Bears All Around the World!

 

We have introduced our new theme, Bears All Around the World! We are so excited to start this journey with your children. In Social Studies the children have started introducing their teddy bears to the class.  We have met Boo Boo Bear, Pumpkin, Trixie, Boo, O-Joe, Soft Ice, Rudolph, Darth Vader, Fluffy, Roger, Vanilla, Bo Bo Fat, Army Bear, Radar, Bacon & Lily.  We have a few more friends to meet. This has been a great activity for the kids as they become more comfortable speaking in front of their peers. Plus, Miss Fate, Mrs. Waller, and Miss Heifner have enjoyed getting to hear their creative stories.  We found out some of the bears have come from Build a Bear, Decoration Boxes, out of the states and or have been given as gifts.  We even have a talking bear and a taped up bear! We started a K-W-L (what they know, what they want to know and what the have learned about bears) chart on a huge bear that is on our door.  We will complete it at the end of the unit.  The children were also introduced to their new bear theme notebooks.  They are much more informative compared to our last theme.  

The children found out their bear parts for our upcoming play Bear Planet and they were really excited!!!  Save the Date:  Bear Planet: Thursday, November 17th!!!

LANGUAGE ARTS

Our Language Arts Block has been super busy. We have been learning about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and compound words all week long!  Mrs. Waller did a wonderful lesson on "Verbs that Pop."  Miss Heifner played an adjective game with the children where they had to feel an object and guess what the item was using describing words to explain it to their peers.  We continue reading with our classroom books and in our guided reading groups. Your children are all excellent readers and are growing quickly.  Miss Heifner introduced the "reading phones", which are simply two pieces of PVC piping from Home Depot. These phones allow the children to listen to themselves as they read independently in our groups. They loved this tool. We will continue to use them throughout the year.

Using Magnify Glasses to search for Nouns!!!  It was so much fun!!!

This picture won't rotate...but we liked it so we left it.

PVC Pipes were awesome... we loved hearing our own voices!!

ABC Order with Bears

Vowels & Consonants Game

Listening Center

Guided Reading

We changed seats and the children love their new spot!

 The students have been learning about the four elements of a story: the characters, the setting, the problem and the solution. They created a chart which helped them illustrate their knowledge. Your children are such good artists! Soon we will be ready to start writing stories.

Throughout the week, the children are continuing to put their spelling words and the names of the different types of bears in ABC Order. They have been listening to a Grizzly Bears book & Duck and Cover.  The children played a vowel/consonant game where they had to spin the paperclip and then move a letter over in the correct category labeled either vowel or consonant.  The first person who gets all the vowels wins.  This was a loud yet fun center.  Another game the children played this week was a memory concentration game matching up the number: 2 with two and II.  They played an I have the common noun____do you have the common noun______game with Mrs. Waller." The children also picked a card to find out the two topics they had to make a Venn diagram with for example: dance/soccer and they had to come up with how they are alike and how they are different.

Find the correct common noun card...

MATH....

Missing Addends

Dancing away as we sing our Doubles Rap!!!

In Math Miss Fate introduced the concept a "missing addend." We used chips, unifix cubes, and number lines to demonstrate their knowledge. We continue to work on doubles and deepening their understanding of odd and even numbers.  Miss Heifner did a wonderful lesson with missing addend books.  The children used stickers to represent an equation to get their sum.  Then, they shared them with their friends to see if they could guess the missing addend.  We had a great power point slide show to help motivate and engage the students with the lesson.  Your children should keep practicing the doubles rap they love it and it will help them on their test!  The children have been continuing to practice working with the calendar.  Mrs. Waller walked them through step by step how to read a calendar.

 Missing Addends..."My sum is 10 and  I am showing you 4 what is the missing addend?" says Claire.

Every day in Number Corner we use the date (for example, the number 5 was used on 10-5) to review tallies, 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.

