May 20, 2012
What have the 1M Owls been up to?
Animals and Habitats Unit
We have been busy learning about different habitats and animal groups. So far we have learned about mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles. We learned all about the woodlands, rainforest, and desert too! We played some neat interactive trivia games on the smartboard to reinforce what we have learned.
We also have been reading non-fiction books about animals and habitats in our Guided Reading groups. The children have been working on reading for information and rereading for information. We have also been learning how to navigate through a non-fiction book. We know how to use the Table of Contents, Index, Glossary, captions, and we learned that we can use pictures, sidebars, captions, charts, and diagrams to find out even more information!
The children each selected an animal and with the help of Mrs. Burg and myself they completed a research report. They did a wonderful job!! I can't wait to see how their animal habitat projects come out! Then we used a wonderful website called Pebble Go and the children were able to find out even more information about their animals using this different source. In addition the children are independently using the site to create an animal research book. Stay tuned...
Publishing Ball
Our Publishing Ball was enchanting! The children did such a magical job writing their own versions of Cinderella. They were so happy to share their stories with you and you could see how proud they felt!!! Thanks for coming!
We read our stories to the 4th grade too!
Parting is such sweet sorrow...
Our mealworms have turned into beetles. We set them free. The children loved watching them go through the life cycle. They already miss them!
Math
We just wrapped up our unit on Measurement and Capacity. The children loved having Flipping Frog Races and measuring how far their frogs jumped. Check out the pics below.
We learned how to measure in inches using a ruler and a tape measure, use a pan balance and scale to measure weight, and we learned how to measure using cups, pint, quarts, and gallons. We used Super Gallon Guy/Girl and the Land of Gallon to help us remember how many cups in a pint, etc... Ask your child about it! We also started Time and will continue with telling time this week.
Poetry
Our class has been having a great time learning about different kinds of Poetry and writing their own poems too! We have written acrostic poems, color poems, couplets, diamante poems, 5 W poems, and even free verse. Reading poems is a great way to practice reading with fluency. We have been doing this in class and we will be using Sonic Pics on the iPad to practice reading our very own poems with fluency and expression. Be on the look out for an email with a special poem...
The Lower School Spring Concert was spectacular! The children did an amazing job singing! Here are some pictures below.
We also had some special guests come in and read to our class! Ask your child all about it!!
April 17, 2012
What have the 1M O.W.L.S Been Up To?
We are having so much fun in First Grade! Read on to see what new and interesting things we are doing in our class...
Technology News
We are so excited to have a Smartboard in our classroom! We have been using it for calendar routine in the morning and we have used it for many Math and Science lessons throughout the week. The children LOVED using an interactive dice to play Roll a Fraction. They were able to learn about what the numerator is and the denominator and create fractions using this fun tool!
Science
We started our Animal Kingdom/Habitats unit. We will be working on this unit for the rest of the school year. We started off by learning about the concept of Living and Non-Living. The children did a fun activity using our Smartboard and then we went outside and used a checklist to search for living and non-living things.
Then we learned what a habitat is and what a good habitat needs. Today we went into the Science Lab and we created habitats for our pet mealworms! Each child got their very own pet mealworm and created a habitat for it using oatmeal and an apple slice. We named our mealworms and we observed them too. We did a few fun experiments with them, such as blowing on our mealworms, tapping the table near the mealworms, and we even used a dropper to drop a little water on them! We discussed our observations and recorded the data in our mealworm journals. The children had so much fun! Ask them to tell you more about it!!
Meet our Pet Mealworms!
Fairy Tales
Once upon a time we started our fairy tale unit and now it is coming to an end. We finished up our unit by reading many different versions of Cinderella. We used a map to locate the different countries that the different versions came from. We compared and contrasted the versions and we analyzed characters. We just started publishing our own Cinderella stories, which are enchanting! Stay tuned for information about our Publishing Ball!! The children used puppets to act out different fairy tales that they created with a partner. We also finished up our digital storytelling project where the children wrote their own Three Little... fairy tale and then practiced reading it with expression. Each child made a recording of their fairy tale. The children did a great job writing and reading their stories with expression. I will email the recordings on Friday.
Reading
We had a great time learning about making Inferences. We kicked off learning about inferences by solving a mystery. We broke up into four groups and each group got an envelope of mysterious evidence. Together they had to make a list of the evidence and then infer what/why it was used. Then we got together as a whole class and shared our evidence. We puts the pieces together and solved the mystery of what Tim and his Grandma did on the snowy day! We practiced using inferences in our Guided Reading groups and in our centers. We also worked on visualization.
We began Literature Circles. Each child is assigned a role, such as Artful Artist(visualizes), Connector, Detective(asks questions), Word Wizard, and Super Reader. We read a section or chapter of our guided reading book and each child is responsible for their role. Then we discuss the story using our information to help us.
