Final Week as First Graders

Upcoming Events for our Final Week: 
Monday, May 21--Please send in ALL library/guided reading books, if you haven't already!
Tuesday, May 22-Storybook Island Field Trip/Picnic,  come dressed for lots of outdoor play.
Wednesday, May 23--Show And Share:  My favorite ___________!
Thursday, May 2--First Grade Field Day Activities; come dressed for outdoor activities.
Friday, May 25--Our final day...and now we are 2nd Graders!

It has been my pleasure to work with this class as my final class of my teaching career!
Wow!  Have a great summer with your child.

May is Here!!!

Show and Share Wednesdays: 

Wed. May 2--Something you Collect

Wed. May 9--Student Choice

Wed. May 16--Something about Summer Activities

Wed. May 16--Something that is 'My Favorite'

Field Trips

First Grade has two field trips planned for May.

Tuesday, May 15, we will take the school bus and go to the Outdoor Campus from 8:30 AM to approximately 10:30 AM.  Come dressed for lots of outdoor activity! 

Tuesday May 22, we will picnic at Storybook Island and then stay to play and have a scavenger hunt.  We will again take the school bus leaving at 11:00 AM to approximately 1:00 PM.  Please send $2 admission fee for your child by Friday May 18.  Also, we are asking that each child bring a sack lunch/drink that day in a disposable container (paper sack/juice box, etc.)

Please check today's Friday Folder for a volunteer sign-off to help supervise on the field trips.

Have a great weekend with your child.

Sum Dog South Dakota Challenge

Dear Parents,

We have concluded adding new words to our First Grade Word Wall list and will now work on learning all the words with automicity to use in our reading, writing and spelling and phonics activities.  I have included a copy of the First Grade Word Wall list in today's Friday Folder   I would like the children to know these words with ease as they will have a new list for 2^nd grade.

SUM-DOG South Dakota contest:  We will be taking part in the state wide Sum-Dog Challenge from April 30-May 4.  We are trying to accumulate the most points for first grade by correctly answering the Sum-Dog questions.  The points your child accumulates at home will count for our challenge.  The more times a student plays-the more opportunities they have to answer questions.  Just log on to www.sumdog.com and enter the username/password that is taped inside your child’s Friday Folder.  

Have a great weekend with your child!

Gail Aadland

March's Lamb Weather

The Word Wall Words for April:

Week of April 2--make, made, mom, my, car

Week of April 11--did, do, said, keep

Week of April 16--have, has, night, no

And this marks the end of new words being added to the First Grade Word Wall.  For the remainder of the year our word work activities are based on the 110 First Grade Words that we have posted throughout the school year.

*************************************************************************

Typically we graph the huge variances that happen on a daily basis with the March Weather.  March 2012 however was a month of March Lamb weather so we decided to create a 'Bad Hair Day' bulletin board instead:

Zane, Ben, Brady, Maddi, Benjamin, Devon B., Jack

Ethan, Devin S., Eleena, Hailey, Makenna, Claire, Michael, Lexi

Madysen, Ty, Katelyn, AJ, Emily, Aleena, Canyon, Brooke, Jocelyn  


Have a Great Weekend with your child!

Starting Show and Share

We will be starting Show and Share Wednesdays:
Wednesday, March21--Something about Spring
Wednesday, March 28--Student Choice
Wednesday, April 4--Something about Family
Wednesday, April 11--Something about My Favorite Activity
Wednesday, April 18--Student Choice
Wednesday, April 25--A Trick/Stunt/Joke that I can share with the class
Please be ready to share 2-3 sentences with the class about what you have brought.  The Show and Share items will be kept in the child's backpacks until Show and Share time.  Nothing breakable, or pertaining to weapons, toy weapons.

