loved doing the experiment!
3. Writing - The kids learned and wrote about Johnny Appleseed while reviewing their mapping skills from a few weeks ago. The kids followed directions and used their mapping knowledge to learn where Johnny Appleseed planted his apples. After they were done they wrote 3 facts about Johnny Appleseed and they also wrote what they liked about him.
4. Math - The kids did two activities: sequencing and patterning. In the sequencing activity, they sequenced the steps that Johnny Appleseed would take to plant his apple trees. In the patterning activity, they looked at patterns and decided what would come next. After that, they created their own pattern.
5. Reading - The kids read leveled books in the Bee Quiet corner.
In writing we wrote thank you letters to our friends at Walgreens. Walgreens generously donated school supplies to Harelson. The kids did a great job writing thank you notes to show their appreciation!
In math we began Chapter 3, a subtraction unit. The kids had a lot of great practice writing addition sentences and their addition skills really carried over to subtraction today! I was so impressed with how well the kids transitioned from addition to subtraction. They are doing a great job! Your child came home with a parent letter with some information and a subtraction activity. This paper does not need to be returned. The kids finished Chapter 2, an addition unit on Friday with a test. The test will be shared at conferences.
In computers today we learned all about Flat Stanley! If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, please click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 10/4." Kids - the Flat Stanley websites are on the links section of my website if you would like to explore them.
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminders:
* Conferences are this week.
* We have early release days Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Updates:
We do NOT have new spelling words for the week.
This week we are doing a social studies unit on Flat Stanley! We are also continuing our study of Johnny Appleseed in our center activities. Flat Stanley is a chapter book and the kids are so excited to read a chapter book. I will read one chapter to the kids each day and then we will do a Flat Stanley activity. Today we read chapter 1 and we learned how Stanley became Flat Stanley! After we read, the kids made their own Flat Stanleys. They turned out so great! The kids will take their own Flat Stanley with them on Fall Break and write about their adventures! Please stay tuned for more information!
The kids had a great time in centers and they worked so hard! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched a story about Johnny Appleseed on the computer. It is a neat video where a narrator tells the story of Johnny Appleseed and he draws an illustration as he talks. After the video, the kids write about Johnny Appleseed using Johnny Appleseed specific vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids loved practicing the scientific method to complete a science experiment! The kids did an experiment to see what would happen when you put a carrot and an apple in water. They hypothesized, performed the experiment, recorded their results and made their conclusions. They even got to draw a picture! They were excited to learn a lot of great science vocabulary and they loved doing the experiment!
3. Writing - The kids learned and wrote about Johnny Appleseed while reviewing their mapping skills from a few weeks ago. The kids followed directions and used their mapping knowledge to learn where Johnny Appleseed planted his apples. After they were done they wrote 3 facts about Johnny Appleseed and they also wrote what they liked about him.
4. Math - The kids did two activities: sequencing and patterning. In the sequencing activity, they sequenced the steps that Johnny Appleseed would take to plant his apple trees. In the patterning activity, they looked at patterns and decided what would come next. After that, they created their own pattern.
5. Reading - The kids read leveled books in the Bee Quiet corner.
In writing we wrote thank you letters to our friends at Walgreens. Walgreens generously donated school supplies to Harelson. The kids did a great job writing thank you notes to show their appreciation!
In math we began Chapter 3, a subtraction unit. The kids had a lot of great practice writing addition sentences and their addition skills really carried over to subtraction today! I was so impressed with how well the kids transitioned from addition to subtraction. They are doing a great job! Your child came home with a parent letter with some information and a subtraction activity. This paper does not need to be returned. The kids finished Chapter 2, an addition unit on Friday with a test. The test will be shared at conferences.
In computers today we learned all about Flat Stanley! If you'd like to see what the kids did in computers today, please click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 10/4." Kids - the Flat Stanley websites are on the links section of my website if you would like to explore them.
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 10/4
Fun with Flat Stanley!
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the SMART Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
I hope you had fun learning about Flat Stanley and reading the 1st chapter of the book today! Let's see how much you remember and understood from what you read! Go to http://www.flatstanley.koolkidssign.com/FSquiz.html to test your Flat Stanley understanding! Take the quiz on Chapter 1 of Flat Stanley.
After you take the quiz, go to http://www.flatstanleybooks.com/kids.aspx to learn all about Flat Stanley! Click on the yellow push pins to meet Flat Stanley and his friends and send him on adventures! There are lots of fun Flat Stanley facts to learn and explore. Have fun!
Have lots of fantastic Flat Stanley fun!