Fun with Fractions
We had a blast working with fractions. The children used playdough to show fair shares, made fraction pizzas, played fraction concentration, and roll a fraction.
We created fractionpillars and fraction kites to also reinforce the skills learned. The children used the Smartboard to play some fun interactive fractions games. We had a fun time using bubblegum to practice fractions. We all tried blowing bubbles and then wrote a fraction to show how many students at our table could and could not blow a bubble. Here are some pics...
The Quilt Project
The children have been busy sewing their quilt squares together. Please send in all quilt squares by Monday. Jayne's aunt will be sewing our quilt together. Thanks so much for helping out with this fun project! The children are so excited!
We even created a paper quilt. Each child designed a paper quilt square using different shapes. Then they compared what shapes they used and we put all of the squares together.
Trips
Our trip to see Seussical is this Friday, 4/20. We will NOT be eating lunch in the AP Room so please send in a lunch from home. We will be eating in the classroom at 11:00 and then leaving for the trip at 11:45.
On Monday, 4/23, we will be going to Kateri. Please make sure your child is dressed down in clothes suitable for a nature walk. Make sure they wear closed toe sneakers/shoes. It is an all day trip so please send a lunch with your child.
Technology News
We are so excited to have a Smartboard in our classroom! We have been using it for calendar routine in the morning and we have used it for many Math and Science lessons throughout the week. The children LOVED using an interactive dice to play Roll a Fraction. They were able to learn about what the numerator is and the denominator and create fractions using this fun tool!
Science
We started our Animal Kingdom/Habitats unit. We will be working on this unit for the rest of the school year. We started off by learning about the concept of Living and Non-Living. The children did a fun activity using our Smartboard and then we went outside and used a checklist to search for living and non-living things.
Then we learned what a habitat is and what a good habitat needs. Today we went into the Science Lab and we created habitats for our pet mealworms! Each child got their very own pet mealworm and created a habitat for it using oatmeal and an apple slice. We named our mealworms and we observed them too. We did a few fun experiments with them, such as blowing on our mealworms, tapping the table near the mealworms, and we even used a dropper to drop a little water on them! We discussed our observations and recorded the data in our mealworm journals. The children had so much fun! Ask them to tell you more about it!!
Meet our Pet Mealworms!
Once upon a time we started our fairy tale unit and now it is coming to an end. We finished up our unit by reading many different versions of Cinderella. We used a map to locate the different countries that the different versions came from. We compared and contrasted the versions and we analyzed characters. We just started publishing our own Cinderella stories, which are enchanting! Stay tuned for information about our Publishing Ball!! The children used puppets to act out different fairy tales that they created with a partner. We also finished up our digital storytelling project where the children wrote their own Three Little... fairy tale and then practiced reading it with expression. Each child made a recording of their fairy tale. The children did a great job writing and reading their stories with expression. I will email the recordings on Friday.
Reading
We had a great time learning about making Inferences. We kicked off learning about inferences by solving a mystery. We broke up into four groups and each group got an envelope of mysterious evidence. Together they had to make a list of the evidence and then infer what/why it was used. Then we got together as a whole class and shared our evidence. We puts the pieces together and solved the mystery of what Tim and his Grandma did on the snowy day! We practiced using inferences in our Guided Reading groups and in our centers. We also worked on visualization.
We began Literature Circles. Each child is assigned a role, such as Artful Artist(visualizes), Connector, Detective(asks questions), Word Wizard, and Super Reader. We read a section or chapter of our guided reading book and each child is responsible for their role. Then we discuss the story using our information to help us.
Fun with Fractions
We had a blast working with fractions. The children used playdough to show fair shares, made fraction pizzas, played fraction concentration, and roll a fraction.
We created fractionpillars and fraction kites to also reinforce the skills learned. The children used the Smartboard to play some fun interactive fractions games. We had a fun time using bubblegum to practice fractions. We all tried blowing bubbles and then wrote a fraction to show how many students at our table could and could not blow a bubble. Here are some pics...
The Quilt Project
The children have been busy sewing their quilt squares together. Please send in all quilt squares by Monday. Jayne's aunt will be sewing our quilt together. Thanks so much for helping out with this fun project! The children are so excited!
We even created a paper quilt. Each child designed a paper quilt square using different shapes. Then they compared what shapes they used and we put all of the squares together.
Trips
Our trip to see Seussical is this Friday, 4/20. We will NOT be eating lunch in the AP Room so please send in a lunch from home. We will be eating in the classroom at 11:00 and then leaving for the trip at 11:45.
On Monday, 4/23, we will be going to Kateri. Please make sure your child is dressed down in clothes suitable for a nature walk. Make sure they wear closed toe sneakers/shoes. It is an all day trip so please send a lunch with your child.
March 4, 2012
What have the 1M O.W.L.S Been Up To?
