Little One Is Here!

Little One Is Here!
Hi Busy Bees! Here is our 'Babee' Brother Jack! Get it?! We miss you! Love, Lilly Rose and Sophie Pink

Our Class Rules

* We are respectful * We are responsible * We are safe * We follow the GOLDEN RULE *



October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

What a fun week have had! The kids enjoyed learning about pumpkins and bats!

Our Halloween Party was a blast! THANK YOU so much to all the parents who donated their time and supplies to make the party great! We had 4 Halloween centers at our party! The centers for the party were:
1. Spider Glyph - The kids make a spooky spider glyph. They turned out so cute!
2. Grapefruit Carving - The kids carved grapefruits with plastic knives to turn them into Jack - O - Grapefruits.
3. Owl Puppet - The kids colored an owl pattern, cut it out and glued it on a paper bag to make a cute puppet.
4. Mini Pumpkin Decorating - The kids decorated mini pumpkins with googly eyes, gems, colored cotton balls and markers.

In the afternoon we had ghost stories and decorated cookies.

The Halloween parade was so much fun! Everyone looked so great in costume! The kids had such a great time with this!

Get excited for next week...we are learning about Awesome America!

Happy Halloween!
Mrs. Johnston

October 29, 2012

Weekly Update, October 29 - November 2

Hello Super First Grade Families and Spectacular First Graders!

Wow! It's hard to believe it will be November this week! It feels like October went by in the blink of an eye! I move the desks around on the first of the month and the kids look forward to working with new friends. Kids - be sure to tell your parents who is in your new table group!

Our Halloween party is Wednesday, October 31 and the kids are SO excited! Children are welcome to wear their costumes all day or they may change into them after lunch for the parade (there will be parents to help the kids get into costume). Our party is from 9:00 – 11:15. We will decorate cookies after lunch and then the parade begins at 12:45.

This week we are doing a science, guided reading and writing unit on bats. Each day we will learn about a different type of bat, do a bat experiment or activity and write facts on the wing of a construction paper bat. Today we learned about the bumblebee bat; the kids loved this! The kids learned that the bumblebee bat weighs less than a penny. The kids felt a penny in their hands and then they chose objects from around the room to compare them with the weight of a bumblebee bat. Tomorrow we will have a visit from Mrs. Tyburec, and aunt of one of my students from a few years ago. She is a bat biologist and Director of Education at Bat Conservation International in Austin, Texas. This should be a great day for the kids!  Later in the week we will learn about the fruit bat! I have a very fun activity planned to help the kids learn what it would be like to be a fruit bat. Be sure to ask your child about it! We will also learn about the little brown bat and vampire bat.

In reading we are working on making, reading and writing words with long and short “o.” The kids really enjoy our making words activities and these help them tremendously in their reading. We continue to focus on reading with expression and making predictions.

The kids had a fun time with our "batty" centers! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to Bats Around the Clock and then they completed a cloze passage with bat vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids did experiments to simulate bat echolocation and vibrations. They used rubber bands to see and hear vibrations and they also made different call sounds and tapped their throats. This was a lot of fun!
3. Writing - The kids made a book of nocturnal creatures. Some of the nocturnal creatures were review and others were new to the kids.
4. Math - The kids identified bats by their wingspans. The kids were given clues about bats and then they looked at construction paper bats and they identified them based on the clues. After that, they estimated the wingspan of each bat and then they measured the wingspan of each bat. There were some surprises! The kids were surprised to learn that some fruit bats can have a 6 foot wingspan!

We have new spelling words this week. This week in addition to our spelling words, the kids have bat theme words. They loved this! The kids brought home Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. I gave the class a special challenge for this week's test. We have used the word nocturnal a lot and it is a tough one to spell! Since it is a spelling word this week, the kids and I made a deal! If everyone spells the word nocturnal right on the test, the class will get a special prize!

We are working on ways to make ten and addition strategies in math this week. We are continuing our daily timed tests, or the Mad Minute, as we call them in class. The kids are doing a wonderful job and they are enjoying setting goals and meeting them. We will aim to begin to learn subtraction strategies by the end of the week.

We have a neat bat activity planned for computers on Friday to practice writing in a word document. If you'd like to see what the kids will do, stop back on Friday and look for the blog posting called “Computers, 11/2.”

Have an A + week!
Mrs. Johnston

October 26, 2012

Computers, 10/26

Pumpkins

Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, come to the floor in front of the SMART Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.

I hope you had fun learning about pumpkins this week! Now that we've read about pumpkins, let's practice writing complete sentences on the computer. Let’s practice together and then it will be your turn.

After you write your sentence about pumpkins and print it, you can watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXLnCd4JMH4 on the lifecycle of a pumpkin.

When you’re done watching the video, you may go to one of the links on my website.

Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston

October 22, 2012

Weekly Update, October 22 - 26


Hello Spooky First Graders and Scary First Grade Parents!

