Weekly Update May 20-23

Hello Super Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!

WOW! It's the last week of school! Can you believe it? Kids, get ready...this week is going to be amazing!

CAMP LEARNED - A - LOT
Camp Learned - A - Lot is FINALLY here! Each pre-second grader worked so hard to earn this special privilege! We're off to a super start!

Today was the first day of camp and it was great! We settled into our tents to get ready for a fun day of reading! The kids loved being in their pajamas today.  Thank you to our guest readers today: Mr. Ott, Mrs. Robertson, Mrs. Hohmann, and Mrs. Tees.  The kids LOVED this! I just love to see the kids so happy and excited about reading!

TUESDAY
Tomorrow is game day at camp! We will play Simon Says, Heads Up/7 Up, complete a class scavenger hunt, complete brain teasers, play bingo and play lots of board games. It will be a blast!

WEDNESDAY
Crafts  and autographs
We will have a special surprise in the afternoon that goes along with camping.

Thursday
We will have water games with the other first grade classes in the morning.
We will have our final party in the afternoon after PE.

This has been an incredible year in first grade for the kids and half year for me! Kids - I LOVED being your teacher and watching you learn! You are SO smart! You are going to be AWESOME in second grade! Parents and family members - THANK YOU for all your help this year! Your time, support, encouragement and supply donations helped make our class so special.

Have a great week!
Have a great time at camp!
Ms. Klein

Weekly Update May 13-17

Hello Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!

Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope all the moms had a wonderful day.  I hope you enjoyed your flowers!  The kids worked so hard on them and they had so much fun making them for you.

 Wow!  It's hard to believe this is the last full week of first grade!  I am so proud of all the kids have accomplished this year!  There's just one more week until Camp Learned A Lot!  Kids - keep working hard and following our rules so we can have Camp Learned A Lot!  It's so much fun!
Parents - there are still many opportunities to help with Camp Learned - A - Lot!  The children will mail letters to you from “camp.”  Please send in a self addressed (addressed to the parent), stamped envelope in by this Friday so those can be ready to mail on Monday.

BLASTING OFF TO 2nd GRADE!!!
We will finish off our planet study this week by learning about the outer planets.  The kids studied Mars, the last inner planet, today.  We will study Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune until Friday.  On Friday, we will review the planets and the kids will complete their planet book.
In writing we are finishing our planet-a-day space book.  These are coming out great and I can't wait to see the finished product!  We are also working on class books.  The goal is to have enough for each child to take two home at the end of the year; we are almost to our goal!  These class books are just wonderful and it is so neat to see the progress that the kids have made throughout the year.  We will also complete our final writing assessment for the year for the report card.
The kids enjoyed their space centers!  The centers for the week include:
1.  Listening - The kids listened to "Planets" and they made their own representation of the Sun, Earth and the moon.  These are really neat and show how the Earth orbits the sub.
2.  Science - The kids made their very own space shuttles!  They used oranges for the base of the shuttle and then they used a variety of different treats for their space shuttles.  These look great!
3.  Writing - The kids wrote a letter to their future second grade teacher to introduce themselves. 
4.  Math - The kids made a diagram to show the different phases of the moon.  After they finished, they used pattern blocks to create a map of our Solar System. 
5.  Reading - The kids had free choice reading day.  They love this!
In math we are working on finishing the assessments for the report card.  We will also continue to practice regrouping so the kids are familiar with it when they get to second grade.
Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein

May 6-10

Hello Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!
The kids had so much fun with career week last week!  Thank you so much to the parents who were able to come in and tell the kids about your jobs.

