Note Home Today

Hello Parents! •There is no homework packet this week. Instead there is a letter about building a Leprechaun Trap at home as part of our simple machines unit at school. •There is a conference form coming home today. Please send this back to school with your signature on Monday (please, please, please). •RAH folders are looking awesome! Keep reading! That’s all for now, email me if you have questions. Take Care, Mrs. Weathers

Weekly Update

Hey There! No homework this week. We have report card day on Friday so I am working on assessment with the students all week. Read lots and fill out RAH this week.

Mentor Text: Good Dog, Carl. Mission: Writing Great Ideas

Today we read a book that was mostly all illustrations. The students talked their way through this story explaining what was goin on in the pictures and retold the story to me and eachother based on just the illustrations. We then made a work bank of different words they might like to know how to spell when they wrote their story. We reviewed sequencing words and then they were off to write. Their job was to write the story in their own words based on the illustrations given in the book. In some ways it was a difficult task, but in other ways it was fun. One student said to me, "Can we PLEASE take this home today? I am so excited to write about this!" I love to see that happiness when they are writing. In the morning for journal time they can write about whatever they want. In a writing time like this, it is more guided for a particular purpose. It is neat to see which kids excel at the different opportunities and inviations to write.

 

Summarizing Our Reading

Today we started working on a new skill in reading. The kids are learning how to write a summary. We talked about how it is slightly different from Main Idea and Supporting details. A summary is usually for a fiction book and includes elements of character and plot. We have been using the strategy of "Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then" to summarize our writing. They are really good at figuring out those five parts. It got a little tricky today when we tried to use those five point to blend it in to three sentences which would become a summary. For day one, it was a great attempt! We will continue to work on this. After you read each night you can ask your child to summarize a book this way.

Red

Today we read a scholastic news... ask your child what we learned about!

It was fun and they got to work with a partner. 

Happppppy Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

Take Care,

KW

Valentines Day

First grade is so fun- especially on a day like today. Everyone came in with their box they had made and had valentines for the class. It took us about an hour to get everything passed out to everyone. Once that was done, we put our super cool boxes up on the shelves and did some "regular work" until the party. Thank you to all the parents that came in to help for the party. I appreciate your joining us! It was such a beautiful day outside that we had to take a quick afternoon break today and enjoy the sunshine. It really feels like today should have been a Friday, right?! I'm sure tomorrow will be a great day. We are going to wrap up some writing work that we have been focusing on and work in our new math groups. Following this long, crazy and fun week is a nice three day weekend! I am guessing the rest will be good for everyone. Even this tired teacher could use some rest. Take Care and we will see everyone tomorrow at school. Thank you again to the families of B2 for being so awesome!

Happy Birthday Oregon!

Today was not only Valentine's Day, but also Oregon's birthday. We spent a little time today leaning about our state. The weather happened to be so nice and warm out today that we snuck out for a quick video and some pictures. The kids make a little book about Oregon... good times.

 

Readers Theater with Mrs. Wompler

Kids in B2 and B6 have the opportunity to work with Mrs. Wompler from time to time. When they go to B3 to work with her they are practicing reading and writing. This week she had a group of kids who had been practicing a readers theater play based on a book they had read. They came by to share it with us on Monday. Great job reading group! Thanks for sharing with us! We love to hear you read!

January and February Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to the kiddos who celebrated a birthday last month and this month! We enjoyed celebrating with you last Friday. Have a fantastic year being 7 years old!!!!!

Reading Connections

Today we read Duck on a Bike and Duck at the Door. We talked about having a text to text connection. One book reminds us of the other book. In this case it was because duck's are the main character in each book.

 

Yesterday we mad a text to self connection. We read The Relatives Came and made connetions to our own lives about when we have gone to visit relatives and when relatives have come to visit us.



Later this week we will make a text to world connection!

Today in our Reading Response journals we looked at the writing pattern in Duck on a Bike. All the animals saw duck riding a bike and said hello to him but they were thinking something else. We wrote what we would say to a duck if we saw a duck on a bike and what we would actually be thinking. Lots of fun ideas!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Weathers

Cool Hands, Warm Hearts

We did a fun little art project in class based on the saying "Cold Hands, Warm Hearts." We talked about warm and cool colors and then talked about words that make our heart feel warm. We displayed the art on our side wall area and they are beautiful to look at and give us lots of suggestions for things to say to others that would make their heart feel warm. Take a little time to day to warm hearts!