Not sure why this picture won't rotate but you can at least see it sorry about that...(Calendar practice)

SPELLING

Taking our first test!  Some were nervous before but after the test.... they all said this is fun!!

  We had our first spelling test today and it went extremely well! We support their learning in centers throughout the week. This week, the children used trace and erase sheets to put their spelling words behind the clear cover and to practice tracing each word with a dry erase marker. They loved this which was apparent by evidence of the quiet room!  Thank you for your support in this endeavor. Between our exercises in class and your work at home, the children should continue to do very well on their spelling tests! You can also visit http://www.spellingcity.com/, type in their spelling words and have fun exploring their activities. It is really great! Every Friday, we will send home their graded spelling test and the new spelling word list and activities will also be coming home. Make sure you look for these in your child's backpack. 

Spelling Words:

1. in

2. up

3. am

4. we

5. like

6. see

7. go

8. it

9. do

10. on
Challenge Words
11. grizzly
12. addend
13. sum
14. panda
"Surprise the Teacher Word"
15.???

Trace & Erase

Wednesday for TNT and in preparation for pet blessing, Pets for Life came to visit. Seven members came and brought their dogs, who visit various institutions such as hospitals, schools and nursing homes to brighten the days of their members. They certainly brought a smile to our faces!  The children learned the correct way to pet a dog and they had the chance to pet and touch each animal.  Ask them about the tree position, the meatball and the french fries when it comes to petting a dog. 

Rose

Special Treat Mrs. Klingner & Sunny

Pets For Life--Lola on the right

Lola, Rose & Sunny

Rose 180 lbs!!!!

Friday was the pet blessing and your children had such a good time. Real or stuffed, we enjoyed our time with our pets. Thank you for sharing a part of your home with us.

Miss Fate's Dog Luca Bella @the Pet Blessing in Spirit! She loves kids just not very fond of other dogs;)

Georgia, her mother & her dog

Russell & his huge stuffed animal dog!

Miss Fate & Mrs. Wiedeman helping the first graders sign the scripture lesson out on the field.

I spy Ms. Lorfing...can you find her and her dog?

Janey, her mother and dog

Sloane her dog with Miss Fate & her dog

Christina & her family plus her cute dog

Mrs. Waller her dog Porter & her family!

Patrick his family and dog

Evan, his mother and cat!

Claire and her dog!

In computer lab this week the children were introduced to typing.  They were taught how to sit up tall, keep their feet still and how to hold their fingers in home row position.  Then, they used this great website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/      to prepare them for typing when they really start typing in 3rd Grade.

Hands on Science was very "hands on" the children used their bodies to demonstrate the planets and show the solar system.  The learned the difference between revolution and rotation.  They also realized the earth is located in just the right spot, third from the sun, to sustain life.  Check out our exciting pictures below.  ***Please bring in an empty cereal box into school next week so we can use them in Hands on Science next Friday.***

It was a windy day!

Reminders:

10/11/11--We are going on our Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch.(Bring a sack lunch & drink this day) GET YOUR BUDDY SPONSORS!!

10/14/11--Buddy Run, Miss Heifner's last day, Conference Questionnaires are due! 
10/20/11--1st Grade Music Program, Doubles Test & the ABC Sale starts

10/21/11-- Spirit Day!

10/25/11--Picture Retake/Make up day!

10/27 & 10/28 Parent/Teacher Conferences--NO SCHOOL

10/31/11--Halloween Ball & Halloween Parties (Dress up in costumes on this day)

FYI-Retake/Make up picture day is October 25^th in the morning.

 If your students or their parents are saying they want to have a retake-

PLEASE let them know they must email me so I can be sure they understand the steps to take.

1.    They MUST return the first set of pictures (or the proof) BEFORE they can have a retake-they do not get to keep the first set and these photos will no longer be an option if they choose to retake.  Let me know if you have questions! 
     Thanks, Shirley Laird

Have a fabulous weekend!  
~Miss Fate, Mrs. Waller & Miss Heifner~