CAMP  LEARNED  A  LOT!
Camp Learned a lot is a fun and exciting way to end first grade and blast off to second grade!  Camp Learned A Lot is a 3 day camp full of games, friends and surprises during the last week of school!  The students will be offered the chance to earn a stay at Camp Learned A Lot.  In order to earn Camp Learned A Lot, the students must:
* Be awesome pre-second graders at all times
* Follow our class rules (we are respectful, we are responsible, we are safe, we follow the Golden Rule) at all times
Kids - Camp Learned A Lot is SO MUCH FUN!!!  I know that you will all be responsible pre-second graders and earn camp!
BLASTING OFF TO 2nd GRADE!!!
For the next two weeks in science and guided reading we are doing a unit on our Solar System.  The kids are very ready for 2nd grade and this is a fun science unit to end the year and blast them off to second grade!  Today the kids learned about the Sun and stars.  Beginning tomorrow, we will study the planets in their order from the sun.  We will study all the planets until we finish next Thursday.  The planets we will study this week are the inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
In writing we are working on making a space book!  Each child will make a page about each planet with different information. 
The kids enjoyed their space centers today!  The centers for the week include:
1.  Listening - The kids listened to "I Can Read About Space," and they made their cover for their space books.
2.  Science - The kids colored different constellations and made their own telescope.  The telescope can actually be used on the constellation paper like a real telescope.  Kids, be sure to show your parents how this works!
3.  Writing - The kids wrote about blasting off to second grade!  They wrote about what it will be like in second grade and what they will do in second grade.
4.  Math - The kids made a space book with different patterns and numbers related to space.
5.  Reading - The kids worked on reading assessments for the report card.
The kids did a great job working on strategies to help increase speed when adding numbers.  We will continue to work on strategies for solving both addition and subtraction problems.  We are still working on place value by writing and identifying large numbers.  The kids have gotten so good at this!  We will review a variety of concepts this week.
We were unable to go to computers this week due to MAP testing.

Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein

April 29-May 3

Hello Smart Pre-Second Graders and Super Pre-Second Grade Parents!


Wow!  Can you believe that it will be May 1^st this week?  This year has flown by and the pre-second graders have made so much progress?

PRE - SECOND GRADE SPELLING CHALLENGE!!!
It's almost time for second grade!  Are you ready??  Are you spelling like a second grader???  I am challenging the class to all get 100% on their spelling tests this Friday.  If EVERYONE gets an A+ or A++, I will provide surprise for the class.  Are you up for the challenge???  YOU CAN DO IT!!!
This week in social studies and guided reading we are continuing our Eric Carle author study and having career week.  We will read "Rooster's Off To See The World" to get ready for second grade and make predictions about next year.  We will have several visitors in our class for career week.  The kids love having visitors in our class! 

 This week in writing we are working on a variety of exciting things!  The kids are working on essays about Eric Carle.  The kids will write thank you letters to each of our class guests.  The kids are letter writing experts now! They are such wonderful and enthusiastic writers.  I really enjoy reading their writing.
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow.  This week in making words we are working on question words with patterns (words that begin with the "wh" chunk) and we are also reviewing "are" and "is" contractions and adding "not" contractions.  The kids have really tackled our contraction study and it is such a treat to see correctly used contractions in their writing.  Way to go, pre-second graders!
The kids enjoyed their career week centers today!  The centers include:
1.  Listening - The kids watched a short video of Eric Carle reading a story, talking about his life and career and demonstrating his illustrations.  This is a very neat and interesting video!  They made a page to our class book about what it would be like to be an author and illustrator.
2.  Social Studies - The kids took a mini-field trip to the Harelson office.  They interviewed the wonderful people in our office (Ms. Ann, Ms. Janice, Ms. Jill, Ms. Sharon) to find out more about their jobs.
3.  Writing - The kids looked at different books about careers.  They wrote a letter to themselves about their hopes for the future.
4.  Math - The kids practiced addition and subtraction on a space ship paper to get ready for our upcoming space unit.
5.  Reading - The kids played sight word flash card races.
This week in math we are working on strategies for quickly and efficiently solving different types of addition and subtraction problems.  The kids are good at addition and subtraction, but speed is still an issue.  These additional strategies will help increase speed.  We are also working on adding two two-digit numbers together.
We were unable to go to computers this week due to MAP testing in the older grades. J
Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein

Weekly update April 22-26

Hello Awesome Pre-Second Graders and Amazing Pre-Second Grade Families!