First Grade Science Research

Parents,

We have moved into the last section of our Writer’s Workshop Non-fiction writing unit.  We are doing research on a Science topic and will then each write a research paper.  We have started research using our Science Series texts but could use more resources that are written at a first grade level.  If you have children’s books or magazines that cover any of the following topics please send them in to school labeled with your child’s name.  We will be using these resources next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.   Thank you in advance for your support of our first grade writing program. J Gail Aadland

Topics:

Owls/Butterflies/ or Cats Life Cycle—Jocelyn, Claire, Katelyn, Lexi,

Machines—Jack

Land and Water/Earth-AJ, Zane

Weather—Devon B

Seashore/Seashore Creatures—Michael, Ben L., Brady

Food Chains—Ty, Eleena, Devin S., Brooke, Benjamin K

Living/Non-Living-Makenna, Emily

Saving the Earth—Josie

Weather-Hailey, Ethan

Plants and Animals—Madysen

The Sun—Aleena, Maddi

Canyon’s Topic—To be determined

WE ARE MAKING A WRITER’S PORTFOLIO WITH OUR BEST WRITING PIECES WHICH WILL BE SHARED WITH YOU DURING THE WRITER’S EXTRAVAGANZA USUALLY SCHEDULED IN EARLY MAY! 

Last Month for Book-it

This is the last month to record reading minutes for the Pizza-Hut Book It reading incentive program.  Your child has the March recording sheet in their Friday Folder.

March Word Wall Words:
Week of March 5:  would, could, should
Week of March 12:  brother, sister, father, mother
Week of March 19:  now, new, old, pretty, children
Week of March 26:  want, look little, be, big

Today was Read Across America Day!!  We enjoyed having some guest readers in our classroom:  Mrs. Teeslink, Mrs. Fullerton, and Mrs. Lust as well as doing some special Cat in the Hat activities.

Fluency Packets/Comment on A Mathematics Problem

Fluency Packets are in your child's Guided Reading Baggy today.  A snowy, cold evening?  What a great time to snuggle on the couch and practice reading with great fluency:  phrasing, expression, and increasing reading rate as your child reads through a selection multiple times!  Please return the purple and yellow fluency packets in their baggy on Monday.  :0)

Another Mathematics Problem to Solve in the comment section:  Choose the number in the ( ) to adjust the level of challenge for your child.

**Kim went fishing and caught two fish:  a perch that was 5 inches long and an alewife that was (2,5, or 11) inches longer than the perch.  How long was the alewife?  How do you know?? Share your thinking for a trip to the prize box on Monday!!  Enter the comment in the box below and then click on the drop down menu for the User Name--you may choose to post as 'Anonymous' but you'll need to have this box filled in or the comment does not go through.  As the site administrator the comment comes to me first and then I publish it for your child.

Writer's Workshop and Mathematics

New Units of Study/Practice

We are starting a new and very exciting unit of study in Writer’s Workshop.  We are making our own How To Books.  This unit gives children the chance to teach others what they know.  We have taught each other How Tos….like how to Make a Sandwich, Hoola-hoop, Paint a Picture,  etc.  Students learn that that is a bit of challenge to write clear, explicit directions that that can take the reader step-by-step through a sequence of actions.  We will end our unit of study by creating an All-About Book or Specialist Book with a Table of Contents, Chapters and Categories. This is the non-fiction text unit for writing.

In Mathematics we are focusing on linear measurement standards in ‘Fish Lengths and Animal Jumps’.  We will use non-standard measurement units such as cubes, tiles and paper clips to measure items.  We will also make comparisons of objects measured.   Please note that while we are using cubes, tiles, etc.  as our measurement units, in Second Grade students will make different comparisons of measurement using standard measures including an introduction to rulers.

Do you use measurement as a part of your job?  I’d love to schedule a time for you to come into the classroom and have you be a guest speaker who shares the tools of measurement that you use in your work.  Just give me a call-394-6789 and we’ll schedule a time.

We're Ready to have a PARTY!!!

