Welcome Back!
I hope everyone enjoyed the long rodeo weekend! The kids were happy to be back and share stories about their rodeo adventures with each other.
It's the last few days of Love of Reading Month. I am so proud of how hard the kids have worked! There are a few fun activities planned for the week. Each class will decorate their door based on a book/author. Our class chose "The Icky Bug Book." Congratulations to Sawyer for his winning idea for our door! On Wednesday, there is story night in the library with Mr. Eddie at 6:00 pm. Friday is school-wide pajama day! We will have a school-wide read-in on the Forever Green in the afternoon.
This week in science, guided reading and writing we are learning about beautiful bugs! Each day we will learn about a different category of insects. Today we learned about the characteristics of beetles. The rest of the week we will learn about butterflies and moths and their life cycles, bees and wasps and how to tell the difference between them and flies, gnats and mosquitoes. The kids are really excited for this unit!
In writing we are working on poetry. Today the kids wrote a beetle acrostic poem on a picture of a beetle. These turned out SO cute! The kids will also write a "How To Be a Bee" poem and a "What Am I?" poem about a fly, gnat or mosquito. The kids really enjoy poetry writing! The kids will also get practice using a picture to guide their writing.
The kids' writing has really taken off over the last few weeks and it is SO exciting to see! We have done a lot of work with word choice (specifically explicit nouns and strong verbs) and, as always, conventions. It is great to see the kids use what they have learned in their writing. You may hear your child mention our "demands for writing." We have several demands for writing at this point in the year. We review them several times each day.
Our demands for writing:
1. Start each sentence with a capital letter.
2. Write all names and proper nouns with a capital letter.
3. End statement sentences with a period.
4. End question sentences with a question mark.
5. Use quotation marks to show when someone is talking.
6. ALWAYS use a finger space between your words!
And of course: always write your NAME and DATE!
Kids - you are doing a great job of remembering to meet all our demands each time you write! Parents - when you watch your child write, you can help your writer by asking him/her if he/she met the demands. It's most helpful to ask your child what the demands are and then see if he/she can correct it independently.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. In making words we are working on tricky homophones. We are reviewing homophones we have already learned and learning some new ones too. This week (and for the rest of the year) there are 15 spelling words and a bonus word. In addition to the spelling test on Friday, there will also be a dictation test where the kids will have to write a sentence that is dictated to them. This is a great way to transfer their spelling/grammar skills to writing.
The kids enjoyed their creepy, crawly centers today! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to Beautiful Bugs and then they made a Venn Diagram to compare Wood ants and Monarch butterflies.
2. Science - The kids looked at several dozen different (plastic!) bugs and categorized them. The kids made their own decisions about what categories to put the bugs in.
3. Writing - The kids looked at bug books. They picked their favorite bug from the book, drew a picture of it and then wrote an adventure about it.
4. Math - The kids made bugs out of pattern blocks. Each child took a turn playing teacher; that child made a bug and then he/she taught the other kids how to make the bug. They are also practicing bug addition by adding 3 numbers.
5. Writing - The kids made words out of different bug word chunks.
In math we are continuing to practice measurement using rulers with inches and centimeters. We will also learn how to use different tools to measure weight.
We are back into the routine of timed tests. The kids are doing well with these. This is a skill that is easy to practice at home too.
We have a fun activity planned for computers this week. If you'd like to see what the kids will do, check back on Friday for the blog posting called, “Computers, 3/2.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
February 27, 2012
February 20, 2012
Weekly Update, February 20 - 22
Happy Rodeo Week!
There is no school this Thursday or Friday for Rodeo. Kids - have a great time and remember to keep reading and fill out the hearts! We are well on our way to meeting our class goal of 500 books. Kids - I am SO proud of you!
Storybook Character Day
The kids had a blast on Friday! Our class had the highest percentage of participation at school. Way to go, first graders! We spent the afternoon sharing books that the kids brought in. This was so much fun!
