First Day!

Well the first day has come and gone...and boy am I tired! Here is a quick rundown of what we did today (because I'm sure it might be too much to remember!):

First the students came in and found their desks. They had a few back to school pages to work on as their classmates came in. Then we went through the supplies! From the minute they walked in, they were ready to get them out! If you are in need of a supply list, go to the parent info tab above and click on supply list. I hope everyone can have their supplies in by Wednesday.

After the giant task of supplies, we practiced hallway and stairway procedures. Now that your child is on the lower level at CGE, they will be using the stairs a lot! We don't want any injuries, so we practiced safety! We also checked out the cafeteria to find our table.

When we came back from our quick tour, we read First Day Jitters. We talked about the different feelings that children and teachers might have on the first day and made a class chart. Then each student created a picture of their face showing their feelings on the first day. I forgot to take a picture of the chart we made - I'll try to add it later. Most of the children were happy and excited to begin first grade!

I then took a picture of each student because we use pictures for quite a few things and they always look so nice on the first day :) Then it was time for lunch! Boy were they hungry - even at 10:50! Recess came next and it was a hot one!

Next we got to meet Owen, the class tortoise. Owen was pretty outgoing and really seemed to like Vincent. He crawled towards him three times in a row!

We then went to specials class. There are only four special classes but we have five first grades, which means I divide up my class into four groups and they go with another class. I will be sending home the schedule Monday so you know where your child goes everyday.

We finished the day by making a short book about first grade! We also took a class picture. Look at all those smiling faces!

Have a great weekend and get lots of sleep for our busy week next week!

Preparing for August!

Well the end of summer is quickly approaching! Teachers head back to school on August 1st and students will begin another year on Friday, August 3rd. I am really excited to meet my new group and hope that you are ready for a fun year!

I have visited the classroom a couple times this week to get it straightened back out. I would take more pictures but it isn't clean enough for the world to see :) Here are a few sneak peeks:

I probably need one more day and I will have it ready for my new students! Tomorrow though, I am off to Chicago for a conference with a few of the other first grade teachers. Hope I learn some good stuff for this year! See you soon!

 

Kite Day

Last week we read the story The Kite: Days with Frog and Toad. To celebrate the last day before spring break (and to have a little fun), first grade had Kite Day at the end of Friday. Thursday night was full of rain and storms so I was afraid it might not happen. Friday however, was great weather! Many kids brought kites and I brought a few as well. We went outside and after I showed them quickly how to get their kite up and away, they were off! The wind wasn't too great; it kept coming in short spurts. Several kids got a few good runs in though! The first grade teachers quickly realized that there were too many of us out at once but it wasn't too bad. They all seemed to have lots of fun!

 

http://youtu.be/EraqAv-e0zs

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm a little late but better late than never :)

Last Tuesday was Valentine's Day and boy was it fun! One of the quotes from the end of the day went something like this: "This was the best party I've ever had!"

We started the day by making special Valentine's for our 6th grade reading buddies in Mr. Clouse's class. They were several steps involved and the kids listen great! Aren't these cute?!

We also decorated our bags to hold Valentine's from our friends. The kids also made a very special Valentine for their parents. I forgot to take pictures the rest of the day but here is apicture of what they look (somewhat) like:

We finished the day with our party! The class had fun cupcakes and fruit punch. They also passed their Valentine's out. We also danced a little to some Kidz Bop while reading the Valentine's cards. It was a really fun day!

100's Day!

Today was the 100th day of school! To celebrate, we did several fun activities! First the children brought in a collection of 100 items from home. Check out the video to see what they brought:

 

http://youtu.be/4-VosKKWHHQ

Then we created a list of 100 words!

We then made a poster made out of our hands! 100 of them!

Finally, we all made our own ladybugs with 100 dots!

We had a really fun and exciting day! We're now over halfway to second grade!

 

Water Habitats

Last week and this week we will be learning about water habitats and the plants and animals that live in them. Last week we learned about different wetland habitats like bogs, swamps, and marshes. This week we will be looking closer at ocean and aquarium habitats. Before we started, I asked the children to think of one animal that ilves in a water habitat. They had to label the animal, draw the animal, and write one sentence about which habitat they thought it lived in. Here are a couple examples:

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!