We had a very busy week!

Click the play button below to watch us in action!

-Medium

Click here: September 5 – 9 News!

August 29 – September 2

Monday- Today we started our “All About Me” T-shirts and wrote in our journals.  We made a classroom graph about how we get to school.  We found out that most kids in our class get to school by car.  We made invitations for Open House and celebrated Jackson’s birthday!

Tuesday- We made our Open House chalkboards today.  Everyone wrote a special message to their parents!  We also wrote in our journals, finished our T-shirts and read a Weekly Reader about schools around the world.  We celebrated Audrey Collette’s birthday, too!

Wednesday-Today we were letter detectives. Students searched through books looking for words that started with specific letters.  We also made a chart of all of our weekly specials and started writing our own “Chicka Chicka ABC” book.  In math we practiced writing numbers and making a calendar.  We also had a practice fire drill.

Thursday- We were letter detectives again today.  This time students searched for words that ended with specific letters.  We also made a birthday graph for our classroom birthdays, finished our “Chicka Chicka ABC” book and practiced writing uppercase and lowercase letters.

Friday- Today we played “Labor Day Lotto” and students wrote about the type of job they want to have when they grow up.  We also practiced writing numbers and had an ABC Scavenger Hunt. In math we used manipulatives to practice one-to-one correspondence.

LOOKING AHEAD…

Next week we will continue reviewing letter sounds and numbers and we will discuss school safety. We will also start our unit on apples.  First we will be learning about the parts of an apple tree and how the tree changes across the seasons.  In math we will continue our unit on number sense.  The first few sections focus on one-to-one correspondence and comparing numbers.

The September Homework and Reading Calendars were sent home this week.  Please fill them out throughout the month and return them to school at the end of September.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Monday, September 5 Labor Day-No school

Tuesday, September 6 Book orders due

Wednesday, September 28 Avoca West Picture Day

Thursday, September 29 Rosh Hashanah-No school

Monday, October 10 Columbus Day-No school

Wednesday, October 19 1/2 day of school

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, October 20 1/2 day of school

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 21 No School-Teacher Institute Day

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

Hello!

We had a great first day of 1st grade!  I enjoyed seeing all the children happy and ready to learn!  Ask your child about our journals and self-portraits.

I look forward to seeing all parents at Orientation Night on Tuesday, August 30th.  The 1st grade presentations will start at 8:00.

Please feel free to contact me directly should yo have any questions or concerns.  I’m looking forward to a great year!

October 25 – 29

Monday-     Today we learned about the sound of short e.  We also made a book of Halloween poems and a trick-or-treat safety book.  In math we played the game “Guess My Rule”.  This game focuses on identifying the attributes of a variety of shapes.  We also wrote and illustrated Halloween addition story problems.  A Glenview fireman visited us and talked about fire safety, smoke alarms and the importance of having a family meeting place outside the house.

Tuesday-     Today we made pumpkin puppets and learned the poem “Five Little Pumpkins”.  We also read the poem “Spin, Spider, Spin” and wrote ghost riddles and monster math equations.  In math we used the power polygons to help us identify the characteristics of triangles and quadrilaterals.

Wednesday-     We added words to our word wall today.  We also had reading groups, made Q-Tip skeletons and wrote a Superstar book for Nicholas.  We made shape posters in math to help students identify common attributes of a group of shapes.  We also made a “Boo!” book of color words and completed a Halloween making words activity.

Thursday-     We read the story “Arthur’s Halloween” today.  Students sequenced the story and then rewrote it in their own words.  They also illustrated their writing and created books.  We started practicing our Halloween Reader’s Theatre, too.  We will be performing the poem “October” for other 1^st grade students this week.  We also started learning some bat facts today.  This is the introduction to our unit on mammals.

Friday-     Today we completed a Halloween Fun packet.  We also performed our Reader’s Theatre for our 1^st grade friends.  We read a Weekly Reader about spiders and read some Halloween riddles.  We ended the day with our Halloween Parade and Party!  Thanks to all who helped make it an exciting, fun-filled day!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

LOOKING AHEAD…

Next week we will continue learning about the sound of short e. We will also continue our unit on mammals.  Students will chart the characteristics of mammals, discuss different types of mammals and write about their favorite mammal.  Our math unit on geometry will focus on using a repeated unit to create a pattern and seeing how shapes come together to make other shapes.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Tuesday, November 2         No school-Teacher Institute Day

Wednesday, November 3    1^st Grade Reading Workshop

Wednesday, November 24   No School

Thursday, November 25     Thanksgiving

Friday, November 26           No School

October 18 – 22

Monday-     Today we wrote in our journals, worked on the computers and had reading groups.  We also practiced writing our spelling words.  This week we are working on short o words.  In math we completed a “Fill the Hexagons” activity.  Students were asked to use a variety of shapes to find as many ways as possible to fill in hexagons.  We also read a story about the life of a pumpkin and started our pumpkin life cycle project.

