January 25-29, 2016

Specials
Monday - 3
Tuesday - 4
Wednesday - 5
Thursday - 6
Friday - 1

Upcoming Events
January 29 - 2nd 9 weeks Recognitions at 10AM 
Save the Penguins Day has been moved to Tuesday, January 26, to account for our Snow days this past week. Please consider still signing up to donate a few items, if you are able! 
Click here ---> Save the Penguins Volunteer Spot

Kid-Friendly Objectives
(We are keeping the objectives from last week)
I can read, write, and identify words with the i_e spelling pattern.
I can make connections between two informational texts.
I can organize verbs by their shades of meaning.
I can write to share information about penguins.
I can count, write, and read numbers to 120.
I can identify 10 more and/or 10 less of a given number, up to 120.

Spelling List
Please continue to practice writing your spelling words in sentences to prepare for this week's test, too! 

List A (Purple Cats, Green Frogs)
fire
nice
wife
dive
bike
pile
fine
time
shine
drive

List B (Blue Dogs, Yellow Ducks)

life

drive

shine

bride

quite

write

smile

stripe

invite

admire

Week in Review

What a crazy weather week, huh? I hope you got to enjoy the snow with your first graders. :) I know Max sure enjoyed it. 

Last week was obviously very short, due to MLK Jr. Day and then our crazy Kentucky Blizzard that made its way into town. Because of the weather, we will continue developing the skills that were introduced last Tuesday. As mentioned above, Save the Penguins Day will take place in my classroom this coming Tuesday now. 

To kick off our Martin Luther King Jr. study, we read a wonderful book about his life, watched a video from Scholastic, and studied his importance through one of the Scholastic Magazines. We even had a chance to write about what MLK's dream was and compare it to the dream we have for the world. Below are some of the dreams I recall from my friends!

• "I have a dream that there would be no bullies."
• "I have a dream that everyone would have dinner tonight."
• "I have a dream that every kid would have a playground."
• "I have a dream that everyone would have a coat."
• "I have a dream that everyone has a safe home!"
• "I have a dream that everyone is kind."
• "I have a dream that there is no more litter!"

They were excited to learn that MLK's dream began when he was a kid, just like them!

While we spent SO much time discussing it, I thought it was very important for our friends to see what it really means to say that we are all the same, despite looking different.

SO...we did the infamous egg experiment. Your first graders were posed the question, "Are we really different?" and were asked to tell me what they noticed about the eggs. At first glance, we know they are both eggs BUT one is brown and one is white. I explained that these eggs were meant to symbolize the colors of our skin. 

We made predictions of what the eggs might look like on the inside, once cracked. I heard there would be yolks, maybe yellow, maybe brown, maybe even white. One thing is certain, everyone predicted the yolks HAD to be different because the outsides were different.

Once cracked, we were able to discuss how the outsides were different (just like our bodies) but our insides (our hearts) are all the same and we should all be treated as such.

A very mature conversation for my very mature class :)

And then there was Math...

Oh how we LOVE math!

We began to discuss the concept of counting on from any given number up to 120.

Of course, they all rocked it. Some even got gutsy enough to count on in the 3-digit numbers!

Stay warm! :)