Art is Awesome!

We have been doing a lot of art projects to get ready for the holiday season, that is finally here! We have been writing stories about snow, painting snowmen who lost their hats, reading poems about  pine trees who want to be Christmas trees, and talking about the possibility of snow this winter season. It is exciting here in B2- we want the room to reflect our joy and holiday spirit! I think we are well on our way to achieving that!

November Birthdays!

Even though we have just started December, we want to make sure and wish all our November birthdays a Happy Birthday!

Buddy Time!

Every week the kids ask me if we are going to see our 4th grade buddies. This week I was able to say "Yes! On Friday!" Then Friday came and all day they asked me "Is it time to go see our buddies?" Finally 2:15 rolled around on the clock and I told them it was time. What a fun walk down to the C-pod to meet up with Mr. J's class. We did a little art project with snowflakes, read a book about snowflakes and talked about how each snowflake is perfectly unique just like each student! There were lots of smiles and happy working kids. Another fun thing we do with our buddies is write in buddy journals back and forth a few times a month. It is a great authentic writing assignment! There is a real audience and purpose for writing. I love the fact that our school is a great big community where teacher and kids interact both inside and outside of their own classroom.

Good Bye November, Hello December!

Here we are... all lined up... saying good bye to November. We had a grading day at the beginning of the month, conferences towards the end, and a Thanksgiving holiday with our families. December will bring a month of focusing on better fluency in reading, learning about families traditions and cultures, and subtraction. Should be a fun couple of weeks before a long winter break (yes, I will be sending home extra homework- more to come on that later). Could first grade be any better?

Take Care!
Mrs. Weathers

Working Away

Well, we have been hard at work in B2. We have been working on story maps, comparing and contrasting, and learning to become math detectives. Here are a few random pictures of what's been going on in class.

Thank you!

I just want to give a big huge thank you to the volunteers that come to our school to help out each week. The kids get to participate in fun activities, extra art projects, small groups, and one on one extra practice of skills thanks to the volunteers that give their time. This last Friday we had three classrooms with volunteers in our B pod at the same time. We had a couple great dad's working on a clay project, another dad (my own personal dad) working on an art project (with lots of glitter) with first graders and a mom working on a cute snowman project as well. with the other first grade class. Earlier in the week we had a mom and helping sort math center materials, and a grandma volunteering to read with kids and work on math strategies. Thursday's we have awesome volunteers that help us get our weekly folders ready to send home for the week. All of us teachers at Forest Ridge are so thankful for each volunteer! You make our job easier and the kids benefit so much! 

Many Thanks,

Mrs. Weathers 

Snow way, an art project? Yep! Snowmen Time!

Soon our classroom will look like a winter wonderland! Of course most of the kids are excited about this... it means more art projects! Who knows, maybe we will get some snow this year? We can hope!

Homework

Another spelling/writing homework packet came home today and will be due next week by Friday.

We will have two more weeks of that homework, then for break I will be sending home some super-sized homework to do over the break. My goal is make sure that the students retain their skills over break. This is such a precious time of year for learning and I want to make sure everyone keeps practicing the skills they have learned so far.

Happy Homeworking!
Mrs. Weathers

Just wanted to let you know...

Here is an optional activity you could do over those long days of winter break. No need to let me know if you are going to participate, just send in your poster.

Thanks,

Mrs. Weathers

It’s that time again… time to gear up for our annual

Oregon Garden Earth Day poster contest! For the past 13years, kids have been celebrating and learning about the earth with us through their art contributions. Wewould like to invite your students to participate in this year’s contest to help promote Earth Day 2013.

Our theme this year is

“EARTH DAY, Every Day.” Please read further down this post what that means.

The poster contest is open to students in all K

‐12 programs. The Earth Day Committee will choose one GrandPrize winner for the official 2012 Earth Day posters, advertisements, billboards, and website that will be used to promote our event. We will display all poster entries at the event and also award a First Place Prize to one student in each of these categories: grades K‐3; grades 4‐7; grades 8‐12. The contest rules are enclosed, and all poster entries must be postmarked by Wednesday, Jan. 30th, 2013. Please address entries to:

Alan Pennington

Marion County Public Works

5155 Silverton Rd. NE

Salem, OR, 97305

For questions regarding the poster contest, please contact Alan at 503

‐365‐3188 or

apennington@co.marion.or.us.

Our 14

th annual Earth Day Celebration at The Oregon Garden on Saturday, April 20, 2013 from 10 am to 4 pm is a FREE event made possible by generous sponsorships from Marion County Environmental Services, Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Oregon Department of Energy, and others. This year’s Earth Day Celebration will feature educational activities for children and adults with ideas on how to “Reduce our Carbon Footprint” by making simple changes in our everyday lives. For more details on the event, check for updates at www.oregongarden.org. Come support environmental stewardship while enjoying spring blooming at The Oregon Garden!

Marion County Public Works

‐Environmental Services

Earth Day 2012 Poster

Contest Rules

Use this checklist to make sure all entries are eligible for judging:

•

All entries must be created by students currently in the K through 12th‐grade age range (home‐school

students welcome!)

•

Each entry MUST include the student’s first and last name, grade #, and school name on the back of

the artwork.

The entry must be the original artwork of the student whose name is on the piece.

•

The size of the artwork must be NO LARGER than 11” x 17”. Smaller sizes are acceptable as well. Any

kind of paper may be used; we promote recycled paper but this will not be a criterion for judging!

•

The artwork must be related to this year’s theme of “EARTH DAY, Every Day”.

•

Entries may be done in marker, ink, crayon, colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic, or tempera paint.

•

We discourage entries with words. Posters with words will not be immediately disqualified, but in

some cases the words will make the poster unusable. Please tell students to not write

EARTH DAY,

Every Day

on the poster.