We have an exciting week in first grade this week with Funfest on Friday!  The kids are SO excited for Funfest!  Volunteers are still needed to help at Funfest. 
 Upcoming Dates
* Book Fair: April 22 - 26.  The library is all set up and ready for the book fair!  It is open all day each day for shopping. Happy reading!
* Funfest: Friday, April 26. 
* Career Week: April 29 – May 3.  All interested parents are invited to come in and share your career experience with the kids.  They love having visitors in class!  We still need several parents, so please let me know if you would like to come in.
This week in social studies, guided reading and writing we are doing an author study on Eric Carle.  Each day we will read to learn about Eric Carle and then we will read a different book.  However, today we learned about earth day. Tomorrow we will learn about visualization and I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to the kids without showing the pictures so they had to visualize the story in their heads.  This helped them learn the importance of word choice.  Wednesday we will read "The Very Clumsy Click Beetle" to learn how different elements (in addition to simply words and illustrations) can strengthen a story.  On Thursday we will read "The Mixed Up Chameleon" to practice making text to self connections.  Next week we will read "The Grouchy Ladybug" to practice making text to text connections with the characters from "The Grouchy Ladybug” and we will read "Do You Want To Be My Friend?" to learn the power of images in stories.
This week in writing we are working on writing a research paper!  The kids are writing about Eric Carle and each day they will add a paragraph to the paper.  This will give the kids great practice in note taking, paragraph writing and editing.  This is challenging, but I know that my pre-second graders are up to the challenge!  Kids - be sure to tell your parents about the steps for writing a research paper!
The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow.  This week in making words we are reviewing words with the "ight" chunk.  We are also adding to our contraction study by reviewing "are" contractions and learning about "is" contractions (it's, that's, what's).  We will also work on using environmental resources to correctly spell words.
The kids enjoyed their Eric Carle centers today!  The centers for the week include:
1.  Listening - The kids watched a video of Eric Carle making his art.  They wrote three facts and their favorite part of the video.  They drew an Eric Carle - style picture on the back.
2.  Art - The kids used tissue paper and paint to practice making pictures the way that Eric Carle does.  They loved this!!!
3.  Writing - The kids wrote a friendly letter to Eric Carle.
4.  Math - The kids practiced place value and writing 3 and 4 digit numbers using number clues and riddles.
5.  Reading - The kids read a variety of Eric Carle's books.  They were surprised to know there are so many books!  They shared their favorites with their reading group.
The kids are really doing a nice job learning place value and writing large numbers.  We will continue to work on this during the week.  Making combinations of three numbers that add to six was very challenging for the kids; we will spend more time with this during the week.  We will also continue to work on automaticity in addition and subtraction math facts.

Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein

Weekly Update April 15-19

Hello Super Pre-Second Graders and Stupendous Pre-Second Grade Parents!

Upcoming Dates and Important Information

* First grade is creating a Tons of Fun basket for the funfest. If you would like to donate an item please send it in by this Friday, April 19.

* The Funfest is Friday, April 26. I hope everyone can attend; it will be a lot of FUN!

* We will study careers for an upcoming social studies unit (April 29 – May 3). I would like to invite all parents who would like to teach students about their careers to come visit our classroom. The best time to visit would be in the morning, between 8:30 - 10:00. If you would like to participate in career week, please let me know. The kids absolutely love having visitors in our class!

This week in science, guided reading and writing we are learning all about plants and seeds. Today we learned super seed facts (parts and functions). Tomorrow we will learn about the life cycle of a peanut seed. On Wednesday we will read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and we will also learn about plants by observing stems. On Thursday we will learn about types of bulbs. On Friday we will learn what the expression “Green Thumb” means and we will also learn how to care for plants.

The kids continue to be wonderful writers! We finished a district writing assessment. We will also write a fiction story on what it would be like to be a seed. The kids will get some practice in scientific non-fiction writing by describing the life cycle of a peanut seed.

The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we are reviewing problematic sight words (they, was), reviewing the "ou" chunk and introducing the "they're" contraction. I am so impressed with how the kids have tackled the contractions we learned thus far (it's, can't, don't, you're, we're) and I LOVE seeing them in their writing. Way to go, kids!


The kids enjoyed their plant and centers today! The centers for the week include:

1. Listening - The kids listened to "I'm A Seed" and they made a pop-up baby plant and labeled its parts.

2. Science - The kids predicted where seeds would be and what they would look like in eight different fruits and vegetables. The fruits were cut open for the kids to study. They counted the seeds in each fruit and compared them.

3. Writing - The kids wrote about what it would be like to be a farmer.

4. Math - The kids sorted a cup of seeds by type. They graphed the seeds and answered questions about the different seeds.

5. Reading - The kids read plant books and shared different facts with their reading groups.

We are also learning to compare and compose shapes, both flat and solid. We are partitioning shapes and have a fun edible math lesson to help us.

Have an A+ week!

Miss Klein

Weekly Update April 8-13

Hello Awesome First Grade Families!
This week in science, guided reading and writing we are learning about the desert and Native American desert folklore. It is also time for the district writing assessment. Students will be writing about their favorite animals. We did a graphic organizer today to help us get our thoughts and facts together. oughout the week and practice writing our own folklore.

