We are Thankful

Tuesday in class each student created a turkey that told a few things each child was tankful for. They each read what they wrote and we made a video! Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/wC_43_Zrt80

Turkeys in Disguise!

This week's homework is to disguise a turkey so that he/she won't be eaten on Thanksgiving! The homework is due Wednesday. If you want to see some examples, check these out! (They are from another classroom.) Can't wait to see what they look like!

Alligator Math

Last week we worked on number sense with numbers to 100. We spent a couple days practicing greater than, less than, and equal to. We had a fun song to practice using those math words as well as learning which number is greater than or less than. I just found the video, so enjoy listening to your child sing along!

http://youtu.be/kWOwpS9Z9Wg

Crickets!

This week we are starting a new chapter with science. We will be studying plants, animals, and habitats for the next few weeks. To start out, each group received a cricket! Rather than type out what we did on Tuesday, read Alex's Writer's Notebook:

Each group also named their cricket. We have Max, Jiminey, Cricky Bubble, Rockstar, Colts, and Hoppy.

We will be observing the crickets all week, looking for movement and change. We will also watch them eat and drink. Friday we will have a release party outside!

Family Night

This past Tuesday we had our first of four Family Nights! Our first event was math night! The kids and families arrives, enteredt the estimation contest, grabbed popcorn and juice, and played assorted math games. It was so fun seeing first grade friends introduce their families to each other and to see parents meet other parents. Our class had 12 students and their families come (the most of all five classes!). There were almost 100 people total in attendance! Four students won the estimation contest and took home candy corn and vanilla caramels! We hope you can make it to the second Family Night, Wednesday December 14th! Thanks again to all who could make it!

Computers

In case you didn't know, I love technology! First graders love technology too (in case you didn't know that either)! We have been to the computer labe several times this year so far in addition to using the computers in our classroom. Some people ask me whether or not first graders can do much on a computer. My answer is "Of course they can!" While it definitely takes time and practice, we are learning so much already! If you are wondering what we learn about computers in first grade, here are a few things:

logging into the computer

accessing the internet

bookmarking favorites

finding the address bar and typing a new address

access Microsoft Word

typing (capital letters, sentences, using punctuation)

adding a picture to a word document

printing

These are all things that adults can do in a cinch! First graders however have to learn these skills and they have done great!

They even got to show off to our superintendent, Dr. Butts, and the school board! They did such an awesome job!

 

Candy Corn Graphing

A couple weeks ago, as we were wrapping up our graphing unit, the children had a special treat! We were going to practice graphing using candy corn! All the children were given three different pieces of candy corn: regular, chocolate, and pumpkins. They had to make a tally chart, a pictograph, and a bar graph. The final test: eat the candy corn!

Fun treat to practice graphing!

Eagle Creek

A couple weeks ago we had our first field trip! We went to Eagle Creek Park. When we first arrived, we had to drive for a couple minutes to get to the Discovery Center. Along the way the children pointed out all the different color leaves they saw. It was really a perfect time to visit the park. The park had arrainged three different stations for the children to visit. One station was about Indiana wildlife, one was about insects, and the third was a nature hike. After the three stations, the children had a picnic lunch and time to play on the playground. Due to a little time issues and buses missing the road, some groups were able to do the nature scavenger hunt and some ran out of time. In all, we had a great field trip! It takes a while to get a lot of pictures loaded into the blog, so instead, I made a video! Enjoy!

 

 

Reading Survey

Attention Parents: If you would like to earn your child 5 Glen Gold, please take 2-3 minutes to fill out this important survey that the first grade teachers have created! The survey is related to the paperback books that your child brings home Monday through Thursday. These books are on your child's current reading level and we would like to know your opinion on them :) Fill out the survey and your child can earn 5 Glen Gold! Thank you so much!

Here is the link:

http://4225817.polldaddy.com/s/leveled-reading-books

 

The Big Day!

