I can't believe September has come to an end. The students are adjusting well to first grade. We learned how to log on to the computers in the media center and work on assignments on Harcourt BIG change from last year as they only logged on as a guest.
This past Friday, Frankie the Frog went home with Adam. He had a fabulous time and can't wait to see who will take him home this Friday.
October will be a very busy month. We will begin 2 reading programs. The first will be Book It. The students read books, fill out the chart and return it for a coupon for a free personal pizza at Pizza Hut. The second is a class-wide project. We are participating in a 1,000 book challenge. There will be a reading log to be filled out each month. Then I will enter all of the books that we read on the 1,000 book challenge site. Our class could win prizes if we reach this goal. I will keep you updated on the numbers of books we read. Also in October, we will have individual pictures, Publix Math Night, and a Fall Festival. All of these dates are on your child's calendar in his/her folder. Please check it and mark your calendar.
This coming Monday, we will begin the second unit in our reading series. We will continue to focus on short vowel sounds as well as blends. In math we will be wrapping up our unit on number sense and will start a short unit on patterns. In science we are learning about the science process skills. These are skills used when conducting an experiment. We will practice using these skills while doing some scientific investigations.
In social studies we are learning about families. We will also learn about Columbus.
We had great fun in Science today. We have been discussing the five senses. We were detectives and had to figure out what was in the mystery bag by using our sense of touch. There were five mystery bags and the students were able to figure out all five. They really enjoyed the lesson and so did I.
I have been promising to post student stories and here they are. You will see 10 stories the students wrote. I will post more as they are published. Move your mouse over the story to stop it so that you may read it. Enjoy them! They did a great job.
I was so happy to see so many parents at Open House Thursday night. I hope you enjoyed the video and the activboard. As you saw, the board is a wonderful tool to enhance lessons in class. It is amazing the difference in technology since I was in school (and for those of you who were there, you know it was a long time ago).
Today I had the pleasure of seeing 3 members of our class at the Pop Warner Mighty Mites football game. Olivia and Alex did a wonderful job of cheer leading. I especially enjoyed the half-time dance number. Joshua did a fabulous job at safety. He had key play stopping a run by the other team. I am so proud of all of you!
Yesterday we experienced our first science investigation. Students were given 20 toothpicks and 10 marshmallows. They had to build a house that would stand up. I was amazed at the discussion that took place. This was a difficult task and they had to work to figure it out. They had to decide what they could do to make their house stronger. I was impressed at how hard they work. I hope they shared their houses with you. Here are some pictures of what was built.
Soon, you will be able to read stories we have written in class.
I hope you are enjoying this blog and it gives you an idea of what we are doing in class. Please share this with others who might want to see what your child is doing. And, as always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Wow, we finished two weeks of school. Hanna stayed far enough away to keep us in school. Hopefully Ike and Josephine will go somewhere else and we will stay safe and in school. For the past two weeks we have been working on the short a sound. This coming week we will learn the short i sound. Our theme will be Growing Up. We will read stories about how we grow and change.
In math, we are making a 100's chart. Each day we are adding 10 more numbers. We continue to practice what comes before, after, and in between. We are also practicing what is 10 more and what is 10 less. We will be cutting apart a 100's chart and putting it back together. At home, you can practice counting forward and backward from any number.
In science we are learning about science tools. We will be exploring science by asking questions and investigating to solve problems.
September 18th will be our open house. I hope to see everyone that night so you can see what we have been working on in class.
Look for our published stories coming soon.