In writing, we are working on folk tales, thinking beyond the text and using text to text connections in writing. After we read a desert folk tale each day, the kids will re-write the folk tale to their own specifications. This should be a fun exercise for the kids!

The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we are working on using environmental print independently. We will continue to examine the tricky, or silent "r" and we are learning more about contractions.

In reading we are working to understand folklore and legends. We are comparing these types of stories to fiction and non-fiction.

The kids enjoyed the desert centers this week! The centers for the week include:

1. Listening - The kids listened to a neat cd, Sounds of the Desert, and then they completed a desert crossword puzzle.

2. Social Studies - The kids played "Monsoon Mischief," a desert dice game. Each child took a turn rolling the dice with desert pictures. They had to share 3 facts with the group about the picture they rolled.

3. Writing - The kids practiced their folk tale writing by writing a story about how the coyote got its tail. They wrote their story on special coyote paper.

4. Math - The kids practiced their math facts automaticity with addition and subtraction pages.

5. Reading - The kids chose books to read from the bee quiet corner.


We will work this week on shapes and then go into partitioning shapes by next week. The students will be able to understand different types of fractions and partition shapes into three different fractions. We are also working very hard on our facts facts to 10, addition and subtraction.

We have a fun activity planned for computers this week.

Have an A+ week!

Miss Klein

Weekly Update April 1-5

Hello Super First Graders and Stupendous First Grade Families!


This week in science, guided reading and writing, we are learning about desert animals to follow up our field trip. Today we learned about the characteristics of coyotes. On Tuesday we will learn about the characteristics of bobcats and how they got their name. On Wednesday we will learn about gila monsters and why they are unique. On Thursday we will learn about javelinas and how to differentiate between a javelina and a pig. On Friday we will review the animals and see a short National Geographic video about the desert.

In writing we are working on a variety of different things, including poetry, stories and brainstorming. Each day the kids will do their writing and then color a picture of the animal we learned about. They will have their own book of desert animals at the end of the week! Today the kids wrote "How To Be A Coyote" poems. They have made so much progress with their poetry and these were so fun to read! Tomorrow the kids will write a story about running into a bobcat. On Wednesday the kids will learn how to do a brainstorm burst and they will do one about a gila monster. On Thursday the kids will write a "What Am I?" poem about either a coyote, bobcat, gila monster or javelina. On Friday the kids will use a picture of the desert to guide them in writing a story about the desert at night.

The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we are learning about words with the sk/sm chunks. We will also look at tricky/silent letters, such as the "j" in javelina. We will continue to review "not" contractions.

The kids enjoyed our desert centers. The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids listened to "The Tortoise and the Hare." They made a paper plate desert tortoise.
2. Science - The kids made a day and night wheel. The wheel shows what desert animals are nocturnal and what desert animals are diurnal.
3. Writing - The kids pretended to be reporters writing for "The Desert Reporter."
4. Math - The kids made their own gila monsterwith beans!
5. Reading - The kids played hangman with spelling words!

In math we are working on finishing our time unit. We also are working on techniques for problem solving!

Have an A+ week!
Miss Klein

Hello Super First Graders and Stupendous First Grade Families!


Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful time during spring break. The kids were very excited to see their friends and talk about their spring break adventures.

The 3rd quarter report cards go home in the homework folders this Wednesday, March 27. Parents - please sign the report card envelope and return ONLY the envelope by this Friday, March 30. Kids - if you return your envelope on time, you will get three bee bucks! Thank you!

There is a field trip to The Desert Museum on Friday, March 29.

This week in science, guided reading and writing we are learning all about creepy, crawly spiders! Today we learned the characteristics of spiders. The kids made a paper plate spider, complete with 8 googly eyes! Tomorrow the kids will learn how a spider web is made and they will even get to see a short video clip of a spider spinning its web! On Wednesday we will learn about the life cycle of a spider. On Thursday we will read about spiders to learn if they are helpful or harmful.

The kids are doing SO well in writing! I have seen so much progress over the last few weeks and it makes writers' workshop so much fun! The kids are able to accomplish so much and they love sharing at the end of writers' workshop. This week in writers' workshop we are working on fact writing, using a picture to guide writing and story writing. Today the kids wrote 8 spider facts. Tomorrow they will write an acrostic poem about a spider web. On Wednesday they will look at pictures of the stages of a spider's life cycle and describe each stage. On Thursday they will use their thumb prints to make a spider picture and then write about how they would be helpful spiders. On Friday they will make their page to our class book about what they like best about spiders.

