We love the USA!

In language arts this week we've been busy researching our famous Americans.  We are learning things like when they were born and died, information about their childhood, and facts about why they are famous.  It is fun watching them get excited about researching and they are doing an excellent job reading, and recording the facts.

Writing facts in small groups such as birth date and birth place of famous American.

Griffin is doing the Rocket Math app to review coins on the iPad.

Joshua is writing in his jumbo journal about the history of our country.

We reviewed common and proper nouns.  Elianna is sorting words into the correct target.

We reviewed our spelling words using the smart board.  Everyone loves using the fun pens to write on the board.

Alex is using words with the long "i" and bossy "e" at the end to build sentences.

Griffin is filling in the states on the map of the USA.

Abby is highlighting words she finds with the long "i".

Julian is writing about a dream he has that he believes could change the world, like Martin Luther King Jr.

Asa used letter stampers to practice spelling his spelling words.

We used starfall.com to read a story with lots of words with the long "i" sound.

In math we worked on sorting coins, coin recognition, adding and taking away coins.

 Using games and manipulatives like play money really help reinforce these skills.

We used the smart board to add and sort coins.

This week in social studies we focused on our flag including the first flag of the USA, who may or may not have made it, and how it has changed over the years.  We all agreed fifty stars on the flag looks the best and we hope it never changes! 

 

Mrs. Waller got our special flag out to share.  This flag was flown over the Capitol building in Washington DC and then given to the first grade from Senator Blunt a few years ago.

 We also learned about our country's national bird, the bald eagle.  We discussed why the eagle was chosen and some interesting facts about the eagle.  Ms. Lorfing even spotted a real bald eagle at the lake where she lives and was able to show a video clip of one she saw interacting with a black hawk this week!

 

Another important part of social studies this week was learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We learned about his importance to America when it came to changing laws regarding segregation. Our class just couldn't even imagine living in a time like that and everyone agreed we are so blessed to be living in a time where we can all live together as one no matter what the color of our skin.   

 In hands-on-science we learned about the history of human flight.  We were able to make our own helicopters and try out things that would make them fly higher or for longer periods of time.

 We launched them from the 2nd floor and tried to land them on a target below.

During our computer time we used iPads to practice state identification with an app called "Stack the States".  We used a map of the United States to help us identify the size, location and capitals.

Happy Birthday Lila!!!

Lila doing her "7" jumps.

Yummy doughnuts!

Spelling Words- Week #12  January 19-23, 2015

Phonics Skills: long vowel o and u with silent e

1.       phone

2.       grove

3.       mope

4.       robe

5.       stone

6.       cute

7.       tube

8.       rule

9.       flute

10.    huge

Challenge Words

11. statue

12. speech

13. nation

14. history

“Surprise the Teacher Word”

15. your famous American!!

***Start practicing your speech with volume & expression!!!

START GATHERING YOUR COSTUME OR BE THINKING ABOUT IT FOR OUR PROGRAM ON FEB.6TH THE STUDENTS DRESS UP AS THEIR FAMOUS AMERICAN ON THIS DAY

Monday, January 19th-- NO SCHOOL MLK DAY!

Wednesday, January 21st-- PAPER DOLLS ARE DUE! (you can bring them in earlier if you want)

Have a nice LONG weekend!!  

Be sure to ask your child all about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They are all a wealth of knowledge about this amazing man.

Sara and Carey