Reminders:
* Our Halloween party is next Wednesday, October 31 and the kids are so excited for Halloween and our party! This week is going to be such a fun week learning all about pumpkins, doing Halloween centers and Halloween math activities!

This week we are doing a science, guided reading and writing unit on pumpkins! Today was messy and fun! We learned about pumpkin seeds, estimated the number of seeds in a pumpkin and counted them by 10s with our table group. Tomorrow we will learn the characteristics of pumpkins. We will also learn the 6 stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin. The kids will make a pumpkin out of orange construction paper and divide it into 4 sections. Each day the children will write on their pumpkin. On Wednesday we will learn about the uses for pumpkin seeds and each child will plant pumpkin seeds. On Thursday and Friday we will learn about the history of Jack-O-Lanterns and Halloween. The kids will create their own Jack-O-Lantern on the back of their fact pumpkins.

The kids had a great time in centers today!  The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to the story "Alice and Greta," a story about 2 witches. They made a broom out of construction paper and wrote their favorite part of the story and what it would be like to be a witch.
2. Science - Apple Bobbing! The kids made prediction about what kind of tub would be best to apple bob in, and what kind of apples would be the easiest to get. After they made their predictions, they got to bob for apples! This center was a big hit and all the kids are looking forward to this one!
3. Writing - The kids are writing about the 5 Ws of Halloween:
Who - is going with you?
What - are you going to be?
Where - are you going trick or treating?
When - are you going trick or treating?
Why - did you pick your costume?
This center got the kids thinking about Halloween and it got them really excited!
4. Math - Pumpkin Measuring: Estimate and check. The kids estimated the height, weight, circumference and number of creases on a pumpkin. After they recorded their prediction, they checked.
5. Reading - The kids did a Halloween word sort. They also read Halloween books and took turns “playing teacher” by reading to each other.

In reading we are continuing to work on independently using strategies. We are learning to read with expression. Be sure to listen for this in your child’s reading! Our making words focus is on words with short e and u sounds.

We have new spelling words this week. The kids have Rainbow Words for homework and they are due tomorrow. This week we are doing Halloween words instead of a word family.

In math we are continuing our work on addition accuracy and fluency with timed tests. Children progress at their own level.  If your child brings a test home with a line on it that says, "Finish at home." this shows how many questions your child answered in one minute.  The standard is three seconds per problem.  The kids did a wonderful job on their doubles 1 - 10 last week!  This week we will continue to review our doubles and also learn strategies to solve doubles plus one.  We are also working on number and operations in base ten.  The skills we will work on this week are counting on, writing numbers 1 - 120 and tens and ones place value.

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, 10/26."

Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston

October 19, 2012

Computers, 10/19

Night Owls!

Let's start by voting on this week's poll. After you vote, come to the floor in front of the SMART Board and we'll learn about this week's activity.

I hope you had fun learning about owls this week! Now that we've read about owls, let's watch a video to learn more about owls. Go to http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/wild-detectives-kids/wd-ep2-owls.html to watch the owls fly and learn facts about them!

Do you remember how to comment on the blog??? After you watch the video, please comment on this blog:
* One thing you learned about owls.
* One thing you want to learn about owls.
Let's practice together! Watch and we'll review how to comment on the blog.

After you have watched the video and commented on the blog, you may go to the links on my website.

Have fun!
Mrs. Johnston

October 15, 2012

Weekly Update, October 15 - 19

Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!

It's great to be back at Harelson! I hope everyone had a wonderful time during Fall Break. The kids were happy to be back in the routine of school and they enjoyed sharing their stories with their friends. The kids did a wonderful job working hard and staying focused after the week long break. I was so impressed with everyone!

Important Dates
* Flat Stanley projects are due tomorrow, Tuesday, October 16.
* Our Halloween party is Wednesday, October 31.

This week we are doing a guided reading, writing and science unit on owls! Each day we will learn about a different type of owl. Today we learned about the characteristics and life cycle of a barn owl. The kids loved learning about the barn owl! The kids learned what wingspan is and they even practiced making their own wingspan and flying like an owl. They learned that a barn owl makes a different sound than most owls. Kids - be sure to show your parents what a barn owl sounds like! We are making a neat book. It is in the shape of an owl, and each day the kids will write owl facts on one of the owl's "feathers." A huge thank you to Mrs. Rowland for putting the books together for our class! The books are off to a great start already! The kids had a lot of fun with this activity. This week we will also learn about burrowing, pygmy, elf and snowy owls. We will do a lot of kinesthetic activities like owl calling, flying and burrowing to help the kids really learn the information. They always have a lot of fun with activities like this!

In reading we are working on reading non-fiction texts with academic and scientific vocabulary. We are also working on understanding the term “making connections” and the kids are practicing making text to text and text to self connections.  We are also learning some new tricks to help with reading and spelling such as y + s = ies (puppy à puppies) and add ing, lose the e (bake à baking). 