This week in social studies, guided reading and writing we are studying the Tucson Rodeo and George Washington. Today we learned the definition of the word rodeo and the history of the Tucson Rodeo. On Tuesday we will learn the events of the Tucson Rodeo. The kids will look at pictures of the different events and use their schema about the rodeo to decide what the events are. Wednesday is George Washington's birthday. We will learn about the Father of our Country and compare him to Abraham Lincoln.
This week in writing we are working on word choice and questioning. The kids are doing a wonderful job using strong verbs in their writing! Today the kids made a list of strong verbs that describe the rodeo. On Wednesday they will write an acrostic poem about an animal in the rodeo. On Tuesday the kids will write a list of questions they would like to ask George Washington.
The kids are very excited about centers this week! There are 6 centers so the kids will visit 2 each day. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listen to The Gingerbread Cowboy and complete a story map.
2. Science - The kids are learning about why the cactus is important in the desert and then they are making their own cactus with clay!
3. Writing - The kids are writing their own page for our class book about what event they would like to be in for the rodeo.
4. Social Studies - The kids are playing the traditional game of Memory. This is a rodeo version with different rodeo pictures.
5. Art - The kids are making a large cowboy with his very own horse!
6. Reading - The kids are reading different books about the rodeo and sharing 3 facts with their reading group.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week's spelling words are words that we use often in class so they are review. We are reviewing them because I have noticed that they are often misspelled! There are a few rodeo words too!
In reading we are working on reading informational text to compare and contrast items. We are also working on reading words with qu sounds.
In math we are working on chatper 23, a chapter on measurement. The kids are learning to use nonstandard units of measurement (such as paperclips) to measure itmes as well as standard units (inches and centimeters) to measure items. They are having a lot of fun with this chapter!
Have an A+ rodeo week!
Mrs. Johnston
There is no school this Thursday or Friday for Rodeo. Kids - have a great time and remember to keep reading and fill out the hearts! We are well on our way to meeting our class goal of 500 books. Kids - I am SO proud of you!
Storybook Character Day
The kids had a blast on Friday! Our class had the highest percentage of participation at school. Way to go, first graders! We spent the afternoon sharing books that the kids brought in. This was so much fun!
This week in social studies, guided reading and writing we are studying the Tucson Rodeo and George Washington. Today we learned the definition of the word rodeo and the history of the Tucson Rodeo. On Tuesday we will learn the events of the Tucson Rodeo. The kids will look at pictures of the different events and use their schema about the rodeo to decide what the events are. Wednesday is George Washington's birthday. We will learn about the Father of our Country and compare him to Abraham Lincoln.
This week in writing we are working on word choice and questioning. The kids are doing a wonderful job using strong verbs in their writing! Today the kids made a list of strong verbs that describe the rodeo. On Wednesday they will write an acrostic poem about an animal in the rodeo. On Tuesday the kids will write a list of questions they would like to ask George Washington.
The kids are very excited about centers this week! There are 6 centers so the kids will visit 2 each day. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listen to The Gingerbread Cowboy and complete a story map.
2. Science - The kids are learning about why the cactus is important in the desert and then they are making their own cactus with clay!
3. Writing - The kids are writing their own page for our class book about what event they would like to be in for the rodeo.
4. Social Studies - The kids are playing the traditional game of Memory. This is a rodeo version with different rodeo pictures.
5. Art - The kids are making a large cowboy with his very own horse!
6. Reading - The kids are reading different books about the rodeo and sharing 3 facts with their reading group.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week's spelling words are words that we use often in class so they are review. We are reviewing them because I have noticed that they are often misspelled! There are a few rodeo words too!
In reading we are working on reading informational text to compare and contrast items. We are also working on reading words with qu sounds.
In math we are working on chatper 23, a chapter on measurement. The kids are learning to use nonstandard units of measurement (such as paperclips) to measure itmes as well as standard units (inches and centimeters) to measure items. They are having a lot of fun with this chapter!
Have an A+ rodeo week!
Mrs. Johnston
February 17, 2012
Computers, 2/17
♥ Happy Valentine's Week! ♥
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.
Our Valentine's Day party was so much fun! What was your favorite part? Let's practice writing about it in a word document. We'll work on an example together and then it will be your turn! Be sure to include your name and date on your paper. On your paper write:
My favorite thing about our party was ...
