Thursday, March 30, 2017

What Time is it Mr. Crocodile?

Dear First Graders,


      It's time to learn about time!

Our standard is to be able to tell time to the hour and half hour. 

       Go on a scavenger hunt around your house and see if you can find all the digital and analog clocks in your house.  You may discover that you don't have an analog clock (one with numbers and hands!).  I highly recommend buying one and hanging in a place where it can be used daily.  

     We are doing a great job telling time to the hour and half hour. Keep talking with mom and dad about what activities are morning (a.m) and what activities are afternoon (p.m.) activities.  Here is a fun website to try your skills at click here.  The other concept that is tricky is does an activity take an hour or a minute! While driving, try having mom or dad give you an activity and decide how long it would take (like watching a movie, drinking at a water fountain, or playing a soccer game). 

    Our mystery reader read us a great book about The Berenstain Bears trying to go a week without T.V. Those bears sure did learn that it can be way more fun when you are unplugged.  (Parents, there are lots of alarming research showing the impact of screen time on children's ability to engage with peers, focus in school, and how our brains work).  

Bear Hugs,

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Unique, brave, sensitive, kind...

Dear First Graders,

      I was super impressed at how well you did in the computer lab today! We have been learning about character traits and, recently, have been thinking about the traits that we exhibit through out actions and words. Your silhouette is now on display outside our classroom and they are already turning heads!!


    Did you tell your parents that we got to "MOVE THAT BUS!" again today! We have yet to miss a day. Today we landed on the square that earned us a human body prize! Keep up the great reading.

    On Monday, we had a visit from the Scotia-Glenville traveling museum! We got to show off all that we have learned about our solar system.  We had fun at the stations.




Bear Hugs!

Wow! What a day!

Dear First Graders,

     We definitely put the FUN in this FRIDAY! Between celebrating the 120th day of school, having a mystery reader, and our surprise assembly for Mr. D we had a fun packed day!








Bear Hugs!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Veggies.... Houdini Style

Dear First Graders,

         Boy did we have a good time at our Houdini assembly today! We learned all about how Houdini thought big and could escape ANYTHING.  One of our very own friends was chosen to be a helper and we all got to enjoy a great performance!


        Did you tell your parents that we got to MOVE THAT BUS! today!!!  That's right, we read a total of 365 minutes as a class.  WOW!  As we moved the bus, we dove into our inquiry on food groups.  You can re-watch the brainpopjr on the food groups at home.  Try to name the different groups on your dinner plate! See if you can make your veggies disappear.... Houdini Style!  Speaking of veggies, did you turn into the Veggie Monster? Don't forget to tell someone about the lesson in this story! 
    
Or maybe... share the new growth mindset word we learned through this book...


Perseverance


    Do you think you could write a review on our assembly or one of the great book we read?!?! 

Bear Hugs!

Monday, March 20, 2017

Move that BUS!!

Dear First Graders,

     I can't wait for tomorrow to see if we get to "Move that Bus!!"  I'm uploading a copy of the reading slips in case you misplace yours. You can always send in a hand written note as well.

    Last week was an odd one with the TWO snow days and no school for kids on Friday! We did manage to squeeze in a mystery reader! We also had a chance to meet a new friend that will be joining our class sometime soon!




 This Friday is a special school spirit day!  Wear your favorite sports jersey.   








Bear Hugs,

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Rockin' Week

Dear First Graders,

     We had fun celebrating our friend's birthday and crazy hair day this week!



     The Bridge Arts Ensemble came to visit and taught us all about music. What was your favorite person? Check out their website! BAE




Have a great weekend!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Happy Birthday!

Dear First Graders,

     Today we celebrated our friend's birthday and Dr. Seuss'!!

                                                     

     We also had a visit from Mrs. Fountain who told us all about the learning fair. There is a note going home today that you can show mom and dad. This is a fun event where you can share something you are an expert on. Are you busy the night of the learning fair, no worries... we will have our very own following the fair (those that participate will get a note about leaving their boards that night).

A mystery reader was another great treat today!! 


     As readers, we are working on getting to know the characters and setting in our stories. We have bene focusing on taking time to get to know the characters in our books. We are using post-its to jot down character feelings based on the pictures and words. This is a great thing to try at home while your reading books!



Bear Hugs,

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

In like a lamb...

Dear First Graders,

     I hope you are enjoying the warm temperature on this half day!  I can't believe it is March already!

    We kicked off this week with a mystery reader.... followed by a birthday celebration!


    I was also impressed with your addition skills in the computer lab. Have you talked to mom and dad about xtramath?  Your user names and passwords went home in January (let me know if you need another copy).  For some friends, this is a great site to work on fact fluency. Learning facts is more about frequency then length of time. The idea is to try to use the program 3-5 times a week in short, 5-10 minute blasts. It only allows you to work for a set amount of time before saying you are done for the day. This helps to make our addition facts become automatic! Here is the link to the site: https://xtramath.org/#/home/index

Bear Hugs,