•

No computer‐generated artwork will be accepted.

•

Entries must be mailed flat, and must not be folded, rolled, matted, or mounted.

Entries must be

postmarked by Wednesday, Jan. 30th, 2013.

Prize list (categorized by grade level):

K

‐3rd: $50 Gift Card/Fred Meyer

4

‐7th: $50 Gift Card/Fred Meyer

8

‐12th: $50 Gift Card/Fred Meyer

Note:

the winning entry from those above that is chosen as the Grand Prize will receive an additional

$50!

Discussion of Theme

“

EARTH DAY, Every Day”

We share the resources and bounty of Mother Earth with all living organisms. These

resources are finite but humanity’s appetite for food, shelter, and material goods is

growing to unsustainable levels. How we manage our planet affects not only us but all

other plants and animals.

􀂃

What types of natural resources are there?

􀂃

Are these resources renewable?

􀂃

Where do the products we buy come from?

􀂃

How does the way in which food is produced or materials made affect the planet?

􀂃

What simple actions can we take in our daily lives to have less impacts on the earth?

􀂃

How can our purchasing choices help or hurt the planet?􀂃 What is sustainability and how do we become more sustainable in our daily lives?

Thanksgiving Break

Good Afternoon!

Just a reminder that we have conferneces next week. During the week of the students will have a spelling/writing homework packet (like the last 2 weeks) and it will be due the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Pleae continue to read every day! I would challenege you to try and read 60 minutes or more a day over break. This can be you reading to your child, with your child, or them reading to themselves. We have been working on story maps in class. We can write down our book title, a sentence about the beginning, middle and end of the story as well as identify the setting and characters. I would encourage you to continue this conversation over break or find a journal where your child can write out a story map after they read.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at all conferences. Today you will get the report card and a paper to fill out after you read it. Please bring this with you to the conference and we can talk about all the wonderful things your first grader is doing at school and discuss areas that seem to be tricky for them right now.

Please email me or call if you can't make it to your conference and we can reschedule or do a phone conference. Take care, stay well and have a great thanksgiving! I am thankful for the wonderful families I get to work with this year!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Weathers

Healthy Choices Assembly

This week we had an assembly that talked about making making healthy choices. It was a super creative and interactive musical that encouraged kids to eat fruits and veggies, drink water, and exercise! Here are a couple pictures and a short video.

 

Journal Writing in Class

Lots of times in class we have time to write in our journals. I spent some time today reading through journals to see what everyone is writing about. I found some superstar writing!!! I had six kids share their secret to success when it comes to writing time...

Biaggio says, "I think about my friends and family when I am writing!"

Isabel says, "I think about what I want for Christmas and write about other things I'm looking forward to."

Jesus says, "I look at books I'm reading to help me get ideas."

Kaeden says, "I read books to learn new words then I use those words in my writing."

Miylee says, "I write about things I do like Trick-or-Treating and fun things I've done."

Ariel says, " I write about things I do at home like reading and things I do at school like playing with my friends!"

At home, please encourage your students to write about things!  Remember, like the writing homework, it doesn't have to be perfect spelling- it just needs to be getting ideas down on paper and remembering or communicating through writing. Much like reading, writing is a life long skill that can be both useful and enjoyable! Tonight, ask your child what they are writing about in their journal at school and see if you can find some time to write at home (grocery list, letter to a family member or friend, a response to reading, etc.)

Happy Writing!
Mrs. Weathers

Election Wrap Up!

This week we read a few books about being the president. Today the kids filled out their ballot for which read aloud was their favorite. Looks like they liked Duck for President the best! I'll admit, it is a cute book. We finished up our election unit today in class with another little book about voting and the leaders in our government. We also made a timeline of the events in election (The Campaign, Election Day, Primaries, Natuional Conventions, Inaguration, etc). The kids will be bringing some of these things home today. Also, there is a true-or-false election game page that you can play at home just for fun- quiz them on what they know. There will be more presidential learning ahead in the next few weeks and months after the election, but this is all for now. Remember to vote! We live in a great country!

Take Care,

Mrs. Weathers

1st Grader As President

This week in our election learning we discussed what the president does for a job. We talked about how the president has things that are important to him and wants good things for our country. Then the students thought about what would be important to them. This little gal wrote on her paper "If I were president and I would protect the people who are sick."

Take Care,

Mrs. Weathers

B2 Votes!

Today our school participated in a vote for president with other students across the country. The students know that because they are not old enough to vote, it doesn't count towards the actual election results, but that it is important to learn the process. We went down to another classroom with voting stations where students could vote for who they wanted to be the president for the next four years. We talked about how voting is private and you don't have to tell anyone who you voted for. The kids did a great job! After they left they got an "I voted!" sticker! What a cool experience for everyone!!! Here are some pictures of the big event...

Every 4 years....

We have started learning about elections and what it means to be a leader/president. Today we read a book called Duck For President, a Scholastic News about voting, and talked a little bit about the whole process. We will continue to look at the election process, the local, state and national government, and talk about what it means to be a good leader.

Reading Response Journals:

Each year we teach these topics in Social Studies, but it is way more fun to learn about them when it is an election year! Check back on the blog for more election coverage of the learning going on in B2 this week!
Take Care,
Mrs. Weathers

Ten Black Dots

Today we read a story called Ten Black Dots. In this story the author counts from 1-10 and the dots are used to make a picture about something. I read numbers 1-9 then ask the kids what they think the ten black dots can make. This is a lesson in creativity and thinking outside the box. Here are some different ideas the kids came up with. It is a fun/different/creative lesson... it is cool to see the interesting ideas out there..

A Giraffe...

A train...

A whale...

Some blocks

My personal favorite: 10 Little Monsters...

The number 10...

A  train...

Mom's and Dad's

A Mountain...