The kids are now 103 days smarter!!! We had such a fun celebration last week. Thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to help make our day special!
Reading Information
* February is Love of Reading Month at Harelson! We will discuss this exciting month together as a class and we will set a class goal. Be sure to ask your child about this on Wednesday!
Nature's Treasures
Nature’s Treasures is put on by the 5th and 6th graders and it features a variety of small items available for purchase. Today we visited the Nature’s Treasures shop for a preview day. The kids were able to look at the items for sale and make a wish list. Your child brought home a list of available items today. Our class will visit Nature's Treasures to shop on Friday, February 3. If your child would like to purchase items from the shop, please send the money in a closed and labeled envelope.
This week we are studying the scientific method to prepare a class science project for the science fair! 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 an experiment to test what objects will sink or float in oil, honey and water. 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 Thursday, February 2, we will take a break from the scientific method and learn about Groundhog 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.
In reading we are working on learning how to tell words with “ou” and “ow” apart.
The kids enjoyed their science/Groundhog theme centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to Wake Up Groundhog and then sequenced the events of the story.
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 used transition words to write about the steps in building a monster. 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 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.
In math we are working chapter 15, a chapter about data and graphing. This chapter ties in nicely with our work about the scientific method.
We have a fun activity planned for computers this week. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog on Friday for the blog posting called “Computers, 2/3.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
January 30, 2012
January 27, 2012
Computers, 1/27
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.
We have had fun 100th day celebrations this week! 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.
We have had fun 100th day celebrations this week! 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 23, 2012
Weekly Update, January 23 - 27
Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!
100th Day Information
The 100th day of school is this Wednesday, January 25! 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. 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!!!
This week's guided reading and writing 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. Bakken, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Stucky and Mrs. Webb 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 and words that end in y when "s" is added. We are also working on the letters and sounds aw, au and al.
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 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.
This afternoon we had a special visit from Ryan's mom, Mrs. Russell, who taught us all about the Chinese New Year. The kids really enjoyed this!
In math we are working on chapter 14, 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.
We have a fun activity planned for computers this week. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog posting on Friday called “Computers, 1/27.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
100th Day Information
The 100th day of school is this Wednesday, January 25! 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. 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!!!
This week's guided reading and writing 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. Bakken, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Stucky and Mrs. Webb 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 and words that end in y when "s" is added. We are also working on the letters and sounds aw, au and al.
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 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.
This afternoon we had a special visit from Ryan's mom, Mrs. Russell, who taught us all about the Chinese New Year. The kids really enjoyed this!
In math we are working on chapter 14, 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.
We have a fun activity planned for computers this week. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog posting on Friday called “Computers, 1/27.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
January 17, 2012
Weekly Update, January 17 - 20
Hello Amazing First Graders and Awesome First Grade Parents!
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!
100th Day Homework Information
Wednesday, January 25 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 23. 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 Sydney’s dad, Mr. Johnson, who is a CPA. The kids loved having a visitor and they learned a lot! On Wednesday Dr. Hackler, a friend of mine, will come in to talk about physical therapy. On Thursday, Owen’s dad, Mr. Bakken will come to talk to us about his work with TEP. We will have another visitor on Thursday, Mrs. Walker, owner of CrossFit Northwest Tucson, will talk with the kids about exercise and nutrition. On Friday, William’s mom, Dr. Neal, will talk to the kids about being a veterinarian and her work with the Humane Society. 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. At this point in the year we are doing a lot of really great writing in writers’ workshop! The kids are still working on their snowman stories from last week. They are learning about the six traits and going through the writing process of pre-writing, drafting, editing and revising. Their writing has come so far and I have loved reading their stories!
In reading we are working on reading words with “Bossy R.” (er, ir, ur). The kids are learning to create words with different types of bossy r.
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.
5. Reading – The kids used puzzle pieces to read and write silly sentences.
We began chapter 13 in math. The kids brought an information letter home to you. This chapter focuses on subtraction strategies such as using a number line and counting back.
We have a fun activity planned for computers on Friday. If you’d like to see what we’ll do, please check back on Friday for the blog posting called “Computers, 1/20.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!
