Just a few pictures of what we have been up to in April!  Several students passed their keyboarding exam...They have been working hard in Computer Lab on keyboarding!  Plants were sent home but we wanted to show the picture of our indoor garden!  We measured Perimeter and Area.  Students learned that perimeter is the  outer edge and area is the inside measurement!  Great to have a raised garden to show that with!  Our butterflies are in the cocoon stage so we hope to see some butterflies very soon!  :) 

Look over the newsletter to view our MAP Schedule and thanks for all you do!  Thanks for sending MAP Test snacks too! 

Ready for Spring Break!

We had another great week in 1st Grade! Our plants are really growing and we have been watching and graphing those results!  Today we started with a Wonderopolis video of  "Why Do Bunnies Hop".  We learned about fractional parts with a Jelly Bean Graph and we made 2D Shape flowers!  We ended with Art and an Easter Egg Hunt!  Special Thanks to John and Angela Snyder and Jennifer Bruce for their help with hiding eggs!  Thanks for everyone for the eggs and candy!  We had plenty!
I hope you enjoy these babies as much as I do!  Happy Easter!  See you in a week as we prepare for MAP Testing and begin plans for a  Field Trip to Strawberry Hill  for Thursday, May 14th!

Almost Easter!

Just in case you didn't know...I LOVE SPRING!!  What an awesome week to be 6 and 7!!  We enjoyed sorting seeds in Science ( Alliteration?!) and talking about how different seeds have different needs and grow different things!

We also planted our Indoor Garden and students chose between grass and sunflower seeds...Helper of the Day has another added task... watering daily! 

My surprise of the week...listening to their writing using personification.  We read a poem and book that both used personification and the kids picked something to personify.  They read their details to the class and the class had to decide what they were personifying.  One person wrote "I have hooves.  I love when you ride me.  Don't forget to feed and brush me". There were great details used.  I was impressed to say the least!  GREAT JOB!!!

I am so proud that we have reached 400 as a group and beyond!!  Students made and flew kites and we divided our snack foods of 400 pieces among 23 students.  Great division problem!  Snack is ready for sharing on Friday!

Hope to see you on Tuesday at 9:30 AM for Awards Day!

Such a great week!  We had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day with graphing, goodies, and looking for lucky shamrocks.  We were thrilled to finally have Spring arrive today!  Our Weekly Reader informed about all the things we see, hear, and smell this time of year.  Next week, we will look closely at seeds and plant outside and inside!  Congratulations on all the wonderful reading that is being done!  Lots of hard work and we have something special planned for reaching that 400 Goal!  Enjoy the warmer weather and get out and play!  

Welcome March

Wow!  What crazy weather we have had!!  Hopefully we are now back on track and back on a regular schedule!  As always, thank you parents for your support of this classroom and Oakland!

     We have been busy bees with our author visit by Chris Rumble. He brought a guitar and the kids loved singing, moving, and hearing about how he knew he wanted to be an author and illustrator when he was in Grade School!  

     4th Grade Buddies have been sharing about ways to eat healthy and stay healthy!  

     Many of the things students are seeing on Reading Tests are being reinforced in Literacy Centers.  Students are still keeping busy daily by listening to stories on tape, playing phonics games, writing, working on computers and Ipads, and working in small groups with Mrs. Hyder. 

     We were so thankful to have our Watershed visitors from USC Upstate share with us about plants and their needs as we are moving into our Plant PBL!  

As Spring approaches along with Spring sports, please make sure your children get plenty of rest and have completed all of their homework nightly!

What a great month in 1st Grade.  The students have worked this week on creating their own Time Line to tell about their lives!  Word of the Week is ... Biography!  We have read biographies of several presidents and noted what we learned on posters!  Students will be picking a favorite Famous American and presenting what they learned next week! 

The love letters were a "hit" as always.  Lots of love and smiles as those letters were read.  Students annotated a valentine poem in Writing Center!  

Thanks for all the support for the party on Friday!  Totals for the Grade Level for building a well were a little over $200.00.  Our class raised over $100.00.  Great learning and great project!  Thanks again for all you do!

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE!  

We have been so busy with our Water PBL!  The students have been taking notes on information texts about water and reading Weekly Readers to get an idea of how they want to create their own Weekly Readers!  I can't wait for you to see the finished projects!    Students have been problem solving with water graphs in math class!  Lots of "thought provoking" questions for students to answer.  Great job problem solving.  We have learned that many places around the world are without clean water.  How do they clean water?  We created a water filter!  The students had fun collecting dirty water and watching it cleaned! We will be finishing up our Weekly Readers by including our math graphs and counting our money to go towards building a well.
Thanks so much with your help in making our learning fun!!

Lastly,  Students get an extra 10 minutes of Recess outside during snack time if they keep their snowbucks!  Encourage good listening during this 3rd 9 Weeks!  We partner with another class.  Some go out and some stay in and have their snacks.  It IS working, especially for our boys who LOVE to go outside! 

L