Tuesday-     Today we completed a pumpkin patch making words activity.  Students were asked to make as many words as possible using the letters in the words “pumpkin patch”.  We started with 1, 2 and 3 letter words and then moved on to 4 and 5 letter words.  We read a Weekly Reader on Fire Safety and finished our pumpkin life cycle projects.  We also read a short o poem called “My Shop” and answered questions about the poem.

Wednesday-     Today was a ½ day of school.  We added word wall words to our Word Wall today and had reading groups.  We also practiced our spelling words and some math facts.  We celebrated Sebastian’s birthday, too!

Thursday-     Today was a ½ day of school.  We took our short o spelling test and learned about the parts of a pumpkin.  We also created a venn diagram comparing and contrasting the characteristics of pumpkins vs. jack-o-lanterns.

Friday-     Teacher Institute Day

No school today

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

LOOKING AHEAD…

Next week we will learn about the sound of short e. Our math unit on geometry will focus on describing, comparing and naming 2-D shapes. We will also complete many Halloween themed reading, writing and math activities.  These activities will culminate with our Halloween Parade and Party at 1:00 next Friday, October 29^th!  I hope to see you all here!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday, October 29        Halloween Parade & Party 1:00-2:45

Tuesday, November 2         No school-Teacher Institute Day

Wednesday, November 3    1^st Grade Reading Workshop

October 4 – 8

Monday

Today we practiced our new spelling words.  The words this week were short i words. We practiced writing the words and took our practice sheets home.  In reading groups each group started a new story.  We made predictions about each story and discussed the main characters and the setting.  In math, we completed an activity called “Nine Peas and Carrots”.  This is a number sense activity that focuses on the different number combinations that can be used to make 9 (0+9, 9+0, 1+8, 8+1, 2+7, 7+2, 3+6, 6+3, 4+5, and 5+4). We also read a story about Johnny Appleseed and started our Johnny Appleseed story maps.

Tuesday

Today we completed our Johnny Appleseed story maps.  We also made a flip book which sequences the story of Johnny Appleseed’s life. We practiced writing short i words in a variety of word families.  In math we completed an activity that focuses on the different number combinations to get to 7.  We celebrated Kaitlyn’s birthday, too!

Wednesday

We added new words to our Word Wall today.  To help them learn the words, students wrote the words three times each and wrote each one in a sentence.  During reading groups students partner read their stories, worked on the computers and made a Johnny Appleseed book.  We also made a Superstar book for Sebastian and celebrated Nika’s birthday!

Thursday

Today we practiced our spelling words by writing them in sentences.  We also had reading groups, worked on the computers and practiced writing high frequency words in our Phonics books.  In math we started Unit 2-Making Shapes and Designing Quilts.  This is a unit on 2-D geometry.  We also made apple mobiles and sequenced 6 sentences about applesauce so that students will know the process for making this tomorrow.

Friday

Today we made applesauce!  The students read their sequenced directions and everyone got to help mix in all the ingredients. Students also took the short i spelling test.  We read a story about Christopher Columbus and made a ship book about his life.  In math we focused on describing, comparing and naming 2-D shapes.  We also had Mystery Reader and ate our applesauce!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

LOOKING AHEAD…

Next week we will begin learning about the sound of short o and the endings “ed” and “ing”. We will also start our unit on pumpkins and harvest time.  Students will be learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin, as well as the parts of a pumpkin.  Our Math unit next week will continue to focus on 2-D geometry.  We will also be going to Wagner Farm on Thursday, October 14^th.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Monday, October 11        Columbus Day – no school

Thursday, October 14      Wagner Farm Field Trip

Wednesday, October 20     Parent/Teacher Conferences – ½ day

Thursday, October 21      Parent/Teacher Conferences – ½ day

Friday, October 22        Teacher Institute Day – no school

Friday, October 29        Halloween Parade & Party

September 13 – 17

Monday-     Today we learned about the sound of short a.  We brainstormed words that start with short a and words that have short a as the middle sound.  We also practiced word blending skills and learned how to “finger spell”.  In reading groups the students were grouped in small, homogeneous groups as they read books at their instructional levels.  We also practiced comparing number quantities and counting by 2s.

