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

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