Liquids to Solids and back

After covering many of the properties used to describe objects we introduced solids and liquids.  Students were given juice, a cup and a popsicle stick.  They put on their scientist hats and had to observe the liquid in the cup.  What color was it and what shape did it hold in the cup?  They recorded their observations about the juices properties in their science notebook.  They then made a prediction about what the juice would do if it was put in the freezer.  They decided it would freeze and turn into a solid. So Thursday afternoon we put the pops in the freezer and brought them back to the room on Friday afternoon!  We had solids!! 

Monday Update..a day late 9/26/11

· Phonics- Red/Yellow- Introduce digraphs: wh, sh, ch, th, ck. Digraphs stick together to form one sound. ex. bath, chip, shop, back, whip. Review cvc words and cvc words in sentences. Green/Blue- Continue digraphs: wh, sh, ch, th, ck. Digraphs stick together to form one sound.

· Wednesday is Early Release 12:10. Students will have a lesson on respect!

· WOW BAG!!!! Keep using those vocabulary words and sight words each week. Vocabulary this week: accomplish, goal, agree, argue, attempt

· Please complete math homework in pencil and return it the next day for full credit. Please always return any class materials I send home for the children the next day.

· Our PTO program is on Tuesday, November 15^th at 7:00pm! Our play this year will be Folk Songs which will blend well with our Tall Tales and Folk Tales we begin next week!

· This is the last week for the PTO Coin Drive. We want to win! Our class has to be the heaviest to get the pizza party!

· Check your food for box tops. THANKS FOR DOING THIS!

· $1.00 Pickle Fridays

Computer hogged…

My husband’s business has had him on the computer a lot more lately which means I have gotten behind on posting about your sweet darlings.  I have some catching up to do.  I hope to get a post in each day this week to catch us up!

The Daily 5 is going great in our classroom.  The children have learned how to Listen to Reading, Read to Self, and Read to Someone.  We have been focusing mainly on Read to Self. We are trying to build our stamina to 20 minutes!  

In science we had been covering properties.  Such as color, shape, size, texture, and whether something sinks or floats. We sorted shapes by color and size and texture.  We also used our feet to measure the size of objects in our classroom.  The students recorded their information in a t-chart in their science journals.  After they came up to the ELMO and showed their data they collected. 

 

In math they have learned about 10 frames and part part whole charts.  The students first learned how to start with a whole and move up some to the part and then the extra to the other part.  In the chapter we are in now they are joining or adding the two parts to make a whole. They are doing a great job and love working with the manipulatives.

 

Monday Update...9/19/11

It's A Long One!!

·         Phonics- Red/Yellow-All short vowels (a,e,i,o,u) used in cvc words and cvc words used in sentences.  CVC words means consonant, vowel, consonant words such as get, fun, hop, mat, bit.  Green/Blue- Review cvc words and cvc words in sentences and introduce digraphs: wh, sh, ch, th, ck.  Digraphs stick together to form one sound. 

·         Look in your child’s folder at the sight words on the second page.  Make sure they have their sight words highlighted for the first 4 weeks or they need to keep working on them.  I assessed all 4 weeks this week for a grade.  At the end of the nine weeks they will need to know all 8 weeks.  Also please read each night and use the retell hand to ask questions! 

·         Thanks to "student" family for coming out and supporting our school at SAC meeting last Tuesday!!!

·         We had our first WOW Bag Vocabulary winner!! Keep using those vocabulary words and sight words each week.  Vocabulary this week: needs, train, adorable, dear, sensible

·         Please complete math homework in pencil and return it the next day for full credit.  The math requires a lot of reading and your child will need your help to complete math until they can begin to read the math on their own. This week students will have a PART PART WHOLE mat sent home will a baggie of counters for them to complete the homework.   Please return the mat and counters the next day. 

·         Last week and this week we took a practice comprehension tests.  The students read the FCAT Weekly Assessment story by themselves.  We then passed out the 5 questions quiz and they had to complete the quiz.  We went over them with the students in small group to help with test taking mistakes and introduce test taking strategies to find the right answer.  We are sending the stories home so they can read them for practice if that is what your child needs to become a more fluent reader. 

·         T-shirt Money due Friday, September 30^th! Thanks to all who have turned there’s in. We want to order the shirts the first of October so they are here for our PTO program on Tuesday, November 15^th at 7:00pm!  Our play this year will be Folk Songs which will blend well with our Tall Tales and Folk Tales we begin next week! 

·         The PTO Coin Drive is in full swing; send in your loose change!  We want to win!  Our class has to be the heaviest to get the pizza party! 