Tuesday, February 14 9:15-10:15 AM we will have our classroom Valentine's Day Party.  Thanks to all the Party Parents from the PTA list who will make this possible. I also applaud all of you for helping your child make the box, address and label all those Valentine Cards....reading them all is an exciting activity for the students!
Please send your child's Valentine Box (made and decorated at home) with Valentines for the other students on Monday, Feb. 13. We will pass out the Valentine Cards during the day on Monday. 
Here's our Valentine's Day List (first names only since we're posting on the web);
Girls--Madysen, Aleena, AJ, Katelyn, Claire, Brooke, Makenna, Josie, Hailey,  Maddi, Emily, Eleena, Lexi
Boys--Devon B, Brady, Ty, Ethan, Zane, Canyon, Benjamin K, Ben L., Devin, S, Jack, Michael 

Scholastic Book Club:  I am sending home a Scholastic Book Club SeeSaw order form in today's Friday Folder.   Should you be interested, you may order via the form.  Please return to school by Thursday February 16.   Check payment only, to be made out to Scholastic.  If you prefer to order online using a credit card, log on to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs  Our class activation code is:  H8NF8   .  I have opened our on-line account through Wednesday February 15 @ 10 PM as I will compile and send in both orders ( paper form and online account) on Thursday. Again, this is at your option to order or not.

Fabulous Firsts....Fabulous February

Our First Grade Word Wall Words for the Month of February:
Week of Feb. 6th--put, use, see, I'm, don't
Week of Feb. 13--talk, after, not, this
Week of Feb. 21--rain, kick, best, tell, over
Week of Feb. 27--good, house, around, boy, girl
We use these words daily in our reading, spelling, writing and phonics activities.  Thank you for your regular review at home to help your child build 'automicity' in knowing all word wall words.
A Very Busy Month:
Tuesday Feb. 7--The 100th Day of School.  We will have some activities and stations to reinforce the concept of 100.  Your child may participate in the 100 penny drive that day for sponsoring Juan Nicolas in the Dominican Republic by bringing 100 cents to school to be donated to Juan.
Monday Feb 13--It is THAT time of year....please bring a Valentine Holder made of items from  home.  This year I'd like to encourage you to go green by recycling the container/box for the Valentine Holder.  Make sure that this container large enough to hold Valentines from 24 students in the class, especially the opening or flap is large enough to slip any size Valentine into.  We will deliver our Valentine's on Monday and open them....
Tuesday, Feb 14...Our classroom Valentine's Day party will be from 9:15-10:15 AM.  Thanks to the party parents, we will have treats, activities/games and also have time to open the Valentine's that we have received from our classmates. (Please check with your child today....they made a list of the names of all classmate that are included in the Valentine's Exchange)
Monday, Feb. 20--Presidents Day--No School

FUN FRIDAYS....FUN FRIDAYS....FUN FRIDAYS....
The first grade teaching team has discussed some ways to promote student responsibility in the classroom and in completing and returning Guided Reading baggies/ reading response homework and any other homework assigned.  We will be starting Fun Friday on February 10th. When students follow rules in the classroom, do not lose a ticket or get a white slip for rule infraction, and complete and return the reading or any other homework they will be eligible for Fun Friday.  Each child will earn the reward of Fun Friday where they meet in the Fun Friday classroom to play games, watch a special video or have an extra recess. Students who do not earn the Fun Friday will have some extra work time in one of the first grade classrooms. Each week is a fresh start to earn Fun Friday.  We are hopeful that all students will meet the criteria to be included in Fun Friday each week!!!!

Reading 'Glad Monster-Sad Monster' with Mr. C.

You Have Mail....

We were so excited today when we discovered that all 25 Penguin Postcards which we had mailed to the Air Force Base in Antartica before the Winter Break were returned today.  Our postcards have traveled halfway around the world and returned to us!  http://www.penguinscience.com/classroom_home.php?gclid=COi7tKXTia0CFQLrKgodTlTolg  is the site we used to find information about the postcard design project.  Your child is bringing home his/her postcard.  Notice the Antartica postoffice stamp  and the penguin stamps that were added to our cards!  What a great geography lesson!

Please Comment on A Mathematics Problem

                                                                    Our Word Wall



Just a reminder of the word wall words for the month of January:  can your child read, spell and write these words?  The word wall in our classroom is growing each month as we add about 5 new words each week.  At the end of April, we will have all 110 words posted and then continue to work on phonics, spelling patterns and daily use and mastery of all words.   

