WOO HOO Wednesday!!

Boy...did I hear story after story of the ride into school today! "Did you see that lightning??" "The thunder SHOOK my house!" Sadly...the sun came out a little too late for the kids to have outdoor recess. Hopefully the sun will stick around for our lunch recess!

With October quickly approaching this weekend, I took advantage of some planning time to change over my room. I just love my Fall bulletin board with the children's favorite books! They were so excited and kept saying, "THAT'S MINE!" :) You can see some of the Fall changes below!

Centers are in full swing and the kids just LOVE IT. From our work in centers, I can already see that the sight word recognition is improving for many of the children! Be sure to review the word list that came home! Please remember that tomorrow is our "Friday"! We will have our spelling test and reading assessment tomorrow.  Be sure to practice the Sign of the Cross. I will be checking to see if all kids do it correctly next week.

1A is in need of plastic spoons and scrap paper! If you have either to donate.... WE THANK YOU! :)

  REMEMBER YOUR $1 & PJS TOMORROW!!!

PJAMMIN' FOR CANCER

Please remember THURSDAY is a TAG Day! Your child can come dressed in their pajamas (hand book appropriate) to support children with cancer. Please send in at least $1 for this TAG day!

Spelling Homework :)

Good morning! I just wanted to show you a sample of 2X each so that everyone remembers the correct format. We have practiced in class but I am still getting different versions! :) See below!

                   2X Each

1. dad                                    dad
2. sad                                     sad
3. nap                                     nap
4. tap                                      tap
5. sack                                   sack
6. back                                   back
7. man                                    man
8. mat                                     mat
9. too                                      too
10. over                                  over


Have a great morning! :)

Don't Rain On My Parade...

Unless you are in 1A! A little rain doesn't stop us from having fun! Today the children were able to get outside before the rain came down. When it came time for lunch recess the kids were indoors and enjoyed playing with legos, games, and free draw! Today, we decided we might have to begin 1A Idol! The kids LOVED SINGING & DANCING! Today we listened to BIG TIME RUSH! Who needs BTR when you have the Boys of 1A! Check them out!

If you have any kid friendly music on iTunes or CD's you want to

make/copy for 1A, we would greatly appreciate it! Some kids want to be featured as solo artists, so please feel free to let them practice their favorite song! :)

Today we had our 1st spelling & reading test! The kids did a great job.

Be sure to review weekly words and sight words!

 Well...this wasn't much of an academic blog but this was a highlight of our week!

 On a personal note: For any parents looking for a GREAT SHOW, I highly recommend

Blue Bloods on CBS (10pm tonight).

I hope you have a great weekend!

FINALLY!

I think that is what most of the kids said about FINALLY sharing their "All About Me" bag! We were able to share with our buddies but so many things filled our day that it took a little bit of time to share with the class! The bags were filled with such goodies and we all learned so much about each other!

The highlight of our day in 1A was center time! The kids did an OUTSTANDING job! Our center chart is posted to our front board so everyone can figure out where they are going. We have 4 reading groups in  1A, named after 4 of my favorite things: Animals, Musicians, Chefs & Actors/Actresses! Check out the center chart.

The kids rotate 4 times during centers: work with Mrs. Cap, seatwork, centers (work on various skills) & reading/Mrs. G time!

Here, some of my "musicians" are working at the magnet center. With our magnetic letters, the girls are creating short A words and practicing their names.

My "actors" are working to make correct sentences in the grammar workbooks. We reviewed how sentences need a capital at the beginning and an end mark!

To your left, you will find one of my "chefs." He found a quiet spot to read some books!

Off to your right, some of my "animals" worked on seatwork and practiced sentence making/phonics.

Well...the rain got us again! The kids had a great Tuesday and loved their double dose of indoor recess! I was asked many times to take pictures for the blog but my camera battery died and I forgot to charge it! So, tomorrow we have will new pictures on the blog! Today we did a practice run at center time! I was very pleased with how well the kids stayed quiet, worked independently, and move through their centers. :) They really did a great job! Please be sure to return all library books on Tuesday morning. If your library book didn't come in today, please be sure to return in tomorrow.This afternoon, 1A had a special visitor. Fr. Justin came to our class and talked with the children about the parts of the Mass! The were great listeners and did an excellent job responding to his questions! I think he was quite impressed with their knowledge at such a young age! Tomorrow, the children will begin to share their "All About Me" bag. They will be returning home by the end of the week!

Just another Manic Monday...