Mrs. Johnston
Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the SMART Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.
I hope you had fun learning about Flat Stanley and reading the 1st chapter of the book today! Let's see how much you remember and understood from what you read! Go to http://www.flatstanley.koolkidssign.com/FSquiz.html to test your Flat Stanley understanding! Take the quiz on Chapter 1 of Flat Stanley.
After you take the quiz, go to http://www.flatstanleybooks.com/kids.aspx to learn all about Flat Stanley! Click on the yellow push pins to meet Flat Stanley and his friends and send him on adventures! There are lots of fun Flat Stanley facts to learn and explore. Have fun!
Have lots of fantastic Flat Stanley fun!
Mrs. Johnston
October 1, 2010
Week In Review
Happy Friday, First Grade!
Wow! What a fun and busy week we had in first grade! The kids did a wonderful job with our Johnny Appleseed unit! They brought home a lot of great work and our room has new work hanging up!
After our fun tasting on Monday, we learned more about Johnny Appleseed and how trees grow on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we split into two groups. The first group heard a story called, "The Big Red Apple." This story tells us how apples begin to grow. After the story, the kids worked together to paint an apple tree. The other group watched a video about Johnny Appleseed on the computer. They buddy buzzed to talk about his life and then they took a comprehension quiz. On Wednesday, the groups switched, so everyone could have a chance to do both activities. On Thursday, we learned about the life cycle of an apple tree and we learned about the changes that happen to trees during the different seasons. Each table group took a different season and the children worked together to represent an apple tree for their season. The kids had a lot of fun painting and gluing! The apple trees look wonderful! Thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped on this day! On Friday the kids read a book about the life cycle of an apple tree. They sequenced the apple tree's life cycle. The kids all really liked this unit!
This week marks the end of our daily Special Person! The kids did such a great job with this and they are now friendly letter writing experts! We had a little practice with thank you note writing and that will be our next writing focus.
We completed our math study on chapter 2. The kids are really enjoying working on number sentences and addition. We completed the chapter 2 test. Next week we will begin our subtraction unit.
Kids - be sure to check the questions for the week! Can you answer them all? You can answer the questions to show your parents how smart you are!
Get ready for an adventurous week! We are reading Flat Stanley and learning about travel!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Johnston
Wow! What a fun and busy week we had in first grade! The kids did a wonderful job with our Johnny Appleseed unit! They brought home a lot of great work and our room has new work hanging up!
After our fun tasting on Monday, we learned more about Johnny Appleseed and how trees grow on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we split into two groups. The first group heard a story called, "The Big Red Apple." This story tells us how apples begin to grow. After the story, the kids worked together to paint an apple tree. The other group watched a video about Johnny Appleseed on the computer. They buddy buzzed to talk about his life and then they took a comprehension quiz. On Wednesday, the groups switched, so everyone could have a chance to do both activities. On Thursday, we learned about the life cycle of an apple tree and we learned about the changes that happen to trees during the different seasons. Each table group took a different season and the children worked together to represent an apple tree for their season. The kids had a lot of fun painting and gluing! The apple trees look wonderful! Thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped on this day! On Friday the kids read a book about the life cycle of an apple tree. They sequenced the apple tree's life cycle. The kids all really liked this unit!
This week marks the end of our daily Special Person! The kids did such a great job with this and they are now friendly letter writing experts! We had a little practice with thank you note writing and that will be our next writing focus.
We completed our math study on chapter 2. The kids are really enjoying working on number sentences and addition. We completed the chapter 2 test. Next week we will begin our subtraction unit.
Kids - be sure to check the questions for the week! Can you answer them all? You can answer the questions to show your parents how smart you are!
Get ready for an adventurous week! We are reading Flat Stanley and learning about travel!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Johnston
September 27, 2010
Weekly Update, September 27 - October 1
Hello Spectacular First Graders and Super First Grade Families!
Reminders:
1. Conferences are next week. Please return your conference sheet to me by Thursday, September 30.
2. We have early outs Tuesday - Friday, October 5 - 8, for conferences.
This week we are doing a science/social studies unit on Johnny Appleseed and the life cycle of an apple tree. We had a fun day learning about Johnny Appleseed and why he is important! For guided reading, we learned about Johnny Appleseed's life and how he helped bring apple trees to many states in our country. Kids - can you remember the states where Johnny Appleseed planted his trees? Can you remember the abbreviations for each state? After we read about Johnny Appleseed, we got to have our very own apple tasting! We tasted Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Fuji. Thank you so much for all the apple donations! The kids had so much fun with the tasting. After we tasted our apples, we made an "I Like Apples" book. Each child wrote his/her favorite kind of apple and decorated a picture for his/her page. Once the book is finished, it will go in the Bee Quiet Corner so everyone can enjoy it!
