Saturday, November 21, 2015

Nov. 23-27

Specials
Monday - 1
Tuesday - Non-Rotation Day!
Wednesday - No School!
Thursday - No School! (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Friday - No School!

Upcoming Events & Reminders
*Some of you asked about pictures of your student being posted on the blog. Please remember the permission slip I mentioned throughout August and September is always available over here ----->

Please consider signing up to send in some fun items for our study of holidays around the world. Some items are due this Tuesday (November 24) and some are due the Monday after break (November 30).
Click here to Sign-Up to Bring a Holiday Supply!

There will also be an opportunity to sign up to donate items or represent a country in our Holiday World Market the morning of December 15. We are so lucky to have a diverse classroom and I would love for you to come and teach us how your family celebrates the holidays! Similar to our Junie B. Jamboree, we will "travel" to each country for about 15 minutes. While we are visiting your station, you would be responsible for bringing in fun items from home (such as a map or globe to show us your country, clothing, holiday decor, etc.). Additionally, you would prepare a simple craft for us to remember your special holiday (such as a paper lantern, origami, etc.).  ***You are also more than welcome to sign up for a country other than your own.***
The Sign-Ups will be posted in the first week of December. However, if you know you would like to volunteer to help with the market, you may go ahead and e-mail me to let me know. 

November  24 - Non-Rotation Day (Global Arts and Culture Day)
November 25-27 - Thanksgiving Break!
December 2 - Junie B. Field Trip (Please remember to submit your permission slip if you have not already done so!)
December 11 - PTA Winter Dance 6:30-8pm @ Wellington
December 15 - Holiday World Market
December 17 - Chorus Performance 1:30 & 6:30pm
December 21 - January 1 - Winter break!

No Homework this week!!!


Kid-Friendly Objectives
- I can tell my opinion of what I am thankful for. 
- I can compare the lengths of objects and tell which is longer and shorter.
- I can order objects by length.
- I can identify the main idea and key details of a text.
- I can read, write, and identify possessive nouns by adding apostrophe s. ('s)
- I can read, write, and identify words with Momma E! (silent e at the end of a word)

Spelling List
Take the week off! :) No spelling words this week.


Week in Review!
You've probably noticed a huge influx in apostrophes in your child's writing. :) We are learning all about possessive nouns...and that means apostrophes are everywhere!

We did a fun "roll the noun" activity with our partners. 

We drew any animal we wanted...as long as we could label it with our possessive nouns!


We got our oxygen pumping to our brain by doing a Write the Room activity. The kids were expected to read a sentence such as, "This computer belongs to Jen," and change it into "Jen's computer" to show the possessive.


We continued to develop our understanding of Main Ideas and Details in Informational texts with a Main Idea turkey! We researched Wild Turkeys on PebbleGo and concluded the Main Idea was Wild Turkeys. As we researched, we pulled out key details and wrote one detail on each of the turkey's feathers. I'll be sure to post the finished product later this week! So gobblin' cute!



To practice supporting our opinions, we read the story "A Turkey for Thanksgiving." In this story, Mr. Moose is sent on an errand by Mrs. Moose to get a turkey for Thanksgiving. Mr. Moose finally found the perfect wild turkey to bring back...and we had to try to convince Mrs. Moose to agree with our opinion (should she or should she not eat the turkey?)
We shared our opinions aloud for a passionate debate of what we believed she should do. I will get a few examples to show you by Tuesday! :)


 We are SO ready to move on and take a break from addition and subtraction! The kids had fun exploring length and measurement this week. We began by classifying whether one object was "shorter" or "longer" than another. We also put a big bunch of items from our pencil boxes in order by length.

We discussed the importance of endpoints when measuring so that no object can cheat! In this picture, one of my friends held the string at the endpoint of her foot and showed me where the other endpoint was so that I could cut it. Now we have a unit of measurement to use around the room so that we do not have to stick our foot on everything to compare its length!

"My foot is longer than the beads. The beads are shorter than my foot."

"The rug is longer than my foot. My foot is shorter than the rug."

"Look Mrs. Carney! My foot is longer than MY FACE!"
 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!! :)

Monday, November 16, 2015

Nov. 16-20

Specials
Monday - 2
Tuesday - 3
Wednesday - 4
Thursday - 5
Friday - 6

Upcoming Events
Nov. 17 - 1st Grade's Thanksgiving Luncheon
Nov. 19 - Other grades' Thanksgiving Luncheon (We will be eating in our classroom this day. Please remember to send your child's lunch if you signed up to do so).
Nov. 19 - ELL Thanksgiving Dinner 6pm
Nov. 23 - Field Trip Permission Slips due
Nov. 24 - Non-Rotation Day (Global Arts and Cultures Day)
Nov. 25-27 - No School

Kid-Friendly Objectives
I can write to tell my opinion.
I can correctly read, write, and identify words with silent e.
I can read, write, and identify possessive nouns.
I can read to find the main idea in a text.
I can correctly use the equals sign.
I can explain subtraction problems as part, part, whole number bonds.
I can compare the lengths of objects.

Spelling List
List A (Purple Cats, Green Frogs, Blue Dogs)
kite
cane
robe
hate
ride
tape
cube

List B (Yellow Ducks)
quite
bathe
spine
plane
grade
Jane
slate

Wish List
Paper Towels
Post-Its

Week in Review!
Last week, we refreshed our brains about telling the difference between facts and opinions. We reminded ourselves that facts can be proven and opinions cannot be proven. 