So this song has been stuck in my head all day because Ms. L mentioned it this morning! Today wasn't quite a manic Monday. It did start off pretty sleepy and then the kids woke up & did AWESOME!

(Please be sure your child is getting enough sleep. They work very hard from 8-3 and really need a good rest the night before.) 

Today we started to work from our hard back reader/workbooks.

The children took in a lot of information today and made me really proud!

We learned vocabulary words:

dear

sensible

train

adorable

needs

We learned our spelling words:

man

can

ran

cat

hat

mat

up

down

Tonight the children will have to complete 2x each in their green spelling journal! An example is already set up for your child! They children will also have to complete math worksheet 13B for homework. Please be sure homework is returned everyday. Today we talked about the responsibilty being on your child. You can give friendly reminders but help your child get into the habit of placing homework his/her folder (and then into the backpack).

This afternoon the children also practiced a writing piece. The children had to write 3 sentences about themselves. We practiced what makes a good sentence today and followed our writing poster on the side wall. The children know to focus on everything except for lily pad 4: check your spelling.

Please be sure to practice the sight word list that was sent home last week! These words are very important for both reading and writing!

THANKS AGAIN FOR THE RECESS ITEMS! :)

 The children are very happy with their new toys!

Pics from Friday! :)

Here are some pictures of the kids using the puppets and having buddy time:

T.G.I.F :)

I can't say those letters without singing the The Full House theme song! :) Moving on...

The day began with a buddy Mass! Their behavior was AWESOME! Today our focus was on our phonics and start smart! We finished up our start smart this week with the letters/sounds qu, y, & z! The children also learned the words look, has, where, with, & me! Next week, we will start working with our hard back reader! Be sure to check the weekly letter for important skills! The blog will also have updates! :)

This afternoon we shared our "All About Me" bags with our buddies and enjoyed and extra recess! If you didn't turn in your bags, please send the bags Monday as we will share them with the class!

I will post some pictures next week from buddy time and puppet time with Mr. L!

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!!!

We had a great Wednesday! We reviewed a lot of beginning sounds in our new phonics workbook. We also practiced are handwriting and sentence writing. The sounds for the letters j, v, & x were reviewed. Yesterday we learned the words was & my. We also took our first math assessment. This assessment covered skills we learned from the past week. Please review with your child the importance of paying close attention and listening to my directions (repeated multiple times) so that he/she doesn't miss anything.

Many students finished their creation posters. The all turned out so beautiful!

Here are highlights of each day of creation:

 The Story of Creation by 1A students!

 Day 1: God created day and night.

 Day 2: God created the sky.

 Day 3: God made the mountains & oceans.

Day 4: God made the sun, moon, and the stars.

 Day 5: God filled the oceans and sky with animals.

 Day 6: God made all other animals. He also made Adam & Eve.

Day 7: God saw all that He created and knew it was good, so he rested!

(In a hammock of course!!)



Today...my class was DYNAMITE!! :)

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT CAME TO OUR BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT!

**If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me**

I just wanted to recap a few things that we learned on Friday and Monday. We focused on the letters (sounds) for k, ck and short e. Our new words were do, this, what, & for. On Friday, we spent a good part of our day taking a benchmark test that will give me a sense of what skills the children are familiar with and what skills are not known. This was not for a grade but rather a general assessment to see what we need to cover this year. As I mentioned at back to school night, I am still assessing the children and getting to know their learning styles/abilities.

Moving on...HAPPY TUESDAY! :)

This morning we started off with our start smart book. We practiced the letters and sounds for g & w. Our new words for the day were here & little. We practiced our handwriting skills and also worked on grammar (and sentence structure).

We read a little reader from our start smart book called Here We Are!
 Please use these readers at home for review of our new words and letter sounds!

Here is our "name stick" selected model!

The children were so excited that they

knew EVERY word in the story!!

Today during snack time the children started talking about their favorite TV shows (which I must learn all about) & favorite music artists. It then turned into a singing/dancing party.

I just had to record the children singing "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz!

They were so adorable!

I may just have to catch them singing daily!!

We take requests!! :)

(I may have to teach them a little NKOTB or BSB!)

THANK YOU for donating recess materials today!
The children were so excited to have hula hoops and balls to play with!

This afternoon, the children had library and we continued to discuss God's creation! We are beginning to work on our creation pieces. Mrs. G, the artistic one of the bunch, did a beautiful example for the kids!

 The kids are really working hard for Jesus!

Have a DYNAMITE day! :)

PICTURE DAY IS TOMORROW! :)

Tomorrow is picture day!

