Hello Super First Graders and Stupendous First Grade Families!
The kids are now 103 days smarter!!! We had such a fun celebration last week. Thank you to all the parents who donated their time and supplies to help make our day special!
Reading Information
* The reading homework is changing! The children now have a written assignment to go with their reading homework on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The kids and I discussed the new homework in class today. Please be sure to sign (and have your child sign) the homework and return the signed form tomorrow.
* February is Love of Reading Month at Harelson! Your child will bring home a paper with information about Love of Reading tomorrow.
This week we are studying the scientific method to prepare a class science project for the science fair! Katrina's dad, a scientist, visited our class to talk about science, the scientific method and help the kids with a science experiment. He did a great experiment with the kids about M and M colors. They loved this! Today we began our own study of science and the kids were already so excited. Today in guided reading we learned about the steps in the scientific method and we watched two short Brain Pop videos about it. We brainstormed ideas for our class science project and the kids decided on a variation of the M and M experiment we did in class. The experiment involves making predictions about the M and M color that occurs most frequently. For the rest of the week we will work on our project by completing a different part of the scientific method. Parents - be sure to ask your kids about this neat process!
On Wednesday, February 2, we will take a break from the scientific method and learn about Groundhog's Day! The kids will read a story to sequence it and they will also make a cute groundhog hat and bookmark.
In writing we are learning about scientific writing. Our six traits focus is fluency. The kids are practicing re-reading their writing to make sure it makes sense. I have seen dramatic improvements in the kids' writing just since we returned from Winter Break. It is SO exciting!
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. In making words we are working on the "tricky c" (when the "s" sound is heard, but the letter c is written, like in race). We will also find rhymes for various spelling words.
The kids enjoyed their science theme centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids took turns reading different joke, riddle and science jokes to each other (they are really into jokes right now!) and then they practiced writing their own jokes.
2. Science - The kids made bubbles! A table was lined with black garbage bags and then a water/dish soap mixture was poured on the table. The kids used straws to blow bubbles. This was a lot of fun!
3. Writing - The kids pretended they were mad scientists and they wrote about building their own monsters. They came up with some very funny stuff!
4. Math - The kids practiced subtraction patterns with 0 and 1. The also practiced ordering numbers through 100 on a daisy picture.
5. Reading - The kids played a new Spill and Spell game. They dump out a cup with different letters and see how many sight words they can spell before the timer runs out.
We completed chapter 14 in math last week and now we are working on chapter 15, a chapter about data and graphing. This chapter ties in nicely with our work about the scientific method.
The kids enjoyed computers today. If you'd like to see what we did in computers, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/31."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
January 31, 2011
Computers, 1/31
Addition and Subtraction Practice!
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's time to test your addition and subtraction skills with games on Johnnie's Math Page! Click here: http://jmathpage.com/JIMSNumberaddsubtract.html there are lots of great games where you can practice adding and subtracting.
For addition: choose between games 1 - 33.
For subtraction: choose between games 1 - 13.
Work hard!
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's time to test your addition and subtraction skills with games on Johnnie's Math Page! Click here: http://jmathpage.com/JIMSNumberaddsubtract.html there are lots of great games where you can practice adding and subtracting.
For addition: choose between games 1 - 33.
For subtraction: choose between games 1 - 13.
Work hard!
Mrs. Johnston
January 24, 2011
Weekly Update, January 24 - 28
Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!
It was great to see some of you at yesterday's United We Run 5k! I really love races for a cause and I love seeing young runners! Congrats to Isabella and Sean for running the race. Thank you to Ella and Lucas for working at the water station! It was so wonderful to see the way the Tucson community came together to show support for the events of 1.8.11. It was a great event!
100th Day Information
The 100th day of school is this Wednesday, January 26! We are counting down to the 100th day and the kids are getting very excited. We have some fun 100th day activities planned on Wednesday and it would be great to have a few extra helpers in the class that day. You are invited to stop by in the morning to celebrate your child. The kids will be 100 days smarter!!!
Nature's Treasures
Our class will visit Nature's Treasures shop on Friday, January 28. The shop is put on by the 5th and 6th graders and it features a variety of small items available for purchase. The children will bring home a list of items available for purchase on Tuesday. If your child would like to purchase items from the shop, please send the money in a closed and labeled envelope.