Take Care,
Mrs. Weathers

Valentine's Day!

Here is a list of names for Valentines Day:

Miylee
Sophia
Zayvian
Biaggio
Luis
Dylan
John
Jacey
Mikayla
Kaden
Jesus
Jordan
Gisele
Isabel
Stephen
Aaron
Marci
Preston
Emily
Mason
Kaeden
Jack
Ariel
Cody
Sammy
Jada
Madison
Morgun

Thank you,
Mrs. Weathers :)

Letter that came home today...

January 31^st, 2013

Dear Parents,

Wow, I can’t believe it is the end of the January! We have been getting back into the swing of things in B2. You might have heard from the students that I have been gone three days this month. I was at a teacher training with two other teachers from our building. I will also be gone three days in February. Please remind your kiddo to do a great job when they have a guest teacher. I know it is especially hard to be in first grade when you don’t have your regular teacher everyday J I will try not to catch the flu or a cold and be here as much as I can. I miss the kids when I am gone and always look forward to coming back to the classroom to teach after long days away.

A few house keeping things to be aware of….

• I will put in a book order on Feb. 8^th- so turn those in if you are planning to order books.
• The January RAH calendar should be completed and signed over this long weekend and turned in Monday, February 7^th.
• Today the new February RAH calendar came home. Please put that in your plastic folder and start reading for the month!
• Fast Falcon Facts are up and running. Please have your child give me the challenge slip with your initials if they are ready to move to the next set of flash cards. This is a new program and we are still figuring out how to make sure it is running smoothly. Thanks for your patience.
• There is spelling/writing homework this week. That is due Feb. 8^th
• Start thinking ahead to February for Valentine’s Day when your child will make a recycled box to receive their valentine’s in.
• February 26^th at 6:30 is our Winter Music Program- more information will be coming home soon from the music teacher.

Please let me know if you have questions or concerns! Thanks for your support and partnership!

Take Care,

Mrs. Weathers

My Favorite Books!

    



These are two of my ABSOLUTE favorite books to read to kids. I like them because they talk about making mistakes, kindness, and everyone having different qualities that make them just perfect.They are two great books that always make me appreciate the opportunity to teach kids everyday!

Take Care!

Mrs. Weathers



Math Update

This week in math we are learning about more about subtraction. One thing we worked on this week was matching up numbers with fact families to to help us solve subtraction problems. If I know 6+4=10 then I can figure out what 10-4 is much easier. It is great to see the connections the kids are making in math! I hope you are working on Fast Falcon Facts at home. Even just five to ten minutes a night with some flash card practice help out tons! Thanks for working on math at home, we are working on math lots at school.

We Love Recess!

Just in case you were wondering, kids in B2 love to play at recess! Everyday we work hard to earn an afternoon break by getting our work done and being respectful and responsible in the classroom. We hope for a sunny break to play outside with friends and get some fresh air! Here are some pictures of some 1st graders enjoying the playground and having fun with friends!

Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening!

Today we took some time to talk about the best parts of books we are reading independently. The students took some time to read and then write about the best part of the beginning, middle and end of their book. Then everyone had a chance to sit in the yellow chair and share about their book. We will have another speech later this spring and so we took some time today to practice being a good speaker and listener.

Thanks for checking in to see what's happening in our class!

Take Care,

Mrs. Weathers

Non-Fiction Focus in Reading and Writing

Right now in first grade we are learning about Non Fiction text features. We have been reading and writing about penguins and Dr. Martin Luther King this week. Soon we will be learning about whales! We have been discussing the differences between fiction/non fiction and stories/informational text. We have also been looking at descriptive writing and pulling out details about what we are reading.

Thanks for checking out the blog to see what we've been up to. Also, you might have heard from the students we got a SMART board! It is super exciting and it will be up and running soon!

Take Care!
Mrs. Weathers