It was my favorite because ...
Before we get started, let's review our demands for writing! As a super pre-second grade writer, what do you always do in your writing?
After your write and print your paper, you can go here http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/valntine/valgms.htm to play Valentine's Day games!
Happy Valentine's Day!
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.
Our Valentine's Day party was so much fun! What was your favorite part? Let's practice writing about it in a word document. We'll work on an example together and then it will be your turn! Be sure to include your name and date on your paper. On your paper write:
My favorite thing about our party was ...
It was my favorite because ...
Before we get started, let's review our demands for writing! As a super pre-second grade writer, what do you always do in your writing?
After your write and print your paper, you can go here http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/valntine/valgms.htm to play Valentine's Day games!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Mrs. Johnston
Computers, 2/17
♥ Happy Valentine's 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 to learn about today's activity.
Our Valentine's Day party was so much fun! What was your favorite part? Let's practice writing about it in a word document. We'll work on an example together and then it will be your turn! Be sure to include your name and date on your paper. On your paper write:
My favorite thing about our party was ...
It was my favorite because ...
Before we get started, let's review our demands for writing! As a super pre-second grade writer, what do you always do in your writing?
After your write and print your paper, you can go here http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/valntine/valgms.htmto play Valentine's Day games!
Happy Valentine's Day!
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.
Our Valentine's Day party was so much fun! What was your favorite part? Let's practice writing about it in a word document. We'll work on an example together and then it will be your turn! Be sure to include your name and date on your paper. On your paper write:
My favorite thing about our party was ...
It was my favorite because ...
Before we get started, let's review our demands for writing! As a super pre-second grade writer, what do you always do in your writing?
After your write and print your paper, you can go here http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/valntine/valgms.htmto play Valentine's Day games!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Mrs. Johnston
February 13, 2012
Weekly Update, February 13 - 17
♥ Happy Valentine's Day!!! ♥
Happy 100th Birthday, Arizona!
We have a fun day planned for tomorrow’s Valentine's Day Party! We have 4 fun centers planned: construction paper conversation heart wreaths, love bird valentines, dancing hearts and heart crowns. Thank you to all the volunteers who help to make our parties great!
Love of Reading month is going great! We are almost half way to our goal! Great job kids and keep on reading! I am so proud of all of you! Kids - remember to fill out hearts at home. The books you read at home count toward our class total. This Friday, February 17 is a special storybook dress-up day! The kids will dress up as their favorite storybook character. Kids - be sure to bring your book to school to share with the class!
Happy Birthday Arizona! Tomorrow is also Arizona's 100th birthday! This week in social studies, guided reading and writing, we will learn all about our great state! We will learn about the state flag, tree, flower and bird. The kids will write a book page per day to go with each symbol and, at the end of the week, each child will have his/her own Arizona book!
This week in writing we are working more with word choice. The kids did such a great job with strong verbs last week! Tomorrow the kids will write strong verbs that describe Arizona. On Wednesday, the kids will learn and write about explicit nouns that describe Arizona. On Thursday, the kids will use their lists of strong verbs and explicit nouns to write a short story about an Arizona adventure.
The kids had fun in their Valentine's Day centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to It's Valentine's Day by Jack Prelutsky. After they listened, they made a valentine for someone special.
2. Social Studies - The kids played a Valentine What's Missing? game. Several Valentine's Day items were placed on the table. The kids took turns covering the items and removing 1 or 2 items to test the rest of the group's memory. They really enjoyed this!
3. Writing - The kids worked on a Valentine's Day crossword puzzle.
4. Math - The kids played a greater than/less than/equal to game with cupids and hearts. The kids opened a heart to reveal 2 numbers and they placed the appropriate symbol between the numbers to compare them.
5. Reading - The kids worked on partner reading aloud to friends to read with inflection.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we are working on word chunk word races. The kids will be given a word chunk and then challenged to make as many words as they can with that chunk.
In reading we are working on reading letters sounds v, x, y. We are also working on reading to learn what the author is trying to say and reading to learn the most important pieces of information.
