• Oct302009
    Class News: October 30, 2009

    POSTED AT 02:16 PM

     
    HAPPY HALLOWEEN
     
    I hope that your child has a safe and happy Halloween. Thank you for donating the pumpkins for Pumpkin Day. Students completed various activities about pumpkins today. They measured, weighed and tested their predictions to see if a pumpkin would sink or float in water. They created a pumpkin glyph, and even made an edible pumpkin treat! They also decorated a mini pumpkin to bring home. Ask your child about their favorite activity!

     

    Donations needed for our room: We have several activities coming up that will require some extra supplies. I would be grateful for any donations that you are able to make.

    ~gumdrops

    ~tooth picks

    ~mini marshmallows

    ~paper plates

    ~Styrofoam bowls

    ~colored glitter

     

    Math: EQ- How can a number line help me add and subtract numbers? What do the words skip counting mean? This week we worked on counting forward and backwards on a number line. Students learned that this strategy will help them when they are adding and subtracting numbers. We also practiced skip counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Some students are still struggling with counting by 2’s. We will continue to practice during our calendar time. Please reinforce this concept with your child at home as well.  Next week we will begin our geometry unit.

     

    Language Arts: EQ: How can making connections help me become a better reader?

    This week in language arts we learned that “good readers” make connections to what they are reading.

    We learned that as you make connections during your reading, STOP and THINK about how they help you deepen your understanding of the text.

     

    T-T (text to text) How does the text remind you of another text?

    T-S (text to self) How does the text remind you of your life?

    T-W(text to world) How does the text remind you of the

    world?

    We also talked about blends and digraphs. Students went on a digraph hunt. They looked for words around the room and in their book boxes that began with or ended with sh,th,wh,ch. We made a tree map of blends ((bl,pl,cl,sl) and talked about how they help us when we are sounding out are words.

     

    Writing- EQ: What is a personal narrative?

    This week in writing students began to learn that a personal narrative is a story about their own lives. They learned that the words I, me, my, and mine are words that are used in a personal narrative. Students brainstormed possible topics to write about and they learned how to narrow their topic down to write about one event. Next week, students will begin to write a narrative on their chosen topic.

     

    Social Studies- EQ: How has Benjamin Franklin contributed to our world today?

    We continued to learn about Benjamin Franklin this week. We talked about Franklin’s character traits, his famous quotes, and how his inventions are used in our lives today. On Monday, we will have a first grade museum tour of their projects as an ending to our unit on Benjamin Franklin. Students will get to see how other first grade students celebrate the life of Benjamin Franklin.

     

    Science: EQ: How are magnets important in our daily life?

    Next week we will begin our unit on magnets.

     

    Important Dates/Reminders:

    Tuesday, November 3rd- No School

    Wednesday, November 4th- Domino’s Night

    Thursday, November 5th- PTA Meeting and 5th grade performance

     

    Specials Schedule: Nov.2-6

    M- Art

    T- No School

    W-PE

    Th-Technology

    F-PE

    Be the first to rate this post
    • Currently 0/5 Stars.
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    0 Comments Add a comment

    Oct162009
    Class News: October 16th, 2009

    POSTED AT 09:44 PM

    WHATS HAPPENING IN OUR ROOM?
      
    What We Worked On This Week:
     
    Fall Festival: Fall is definitely in the air! It was great to see everyone tonight at the Fall Festival! Thanks to everyone who volunteered! We had a great turnout!
     
    Benjamin Franklin Projects: Wow! I was so impressed with the students projects. They were AWESOME!!! From the time students came in the room that morning, BEN was on their minds! The students were so excited to present them to the class. Each project was unique in it's own way! Thank you parents for helping your child make this project a success!
    ***Check out pictures of the projects under the Photo Gallery tab!***
     
    Report Cards: Today, your child brought home their first report card. Please sign the signature card and return it along with the manilla envelope on Monday. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know.
     
    Math: EQ: What can I do with my numbers?
    This week in math we learned about fact families. A fact family has three members (3 numbers). The numbers are used to create two addition sentences and two subtraction sentences. Students used dominoes to create their own fact families on candy corn. We also learned about greater than and less than. Students made an alligator to help them remember the symbols for greater than and less than. Ask your child which number the alligator eats!
     
    Language Arts- EQ: How do I become a great reader?
    This week in langauge arts we read the story "Once Upon a Time." Students learned what a folktale was and how using the words "once upon a time," usually means the story took place along time ago. We also learned about antonyms, synonyms, and ABC order. Students created antonym flip books, synonym bridge maps, and they learned how to put words into ABC order. Ask your child what an antonym and synonym are!
     
    Writing- EQ:What does a good writer look like in our classroom?
    In writing this week, we continued to work on beginning, middle, and end. Next week students will learn what a "mental image" is and they will get to create their own ending to a story we read in class.
     
    Social Studies- EQ: How has Benjamin Franklin contributed to our world today?
    On Monday, we completed a KWL chart about Benjamin Franklin. A KWL chart tells what the students Know, what they Want to know, and what they have Learned. At the end of our unit, we will fill in what they learned. Students began to learn about some of Franklin's inventions. Next week, we will learn about some of Franklin's famous sayings.
     
    Important Dates and Reminders:
    Monday, October 19th- Stevi B's Night (4-8pm)
    Tuesday, October 20th- Pumpkin Projects due
    Tuesday, October 20th- Picture Retake Day
    Wednesday, October 21st- 12:30 Early Release
    Thursday, October 22nd- Bus Driver's Appreciation Breakfast (please remember to send in your cards)
     
    Specials Schedule: Oct.19-23
    M- Technology
    T- PE
    W-Music
    Th- PE
    F-Art
    Be the first to rate this post
    • Currently 0/5 Stars.
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    0 Comments Add a comment

    Oct102009
    Class News: October 9, 2009

    POSTED AT 11:58 AM

    WHATS HAPPENING IN OUR ROOM?
      
    What We Worked On This Week:
     
    We started off our week by making Cooperation Soup! Mrs. Lighstone has been working with the students on cooperation and making soup was a great way to end the unit! Thank you for sending in the items to make our soup a success.
     
    This week also ended our first nine weeks of school. On Friday, your child will bring home their 1st report card.
     
    Math: EQ: How can I model a subtraction sentence? This week we worked on subtraction. Students used manipulatives and counters to model subtraction sentences. Students also learned how to use a number line to count back. At the end of the week, students created a fall tree and fall leaves. They wrote a subtraction word problem to match their picture. Students also completed several math assessments. Next week we will work on fact families and greater than/less than.
     
    Language Arts- EQ: How do I become a great reader? This week we read another story about Crabby Cat. We talked about strategies that students could use to help them figure out new words in a story. We also talked about identiying important events in a story and how we can include them in a retelling. Next week we will review antonyms and learn about synonyms. We will work on ABC order and using a dictionary.
     
    Writing- EQ:What does a good writer look like in our classroom? In writing this week, we worked on using the words first, next, then, and last. Students worked together to create a story using those transitional words. Students also learned how to use the hand model. The thumb stands for a beginning. The middle fingers stand for the middle of a story and the pinky stands for the end of a story. As a class, we wrote a story using this model. Ask your students what our story was about!
     
    Social Studies- EQ: How has Benjamin Franklin contributed to our world today? I am looking forward to seeing the Benjamin Franklin projects this week!
     
    Important Dates and Reminders:
    *Please remember to initial your child's folder daily.
    *Benjamin Franklin projects are due on Tuesday.
    *Fall Festival is Friday, October 16th (I will be there from 5:45-6:30 working the tunnels and slide)
    *Report Cards go home Friday. Please make sure to sign the signature card and send the signature card and envelope back on Monday.
    *Please make sure your child is arriving to school on time. We have had a lot of tardies lately.
    *October 12, 2009--November 18, 2009 - Food Drive
     
    Suggested Food Item Donations:  $15 Gift Certificates from a local grocer for a turkey, dressing mix, cranberry sauce, canned or instant potatoes, canned green vegetables, canned yellow vegetables, non-refrigerated pie shell and pumpkin pie mix, dried or canned milk, roasting pan, dried beans, peanut butter, canned meat-tuna or ham, rice, pasta, cereal, soup bread, rolls, canned fruit
     
    Specials Schedule: Oct.12-16
    M- PE
    T- Music
    W-PE
    Th- Art
    F-PE
     
    Be the first to rate this post
    • Currently 0/5 Stars.
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    0 Comments Add a comment

    Oct032009
    Class News: October 3, 2009

    POSTED AT 10:09 AM

     
    WHATS HAPPENING IN OUR ROOM?
      
    What We Worked On This Week:
     
    We had another exciting week in Room 108! Thank you to our garden mom, Mrs. Spencer, for helping us clean out our garden plot! On Tuesday, we were able to clean out our garden and plant pansies and bulbs. Students really enjoyed planting flowers and our garden plot looks BEAUTIFUL! If you have an opportunity to go by and check it out, please do! We are very proud of it and would not have been able to do it without Mrs. Spencers help!
     
    We also worked on our scarecrow for the Fall Festival. Students worked together and with Mrs. Spencer to put our recycled materials to work. Thank you for sending in recycled materials for our scarecrow!

    Math- EQ: How can I make fair trades with coins to 30 cents? Students completed money centers this week and will complete their money assessment on Monday. We will spend next week working on subtraction, greater than/less than, and fact families.
     
    Language Arts- EQ: How do I become a great reader? This week's story entitled "Eat Your Vegetables," was an informational story where the author tried to persuade the reader to eat vegetables. We talked about different kinds of vegetables and why they are important to eat. The students made vegetable riddles and created a vegetable picture, on the computer, and wrote about it.  This story ties in great with our Cooperation Soup we will make on Monday.

    Writing    -     EQ:What does a good writer look like in our classroom?  Everyone should be using capital letters at the beginning of a sentence, proper spacing between words, and correct punctuation at the end of a sentence.  When your child practices writing at home make sure you are seeing these things!      We are beginning to work on writing stories with a beginning, middle and end.  One of the first things a good writer does is select a topic. Then the writer must think of the details to be included in the story. To help us organize our thoughts we will learn to use a graphic organizer. 
     
    Social Studies- EQ: What are landforms? This week the students learned about the six different landforms. We watched a video streaming video about landforms and the students created a flip book where they illustrated each landform. Our next topic in Social Studies will Benjamin Franklin. Be on the lookout for a take home project about Ben Franklin!
     
    Reminders:
    1. Please remember to send in your item for our Cooperation Soup!
    2. PLEASE work with your child on their weekly spelling words. After this weeks spelling test, I realized that a lot of students are not practicing their words at home.
     
    Specials Schedule: Oct.5-9
    M- Music
    T- PE
    W-Art
    Th- PE
    F-Technology
    Be the first to rate this post
    • Currently 0/5 Stars.
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    0 Comments Add a comment

Include comments...

Last Modified: Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009
 
 © 2010 TeacherWeb, Inc.

Content on this site is the responsibility of the Subscriber. Additional information is available in the TeacherWeb Terms & Conditions.