April 18-22, 2016 Week 31

Thanks parents for signing and returning the zoo permission slips. Everyone has theirs turned in and we are ready to go next week! 

Our Flat Stanley's are all over the place!  We are getting reports and pictures of him sightseeing the country side in big trucks, eating in Scotland, and sipping tea in Japan!  We can't wait to see and hear about all the other places that he visits!  :)  

Please send $1.00 with your child by Friday.  We will end our unit on Economics by walking to the store on the corner.  For several weeks we have been learning about goods and services and identifying who are buyers and sellers.  We will be the buyers as we make choices about what we can buy with $1.00. I will have my student observer with me which will allow me to have an extra pair of eyes and hands.  I am sending a permission slip that has to be signed and returned in order for your child to walk with the class.  Please sign and return to me by Wednesday.

This week we will be reading a story in our basal called "Mole and the Baby Bird."  Our reading skills are draw conclusions; blend and read words with vowel diphthongs ou, ow; segment and blend phonemes; discuss folktales; syllables; and  practice Saxon Phonics.

In Math we will compare 2D and 3D shapes.  We will finish up fractions and equal shares.

In Science we will focus on getting our zoo animal research completed.  Students will choose an animal that they would like to write about.  We will do this in class.

We finished up our unit on plants.  We learned to identify the parts of a plant... roots, stem, leaves, flower.  We can explain what each part plays in the role of a plants life. We learned what the biggest plant is ( a tree) and we also learned how plants are used in everyday items that we use.  On Friday we planted our own plants.

In Social Studies we will end our unit on goods/services and buyers/sellers by walking to the store.  We will play a review game to test our knowledge.  Please remember to send $1.00 with your child by Friday.

Excellent job Ivan for earning 25 AR points!  He worked very hard!  He was so proud of himself!

A couple of weeks ago school board member Kathleen Hooten came to our class and read her unpublished book about her show goat Cabo.  On  Friday she brought Cabo to visit us.  He was beautiful!  Even I petted him!!!  

                                   Thanks Luke for letting us brush Cabo!

                                       Cabo was very gentle and kid friendly!

                                                 

                                                      

                                                     I did it!  I petted Cabo!

                                Our friends showed Cabo love and attention!

                                           

                              Some of our friends got in the trailor with Cabo!

      Thanks Mrs. Kathleen and Luke for answering our questions about Cabo!  It was a pleasure to see my Luke.  I had him 10 years ago in first grade!  What a super young man! 

                                                 

Cabo is one smart goat!  We enjoyed him!

For our writing assignment we wrote about Cabo!

Upcoming Events...

Kona Ice Snowcones...April 20 (paid for)

Tyler Zoo...April 28 (sack lunch needed)

No School...April 29

CES Music Program...May 3 at CMS

FYI...We only have 2 more weeks of homework.  We will continue through the last week of April.

Thanks to all who follow us each week!  We love that you peek in to see what we are doing in class! 

Have a great week!  See you all later!   :) 

April 4-8, 2016 Week 29

This week we are reading "Henry and Mudge."  It is realistic fiction because it has settings that seem real but the story is made up.  Our reading skills are to blend and read words with vowel sounds oo and suffixes -ly, -ful; identify cause and effect; adjectives that compare; abc order; Saxon Phonics.

In Math we will learn about fractions and equal parts of a set.  

In Science last week we identified living and non-living things.  We learned the characteristics of a living thing...
1. They move on their own.
2.  They need food and water.
3.  They reproduce.
4.  They need air.

In Science this week we will identify the parts of a plant.  We will grow our own plants.


In Social Studies we will identify buyers and sellers.  (consumers and producers)

Upcoming Events...

April 1-8  Book Fair
April 5~Math and Science Carnival Night 6-7:30
April 20~ KONA ICE (Jayson and Erica are going to buy every student in our class a snowcone)  Thanks!  :)
April 28 ~Tyler Zoo Trip ( return permission slip)
April 29 ~No School
May 3~ CES Spring Musical @ CMS 6pm

Bravo to Justin and T'annie for earning the blue and gold!  You both worked extremely hard to earn your AR points!  

Our class has been bitten by the reading bug and it is GREAT!  They are loving reading!  :)


Here is one of the First Grade Game Baskets that was put together for the Math and Science Night!  

Thanks for following us!  Have a terrific week and we will see you same time next week!  :)

March 28-April 1, 2016 Week 28

I hope that all have a Happy Easter!  

I didn't send out a Scholastic Book form for March but I am sending one for April.  Please look through the flyer and see if there are any books that you would like to order for your child.  Many of the books are AR.  Order form is due this Friday, April 1.