·         I added the class newsletters to our class website under “CLASSROOM NEWS” in the navigation bar.  If you are not using Internet Explore it will look weird. Try using the new Google Chrome which is compatible with the class website.

·         Check your food for box tops. J THANKS FOR DOING THIS!

·         THANKS to all that have grabbed giving gators at Meet the Teacher and Open House.  You have gone above and beyond for our class!  We are so thankful for all you do! Please send in your item if you grabbed a gator when you can. 

·         SCHOLASTIC orders were place and should be here soon!!! NEW books!!!

·         $1.00 Pickle Fridays

Wow Bag

Dear Parents,

Since the start of the school year we have been introducing new vocabulary and sight words to your children. In order to get the students more excited to invest in these new words, we have created a WOW bag. The WOW bag is an incentive for the students to use the new words we have introduced. Every time the students find a word in a book they have read or use the words in any of their sentences, they will get to place their name in the WOW bag. The students can find or use the words either in school or at home. They will have to show Mrs. Whitehurst or Ms. Toledo where they found or used the word and then will get permission to place their name in the WOW bag. Every Friday, Mrs. Whitehurst or Ms. Toledo will randomly pick a name out of the WOW bag and the name pulled will get to pick out of the treasure chest or other incentive. The WOW bag is a way to keep the students active learners at school and at home.

This weeks vocabulary words: change, learn, adult, imitate,  practice

This weeks sight words: all here big is little

Vocabulary words from the second and third week of school as well as this week’s were added to the website. In the navigation bar under the header I added “Vocabulary WOW Bag.” Click on that and it will direct you to a list of the words we have learned this year so far. Sight words are in their Home folder and listed in their monthly newsletter.

Thanks, Mrs. Whitehurst and Ms. Toledo

Monday Update...September 12th

· Phonics- All short vowels (a,e,i,o,u) used in cvc words. CVC words means consonant, vowel, consonant words such as get, fun, hop, mat, bit.

· Today in your child’s folder is a family tree. We will be using it in a few weeks to make “family apple trees.” Please help your children write the names of their family in each box. Have them write the names they call them such as pop, daddy, nana, mommy, etc. Look for my example on the class website (I had to add 2 more boxes for my other set of grandparents) . Helping your child complete this family tree will be part of the social studies grade for the APPLE TREE!

· SAC (6:00) and PTO (7:00) meetings...Tomorrow September 14^th. Come out with me and Ms. Toledo!

· Look for information on the WOW Bag tomorrow in your child’s folder.

· THANKS to all that have grabbed giving gators at Meet the Teacher and Open House. You have gone above and beyond for our class! We are so thankful for all you do! Please send in your item if you grabbed a gator when you can.

· The PTO Coin Drive has begun; send in your loose change! We want to win! Our class has to be the heaviest!

· WEDNESDAY is an early release day (12:10) and the students will learn about bus safety!

· SCHOLASTIC book orders are due this Friday September 16^th

· Check your food for box tops.

Beads and Scientists

Our table points winners can’t wear the PBS lanyard with the charms anymore because the cute animal charms kept falling off. What can I say they loved to touch and count how many we had.  So I had a colleague suggest having the children help make clay beads and put them on a necklace they can wear.  So last Tuesday during science the students got to make 2 beads for our Table Points Necklace!  They loved it and I enjoyed baking beads in my oven that night...HAHA!

Check out all our gator fans!

On Friday during science they had the opportunity to be scientists and observe our playground area and record their observations.

These scientists are too cute!

What we have been up too…

We have been getting the hang of our math journals in the morning!  They love to come up to the ELMO and show their work! We have been tricking them with quick images each day.  Tomorrow they will learn about ten frame quick images!

We also had our good fit lesson this week.  They love it.  I bring in a whole slew of shoes from from Mr. Adam and I’s collection.  We talk about how shoes has certain purposes such as a cowboy boot is for working cows and a flip flop is for the beach, etc.  They we talk about interest and I tell them that I am not interested in playing basketball so I would not buy a basketball shoes and so forth.  Then I start putting on Mr. Adam’s shoes and my shoes and we talk about how it is hard to walk in shoes that are to big and that I could fall down.  Then I put on my shoes that are just right and show them I can walk without anyone's help.  So if we find a “good fit” book we can read independently with no ones help.

