R Controlled Vowels - AR and OR

Another fun video from YouTube that helps us remember a spelling rule!

Beat the Teacher

Today we played a fun and lively game of 'beat the teacher' with Ms. White's class.  I got a little caught up in the action and forgot to take any photos, but I would encourage you to ask your child about this fun word-study game!

Non-fiction News

This week we have continued to focus on non-fiction in both reading and writing. We've been learning to use both text and images/videos to learn new knowledge. It has really helped us to write quality work in our "All About Sharks" books.
 

 

 

I Can Tie My Shoes

We have started to celebrate first graders who can tie their own shoes. Although this is not a school-taught skill it is still important. Students are now relying on one another to help tie and learn to tie. If your child has had difficulty with this skill I encourage you to practice at home. We will continue to add names to our shoe-tying club as more and more friends master this skill.

 

Reminder!!

Tomorrow night (Friday, March 18th) from 6:30-7:30 p.m. UMS students will be performing in the Colchester High School gym. Students should meet their teacher at 6:15 p.m. Parking will be tight as there is another large function at the same time in the theater.

 

Mystery Letter

Left behind by the leprechaun!

 

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures today, but we (or should I say the Leprechaun) had a lot of fun today.  We arrived at school to find a glitter trail throughout our room (even on the toilet), a mystery note, hidden coins, overturned chairs and a few other mischievous acts.  Ask your child what they liked best about today!

Circus Smirkus

Enjoy this short video of our class preparing for our UMS circus!

The Circus is Here!

 

Studying Clouds with Shaving Cream

Clouds + shaving cream = loud, engaged, first graders. I challenged students to try and make the four major types of clouds with their pile of shaving cream!

 

 

 

 

 

Word Study - Game Day!

Thursday has become my favorite day for word study. We join Ms. White's class for spelling games and it's so much fun! Today was 'red' word tic tac toe.

 

 

 

Amazing Research

This morning students worked with a partner to do some shark research. They could use an online source (Kiddle) or a book. The results were amazing!

 

 

 

 

Lots of Math!

One part of our Everyday Math program includes students working on 'open response' problems. These problems typically can be solved in a variety of ways with a large emphasis being placed on students being able to explain their thinking.

 

 

 

 

Word Study

This week's spelling rule is a tricky one. Students are practicing when to double a final consonant in a word ( i.e. well, fizz, mess, cliff). My goal is for boys and girls to begin noticing these types of words in their reading first. The more they see examples of this rule the easier it will be to apply it.

Our Questions about Sharks

Created with Padlet

Shark!

During parent/teacher conferences you may have noticed that I left some clues on the bulletin board about our non-fiction unit of study. Last week students learned that we are going to focus our reading and writing around sharks. As a kick off we did this fun art project. I love how the sharks all look different!

 

 

Guidance

Do you know the difference between bullying and a normal conflict? Your child should know! Ask him/her to explain the difference.

 

Contractions

We have been practicing how to read and write contractions. Today we turned the skill into a game.
 
 

 

Any Guesses?!

This is what is currently hanging on the bulletin board outside of our classroom. Do you have any guesses about what we might be studying during our non-fiction unit?

Drop Everything and Read

Dr. Seuss

 Today in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday (yesterday - our snow day) we had some time in the afternoon when everyone (adults included) dropped whatever we were doing and sat down to read!  It was a time enjoyed by most of us.  I forgot to take pictures because I was busy reading...oops!

Homework

Today you will find your child's math homework in his/her green folder.  Although the 'return by date' is listed as March 7th we have decided to ask for it back by Monday, March 14th.  With a short week and then a snow day it didn't seem fair to ask for it back so quickly.  Thank you!