Tomorrow is our big field trip to Eagle Creek Park! The children are really excited and I am too! To be ready for the field trip, please have your child wear play-type clothes and tennis shoes, a red shirt, and a light jacket (just in case). Please also send a sack lunch with them that can be thrown away. Please do not send a lunchbox or real silverware that they have to carry around. I will have plastic silverware if they need it! Also, please no pop :)

The buses leave at 9:15 so if you are chaperoning, please be here on time to ride the bus! We will go on a nature hike, we will learn about Indiana animals, and learn about insects and go on a bug hunt! We will have a picnic lunch and visit a playground and finish the day with a nature scavenger hunt! We will return to Chapel Glen by 1:30.

I can't wait to upload lots of pictures!

 

Coming Up...

Picture Day is this Friday! Please be sure to have your picture money turned in. New this year: you can order your pictures online! Go here and the code you need is 502802.

Field Trip money for our trip to Eagle Creek is also due Friday! Students are $8 and parents that volunteer to chaperone are an additional $3. Please also make sure to send in the permission slip. You can download an extra permission slip here.

As always, don't forget to study the spelling words, sentences, and word wall words!

Apple Day

Today was the much anticipated Apple Day! This week was a review week for reading and language arts. We reviewed spelling words and word wall words but decided to focus on apples and the life cycles of apples. All week the kids were getting really excited for Apple Day. Each child was asked to bring in an apple today.

First we used a recipe and made apple butter. It take 5-6 hours for the apple butter to cook, so we got it started right away! The kids were excited all day about eating their apple butter and drinking their apple cider! It also made the room smell extra good today!

After doing a few tests, it was time to get started! First we looked at our apples and made observations about the outside of our apples (what color, how they feel, etc). We divided into groups of similar apples.

[caption id="attachment_1031" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Green Apples"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1032" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Red Apples"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1033" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Red and Yellow Apples"][/caption]

Red and Green Apples

Then we cut into our apples to see the star shape that the seeds make!

  

 

Then it was time to eat our apples!

[caption id="attachment_1038" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is the bite that pulled Dorien's tooth out!"][/caption]

After specials, the apple butter was ready! It was a little runnier than regular apple butter but the kids loved it!

In all, it was a really fun day! I hope your child came home and told you all about it!

Field Trip

First grade will be going on their first field trip Tuesday, October 11th to Eagle Creek Park! I sent home the permission slip today. Please have the permission slip returned with the $8 admission and bus fee by next Friday, October 7th! If you would like to chaperone, the fee for parents is $3. The children will be going on a nature walk, visit the nature center, and go on a bug hunt! We will also have a picnic lunch and enjoy a little play time on the playground. We will finish the fun day with a nature scavenger hunt! The kids are so excited!

Little Critter is Lost!

You may have noticed that Monday's homework was not Little Critter! I have misplaced my Little Critter homework for this week :( So instead of wasting more paper I sent home an apple reading sheet on Monday (that the kids did really well on!) and Wednesday's homework will also be an apple reading sheet. Sorry for the confusion this week!

Resources

Technology is everywhere! If you're reading this blog then you definitely know it! Kids use to get textbooks in school and maybe workbooks. Now, however, you can get so many more resources as a teacher and now even as a student or parent! I want to share with you some of the resources you can use at home for extra practice or even just for fun!

Math

Currently our math series is published by Houghton Mifflin. They have a site that has several math games for the kids to play. You can access this site here.

HM also has a site that can be helpful for parents. You can visit it by clicking here.

Reading

Macmillan McGraw-Hill publishes the reading series that we use and it is the Treasures Reading series. The first grade reading series has 5 hardback books, divided up by units. You can access the first grade links by clicking on the correct book/unit here.

Science

You can view many resources for our science series, published by Pearson. You can watch videos, read some of the lessons, and watch virtual labs! I have created a login for each student so they can all access the content. Their login user name is their first and last name (no capitals or spaces - example: bobsmith). The password for all students is room37. You can access the login page here.

I really hope you can take the time to look around a little and hopefully show your child at home. Many children pick up on technology very quickly and youmight only have to show them once or twice! Then they can just get on, have fun, and learn! I am always available to help you navigate any of these resources as well as share others!