In Reading we will read "Peter's Chair."  It is nonfiction and it is AR!  Students can take a test over the story.  Our reading skills are to blend and read words with vowel digraphs ui, ue, ew; identify the theme of a story; compound words; syllables; use adjective to tell how many; and Saxon Phonics.

In Math we will identify fractions. We learn about equal parts and parts of a set. We will eat some fractions! :)

In Science we will identify living and nonliving objects.  We will also start our unit on plants.

In Social Studies we will continue to discuss making economic choices. We will review goods and services and learn who are buyers and sellers.

Upcoming Events..

April 1-8 ~ Book Fair 

April 5 ~ CES Math/ Science Carnival @ 6-7:30

April 28 ~ Tyler Zoo Trip 

(Parents are welcome to attend. I would greatly appreciate the extra hands! I will send a permission slip next week that has to be signed and returned since we are going out of town. Students will wear CES field trip T-shirts on this day.)

April 29 ~ No School 

Congrats to Brooks for earning 50 AR points and Zoe for earning 25 AR points!  You are so smart!

We made 2D Shape Monsters!

We are rollin...look for Justin with his gold AR shirt and T'annie with her blue shirt next week!  

Thanks for visiting our class!  See you next week!  

March 21-25, 2016 Week 27

Welcome back from Spring Break!  I hope that it was a terrific break for everyone.  I had a wonderful break and found out that my future grandchild is going to be a ..."BOY!"  We are so excited and anxious to see him!  Come on July!  :)

We will stay on the same reading story "A Southern Ranch" and continue the same reading skills.  Skills this week are fact and details; consonant patterns kn, wr; vowel digraphs ie, igh; adjectives; and Saxon Phonics.

In Math we will explore 2D shapes. We will identify the number of vertices and faces each shape has.  We will create a shape object by using 2 or more shapes.

In Science we will identify living and nonliving objects.

In Social Studies we will make economic choices.

Upcoming Events...

March 22 ~ Kona Snowcones
March 24 ~ Spring Group Pictures
March 25 ~ Early Dismissal
March 28 ~ No School (Bad Weather Day)
April 5 ~ Math/Science Carnival
April 1-8 ~ Book Fair

Look at Brooks' face after he just found out he earned 50.3 AR points!  He gets his gold shirt tomorrow!  A big congratulations!  Brooks was reading every book that he could get his hands on!

Zoe has also worked very hard and earned 25 AR points!  She will get her blue shirt on Monday.  She is so eager to read!  It excites me to see her read books all the time and log in all by herself!  

                     SURPRISE!  Mrs. Heather was our "mystery reader!"

Lots of fun at The Children's Museum!

MMM Yum Pizza! We had a pizza party for guessing  

 the correct jar with 100 objects in it on 100's Day!  

                              

Getting ready for the Hot Shot    

Reading Basketball Game! Go Class! 

Thanks for visiting our class blog.  I am thrilled and enjoy sharing the progress and growth of my sweet students.  I feel that they are the best first graders in the world!  They have grown into strong readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, and confident students!  They don't need me as much, they can log into AR all by themselves and self-check their on work.  Bravo class and congratulations for your hard work!  

Please come back next week!  :)

March 7-11, 2016 Week 26

I am glad to be well and back at school with my class.  It was a tough week and my heart went out to the students for having to have a sub for 3 days! I missed them so much!  They were very sweet and helpful when I returned.  They worked hard to catch up on missed lessons and activities that were being made for Open House.  Just another reason why I love my class! They are the best group of first graders EVER! 

Since I was out last week, we will take our spelling test and reading test over "A Trip to Washington D.C." on Monday morning.  

This week we will read " A Southern Ranch."  It is a story about things that happen on a ranch in the southern part of the United States.  Our reading skills are to blend and read words with the long i sound spelled -igh, -ie; identify facts and details; adjectives that tell what kind; consonant patterns kn, wr; and Saxon Phonics.

In Math we will continue to identify and count coins; and use data to make a graph.

In Science we will study objects in the sky; sun, moon, and the stars.

In Social Studies we will investigate natural characteristics of the environment.

Upcoming Events...

March 8 ~ Open House
March 9 ~ Children's Museum
March 10 ~ Report Cards
March 14-18 ~ Spring Break
March 22 ~ Kona Ice Snowcones
March 24 ~ Group Pictures
April 1-8 ~ Scholastic Book Fair
April 5 ~ Math/Science Night

Congratulations to Jenna and Aboss for earning 25 AR points and getting a blue AR shirt!  Our class continues to soar in AR reading!   YAY!

Dr Seuss Reading Day!

Hello back to my sweet class!  I missed you too!