This week's lessons center around the 100th day of school! Each day a few children will share their 100th day projects. We began this today and the kids really enjoyed it. Today we began a chapter book called "The 100th Greatest Day of School," and we will read this throughout the week. The kids love reading chapter books! Each day after the 100th day projects are shared, we will make a different 100th day - theme class book. To celebrate the 100th day of school on Wednesday, the kids will decorate their own 100 glasses (a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Rowland for making the glasses; they are adorable!), string Fruit Loop necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops, and make pennants to display in class that say, "I Am 100 Days Smarter." It should be a great day!
In writing we are working on our class books and thank you notes. The 6 traits focus is powerful word choice. The kids really enjoy making and reading the class books. They are great authors!
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. In making words we are working on patterns with words that end in e when the "ing" chunk is added. We are also working on patterns with words that end in y when "s" is added.
The kids enjoyed our 100th day centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a funny book called, "My Principal Lives Next Door." This is a book written by kids and it is a riot! After the kids listened, they wrote their own page to the book.
2. Social Studies - The kids played a board game called "Tiny Town." In this game the kids roll dice (a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Jones for putting the dice together!) and practice addition skills and group counting to move on the game board. The first person to reach the 100th day of school is the winner!
3. Writing - The kids made their own 100th day book, in the shape of the numbers 100! The pages include a variety of examples having to do with 100. These turned out so great and the kids really enjoyed having their own book to take home.
4. Math - The kids received a piece of paper with 100 in bubble letters. There are different pictures inside of the 100. The kids colored the pictures inside the 100 based on a color code. After they colored the pictures, they added up each picture to see if there were 100 pictures in all!
5. Reading - The kids read class books in the Bee Quiet Corner.
We were able to extend our community helper week with a visit from Lucas' mom this afternoon! She talked to the kids about her work as a pharmacist. The kids absolutely love having visitors in the class!
We finished chapter 13 in math, a subtraction chapter, and we began chapter 14. Chapter 14 is a review chapter with both addition and subtraction. The kids are doing an excellent job with math and we have done a lot of extension activities to keep them challenged and excited about math.
The kids enjoyed computers today! If you'd like to see what we did, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/24."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
It was great to see some of you at yesterday's United We Run 5k! I really love races for a cause and I love seeing young runners! Congrats to Isabella and Sean for running the race. Thank you to Ella and Lucas for working at the water station! It was so wonderful to see the way the Tucson community came together to show support for the events of 1.8.11. It was a great event!
100th Day Information
The 100th day of school is this Wednesday, January 26! We are counting down to the 100th day and the kids are getting very excited. We have some fun 100th day activities planned on Wednesday and it would be great to have a few extra helpers in the class that day. You are invited to stop by in the morning to celebrate your child. The kids will be 100 days smarter!!!
Nature's Treasures
Our class will visit Nature's Treasures shop on Friday, January 28. The shop is put on by the 5th and 6th graders and it features a variety of small items available for purchase. The children will bring home a list of items available for purchase on Tuesday. If your child would like to purchase items from the shop, please send the money in a closed and labeled envelope.
This week's lessons center around the 100th day of school! Each day a few children will share their 100th day projects. We began this today and the kids really enjoyed it. Today we began a chapter book called "The 100th Greatest Day of School," and we will read this throughout the week. The kids love reading chapter books! Each day after the 100th day projects are shared, we will make a different 100th day - theme class book. To celebrate the 100th day of school on Wednesday, the kids will decorate their own 100 glasses (a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Rowland for making the glasses; they are adorable!), string Fruit Loop necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops, and make pennants to display in class that say, "I Am 100 Days Smarter." It should be a great day!
In writing we are working on our class books and thank you notes. The 6 traits focus is powerful word choice. The kids really enjoy making and reading the class books. They are great authors!
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. In making words we are working on patterns with words that end in e when the "ing" chunk is added. We are also working on patterns with words that end in y when "s" is added.
The kids enjoyed our 100th day centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a funny book called, "My Principal Lives Next Door." This is a book written by kids and it is a riot! After the kids listened, they wrote their own page to the book.
2. Social Studies - The kids played a board game called "Tiny Town." In this game the kids roll dice (a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Jones for putting the dice together!) and practice addition skills and group counting to move on the game board. The first person to reach the 100th day of school is the winner!
3. Writing - The kids made their own 100th day book, in the shape of the numbers 100! The pages include a variety of examples having to do with 100. These turned out so great and the kids really enjoyed having their own book to take home.
4. Math - The kids received a piece of paper with 100 in bubble letters. There are different pictures inside of the 100. The kids colored the pictures inside the 100 based on a color code. After they colored the pictures, they added up each picture to see if there were 100 pictures in all!