The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we are working more on writing words with the "are" contraction. We will focus on "you're" and "we're." Parents - you can look for this in your child's writing and see if your child can point it out in his/her reading.

The kids enjoyed their spider centers today! The centers for the week include:

1. Listening - The kids listened to "I Love Spiders" and they wrote 10 things they love/facts about spiders.
2. Science - The kids read "The Very Busy Spider" and they make their own spider web with glue and glitter on black paper. They colored and cut spiders to go with the web.
3. Writing - The kids read "Spider Names." They received a picture of a spider and they named it and wrote a story about it.
4. Math - The kids put a spider puzzle together and compared and identified spider and ant body parts.

This week in math we are working on telling time to the hour and half hour.

Have an A+ week!

Miss Klein

Weekly Update March 11-15

May the Luck O' The Irish Be With You!

Important Dates

* The Jump-A-Thon for Heart is this Friday, March 15. We will participate in the jump-a-thon in the afternoon.

* Spring Break is March 18 - 22. Kids - let's keep working hard until Spring Break!



This week in social studies and guided reading we are learning about springtime and St. Patrick's Day traditions. Today we learned about the phrase "In like a lion, out like a lamb," and how it is used to describe springtime. Today we focused on "in like a lion," and tomorrow we will focus on "out like a lamb." On Thursday we will build a trap for a leprechaun. They are really looking forward to this! On Friday we will learn about symbols and traditions of St. Patrick's Day.

In writing we are working on strong beginnings and strong endings. This means no more "Once upon a time," or "The end!" Today we discussed "in like a lion," and how it is a strong beginning. The kids practiced rewriting boring beginnings to make them strong. They made paper plate lions to remind them to write strong beginnings. Tomorrow we will discuss how "out like a lamb" is a strong ending and the kids will rewrite boring endings to make them strong. They will make a paper plate lamb to remind them to write strong endings. On Wednesday the kids will use what they know about strong beginnings and endings to write a leprechaun adventure story. On Thursday the kids will write facts about St. Patrick's Day and make their own rainbow and gold coin necklace! On Friday the kids will write their page to our class book, "My Favorite Thing About St. Patrick's Day." We write a class book at the end of each unit. We have quite a collection of books! The kids are great authors and they are always proud to read their books.

In reading we are identifying strong beginnings and endings and discussing how they make the story more interesting.


The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow. This week in making words we will review different word families. We are also learning about contractionsWe are also working on making words that begin with the dr/fl/sn/sp chunks.


The kids enjoyed our St. Patrick's Day centers! The centers for the week include:

1. Listening - The kids listened The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day Ever and they wrote about when they feel lucky.

2. Social Studies - The kids played a fun dice game to create their own leprechaun!

3. Writing - The kids came up with an Irish name for themselves and for a leprechaun. They wrote a story about a leprechaun escaping!

4. Math - The kids colored and cut St. Patrick's Day dominoes and played the game.

5. Reading - The kids played Alpha-Bug-Soup, a game to help with sight word reading and spelling.


We are almost finished with all of our math assessments for the report card! This is a lot of work and I am so happy with how hard the kids worked!

Have an A+ week!

Miss Klein

Weekly Update March 4-8

Hello Sssssssssuper First Graders and Stupendoussssss First Grade Families!


The kids loved our bug study last week!

Sssssss....this week we are learning about snakes in science, guided reading and writing and the kids love it! Today we learned about the characteristics of the Western Diamondback. The kids learned some great new snake vocabulary. Kids - be sure to share it with your parents! The rest of the week we will learn about king snakes, garter snakes and green snakes. I can't wait to teach the kids slithery, slimy information and show AWESOME snake pictures to them!

In writing we are working on sssssssuper snake writing! Today we wrote "How To Be A Diamondback" and the kids had so much fun with these! They have made so much progress in poetry! Their "How To Be A Diamondback" poems will be hung up on the wall in the shape of a snake (complete with a head and rattle!), so be sure to stop by to check out the kids' ssssssuper sssssnake writing! Tomorrow the kids will practice their alliteration skills by writing 4 alliteration sentences on a swirly garter snake. On Wednesday, we will read the book "Verdi" to go with our green snake study. Verdi is a special python snake who learns how to be green. The kids will get to make their own Verdi snake and write about their favorite part of the book. On Thursday, the kids will make king snake crowns with 8 different complete sentences about king snakes. On Friday, we will review different snakes.