We are taking a break from our money study in math; we will come back to it toward the end of the year. This week we will jump ahead a few chapters to work on shapes. The kids will recognize shapes by names, points and other attributes.
Our science fair project turned out great! The kids worked SO hard on it and each child in the class played a role in putting the tri-fold display board together. Kids - be sure to tell you parents about our neat science project!
We have a fun activity planned for computers. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog on Friday for the post called, “Computers, 1/17.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Happy 100th Birthday, Arizona!
We have a fun day planned for tomorrow’s Valentine's Day Party! We have 4 fun centers planned: construction paper conversation heart wreaths, love bird valentines, dancing hearts and heart crowns. Thank you to all the volunteers who help to make our parties great!
Love of Reading month is going great! We are almost half way to our goal! Great job kids and keep on reading! I am so proud of all of you! Kids - remember to fill out hearts at home. The books you read at home count toward our class total. This Friday, February 17 is a special storybook dress-up day! The kids will dress up as their favorite storybook character. Kids - be sure to bring your book to school to share with the class!
Happy Birthday Arizona! Tomorrow is also Arizona's 100th birthday! This week in social studies, guided reading and writing, we will learn all about our great state! We will learn about the state flag, tree, flower and bird. The kids will write a book page per day to go with each symbol and, at the end of the week, each child will have his/her own Arizona book!
This week in writing we are working more with word choice. The kids did such a great job with strong verbs last week! Tomorrow the kids will write strong verbs that describe Arizona. On Wednesday, the kids will learn and write about explicit nouns that describe Arizona. On Thursday, the kids will use their lists of strong verbs and explicit nouns to write a short story about an Arizona adventure.
The kids had fun in their Valentine's Day centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to It's Valentine's Day by Jack Prelutsky. After they listened, they made a valentine for someone special.
2. Social Studies - The kids played a Valentine What's Missing? game. Several Valentine's Day items were placed on the table. The kids took turns covering the items and removing 1 or 2 items to test the rest of the group's memory. They really enjoyed this!
3. Writing - The kids worked on a Valentine's Day crossword puzzle.
4. Math - The kids played a greater than/less than/equal to game with cupids and hearts. The kids opened a heart to reveal 2 numbers and they placed the appropriate symbol between the numbers to compare them.
5. Reading - The kids worked on partner reading aloud to friends to read with inflection.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we are working on word chunk word races. The kids will be given a word chunk and then challenged to make as many words as they can with that chunk.
In reading we are working on reading letters sounds v, x, y. We are also working on reading to learn what the author is trying to say and reading to learn the most important pieces of information.
We are taking a break from our money study in math; we will come back to it toward the end of the year. This week we will jump ahead a few chapters to work on shapes. The kids will recognize shapes by names, points and other attributes.
Our science fair project turned out great! The kids worked SO hard on it and each child in the class played a role in putting the tri-fold display board together. Kids - be sure to tell you parents about our neat science project!
We have a fun activity planned for computers. If you’d like to see what the kids will do, please check the blog on Friday for the post called, “Computers, 1/17.”
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
February 10, 2012
Computers, 2/10
Money and Graphing!
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 practice your skills with money! Go here: http://jmathpage.com/JIMSMeasurementmoney.html. There are 8 money games you can play to practice counting with change.
After you play the money games, you can practice sorting and graphing. Go here: http://jmathpage.com/JIMSStatisticspage.html . You can play games 1 - 12.
Have fun, mathematicians!
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 practice your skills with money! Go here: http://jmathpage.com/JIMSMeasurementmoney.html. There are 8 money games you can play to practice counting with change.
After you play the money games, you can practice sorting and graphing. Go here: http://jmathpage.com/JIMSStatisticspage.html . You can play games 1 - 12.
Have fun, mathematicians!
Mrs. Johnston
February 6, 2012
Weekly Update, February 6 - 10
Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!
Love of Reading
* The Love of Reading Month is off to a great start!
* There are hearts attached to the reading logs so the kids can fill them out when they're reading at home.
* Kids - you're doing an awesome job reading! I am so proud of you!
* Kids - let's be really responsible with our library books. If every single person in our class brings their books back, we will get a prize during library from Mrs. Elder! We haven't had a week like that yet...let's do it this week!