5. Reading - The kids read class books in the Bee Quiet Corner.
We were able to extend our community helper week with a visit from Lucas' mom this afternoon! She talked to the kids about her work as a pharmacist. The kids absolutely love having visitors in the class!
We finished chapter 13 in math, a subtraction chapter, and we began chapter 14. Chapter 14 is a review chapter with both addition and subtraction. The kids are doing an excellent job with math and we have done a lot of extension activities to keep them challenged and excited about math.
The kids enjoyed computers today! If you'd like to see what we did, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/24."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 1/24
The 100th Day!
To begin, please vote on the poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board to learn about today's activity.
It was fun beginning our 100th day celebration today! Let's learn about all things 100! Click here: http://www.teachersmousepad.com/100thday/100th%20Day%20of%20School-active.htm#~Online Activities~ . It says Online Activities. There are lots of different activities you can do to celebrate the 100th day! Watch and we'll practice choosing different 100 activities to do.
Happy 100th Day!
Mrs. Johnston
To begin, please vote on the poll. After you vote, please come to the floor in front of the Smart Board to learn about today's activity.
It was fun beginning our 100th day celebration today! Let's learn about all things 100! Click here: http://www.teachersmousepad.com/100thday/100th%20Day%20of%20School-active.htm#~Online Activities~ . It says Online Activities. There are lots of different activities you can do to celebrate the 100th day! Watch and we'll practice choosing different 100 activities to do.
Happy 100th Day!
Mrs. Johnston
January 18, 2011
Weekly Update, January 18 - 21
Hello Amazing First Graders and Awesome First Grade Parents!
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!
Homework Information:
* Your child brought two books home today. They do not need to read both books tonight.
* The kids will bring ABC order practice papers home tomorrow. They are due on Thursday.
100th Day Information:
Wednesday, January 26 is the 100th day of school! To celebrate, the kids will bring in a collection of 100 small items. Your child brought home a paper today for the project and an information letter. This project is due on Monday, January 24. Please let me know if you have any questions.
This week we will study community helpers. Thank you so much to the parents who are able to come in and talk with the kids! The kids absolutely love having visitors in the classroom. Today we learned about community helpers and what they do. We learned how to interview someone to get ready for our first visitor. This morning we had a visit from Isabella's dad who talked about nursing. The kids loved having a visitor and they learned a lot! We were lucky to have two community helpers today! This afternoon Sean's grandma talked with the kids about different roles in teaching. On Wednesday Ella's mom, who owns a gym, will come in to talk about health and exercise. On Thursday Tristan's dad, a high school teacher and basketball coach, will come talk with the kids. On Friday, Ella's dad, a fireman, will come talk with the kids. Each day the community helper will talk with the kids about his/her job and the kids will interview the community helper. The kids had a great time today and they are looking forward to the rest of the week!
In writing the kids will get more practice using good ideas to write thank you notes! Each community helper will receive thank you notes from the class. Last week we learned how to write "How To" poems during our Martin Luther King, Jr. study and the kids wrote a poem on how to be kind. They did an excellent job with this and many of them mentioned they liked writing poetry! This week they will get more practice writing "How To" poems about community helpers.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. In making words we will continue our ABC order practice. The kids did an amazing job of alphabetizing to the first letter. We are now working on alphabetizing to the second letter. We will also work on words with the "le" chunk, like our spelling word people.
The kids enjoyed our community helper centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "School," a pattern book about things that are seen at school. The kids followed the "I see" pattern to create their own list of things that are seen at school.
2. Social Studies - The kids got firsthand experience writing a police report! We discussed how police officers need to be watching carefully and pay attention to little details. Today during center time, another teacher came in the class and said things and did things. When she left, the kids tested their observation and memory! They recorded a variety of things about the teacher's visit to see if they would make a good eye witness! They had so much fun with this!
3. Writing - The kids practiced what it would like to be a news reporter. They interviewed teachers and kids in our class and the surrounding classes and wrote a newspaper report.
4. Math - The kids practiced finding addition patterns by completing adding with 0 and 1 problems.
We are still working on chapter 12 in math. The kids learned strategies for adding 3 numbers. They did such a good job with this challenging concept! We will aim to finish chapter 12 tomorrow or Thursday. We will begin chapter 13 (a subtraction chapter) at the end of the week.
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!
Homework Information:
* Your child brought two books home today. They do not need to read both books tonight.