Tuesday-     Today we practiced spelling with Spell Tabs.  We focused on words from short a word families.  We also read a Weekly Reader and illustrated a book about the seasons.  In math we focused on comparing number quantities, counting backward and counting by 5s.

Wednesday-     We added new words to our Word Wall today.  To help them learn the words, students wrote the words three times each and wrote each one in a sentence.  During reading groups we read stories and practiced story mapping skills.  Right now we are working on understanding character, setting and story sequence.  We also made our 1^st Grade Book Boxes!

Thursday-     Today we worked in our Phonics books.  Students practiced spelling short a words in a variety of word families.  We worked on the computers, had reading groups and practiced comparing and ordering numbers.  Students also shared their environmental print words and made “I Can Read Books!”.

Friday-     Today we wrote our own version of “Chicka Chicka ABC”.  Students wrote words that started with all the letters of the alphabet and we created a classroom book.  We also wrote seasons wheels using a variety of vocabulary words from all four of the seasons.  In math we played the game “Double Compare”.  This game focuses on the skills of adding and ordering numbers.  We also worked on several addition story problems.  We celebrated Courtney’s birthday, too!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

LOOKING AHEAD…

Next week we will continue to work on the sound of short a and number writing.   We will also begin our unit on apples.  Throughout this unit we will learn about the life cycle of an apple, complete several apple-themed writing activities and learn about Johnny Appleseed.  Our Math unit will focus on adding, comparing and ordering numbers.  This will include several addition games and many types of story problems.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Wednesday, September 29   Avoca West Picture Day

Monday, October 11      Columbus Day – no school

Thursday, October 14      Wagner Farm Field Trip

Wednesday, October 20      Parent/Teacher Conferences – ½ day

Thursday, October 21      Parent/Teacher Conferences – ½ day

Friday, October 22      Teacher Institute Day – no school

Monday-                 Labor Day –  No school

Tuesday-                 Today we played Teamwork Trail with partners.  This is a game that reinforces beginning consonant sounds.     We practiced writing our name, address and phone number.  This is a can skill that should be practiced at home.  We also went to Spanish and had science class with Mrs. Johnson.  In math we used the number line to practice rote counting sequences.  We did this both forward and backward.  We also practiced one to one correspondence using an activity called “Collect 20 Together”.

Wednesday-            We worked on our writing skills today.  We brainstormed different ways that we’re “smart”, chose one topic to write about and then used several examples to make our writing more detailed.  We also made a “See What I Can Do” book.  This book gave students more practice writing their name, address and phone number.  In math today we focused on counting a set of 20 objects and ordering sets of numbers and quantities.

Thursday-              Rosh Hashanah –  No school

Friday-                  Today we read the book “Officer Buckle and Gloria”.  This story focuses on school safety.  We discussed a variety of safety tips and sequenced the story.  We also compared and contrasted the 2 main characters from the story and created a venn diagram to illustrate their similarities and differences.  In math we worked on counting, ordering, and representing.  We used mystery boxes to help practice one to one correspondence.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

LOOKING AHEAD…

Next week we will work on the sound of short a, review uppercase and lowercase letters and make several classroom books.  In math we will continue to work in Unit 1.  We will focus on comparing quantities and ordering numbers.  We will also make 1^st Grade Book Boxes and “I Can Read Books”.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Wednesday, September 29             Avoca West Picture Day

Monday, October 11                        Columbus Day – no school

Wednesday, October 20                 Parent/Teacher Conferences – ½ day

Thursday, October 21                     Parent/Teacher Conferences – ½ day

Friday, October 22                           Teacher Institute Day – no school

Welcome back!  I hope you had an exciting, fun-filled summer!  I’m looking forward to hearing about all of your adventures and to seeing everyone on the first day of school!

Here are a few helpful hints to help your child be prepared for the first few days of 1st grade:

Send  a healthy snack with your child to school every day.

Make sure you check your child’s home folder for important classroom information.

Make sure your child has gym shoes at school every day.

Have your child practice his or her lunch pin number.

I will be sharing more classroom and curriculum information with you on Wednesday, September 1st at Orientation Night.  We will be meeting from 7:00-7:45 PM.

I’m looking forward to a great year!