♥ Valentine's Day ♥
* Kids - you can bring in your valentine boxes any day this week! You can bring in your cards for your friends, too. Remember to bring in a valentine card for each friend in the class.
* Our party is Tuesday, February 14. We will have 4 centers in the morning; it will be a great day!
After a fun week of conducting our science experiment about objects sinking or floating in water, oil and honey, we are ready to put our display board together. The kids absolutely LOVED doing the experiments and they look forward to putting our project together. We have a tri-fold board and we will work collaboratively to construct it to display all the elements of our project. We learned a lot of great new scientific vocabulary. Kids - be sure to share what you learned with your parents.
After we finish our science fair project we will do a Presidents' Day study to learn about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. We will learn about their lives, characteristics and why they are important.
In writing we are focusing on word choice and using explicit nouns and strong verbs. We will write about Abraham Lincoln to practice this kind of great, detailed writing.
In reading and making words we are working on recognizing words that end in y. We will also review words with the "bossy r." We are also learning about what letters make the “oo” and “ew” sounds.
Your child came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow.
The kids are doing a great job with their Abraham Lincoln/George Washington centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "Let's Read About George Washington" and completed a story map to identify elements of the story.
2. Social Studies - The kids wrote 5 questions they would like to ask Abraham Lincoln. They colored and cut a picture of Lincoln and glued it to their questions.
3. Writing - The kids used the story starter, "One day I found a magic penny..." to write their own story.
4. Math - The kids practiced addition patterns with 2 and 3.
5. Reading - The kids read various Lincoln and Washington books and then shared what they learned with their center group.
We are making great progress with our money study in math! The kids are getting great at using money to shop and make different amounts. We continue to practice doing math facts quickly and increasing doubles skills.
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 a posting called “Computers, 2/10."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
Love of Reading
* The Love of Reading Month is off to a great start!
* There are hearts attached to the reading logs so the kids can fill them out when they're reading at home.
* Kids - you're doing an awesome job reading! I am so proud of you!
* Kids - let's be really responsible with our library books. If every single person in our class brings their books back, we will get a prize during library from Mrs. Elder! We haven't had a week like that yet...let's do it this week!
♥ Valentine's Day ♥
* Kids - you can bring in your valentine boxes any day this week! You can bring in your cards for your friends, too. Remember to bring in a valentine card for each friend in the class.
* Our party is Tuesday, February 14. We will have 4 centers in the morning; it will be a great day!
After a fun week of conducting our science experiment about objects sinking or floating in water, oil and honey, we are ready to put our display board together. The kids absolutely LOVED doing the experiments and they look forward to putting our project together. We have a tri-fold board and we will work collaboratively to construct it to display all the elements of our project. We learned a lot of great new scientific vocabulary. Kids - be sure to share what you learned with your parents.
After we finish our science fair project we will do a Presidents' Day study to learn about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. We will learn about their lives, characteristics and why they are important.
In writing we are focusing on word choice and using explicit nouns and strong verbs. We will write about Abraham Lincoln to practice this kind of great, detailed writing.
In reading and making words we are working on recognizing words that end in y. We will also review words with the "bossy r." We are also learning about what letters make the “oo” and “ew” sounds.
Your child came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow.
The kids are doing a great job with their Abraham Lincoln/George Washington centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "Let's Read About George Washington" and completed a story map to identify elements of the story.
2. Social Studies - The kids wrote 5 questions they would like to ask Abraham Lincoln. They colored and cut a picture of Lincoln and glued it to their questions.
3. Writing - The kids used the story starter, "One day I found a magic penny..." to write their own story.
4. Math - The kids practiced addition patterns with 2 and 3.
5. Reading - The kids read various Lincoln and Washington books and then shared what they learned with their center group.
We are making great progress with our money study in math! The kids are getting great at using money to shop and make different amounts. We continue to practice doing math facts quickly and increasing doubles skills.
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 a posting called “Computers, 2/10."
Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston
February 3, 2012
Computers, 2/3
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.htmlthere 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.htmlthere 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
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