* The kids will bring ABC order practice papers home tomorrow. They are due on Thursday.
100th Day Information:
Wednesday, January 26 is the 100th day of school! To celebrate, the kids will bring in a collection of 100 small items. Your child brought home a paper today for the project and an information letter. This project is due on Monday, January 24. Please let me know if you have any questions.
This week we will study community helpers. Thank you so much to the parents who are able to come in and talk with the kids! The kids absolutely love having visitors in the classroom. Today we learned about community helpers and what they do. We learned how to interview someone to get ready for our first visitor. This morning we had a visit from Isabella's dad who talked about nursing. The kids loved having a visitor and they learned a lot! We were lucky to have two community helpers today! This afternoon Sean's grandma talked with the kids about different roles in teaching. On Wednesday Ella's mom, who owns a gym, will come in to talk about health and exercise. On Thursday Tristan's dad, a high school teacher and basketball coach, will come talk with the kids. On Friday, Ella's dad, a fireman, will come talk with the kids. Each day the community helper will talk with the kids about his/her job and the kids will interview the community helper. The kids had a great time today and they are looking forward to the rest of the week!
In writing the kids will get more practice using good ideas to write thank you notes! Each community helper will receive thank you notes from the class. Last week we learned how to write "How To" poems during our Martin Luther King, Jr. study and the kids wrote a poem on how to be kind. They did an excellent job with this and many of them mentioned they liked writing poetry! This week they will get more practice writing "How To" poems about community helpers.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. In making words we will continue our ABC order practice. The kids did an amazing job of alphabetizing to the first letter. We are now working on alphabetizing to the second letter. We will also work on words with the "le" chunk, like our spelling word people.
The kids enjoyed our community helper centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "School," a pattern book about things that are seen at school. The kids followed the "I see" pattern to create their own list of things that are seen at school.
2. Social Studies - The kids got firsthand experience writing a police report! We discussed how police officers need to be watching carefully and pay attention to little details. Today during center time, another teacher came in the class and said things and did things. When she left, the kids tested their observation and memory! They recorded a variety of things about the teacher's visit to see if they would make a good eye witness! They had so much fun with this!
3. Writing - The kids practiced what it would like to be a news reporter. They interviewed teachers and kids in our class and the surrounding classes and wrote a newspaper report.
4. Math - The kids practiced finding addition patterns by completing adding with 0 and 1 problems.
We are still working on chapter 12 in math. The kids learned strategies for adding 3 numbers. They did such a good job with this challenging concept! We will aim to finish chapter 12 tomorrow or Thursday. We will begin chapter 13 (a subtraction chapter) at the end of the week.
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
January 10, 2011
Weekly Update, January 10 - 14
Hello Stupendous First Graders and Super First Grade Parents!
Reminders:
* There is no school on Monday, January 17 in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
* Community helper week is next week! We are studying fire fighters, police officers, doctors, dentists, teachers and coaches. If you (or another family member or friend) hold any of these jobs and you would be able to come to our class, please let me know! The kids love having visitors in the class and they learn so much.
Updates:
* Your child brought home his/her reading log today and there are 2 books. Please have your child work on the first book for 1 - 2 nights and then switch to the second book. The kids do not need to read both books tonight.
* This week we are working on alphabetizing words to the first letter. The kids will bring home additional homework during the week to help with this concept.
This week we continue our science study on weather. Today we learned about snow. We learned characteristics of snow and how snow is created. Tomorrow we will learn about rain and on Wednesday we will learn about wind.
On Thursday we will transition to a social studies mini-unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. On Thursday we will learn about MLK's life and the kids will answer open ended questions about MLK. On Friday we will learn about, and watch a short excerpt from his famous "I Have A Dream" Speech. The kids will make a cloud "I Have A Dream" mobile and they will write dreams for their family, community and world.
We are continuing our 6 traits study in writing. This week we will focus on ideas and conventions. This week the kids will write a story about meeting a snowman. To get started, the kids got a sheet with conversation bubbles and they wrote a conversation between themselves and the snowman. This helped them get great ideas for their story. Tomorrow they will turn their conversation into a story and on Wednesday they will edit the story.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. The kids did such a great job with the bonus word last week and this week our bonus word is temperature. This week in making words we will work on alphabetizing words to the first letter. There will be additional homework to help with this concept.
The kids enjoyed our weather and MLK centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "I Can Read About Weather." They used complete sentences to write 3 things they wrote about weather.