100th Day Homework Information
Wednesday, January 25 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 23. 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 Sydney’s dad, Mr. Johnson, who is a CPA. The kids loved having a visitor and they learned a lot! On Wednesday Dr. Hackler, a friend of mine, will come in to talk about physical therapy. On Thursday, Owen’s dad, Mr. Bakken will come to talk to us about his work with TEP. We will have another visitor on Thursday, Mrs. Walker, owner of CrossFit Northwest Tucson, will talk with the kids about exercise and nutrition. On Friday, William’s mom, Dr. Neal, will talk to the kids about being a veterinarian and her work with the Humane Society. 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. At this point in the year we are doing a lot of really great writing in writers’ workshop! The kids are still working on their snowman stories from last week. They are learning about the six traits and going through the writing process of pre-writing, drafting, editing and revising. Their writing has come so far and I have loved reading their stories!
In reading we are working on reading words with “Bossy R.” (er, ir, ur). The kids are learning to create words with different types of bossy r.
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.
5. Reading – The kids used puzzle pieces to read and write silly sentences.
We began chapter 13 in math. The kids brought an information letter home to you. This chapter focuses on subtraction strategies such as using a number line and counting back.
We have a fun activity planned for computers on Friday. If you’d like to see what we’ll do, please check back on Friday for the blog posting called “Computers, 1/20.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
January 13, 2012
Computers, 1/13
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 9, 2012
Weekly Update, January 9 - 13
Hello Stupendous First Graders and Super First Grade Parents!
Reminders
* There is no school on Monday, January 16 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 would be able to come to our class to talk about your career, please let me know! The kids love having visitors in the class and they learn so much.
This week we continue our guided reading, writing and 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. We will also learn to identify contractions and learn what two words make a contraction. The kids will do a fun snowman sort to study contractions.
In reading we are working on reading words with long e and o sounds. The kids are learning all the different ways letters can form that sound.
The kids enjoyed our weather and MLK centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a story on Brainpop about the water cycle. They used complete sentences to write 3 things they learned.
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 made a spin chart to demonstrate the water cycle. They used the story starter, "On a rainy day, I like to" to tell a story with strong ideas and good conventions.
4. Math - The kids put major events of MLK's life in order. Once they ordered them, they created a timeline of his life. They also solved mitten addition problems and practiced graphing.
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.
We have a fun activity planned for computers this week. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog on Friday for the posting called, “Computers, 1/13.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Reminders
* There is no school on Monday, January 16 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 would be able to come to our class to talk about your career, please let me know! The kids love having visitors in the class and they learn so much.
This week we continue our guided reading, writing and 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. We will also learn to identify contractions and learn what two words make a contraction. The kids will do a fun snowman sort to study contractions.
In reading we are working on reading words with long e and o sounds. The kids are learning all the different ways letters can form that sound.
The kids enjoyed our weather and MLK centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to a story on Brainpop about the water cycle. They used complete sentences to write 3 things they learned.
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 made a spin chart to demonstrate the water cycle. They used the story starter, "On a rainy day, I like to" to tell a story with strong ideas and good conventions.
4. Math - The kids put major events of MLK's life in order. Once they ordered them, they created a timeline of his life. They also solved mitten addition problems and practiced graphing.
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.
We have a fun activity planned for computers this week. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog on Friday for the posting called, “Computers, 1/13.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
January 6, 2012
Computers, 1/6
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 this week 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 this week 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
January 3, 2012
Welcome Back!
Hello Amazing First Graders and Awesome First Grade Families!
Welcome back and Happy New Year! Can you believe 2012 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.
This week in guided reading, writing and science 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 Wednesday, 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 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. The kids are learning to write strong sentences so that their writing gives the reader a clear picture in his/her head. We are also working on poetry.
In reading we are working on reading words with the long a sound. The kids are learning different blends that all make up that sound.
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.
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!
There is a fun activity planned for computers on Friday. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please visit the blog on Friday and read the blog posting called “Computers, 1/6.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Welcome back and Happy New Year! Can you believe 2012 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.
This week in guided reading, writing and science 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 Wednesday, 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 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. The kids are learning to write strong sentences so that their writing gives the reader a clear picture in his/her head. We are also working on poetry.
In reading we are working on reading words with the long a sound. The kids are learning different blends that all make up that sound.
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.
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!
There is a fun activity planned for computers on Friday. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please visit the blog on Friday and read the blog posting called “Computers, 1/6.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
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