We had a super time at Jenkinson's Aquarium! We had a tour guide show us all around the aquarium and we went to the Touch Station and actually got to touch a sea urchin, seastar, and a horseshoe crab. Then we went into the aquarium's classroom and learned even more about penguins. We all got to meet an African penguin named Onyx up close. Thanks so much to Ms. Taylor, Mrs.Payami, and Mrs. Mansukhani for chaperoning. The children and I really appreciated all of your help. I have posted some pictures from the trip as well as a short video that is a part of the Smilebox below. Enjoy!
The First Grade had a great 101st Day of School! They did such a fantastic job on their 101 t-shirts! We did lots of fun activities that centered around the number 101. It was a fun day! Here are some pics of their ADORABLE shirts!
The children have been having such an enchanting time during our Fairy Tale Unit! We have read different versions of The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rumpelstilskin. We also read a few different fractured fairy tales, which the children LOVED! We have been continuing to work on retelling a story, Rising and Falling Action of a story, Problem and Solution, and we began analyzing fairy tale characters and making inferences. We made piggy glyphs, wrote to characters, participated in Reader's Theater, and sequenced the events of fairy tales. We have also continued working on using decoding skills and reading with expression. We also began creating our own fractured fairy tale puppet shows during Literacy Centers. Ask your child about it. They had a blast! We used a really neat app on the iPad, called Sonic Pics to do a digital retelling of a story. This week we will make a digital story based on the fairy tales that we wrote ourselves!Then the children used a rubric to make sure they used expression, literary/story language, and that their story had a beginning, middle, and end. It should be a lot of fun!!When we are finished with the digital stories I will email them to you... Stay tuned...
In Math, we finished working with 2D shapes. We learned about symmetry, congruent figures, and polygons. We made polygons out of straws. We began working with 3D shapes. We learned the attributes of 3D shapes and we sorted the shapes by whether they could roll, stack, etc. We went on a 3D shape search around the school.
In Writing, we finished up our Three Little... stories and worked on the special digital storytelling project which I mentioned above. We also have been working on using the 1,2,3 FCA, which means retell the story in the correct order and the 2D FCA, which means add 2 details about the topic.
We began our Quilts theme, which will be integrated into all subject areas. We learned what a quilt is and how it is made. In Social Studies We learned how quilts played a part in the Underground Railroad and we learned about the different quilt squares and their meanings. The children were fascinated by this. We used 2D shapes and each child created a symmetric quilt square in Math. The children also created their own quilt squares and named them too. We read many wonderful books about quilts such as The Quiltmaker's gift and Clara's Sweet Freedom Quilt.
I found a great website called Sum Dog. It has fun Math games to reinforce Math skills. I created a username and password for each child to use to play games. I will send home the user name and password to you on Tuesday. Please let me know what you think of the website. I tried it out on my son and he enjoyed it.
Have a great week!!
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The children have been having such an enchanting time during our Fairy Tale Unit! We have read different versions of The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rumpelstilskin. We also read a few different fractured fairy tales, which the children LOVED! We have been continuing to work on retelling a story, Rising and Falling Action of a story, Problem and Solution, and we began analyzing fairy tale characters and making inferences. We made piggy glyphs, wrote to characters, participated in Reader's Theater, and sequenced the events of fairy tales. We have also continued working on using decoding skills and reading with expression. We also began creating our own fractured fairy tale puppet shows during Literacy Centers. Ask your child about it. They had a blast! We used a really neat app on the iPad, called Sonic Pics to do a digital retelling of a story. This week we will make a digital story based on the fairy tales that we wrote ourselves!Then the children used a rubric to make sure they used expression, literary/story language, and that their story had a beginning, middle, and end. It should be a lot of fun!!When we are finished with the digital stories I will email them to you... Stay tuned...
In Math, we finished working with 2D shapes. We learned about symmetry, congruent figures, and polygons. We made polygons out of straws. We began working with 3D shapes. We learned the attributes of 3D shapes and we sorted the shapes by whether they could roll, stack, etc. We went on a 3D shape search around the school.
In Writing, we finished up our Three Little... stories and worked on the special digital storytelling project which I mentioned above. We also have been working on using the 1,2,3 FCA, which means retell the story in the correct order and the 2D FCA, which means add 2 details about the topic.
We began our Quilts theme, which will be integrated into all subject areas. We learned what a quilt is and how it is made. In Social Studies We learned how quilts played a part in the Underground Railroad and we learned about the different quilt squares and their meanings. The children were fascinated by this. We used 2D shapes and each child created a symmetric quilt square in Math. The children also created their own quilt squares and named them too. We read many wonderful books about quilts such as The Quiltmaker's gift and Clara's Sweet Freedom Quilt.
I found a great website called Sum Dog. It has fun Math games to reinforce Math skills. I created a username and password for each child to use to play games. I will send home the user name and password to you on Tuesday. Please let me know what you think of the website. I tried it out on my son and he enjoyed it.
Have a great week!!
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