We have 2 more pictures coming next week of friends, Levi and Elias earning a blue and gold AR shirt on Monday.  I am beaming with excitement at the success that my students are making in reading!  They are confident, eager and motivated readers!  It seems that each week someone is getting recognized for earning AR points.  We are so excited for each other!  :)

Thanks for visiting us!  It's been a tough week filled with sickness but we made it through!  Thank God we are doing better.  I hope that next week everyone has a terrific Spring Break!  

Feb 29 - Mar 4, 2016 Week 25

We are hoping that this week all of our little friends are well and back at school.  We miss you!  

This week we will read a non-fiction story about things to see in Washington D.C.  Our story is titled "A Trip to Washington D.C."  Our reading skills are to blend and read long o words spelled with vowel digraphs oa, ow; read words with three-letter blends; identify facts and details in a story; use adjectives to describe the size; and saxon phonics. 

*Spelling Rule for vowel digraphs oa, ow*

oa is usually in the middle of the word like (road)

ow is usually at the end of the word like (snow)

In Math we will continue to add like and mixed sets of coins.  We will also collect data and use it to make a graph.

In Science we will identify objects in the sky such as the sun, moon, and stars.

In Social Studies we will learn more about the physical characteristics of our environment. Landforms: mountains, hills, valleys, and plains

Upcoming Activities...

March 2 ~ Dr Seuss Read Across America

March 8 ~ Open House 5:30-6:30
March 14-18 ~ Spring Break
March 22 ~ Kona Ice Snowcones

Thanks to all who sent us your BOXTOPS!  

Kaede read a book to us this week. She was confident and poised just like a little teacher!

We love reading!

We also had up and coming author/school board member Kathleen Hooten read her unpublished book to us.  It was about her show goat Cabo.  We gave it 2 thumbs up!  I'm sort of partial to her because her son Luke was in my class 10 years ago!!!  Thanks for giving our class a first peek at what is going to be a big hit!  :)

Hold on because this is going to be another busy and activity filled week!  We have Jenna, Levi, and Aboss earning their blue AR shirts on Monday!  So proud of them!  Look for their pictures next week!  On Wednesday get ready to read read read all day as we celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday.  
  
LAST but NOT least...

A BIG THANKS to all my sweeties for the wonderful and sweet gifts that I received on my birthday February 25.  I have the BEST class in the world!  I love you guys!!!

I hope that each and everyone has a great week!
Thanks for stopping by!  See you all next week!

February 22-26, 2016 Week 24

Thanks to all our followers for keeping up with us.  I want to say hello to Ms. Terri, I was excited to see that you were reading our blog and thanks for the comment!  I miss you at CES!  :)

This week we are reading a new version of Cinderella.  It is fun to see fairy tales changed up a little bit.  We compared the new story to the original version and found some comparisons and differences.  Our reading skills this week are to blend and read words with vowel digraph long "ea" sound; discuss and identify the "theme" of a story.  (We talked about the theme is the big idea of the story); compound words; adjectives; and  saxon phonics.  

In Math we will continue to identify money, and learn the value of a set of like and mixed coins such as pennies. nickels, dimes, and quarters.  We are learning to count money by a method called "hairy money."  If we are doing an activity sheet then the students will draw hairs on the money...for example a nickel = 1 hair, a dime = 2 hairs, a quarter = 5 hairs and a penny= 1 dot.  Each hair represents 5 cents and one dot represents 1 cent.  We are in the early stages of learning this method but ask your child about it.  "HAIRY MONEY"

  
In Science we are exploring Objects in the Sky. We will learn facts about the sun, moon, and stars.

In Social Studies we discuss the natural characteristics of the environment such as landforms, mountains, valleys, etc.

Upcoming Events...

February 23 ~ Box Tops Due
February 26 ~ No School/ Staff Development
March 2 ~ Read Across America Day
March 8 ~ Open House at 5:30-6:30
March 14-18 ~ Spring Break
March 22 ~ Kona Ice Snowcones

Congrats to Sam and Kaede for earning AR shirts!  Sam earned 50 points for a gold shirt and Kaede earned 25 for a blue AR shirt!  Bravo guys I am so proud of you!  

           Aubrey was honored at TAMU for                  being an outstanding student!

Creating a map of the seven continents and labeling the four cardinal directions!

                        Kaede did an outstanding job creating her map!

                                       Figuring out the value of coins!  $$$

                                                        Yea I've got this! 

                                 
                 Roland was thinking and getting ready to work!

                            T'Annie and Levi focused and working hard!

                              I love it when my students ask to read to the class!
                            Thanks Elias!  You did a super job!

 Levi coding a Saxon Phonics word!  

Way to go coding that soft "c" word!

Thanks for visiting! 

Come back to see us next week.  See you then!  :)