We Are Preparing For Departure......

We have enjoyed our week as we prepare to depart from "THE LAND DOWN UNDER"!


We have had a busy week of reviewing concepts and assessing your children. This way we can use our last two months (hard to believe) of school wisely.

Miss Fate has reassessed your children on their sight words and has also given them a comprehension skills test. The children had to read a passage orally and answer five comprehension questions on their own. WOW! They have come so far.

Mrs. Waller revisited the concept of singular nouns v. plural nouns. We focused on the following rule: If a noun ends in x, sh, ch, ss,  or ch you add es to the word. We also looked at a variety of words that are unique and have their very own plurals; ex: child=children, person=people, goose=geese, sheep=sheep. Be on the look out for their very own plural book that they made on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday the kids completed a sentence structure assessment. We will share these with you at conferences. We need to know that they understand what a noun is as well as a verb and what makes up a complete sentence. They will be writing a lot more in second grade and we want to make sure they are prepared!



The beginning of their plural nouns booklet.....



Independently, they have been working on their number scrolls and in their grammar and phonics books.
They have explored math apps on the iPad, practiced their spelling words and created their very own kangaroo with a toilet paper roll.
Take a look at the pictures below:

MATH

Miss Fate has given the students our spring math assessment. It was over all of the concepts we have covered up to this point in the first grade. Again, this is to help us assess and figure out how we will spend our last few months of first grade.  She has also started Kangaroo Math, a packet that is in their theme notebook. It can be challenging and the students love it.

Mrs. Waller is revisiting the  ONE hundred number chart in order to ensure the students have a good grasp of number sense. We used the SMART Board to help us out as well as our very own charts and a game piece. Thursday, the students reviewed time, visited a variety of other centers that they were not able to get to during Tic Tac Toe math, played Bunny Hop Place Value and started their ONE hundred number chart review packets. The  ONE hundred number chart is so important because it allows the children to visually see  what it looks like to count by 2's, 5's, and 10's. They also see that by moving forward or backward one space they are simply adding or subtracting by 1. If they move up or down 1 space they are actually adding or subtracting 10. This helps enhance their sense of numbers as they move on to second grade.

BUNNY HOP PLACE VALUE

WE'VE GOT NUMBER SENSE!



Coin Recognition!

 Some students were able to work on MENU MATH. They got their very own menu and were asked to look up the price for certain items.  They had to also add two menu items together, solve word problems and subtract to find the change. They loved this activity.

In social studies we have been finishing up our presentations. They have done a great job. We are also finishing up working in our theme notebooks.

In TNT on Wednesday, Matthew Long's dad visited and entertained us with his great stories from his two years in Australia. Thank you so much Mr. Long. We enjoyed it!

Also on Wednesday our buddies came to visit the classroom so we could show them all that we have been learning and doing during our Australian unit. It was fun to hear our 7th grade buddies talk about the animals they were when they were in first grade!

Joshua visited the TITANIC exhibit at Union Station over Spring Break. He put together a special presentation for our class. We were honored to see and hear all the amazing facts Joshua knows about this incredible ship. Thank you Joshua, for all of your hard work and for sharing it with us!!!

 We had fun at the Literature Festival on Friday morning. First we listened to Paul O. Zelinsky an illustrator known for his creation of The Wheels on the Bus, Z is For Moose and Swamp Angel.  Next we were entertained by Mr. David Shannon the author and illustrator of the NO, DAVID! books.  He read the children his new book, JANGLES, the BIG Fish Story. Then he showed us all how to draw David. The children were mesmerized. Thank you to Mr. N for setting this all up for us. 

Mr. Zelinsky showed us how he came up with his own version of RUMPELSTILTSKIN.



Mr. Shannon's version of his famous character, DAVID!



Mrs. Waller's attempt at DAVID!

 Also, one day this week, the first graders got to take over the positions of the chapel leaders while the second grade visited chapel upstairs. Thank you to those who helped  us out. You did a great job. All of the first graders will do a great job next year being our chapel leaders.

REMINDERS:

There are no spelling words coming home today, we will send them home this Tuesday and have the test the following Friday, April 13th.

APRIL 3RD: 9:30-11:30am Cultural Arts Australia end of the theme Program! Starting our new theme: Fairy Tales & Folktales!!!!

APRIL 4TH & 5TH: parent/teacher conferences. See you then!

APRIL 6TH: Good Friday, No School. HAPPY EASTER!

APRIL 9TH: For our 50th Anniversary celebration we will be taking a picture up on the field in the shape of a big 50! Your child will need to have a plain white shirt to wear for this event. It will need to be at school by April 9th, we will keep it in their cubbies. If you can send the shirt in before the 9th, that would be great!

APRIL 18TH: First grade field trip to LAKESIDE NATURE Center....more information to come.

APRIL 19TH: Transition night from 6-7pm. Come up to school & meet the second grade teachers!

We have had a great week! We look forward to seeing you all next week at parent/ teacher conferences. Have a great weekend.
Love, Mrs. Waller and Miss Fate