Another Exciting Week!

We have had another EXCITING AND BUSY week here in the first grade!

In Language Arts the students have been learning about the four elements of a story: the characters, the setting, the problem and the solution. They created a step book which helped them illustrate their knowledge. Your children are such good artists! Soon we will be ready to start writing stories. They have also been learning about contractions in both guided and independent centers. They have worked to unscramble, scrambled sentences and finished up working with compound words as well as abc order. Guided reading is going well. They amaze us every day with their incredible reading abilities.

We continue to work on our doubles and use dominoes in Math. Your children have also been working hard on writing their numerals using their best handwriting. On Tuesday they learned more about graphs as they answered Mrs. Waller's various YES/NO questions and used their bodies as well as their self portraits to create the data on the graph. As we analyzed the results we learned a great deal about our classmates and we were able to incorporate many of the concepts we are studying in Math. Every day in Number Corner we use the date (for example, the number 5 was used on 10-5) to review tallys, odds/evens, money, equations, etc. Believe or not, your children are able to come up with multiplication problems! We are excited to see what the rest of the year brings.

In Social Studies we wrapped up our presentations of their family collages. We have had so much fun learning about your families. Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into those. They continue to decorate our room.

In Science, with Miss Fate we created a spinning wheel and studied the life cycle of the butterfly. Chum-Chum remains in his/her chrysalis. The butterfly should appear at any moment! We are excited and will be sure to post pictures of this event.

In TNT on Wednesday, we made scarecrows. It was a process. The children colored, cut out, added straw (thanks to those of you who were able to send in some brown bags), and put together a great art project. They worked so well at this task. The scarecrows are so cute, they move and are adding so much color to our room. Please stop in and take a peek. Last week in TNT Joe Jimenez, an architect came to visit us. The kids loved it! He talked all about what it means to be an architect and how they communicate visually. He showed them several slides of buildings they have worked on and he brought a miniature model for the children to see! This was the last speaker of our theme Myself, Others and a Caring Community.

Hands-on Science and Computer Lab were cut short this week, because of the exciting Buddy Run/Walk. We made matching head/sweat bands with the help of a few of our 7th grade buddies. They were so cute, everyone loved them! The children enjoyed running/walking with their buddies. Miss Fate & Mrs. Waller even ran along with our class. What a great morning, which led to a great day! Thanks to all of the parents/staff who helped to coordinate this amazing event.

Reminders:

Spelling Packet #2 went home today so you can get a start on it for next week.

Study your new spelling words.

Study your doubles and be ready in a couple of weeks for our doubles test.

Review your sight words.

*Bring in a teddy bear on Monday, October 11th!

Dates to put on your calendar:

October 22, 2010 Party for Landon with both first grades

October 26, 2010 Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

October 27, 2010 Halloween Ball & Landon's last day with us!