2. Science - The kids hypothesized about what happens when things get wet. They put tiny drops of water on different items (a sponge, wax paper, foil, Kleenex, paper towel). They used their observations to decide if these items would make good rain gear.
3. Writing - The kids watched a short video on the water cycle. After the video, they sequenced the water cycle and drew a picture.
4. Math - The kids put major events of MLK's life in order. Once they ordered them, they created a timeline of his life.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me. We focused on reading strategies for difficult words.
We began chapter 12 in math today. Your child brought home a parent letter with information. The chapter focuses on addition to 12. The kids will use a number line to count on to solve vertical and horizontal addition problems. The chapter also reviews doubles and doubles plus one.
The kids had fun in computers today! If you'd like to see what we did today, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/10."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminders:
* There is no school on Monday, January 17 in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
* Community helper week is next week! We are studying fire fighters, police officers, doctors, dentists, teachers and coaches. If you (or another family member or friend) hold any of these jobs and you would be able to come to our class, please let me know! The kids love having visitors in the class and they learn so much.
Updates:
* Your child brought home his/her reading log today and there are 2 books. Please have your child work on the first book for 1 - 2 nights and then switch to the second book. The kids do not need to read both books tonight.
* This week we are working on alphabetizing words to the first letter. The kids will bring home additional homework during the week to help with this concept.
This week we continue our science study on weather. Today we learned about snow. We learned characteristics of snow and how snow is created. Tomorrow we will learn about rain and on Wednesday we will learn about wind.
On Thursday we will transition to a social studies mini-unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. On Thursday we will learn about MLK's life and the kids will answer open ended questions about MLK. On Friday we will learn about, and watch a short excerpt from his famous "I Have A Dream" Speech. The kids will make a cloud "I Have A Dream" mobile and they will write dreams for their family, community and world.
We are continuing our 6 traits study in writing. This week we will focus on ideas and conventions. This week the kids will write a story about meeting a snowman. To get started, the kids got a sheet with conversation bubbles and they wrote a conversation between themselves and the snowman. This helped them get great ideas for their story. Tomorrow they will turn their conversation into a story and on Wednesday they will edit the story.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. The kids did such a great job with the bonus word last week and this week our bonus word is temperature. This week in making words we will work on alphabetizing words to the first letter. There will be additional homework to help with this concept.
The kids enjoyed our weather and MLK centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "I Can Read About Weather." They used complete sentences to write 3 things they wrote about weather.
2. Science - The kids hypothesized about what happens when things get wet. They put tiny drops of water on different items (a sponge, wax paper, foil, Kleenex, paper towel). They used their observations to decide if these items would make good rain gear.
3. Writing - The kids watched a short video on the water cycle. After the video, they sequenced the water cycle and drew a picture.
4. Math - The kids put major events of MLK's life in order. Once they ordered them, they created a timeline of his life.
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me. We focused on reading strategies for difficult words.
We began chapter 12 in math today. Your child brought home a parent letter with information. The chapter focuses on addition to 12. The kids will use a number line to count on to solve vertical and horizontal addition problems. The chapter also reviews doubles and doubles plus one.
The kids had fun in computers today! If you'd like to see what we did today, please click on the blog posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/10."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 1/10
Cool Clouds!
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.
We have learned a lot about weather and clouds! Read about clouds here: http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloudhome.html
* Clouds Impact Our Lives
* Clouds Can Cause Chaos
* How In The World Do Clouds Form?
* Cloud Types
When you're done reading about clouds, click on Games at the top of the page and then choose Cloud Matching Game.
If you still have time after you're done, you may play the Cloud Concentration Game.
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.
We have learned a lot about weather and clouds! Read about clouds here: http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloudhome.html
* Clouds Impact Our Lives
* Clouds Can Cause Chaos
* How In The World Do Clouds Form?
* Cloud Types
When you're done reading about clouds, click on Games at the top of the page and then choose Cloud Matching Game.
If you still have time after you're done, you may play the Cloud Concentration Game.
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
January 3, 2011
Welcome Back!
Hello Amazing First Graders and Awesome First Grade Families!
Welcome back and Happy New Year! Can you believe 2011 is here??? I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing break! The kids were happy to be back and to share their adventures from break with each other.
Reminders:* If you have not done so already, please send in an empty plastic water bottle with your child.
* If you have not done so already, please send in a plastic hanger with your child.