Jan. 3rd--day, was, saw, in, out
Jan 9th--there, teacher, ride, animal
Jan. 18th--school, people, how
Jan. 23--but, nice, on, off
Jan. 30--up, down, can't (cannot), won't (will not)

 And now the Mathematics Problem:  Choose the number of trays that best challenges you!
There were (12, 25, 32) cafeteria trays on the shelf to be washed.  Miss Debbie washed 9 of the trays.  How many still need to be washed.  Challenge yourself to use a known fact to solve the problem.  Can you solve this some, some went away problem in more than one way?  Respond to the problem by commenting below for a treat on Monday!

A bitterly cold evening...

What to do on a bitterly cold evening???  If you've run through your usual family evening activities this long weekend here are a few on-line ideas that will help continue to develop academic skills...
Reading:
www.raz-kids.comLink to: Kids Start Here
teacher name is: gaadland
Child clicks on their name
Child's Password: their middle name    If they had a two part middle name I just used the first part as the password.
Mathematics:
www.sumdog.com
Child's user name and password are taped inside his/her Friday Folder.
General Resource in multiple academic areas which covers multiple grade levels for siblings too:
aadland.wikispaces.com

4 Day Weekend!

Have a great 4 day weekend with your child!  Hoping you can all log on to Sum Dog/Raz-Kids if you hear that dreaded phrase "I'm Bored" from your child.  Another site with grade appropriate activities is:  aadland.wikispaces.com

Thanks for your generosity with sending in school supplies as per your child's list!  We have also started collecting items to make the Bottle Cap necklaces for a fundraiser for Juan Nicolas.  We have received PLENTY of yarn, ribbon, braid and pony beads.  We definitely need more metal bottle caps...does anyone have a contact with one of the local beverage distributors that might be able to get us a larger quantity of bottle caps....Thanks so much!

We are also collecting plastic wide mouth juice/gatorade bottles (20 0z size) with the lids to make a snowman craft. We currently have 8 bottles with lids so could use more for the entire class.

You may refer to the earlier post to see the January Word Wall list.

Sliding INTO the New Year!

Dear Parents,
We are very near to starting the second half of our First Grade School Year.  (Jan 18 if the mid-way point.)  I am so pleased with the academic progess that each student is continuing to make in all subject areas.  Your nightly review of the Reading, Word Wall words and weekly time with the Mathematics Packet are so appreciated!

Word Wall Words for January:
Jan. 3rd--day, was, saw, in, out
Jan 9th--there, teacher, ride, animal
Jan. 18th--school, people, how
Jan. 23--but, nice, on, off
Jan. 30--up, down, can't (cannot), won't (will not)
Thank you for regularly reviewing  all word wall words by reading, spelling using them correctly in writing activities at home.   Learning these words with automicity develops a strong vocabulary for reading and writing and is also the basis for our phonics program

Scholastic Book Club:  I am sending home a Scholastic Book Club SeeSaw order form in today's Friday Folder.   Should you be interested, you may order via the form.  Please return to school by Wednesday January 11th.  Check payment only, to be made out to Scholastic.  If you prefer to order online using a credit card, log on to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs  Our class activation code is:  H8NF8   .  I have opened our on-line account through Tuesday January 10 PM as I will compile and send in both orders ( paper form and online account) on Wednesday. Again, this is at your option to order or not.

A CALL FOR Recycled SUPPLIES:
*Bottle Caps,
*Thin ribbon, yarn, braid
*Pony Beads
*20oz. plastic juice, milk bottles with the wide lid opening
Our class would like to do a fundraiser project of BottleCap Necklaces to help cover the expenses of Juan Nicolas's school sponsorship in the Dominican Republic.  We will be collecting bottlecaps over the next two weeks. I will spray paint the bottle caps so any type of beverage bottle caps are acceptable:)  Also if you have any thin ribbon, yarn or braid that would be acceptable for the necklace 'chain'  or the larger plastic 'pony beads'  please send in to school by Friday January 20th.   I will share more information with you as we prepare for making and selling these necklaces for our fundraiser.

We also would like to make a 3-d snowman using the 20oz (approximately) size of plastic drink bottle with the wide lid opening; such as from juice or smaller Gatorade bottles.  Please send in if you have these.  When we get enough for the class to do as a project...I let you know!

Thanks for saving these recycled materials and sending in to school.
Have a great weekend with your child.