The kids had a great time in centers today. I switched the center groups so the kids will work with different friends over the next few weeks. The kids enjoyed working with and getting to know new friends. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched two National Geographic Kids videos, Snowy Owls and Vampire Bats, on the computer. After that, they wrote characteristics specific to each animal and characteristics shared by both animals.
2. Science - The kids sequenced the 4 stages in the life cycle of a barn owl. They made a neat book in the shape of an owl egg that shows each stage. A huge thank you to Mrs. Robertson for getting our egg books ready!
3. Writing - We learned that most owls are nocturnal. The kids used white pencils and they wrote on black paper. They wrote about what it would be like to be nocturnal.
4. Math - We are learning about measurement and different tools that can be used to measure. Today the kids measured various items in our classroom with unifix cubes.
5. Reading - The kids conference 1:1 with me.

We are back with spelling words this week! The kids received Rainbow Words for homework and it is due tomorrow, Tuesday, 10.16. This week we are working on the "ing" family. There are also two tricky homophones: aunt and ant.

In math we practiced skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s. We did this with math races. The kids LOVE these! In math races each table group works together. They pass around a white board and count by 2s, 5s or 10s. Each child has to write the correct number before passing it on. The first table to count correctly to the designated number wins a prize. The prize is different every time and the kids have so much fun with this! This is a great way to practice skip counting and it is something you can do at home. We are continuing our on addition. Over the last few weeks, we talked about the importance of accuracy. We are now moving to adding speed to accuracy. We will work on timed tests to help improve both speed and accuracy. We will also begin learning our doubles and doubles plus one.

This week in computers we will learn all about owls! If you'd like to see what the kids do in computers, check back at the end of the week and look for the blog posting called “Computers, 10/19.”

The kids are already very excited for Halloween! Our party is Wednesday, October 31. We will also have our Halloween parade on that day as well. We will study pumpkins next week to get ready for Halloween.

Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston

October 1, 2012

Weekly Update, October 1 - 5

Hello Stupendous First Graders and Super First Grade Families!

Reminders:
* Conferences are this week.
* We have early release days Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
* We do NOT have new spelling words for the week.

This week we are doing a social studies unit on Flat Stanley! We are also continuing our study of Johnny Appleseed in our center activities. Flat Stanley is a chapter book and the kids are so excited to read another chapter book. I will read one chapter to the kids each day and then we will do a Flat Stanley activity. Today we read chapter 1 and we learned how Stanley became Flat Stanley! After we read, the kids made their own Flat Stanleys. They turned out so great! The kids will take their own Flat Stanley with them on Fall Break and write about their adventures! On Tuesday we will read about Flat Stanley’s adventure of being mailed as a letter and the kids will write a friendly letter to Flat Stanley. On Wednesday we will read about how Flat Stanley gets turned into a kite and the kids will make (and fly!) their own Flat Stanley kites. On Thursday we will read about how being flat helped Stanley solve a crime. The kids will explore the classroom to find flat things and they will write about why flat things are helpful. On Friday we will read about the adventures that Arthur, Flat Stanley’s brother, plans for him. The kids will write about the adventures they want to take Flat Stanley on during Fall Break.

The kids have an activity to do with their Flat Stanley over Fall Break. This is due the day we return from Fall Break, Monday, October 15.

The kids had a great time in centers and they worked so hard! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched a story about Johnny Appleseed on the computer. It is a neat video where a narrator tells the story of Johnny Appleseed and he draws an illustration as he talks. After the video, the kids write about Johnny Appleseed using Johnny Appleseed specific vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids loved practicing the scientific method to complete a science experiment! The kids did an experiment to see what would happen when you put a carrot and an apple in water. They hypothesized, performed the experiment, recorded their results and made their conclusions. They even got to draw a picture! They were excited to learn a lot of great science vocabulary and they loved doing the experiment!
3. Writing - The kids wrote about their favorite thing about Flat Stanley.
4. Math - The kids did two activities: sequencing and patterning. In the sequencing activity, they sequenced the steps that Johnny Appleseed would take to plant his apple trees. In the patterning activity, they looked at patterns and decided what would come next. After that, they created their own pattern.
5. Reading - The kids read leveled books in the Bee Quiet corner. The children are on new reading levels and they are enjoying their new levels!

In writing we worked on writing friendly letters and writing thank you letters. The kids are becoming experts at letter writing!

In reading we are working on reading for information, retelling and predictions. The kids are having fun making predictions about Flat Stanley!

In math we are working on using addition strategies to solve vertical and horizontal addition problems.

Kids – be sure to check the weekly questions! Answer them and show your parents how much you learned and how smart you are!

Have a great Fall Break and I’ll see you on the 15th!
Mrs. Johnston