The kids loved centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Arts and Crafts: Apple Masks - The kids created apple tree masks for summer and fall. The summer masks have leaves and the fall masks have apples. They got to be creative with their coloring and they even learned how to do some tricky cutting!
2. Science: Apple Painting - The kids had to guess how to cut an apple to get the seeds to make a star. They watched as the apples were cut to see if their guesses were correct. After the apples were cut, they painted apple pictures.
3. Writing: Apple Person - The kids got to make an apple person! They colored and cut an apple and attached strips of paper for arms and legs. They wrote facts about apples on the arms and legs. These turned out so great! They are hanging up in the room!
4. Arts and Crafts: Apple Masks - The kids created apple tree masks for spring and winter. The spring masks have flowers and the winter masks have bare tree branches.
5. Reading: Kids read from their leveled books in the Bee Quiet Corner.
We do not have new spelling words this week. Since it is the week before report cards, we will be doing a lot of testing in all subjects, including spelling. The children will take a test each day on spelling words we have already practiced. These tests will be used to have the most up to date scores for their report cards.
We did two different math activities and the kids enjoyed both of them! In math we made an apple tree glyph. They turned out so cute! Kids - can you remember what kind of data our apple tree glyphs gave us? Kids - look around the room tomorrow when you come in. Can you be the first to spy the new glyphs? We continued our work in chapter 2 and we learned different ways to make 7 and 8. The kids are doing a very nice job with this and they really understand how to write addition sentences! Way to go, 1st grade mathematicians!
In computer today we did more work on Raz - Kids. The kids are learning how to be responsible computer users and log in, read books and take quizzes independently. If you'd like to see what we did in computers today, please click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 9/27."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminders:
1. Conferences are next week. Please return your conference sheet to me by Thursday, September 30.
2. We have early outs Tuesday - Friday, October 5 - 8, for conferences.
This week we are doing a science/social studies unit on Johnny Appleseed and the life cycle of an apple tree. We had a fun day learning about Johnny Appleseed and why he is important! For guided reading, we learned about Johnny Appleseed's life and how he helped bring apple trees to many states in our country. Kids - can you remember the states where Johnny Appleseed planted his trees? Can you remember the abbreviations for each state? After we read about Johnny Appleseed, we got to have our very own apple tasting! We tasted Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Fuji. Thank you so much for all the apple donations! The kids had so much fun with the tasting. After we tasted our apples, we made an "I Like Apples" book. Each child wrote his/her favorite kind of apple and decorated a picture for his/her page. Once the book is finished, it will go in the Bee Quiet Corner so everyone can enjoy it!
The kids loved centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Arts and Crafts: Apple Masks - The kids created apple tree masks for summer and fall. The summer masks have leaves and the fall masks have apples. They got to be creative with their coloring and they even learned how to do some tricky cutting!
2. Science: Apple Painting - The kids had to guess how to cut an apple to get the seeds to make a star. They watched as the apples were cut to see if their guesses were correct. After the apples were cut, they painted apple pictures.
3. Writing: Apple Person - The kids got to make an apple person! They colored and cut an apple and attached strips of paper for arms and legs. They wrote facts about apples on the arms and legs. These turned out so great! They are hanging up in the room!
4. Arts and Crafts: Apple Masks - The kids created apple tree masks for spring and winter. The spring masks have flowers and the winter masks have bare tree branches.
5. Reading: Kids read from their leveled books in the Bee Quiet Corner.
We do not have new spelling words this week. Since it is the week before report cards, we will be doing a lot of testing in all subjects, including spelling. The children will take a test each day on spelling words we have already practiced. These tests will be used to have the most up to date scores for their report cards.
We did two different math activities and the kids enjoyed both of them! In math we made an apple tree glyph. They turned out so cute! Kids - can you remember what kind of data our apple tree glyphs gave us? Kids - look around the room tomorrow when you come in. Can you be the first to spy the new glyphs? We continued our work in chapter 2 and we learned different ways to make 7 and 8. The kids are doing a very nice job with this and they really understand how to write addition sentences! Way to go, 1st grade mathematicians!
In computer today we did more work on Raz - Kids. The kids are learning how to be responsible computer users and log in, read books and take quizzes independently. If you'd like to see what we did in computers today, please click on the link directly below this one, "Computers, 9/27."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
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