This week in making words we are work on tricky vowel combinations.

No spelling words this week.

The kids had fun in their slithery, slimy snake centers! The centers for the week include:

1. Listening - The kids listened to "I Can Read About Reptiles" and they identified reptiles from the book based on different clues.

2. Social Studies - The kids tested their bug knowledge from last week with a game. They worked in partners to answer questions about bugs. For each question they answered correctly, they got to move along the snake shaped board.

3. Writing - The kids colored different pictures of baby snakes. They wrote about adventures of their baby snakes.

4. Math - The kids got a picture of a diamondback snake and they colored the diamonds in an ABBC pattern. After they colored, they cut their snake and they have their own swirly snake. These turned out great!

5. Reading – Our parent helper is giving them a short spelling test for report cards and then they get to explore snake books.

In math we are busy working on both shapes and assessments for the 3rd quarter report card. The kids are taking report assessments on skip counting, addition, subtraction, place value, calendar elements, patterning and measurement.

Have an A+ week!

Miss Klein

Weekly Update February 25 - March 1

Welcome Back!


I hope everyone enjoyed the long rodeo weekend! The kids were happy to be back and we started the week off great!

It's the last few days of Love of Reading Month. On Thursday, there is story night in the library with Mr. Eddie at 6:00 pm. Friday is dress up as your favorite Dr. Suess character day!

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. 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. They are also practicing bug addition by adding 3 numbers.

5. Reading – The kids are reading bug books and sharing the facts with one another.

In math we are continuing to practice nonstandardized measurement. We will also learn how to use different tools to measure weight.


Have an A+ week!

Ms. Klein

Weekly Update February 18-20

Happy Rodeo Week!




There is no school this Thursday or Friday for Rodeo. Kids - have a great time and remember to keep reading.

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. Friday 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! 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.

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.

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 measurement. The kids are learning to use nonstandard units of measurement (such as paperclips) to measure items. They are having a lot of fun with this unit!

Have an A+ rodeo week!

Miss Klein

Weekly Update February 11-15

♥ Happy Valentine's Day!!! ♥



We have a fun day planned for Thursday’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 in February. We can come to school in our pajamas on Friday February 15 and read all afternoon. Please be sure to bring your favorite books.

Happy Birthday Arizona! Thursday is also Arizona's 101st 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 Friday, 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 enjoy 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.


The kids came home with Rainbow Words and they are due tomorrow.

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.

In math we will start non-standard measurement. They will also work on estimation.

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.


Have an A+ week!
Ms. Klein

Weekly Update Febraury 4-8

Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!




Valentine's Day

* You can bring in your cards for your friends on Wednesday February 13. 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!


We had a fun week of conducting our science experiment about blowing up balloons with baking soda and vinegar and causing a chemical reaction. 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 – A shake and spill game that helps them identify sight words.



We are making great progress with our money study! We continue to practice doing math facts quickly and increasing doubles skills.


Have an A+ week!

Ms. Klein

Weekly Update, January 28 - February 1

The kids are now 102 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!

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 1. 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. Mr. Shah came in to talk about his job as a scientist and help us with our experiment for the science fair! Today in guided reading we learned about the steps in the scientific method and we watched two short Brain Pop videos about it. 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 Friday, February 1, we will 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 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.

In math we are working on data and graphing. This 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, 2/1.”

Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston and Ms. Klein

Weekly Update, January 21 - 25

Hello Awesome First Graders and Amazing First Grade Families!

100th Day Information
The 100th day of school is this Thursday, January 24! We are counting down to the 100th day and the kids are getting very excited. We have some fun 100th day activities planned on Thursday. 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 Thursday, 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!

We learned about Martin Luther King last week and we will continue to study him during our guided reading and read aloud times.

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. 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!

In math we are working on review of 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, 1/25.”

Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston

Computers, 1/18

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

Weekly Update, January 14 - 18

Hello Amazing First Graders and Awesome First Grade Parents!

No School
There is no school on Monday, January 21 in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

100th Day Homework Information
Thursday, January 24 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 Tuesday, January 22. Please let me know if you have any questions.

This week we are having career week and studying 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. 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. We will learn to write "How To" poems for our Martin Luther King, Jr. study and the kids will write a poem on how to be kind. 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 are working on subtraction strategies in math. The 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, 1/18.”

Have an A+ week!
Mrs. Johnston