Please bring in your Lifetouch Order form

if you want to purchase pictures.

Students are to be in dress uniform! 

Today in 1A...

Well...it was another rainy day for 1A! We started our morning off with a Rosary in honor of our Blessed Mother's Birthday! We came back into the classroom and colored 2 beautiful pictures of Mary. Here is a picture of the kids waiting for the Rosary to begin! :) 

We practiced the following letters & words:

b

l

short vowel o

she

and

said

are

When our word work was finished, we did an art project to hang in the classroom. While working on this project, each child was called to work with Mrs. G. With Mrs. G, the children reviewed their letters, sounds, days of the week & months of the year. In class, we used the Months of the Year Song & Days of the Week Rap to practice these topics! I would like all children to know both, in order, by the end of the month.

Just a reminder, please remove all papers from the take home folder daily.

Happy Thursday!

Apples for S.O.M.E

Please bring in APPLES for S.O.M.E tomorrow! :)

THANK YOU!

The magic word is...

Can you guess what the magic word is? I use my magic word to help transitions run smoothly. It also helps to see if the children are using their listening skills!

Well, Wednesday was quite rainy! We tried to get out for morning recess only to rush back in 3 minutes later when the rain came down! The kids enjoyed their free play time. The kids were hard at "work" building towers, creating ships with Legos, and creating beautiful art work! 

Take a look:

 

Although the thunder and lightning were a bit distracting (for myself included) we were able to get some work done! The rainy day helped inspire our journal prompt. The children wrote and drew pictures about what they enjoy doing on rainy days. Be sure to check the take home folder for your child's work.

 (All corrected work can be kept at home and removed from the folder daily).

The kids are hard at work on their morning journals!

Here is a morning journal writing sample!

Here are the letters and words for the day!

 French class was a lot of fun today!

The children practiced their numbers and colors by playing Tic Tac Toe with Madame!

Our final activity for the day was identifying characters in a story. We read a Rainbow Brite story and I was excited to share that she was one of my favorite characters when I was in first grade!

 See some cute examples below of Starlite, Twink & Rainbow Brite!

Have a great day & STAY DRY!



Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Happy Rainy Wednesday! Sorry for the delay in my Tuesday update but the computers were being rebooted so my itch to blog had to wait. So, I will give you a wrap up of yesterday now! :)

Tuesday Update

After the first week of school and a 3 day weekend, the children came back eager to learn and refreshed! We worked on our first morning journal assignment. The children had to tell me about 2 things that happened over the weekend! They could write a sentence or write a few words to describe their pictures. Just like in reading, we can write using pictures. The children did a great job focusing on their morning journal, which will become part of our daily routine. I hope you had a chance to see the work your child did!

*Note* I will mention this at back to school night but I rarely spell words for children. I need to see their knowledge and retention of various skills we learn (vowel sounds, blends, digraphs, etc). So, I always tell the children to "do their best!" I love seeing the effort they put into their work. I was the type of student that always wanted to be "perfect!" I learned early in school that I didn't have to be perfect in my class. I just had to be the "perfect me!" I am sure over the course of this year, the children will come home and tell you that I made a mistake! Ahhh, the teacher made a mistake? Yes, I will be the first to tell you that I will read the wrong word & say the wrong thing but IT'S OK! I have to show the kids that it is OK to make a mistake! :) We laugh together and they see that a big dark cloud isn't going to come over you if you make a mistake!

The rain held off for morning recess but kept us inside for our lunch recess. The children played with building blocks, Lego's, Trouble & drew with stencils. The kids are so creative and did a wonderful job sharing and playing with one another. Sometimes rainy day recess is good but I see quite a few happening this week. I will be discussing our rainy day recess dilemma at back to school night. Stay tuned!

One of our projects today was our number book. This activity helps the children review their numbers and number word recognition. It also helps with fine motor skills (using our scissors and glue!)

Off to the right, you will see our writing sample for the day. We practiced short vowel I & the words play and you. Question marks were also introduced. I had to include my favorite sport in our practice sentence!

  

Mrs. E said the students did a great job at the first library class. We will have library on Tuesday afternoons. The children will be able to take out a book that will stay in class or home for the entire week. All books are due back the following Tuesday morning. Please help remind your child to bring their library book to school. If library books are not returned, a new book will not be checked out.

 

We enjoyed some music from "The Learning Station" during our number book project and rainy day recess. If you have any CDs you think the children might enjoy, please let me know!