So now with this understanding we sat one on one with the students to pick good fit books.  It was hard for them at first to understand that even though we want to read the book sometimes they are too hard for them to read now and that in a few weeks when we know more about reading we can try again.  Almost everyone has had a chance to pick good fit books.  In this picture Ms. Toledo and our afternoon aide Mr. Osteen are working with students to pick out books. 

We also learned how to listen to reading this week.  They are also loving the cool graphic organizers they fill out after. 

The student also were introduce to Annie and Moby from Brainpop Jr.  Brainpop Jr. is a sight with short 5 minute video on a subject and then has interactive games and quizzes the students can manipulate.  We watch the choosing books video on Tuesday and today we watching observing with science tools during science.  The student had a blast matching the different investigating tools such as balance, ruler, hand lenses, thermometer, etc.

Loving these little ones!

Tuesday Update 9/6/11

· Check the calendar on the back of the home folder to see if they had an “opps”. Please initial next to the “opps” if they did. Thanks for your support in helping keep our classroom behavior a priority.

· ME BAGS are past due and they are the first social studies grade. Please help your child put theirs together and send in tomorrow. Include a photo of family, item representing hobby, favorite book, and any other item that is special.

· If you have not done so please send in $5 for our first grade T-shirt and a spare set of clothes in a Ziploc baggie (which will be returned at the end of the year).

· We are continuing to review letter sounds and learning the routines of the new phonics program this week. This Friday will be our first phonic assessment. Letter and letter sounds will be assessed.

· THANKS to all that have grabbed giving gators at Meet the Teacher and Open House. You have gone above and beyond for our class! We are so thankful for all you do! Please send in your item if you grabbed a gator when you can.

· The PTO Coin Drive has begun; send in your loose change! We want to win! Our class has to be the heaviest!

· Check your food for box tops.

Week 2 Recap

This week we began our mornings in a “morning meeting” where we built upon each others interest, introduced ourselves to different students and shared things about us that not all our classmates know.   We used this time to do many ME Bags  last week!

Math we began Chapter 0 which is review of last years skills.  The students used the Chapter 0 to become familiar with the worksheets and this week we begin Making 10!   Each day we introduced a new SUMS game.  You already know about Collect 20!

Start with get to was a new game!  They grab a green card and put the green cloth pin on that number and then the students grab the red card and put that close pin on that number.  They then start with the green pin and count up or back to the red pin.  This game helps them be able to count up or back from any number when they begin addition and subtraction. 

We also learned about Staircases were the students made towers with cubes and put them in order from least to greatest using number 1-12.  This helps student understand tallest, shortest, least, greatest, and one-to-one correspondence. 

Mrs. Rita Inman who team taught with me last year was able to come in on Wednesday to help with math centers and reading.  On Friday we learned how to play compare dots and compare cards which the student have to determine which one card has more.

 

In reading we continued predicting and discussing character and setting, but honed in on beginning, middle, and end.  We read the book , Wow! It’s Great to Be a Duck, and created a BME flip chart on Friday.  They turned out so cute!   Look for them in their folder next Friday!

The Ducks egg cracked open and he was born!

The fox tried to fatten up the duck and and eat him because he couldn’t fly.

The duck finally flew away after the fox chased him and the duck is happy as he looks down at the duck from the air. 

We rhymed, began our vocabulary routine, continued with our phonics program and tried out many more reading centers.  Look for information coming up about WOW words!

We learned about what a sentence needs to be a sentence.  First it needs to be a complete idea and make sense.  A sentence begins with a capital letter, has finger space between each word, and ends with punctuation (mainly a period right now). 

We have made it pass the 5 minute mark of read to self and we are gearing up to learn about listening to reading and picking good fit books this week.  The students will have the chance to pick their own books that interest them but are at their reading level so that they don’t get frustrated. 

In Science we learned about our 5 senses and how they will help us when we are scientists this year. On Thursday we did our first experiment….THE DANICNG RAISINS!  It was a hit.  Our question was.. Will the raisins dance?  Our materials: a clear glass, cold can of sprite, and about 4 raisins.  Our plan was to put out the cups, place 4 raisins in each cup and then pour in the sprite.  We then observed with our eyes to watch if they danced.  Which was a big YES!  Then they observed and asked questions until they were able to figure out that the gas bubbles in the sprite attached to the raisins groves and raised them to the surface of the glass.  The students loved it and would be a perfect easy experiment to do at home with them.  We then generated questions such as I wonder if this would work with water or coke?  They are already scientists asking questions about their world and how things work!   This will be a great year!

        

Love this picture.  Check out the little one with the green stripes in the back ground….I would have to say one of his raisins just dance!   

Ready for this week to begin!