This week we are learning about weather! Today we learned the elements of weather and the definition of weather. The kids began a story about weather. This is a story that we will work on all week. The kids will work on editing to make their stories great! The kids all received a weather journal today. Each day they will be responsible for recording the weather in their journals. On Tuesday we will learn about the three basic cloud types (cirrus, cumulus, stratus) and we will observe the clouds to see what kind we see. On Wednesday we will review cloud types and create a weather related glyph. On Thursday we will practice identifying and describing cloud types and we will read a wonderful story, "The Cloud Book." We will make a cloud mobile with each type of cloud. On Friday we will learn about how clouds are created and we will even do a neat science experiment to make a cloud! The kids will also write a silly story about having their heads in the clouds.
In writing we are working on adding detail and editing. We are also working on poetry.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This semester the spelling words also include a more difficult word and it is a bonus word. The kids are all invited to try to spell it correctly on the test but it will not count against them. This week in making words we are working on the chunks "igh" and "ou." We will also work on words that have the "bossy r."
The kids had fun in our weather related centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs," and they completed a Somebody - Wanted - But - So chart.
2. Science - The kids made tornadoes out of water bottles, food coloring and glitter. The kids had to predict what kind of food coloring would work best for their tornadoes. These are really neat!
3. Writing - The kids worked on weather related acrostic poems. They had their choice of writing an acrostic poem on any of our weather spelling words.
4. Math - The kids worked on subtraction practice to 20. They colored a space picture according to an answer code. They love these types of practice pages!
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me. We worked on asking questions about the story.
We began chapter 11 in math today. Your child brought home a parent letter. This chapter focuses on ordering numbers to 10. This can be a difficult concept, so please be sure to ask your child about this!
The kids had fun in computers today! If you'd like to see what they did, please click on the posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/3."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Welcome back and Happy New Year! Can you believe 2011 is here??? I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing break! The kids were happy to be back and to share their adventures from break with each other.
Reminders:* If you have not done so already, please send in an empty plastic water bottle with your child.
* If you have not done so already, please send in a plastic hanger with your child.
This week we are learning about weather! Today we learned the elements of weather and the definition of weather. The kids began a story about weather. This is a story that we will work on all week. The kids will work on editing to make their stories great! The kids all received a weather journal today. Each day they will be responsible for recording the weather in their journals. On Tuesday we will learn about the three basic cloud types (cirrus, cumulus, stratus) and we will observe the clouds to see what kind we see. On Wednesday we will review cloud types and create a weather related glyph. On Thursday we will practice identifying and describing cloud types and we will read a wonderful story, "The Cloud Book." We will make a cloud mobile with each type of cloud. On Friday we will learn about how clouds are created and we will even do a neat science experiment to make a cloud! The kids will also write a silly story about having their heads in the clouds.
In writing we are working on adding detail and editing. We are also working on poetry.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This semester the spelling words also include a more difficult word and it is a bonus word. The kids are all invited to try to spell it correctly on the test but it will not count against them. This week in making words we are working on the chunks "igh" and "ou." We will also work on words that have the "bossy r."
The kids had fun in our weather related centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs," and they completed a Somebody - Wanted - But - So chart.
2. Science - The kids made tornadoes out of water bottles, food coloring and glitter. The kids had to predict what kind of food coloring would work best for their tornadoes. These are really neat!
3. Writing - The kids worked on weather related acrostic poems. They had their choice of writing an acrostic poem on any of our weather spelling words.
4. Math - The kids worked on subtraction practice to 20. They colored a space picture according to an answer code. They love these types of practice pages!
5. Reading - The kids read 1:1 with me. We worked on asking questions about the story.
We began chapter 11 in math today. Your child brought home a parent letter. This chapter focuses on ordering numbers to 10. This can be a difficult concept, so please be sure to ask your child about this!
The kids had fun in computers today! If you'd like to see what they did, please click on the posting directly below this one, "Computers, 1/3."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 1/3
Weather Wiz Kids!
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 weather today! This morning we learned about the elements of weather and now we'll have a chance to read more details about weather elements. Go here: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/.
Click on the blue rectangle tabs on the left to learn more about different weather elements. After you read about weather elements, you can click on the blue rectangle tab called "Weather Games" to test your knowledge of weather!
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 weather today! This morning we learned about the elements of weather and now we'll have a chance to read more details about weather elements. Go here: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/.
Click on the blue rectangle tabs on the left to learn more about different weather elements. After you read about weather elements, you can click on the blue rectangle tab called "Weather Games" to test your knowledge of weather!
Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston
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