Weekly Update, September 26 - 30

Hello Spectacular First Graders and Super First Grade Families!

Reminders:
1. Conferences are next week. Please return your conference sheet to me as soon as possible.
2. We have early outs Tuesday - Friday, October 4 - 7, 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! On Tuesday and Wednesday the class will divide into 2 groups to complete 2 different activities (watching a video about Johnny Appleseed and taking a comprehension quiz and reading a story about and apple tree and making an apple tree). On Thursday, we will learn about the life cycle of an apple tree and about the changes that happen to trees during the different seasons. Each table group will take a different season and the children will work together to represent an apple tree for their season. The kids are really looking forward to Thursday! On Friday the kids will read a book about the life cycle of an apple tree. The will sequence the apple tree's life cycle. The kids are really enjoying this unit so far!

In reading we are working on reviewing word chunks and the sounds they make to read more difficult words.  We continue to use the Beanie Baby strategies daily to help in reading.

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 different books about Johnny Appleseed.

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.

In math we are working on chapter 4, a subtraction chapter. We are also working on a variety of assessments (counting, writing numbers, addition, subtraction) for the report card.

MAP testing in the upper grades is now complete and we are able to get back in the lab this week! We will work on independently going to the class blog, using the features of the blog and completing the assignment.

Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston