Weekly Wrap-Up (On Time)

It was a big week here in first grade yet again. This included field trips, day of service, raptors and a PBIS fun day…oh my! The field trip to Little Mermaid was a smashing success, minus a lot of “ EWWWWW’s” when Ariel had her final kiss at the end. I would like to thank Ruth for volunteering to chaperone this trip. The kids had a blast. Wednesday saw us making up our day of service from that impromptu blizzard last week. The class did a great job of cleaning up the grassy median between the parking lots. Thursday was the first day in quite a while where we did not have ANYTHING going on in the building. It was a nice change of pace to be in the classroom and get to a lot of curriculum. Friday included a visit from the Leslie Science Center and their raptors. The kids enjoyed seeing these magnificent animals up close and personal. Finally, on Friday we had our annual PBIS Fun Day. This is a great event where we celebrate all the fabulous work the kids have done this year exhibiting the PBIS principles of safety, responsibility and respect.



Next week we have our NWEA testing beginning again. We also have a upcoming field trip to the Botantical Gardens in a few weeks. If you would like to chaperone please let me know. Also take note that you will need to send in a lunch with your child, or indicate to me that you would like a sack lunch from school. If you have any questions about any of these events please do not hesitate to drop me a line. Now that the housekeeping issues are over let us get to the HIGHLGIHTS!!!





Math:

In math this week we tackled the beginning stages of fractions. This included dividing items in half and into quarters. We also spent several days working on an open response problem that also included equal shares. I loved how the class responded to both days of the open-response problem. Finally, on Friday we worked on taking existing shapes to create new shapes. This involved a lot of cutting and pasting, so the kids were thrilled. I cannot wait to see what next week will bring us.



Phonics:

In phonics this week we pretty much focused on review. We have gone through most of our phonics curriculum for the year, so we will spend time working on reviewing and reinforcing concepts that were already taught. This week saw us work more with diagraphs and clusters. We also worked on our spelling words for the week.



Science:

We were able to catch up with our weather journals this week, which was a positive. We also discussed wind and its effect on items. I look forward to revisiting this topic next week. Also, next week we will dive back into our Collecting and Examining Life unit, which promises to be a whole lot of fun.



Social Studies:

We began a new unit in social studies this week that deals with neighborhoods. The class had an opportunity early in the week to sketch out some neighborhood characteristics in their journals.




As always this was merely the highlights of what we got to this week. It is so difficult to encompass 35 hours of classroom time into one wrap-up, but if you have any questions please let me know. It was a great week in the classroom and I look forward to next week and the adventures it will bring…..until then…all told.

Belated Weekly Wrap-Up

In all the hustle and bustle of last week I realize I did not get this up on the blog.  My deepest apologies.

It was a very, very, very busy week here on planet first grade. Let’s run down the week. Monday saw us practice our lockdown procedure. Tuesday morning had us at Hands on Museum. Thank you so much to Anna and Keith for chaperoning that fabulous trip. The kids would not have had nearly as much fun without your volunteering efforts. Tuesday afternoon had us in the earth dome presentation in the gym. This was a great event where the kids got to see a 20 foot tall model of the earth. We even got to go inside! The kids had an absolute blast and on top of the field trip that morning my guess is you have some tired kids that evening. Wednesday was supposed to be day of service, but an impromptu blizzard called that off. I mean seriously…a blizzard in late April!?! Thursday was the International Festival and the fashion show, which was terrific. Friday had us practice a fire drill. I mean this was one busy week. I am going to keep the weekly wrap up short this week because a lot of our work revolved around International Festival preparation. I look forward to diving back into everything next week. International Festival is such a wonderful event that comes about every two years her at Bryant. This one went off great and I was thrilled with how well the class did during all of our work. Thank you to everyone for supporting this wonderful event. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please let me know and until next week…all told.

Lock Down Drill Today

We had our last lock down drill of the year today.  I know I said it was supposed to be on Friday, but looks like I got that confused with a fire drill.

The lock down went well and the class did a great job.  Today we practiced what we would do if we needed to leave the building.  This included us running out the back door and all the way up to the large field adjacent to the building.  We talked about how this would allow us to see if anyone was coming and possibly move towards a business on Ellsworth road if necessary.  After we came back to the classroom for a debrief I got a lot of "what if" questions from the kids.  I summarized these by basically stating that a lock down drill is all about putting as many barriers between the "bad person" and us as possible.  This may include desks and chairs in front of the door, or us running to the field.  I explained that the more barriers we have between us and the "bad person" allows additional time for the authorities to arrive and solve the problem.  I think the class did well, but please talk with them about this event and the need for it in the building.  If you have any questions, comments or concerns please let me know.

Spelling Words for the Week

Here are our spelling words for the week:

- told
- almost
- idea
- didn't
- south
- ground


Bonus:

- morning
- hundred

Weekly Wrap Up

It was a great week back here in first grade. I missed these kids so much and I was thrilled to get back into the classroom. I loved hearing the multitude of stories that the kids recited to me as they returned. I was again hit with that sinking feeling that my time with this fabulous group is quickly coming to a close. However, we are not done yet and we had a whole lot to get through this week. We had an Harambee on Wednesday that covered South Korea. I gave the presentation to the building and I was thrilled with how well my class set the example for the rest of the building. They did great. We have a field trip next Tuesday to the Hands on Museum, so if you have not sent in your permission slip please do so, or let me know if you need another one. I have two chaperones all set, but I will need at least one more, so if you are interested please let me know. This is a terrific field trip and one that I remember from my elementary days back at Abbot. I look forward to hearing from you. In addition to the field trip next week, we also have our Day of Service on Wednesday. To those who are unfamiliar with this event, this Day of Service is a time where we celebrate Earth Day by going and cleaning up a section of the school grounds. It is always a lot of fun. If you are interested in joining us we would love to have you. We will be going out at 1:45-2:15. If a field trip and Day of Service were not enough, we also have the International Festival on Thursday! Wow, it is a really big week coming up. Finally, Friday we will have a lockdown drill, so please talk with your children about the need for this procedure. If you have any questions, please let me know. Now that was a whole lot of catching up, but let’s see what we were up to this week…on to the HIGHLIGHTS!!!!


Math:

In math this week we tackled an open response problem. This went very well and I was thrilled at the learning I saw the kids exhibit during the two-day lesson. We also worked a bit more with the What’s My Rule? routine. We then moved on and tackled digital and analog time. This was a fun and engaging lesson, however the kids kept dropping their demonstration clocks. I mean seriously, they must have dropped them 20+ times during the lesson. I did not get it. Anyway, back on track….we took some time for some assessment toward the end of the week.

Writing:

We took a lot of time writing our facts about South Korea and tigers this week. We then transitioned these facts into paragraph form for next week.

Science:

We caught up with our April weather data in science this week. We also had a fun lesson involving wind towards the tail end of the week. It was a lot of fun and terrific to be able to get outside for the lesson.

Phonics:

In phonics this week we took time to review the –ed suffix. We went over how these two letters at the end of the word can mean three possible sounds (c’mon English language, help me out here). The kids had a bit of trouble with this, but we will practice it over the coming weeks. We also reviewed the long and short vowels sounds a bit more.


This was a quick snapshot of what we were up to this week. If you have any questions please let me know and until next week...all told.

Spelling Words for the Week

Here are the words the week:

- took
- above
- those
- usually
- order
- measure


Bonus words:

- describe
- probably

Weekly Wrap-Up

It was a short week on the eve of this Spring Break, however that does not mean we did not get a whole lot done. I want to say how far this class has come in these past 130 days. This is truly a special group of kids that I have enjoyed immensely as we have all experienced this first grade adventure. When we return from Spring Break that will mark the final push to the end of the year. I have very mixed emotions about this and am honestly choosing not to think too much about it for fear of my emotions getting the better of me. I will say that I cannot wait to tackle those remaining 50 days. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Now let us see what we were up to this shortened week…

ON. TO. THE. HIGHLIGHTS!!!



Math:

In math this week we tackled more attribute work. In addition we also spent a lot of time with the What’s My Rule? routine. You may remember this from kindergarten, but we are taking it a bit further in first grade. The kids worked on this Wednesday and Thursday. While I was hoping to tackle an open response problem this week, the two-day nature of the lesson relegated it to when we return from break.



Writing:

We spent a bit of time with revision this week, but the bulk of our writing time was spent recording facts about either South Korea or tigers. We will be working on these two subjects leading up to the International Festival in late April. Our research included our weekly time in the computer lab. The kids accessed World Book and recorded several facts about South Korea. I was thrilled with how well they did in reading and identifying pertinent facts. The tiger research is because that animal happens to be the national animal of South Korea. I thought it would be a nice addition to the work we are already undertaking about South Korea. If you would like to help with these research topics please drop me a line.



Social Studies:

n social studies this week we started a new unit dealing with family traditions. This will dovetail nicely into our International Festival work as well. I sent home some homework for you this week asking for details about some of the family traditions you celebrate at home. Thank you to everyone who sent that homework back and if you need another copy please do not hesitate to let me know.



This week also saw us tackle a lot of phonics practice, spelling practice and a lot of work on research projects. All in all it was a great week. Have a fabulous and safe break everyone and I look forward to seeing you all back next Monday….until next time….all told.