Next, we went to our seats to brainstorm a few facts and opinions independently. When we got back to the carpet, we had to put our post-it on our heart if it was an opinion and our brain if it was a fact!

Finally, we read our Post-Its aloud and placed them in the appropriate spot on our poster!




We added the "FLSZ" rule to our spelling brains this week. Our phonics dance helps us to remember it by rapping!
"When you floss a word, you do 3 things: clap it, hear it, double its ending! Ff, ll, ss, zz! Ff, ll, ss, zz!"
This rap helps us to remember that you double the consonants F, L, S, and Z if your word has 1 syllable (clap it) and a short vowel (hear it). If you do both of those things, then you double the ending.
It is so fun to let your first graders take over and teach...especially when we use our fun poems!
 Sometimes we even go on Write the Room Hunts to practice our new skills!

We wrapped up our Subtraction Unit in Math last week, too! (We crushed that test, by the way :) ). 
Your first grader worked so hard to master their fact families. You've probably heard your first grader talk about the "Big Daddy, the Momma, and the tiny little baby." These are some of the phrases we've been using to help us remember where to place things in our number bonds, our addition sentences, and their matching subtraction sentences! 



At the end of the week, we celebrated our hard work with the awards ceremony! 
Seriously, these kiddos could not be as successful as they are without parents like you who work tirelessly to support them at home. You're life savers and so appreciated!

Here's to another great week :)

Monday, November 9, 2015

Nov. 9-13

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

Upcoming Events/Dates
November 10th - PTA Family Night at Chick-Fil-A Fayette Mall
November 11 - All Pro Dad's Breakfast 6:30-7:15AM
November 13th - K/1 Awards Ceremony at 10AM in Cafeteria (I will notify you tonight if your child is receiving an award)
November 17 - Thanksgiving Luncheon in Cafeteria for 1st Grade
November 17 - SBDM 5pm and PTA Meeting 6:30pm
November 19 - ELL Thanksgiving Dinner 6pm
November 24 - Non-Rotation Day and Writing Contest Entries are due
November 25-27 - Thanksgiving Break

**Please continue sending in Art to Remember forms, Signed Report Cards, and Bottle Caps!**

If you haven't already, please consider joining PTA to help First Grade win the Membership Contest! The more members we have, the more likely we are to win a great prize that could help fund future field trips and events! You can print out the application here:  http://www.myvlink.org/wellingtonpta/


Kid-Friendly Objectives
I can identify, explain, and write possessive nouns.
I can identify the main idea in a text.
I can tell the difference between a fact and an opinion and write examples.
I can subtract fluently.
I can read and write words with double consonant endings.

Spelling List
List A (Purple Cats, Green Frogs, Blue Dogs)
hill
well
buzz
pass
off
by
me
but
not
what

List B (Yellow Ducks)
small
grass
stuff
chill
class
off
into
time
has
look

**I will add the sight words to these lists tomorrow. Your student should have written his/her words in their agenda today.**

Week in Review!
We can add another successful week in our books! :)
Here are some of the ways we continued to grow as first graders this week.

We finished our Personal Narratives!!! One of the final steps was to peer edit with a partner. It was amazing the types of conversations that were happening in the classroom. These kids know what it takes to be great story tellers! Even better, we had an author party on Friday where every student had the option to share their story aloud in the "Teacher Chair." Talk about a captivated audience. :)




We also closed our unit on digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound) and said goodbye to our H Brothers (Charles, Theo, Whit, and Sherman). 



We also practiced creating Mental Images in our minds as we listen to stories. One of the many stories we practiced our brain pictures with was The Gruffalo. In this story, a sneaky little mouse tricks many different forest animals into believing there is a gruffalo ready to snatch them and eat them at any moment! The mouse convinces the characters by giving great details (purple prickles on its back, a wart on its nose, etc.) We had fun drawing the picture we were creating in our brains.







We also continued to use our brain power to help us determine the meaning of unknown words by using context clues. By the end of the week, we were experts at decoding wild words that even the Minions use!


Thank you for all you do. I am excited for another week! 

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Nov. 2-6, 2015

Specials
Monday - 5
Tuesday - No school!
Wednesday - 6
Thursday - 1
Friday - 2

Upcoming Events
Nov. 3 - No school for students.
Nov. 10 - PTA Family Night @ Chik-Fil-A at Fayette Mall
Nov. 11 - All Pro Dad's Breakfast 6:30-7:15AM
Nov. 13 - Awards Assembly K/1 10AM in Cafeteria. I will contact you soon if your student is receiving an award for this 9 weeks.
Nov. 17 - Thanksgiving Lunch for K, 1, 5
Nov. 19 - we will be eating in the room while other grades have their luncheon
Nov. 24 - Non-Rotation Day - Global Arts and Cultures Day
Nov. 25-29 - Thanksgiving Break!

Kid-Friendly Objectives
I can write to tell a small moment.
I can use context clues to tell me the meaning of an unknown word.
I can identify words and phrases to determine feelings.
I can tell if what I am reading makes sense.
I can read, identify, and write common digraphs.
I can solve subtraction by relating it to addition.

Spelling List
List A (Purple Cats, Green Frogs, Blue Dogs)
or
one
had
math
wish
chip
rack
white
shin
thick

List B (Yellow Ducks)
make
like
him
thud
lunch
brick
champ
shine
whine
thankful

A look back at the Friday Fun!