The students help Ms. Nagle write the Class News by reviewing what they
learned during the week and what special things happened. We write down any
reminders that are needed for the upcoming weeks.
Class News
2-10-12
Next week will be a busy week for the students in room 410! On Monday, the
students will have a Character Education lesson from 12:00-12:30 and then
another Character Education lesson on Thursday from 12:00-12:30. Tuesday,
February 14th is Valentine’s Day! This is an exciting day for first graders
and we will be exchanging Valentines. The students will be making their
Valentines bags on Monday as part of our math lesson. On Wednesday, the
students will be having a combination lunch and ice cream party from 11:00-
12:00 as a reward for tying for 2nd place in collecting the most Box Tops.
The students will eat their regular lunches and then will have ice cream in
the gym, on the stage. Mr. Harris will read to the students and then they
will get to play a game with Coach Lee. They are all SOOOO excited!! Also,
there is a note in your child’s Friday Folder about coming to school to have
lunch with your child. If you choose to come to school, please note that our
lunch time is from 11:10-11:40. You may meet your child outside the cafeteria
at 11:10. On Friday, we have an early release day and we will be eating
EARLIER AND in our classrooms. I do not have a confirmed time; however it
will most likely be around 10:30 a.m.
In Science this week we continued our study of living organisms and the big
idea that students are learning is that things grow and change. The students
made flowers with cupcake liners, green straws and real seeds. After a
discussion about the main parts of a flower, the students labeled their 3D
pictures. They did a great job and they had fun doing it! We are continuing
to watch our plants grow and change and we are excited to see how they are
different every day.
In Math this week the students have started learning about measurement. They
learned that long ago people used the width of their thumbs when they needed
to measure something and didn’t have a ruler. The students quickly learned
that since thumbs are different sizes, that wouldn’t be a good way to
accurately measure things. The students need a lot more practice using
rulers and knowing which side measures in inches, but they are enjoying
learning how to measure.
On Thursday, our Student Council representatives came by to tell us about a
service project they are sponsoring to benefit The Children’s Home in
Oxford. “This is a home for orphaned children 0-18, that teaches them life
skills and provides long term care and housing until they are able to move
out and provide for themselves. Many children arrive with only the clothes
they are wearing. “The student council will be collecting supplies to create
fun boxes for each cottage of children. Our class chose to donate items for
boys or girls ages 6-10. Participation is strictly VOLUNTARY. If you wish to
donate items, please send them in with your child no later than Friday,
February 17th. The following items are some suggestions and all items need
to be new: coloring books, snacks, bubbles, crosswords puzzles, lip gloss,
fingernail polish, gum, books, board or card games, sidewalk chalk, other fun
items that are age appropriate.
2-3-12
Six more weeks of winter? Well, I guess with the temperatures this nice we’ll
okay, though many of the kids said they really want to see snow!
Groundhog Day was a busy! The students enjoyed watching a brief video on WRAL
that showed Sir Walter Wally and they all thought he was cute! I read them a
book about Punxatawny Phil and they learned about the history of Groundhog
Day in a short video.
Valentine’s Day is coming soon! We sent a list of students’ names home
earlier this week and we will be making Valentine’s bags in class next week
as part of our math lesson! The students will learn about shapes and symmetry
while decorating the bags that will hold their Valentines. Your child may
bring in his/her Valentines any time and we will put them to the side until
February 14th.
Thanks to Sam’s parents for sending in a box of Bendables/Wikki Stix! The
students got to use these craft items in the Daily 5 Word Work rotation.
They use the sticks to help them practice their spelling words and high
frequency words. I hope this will help them have fun while learning to spell
better!
In Math this week, the students continued to learn about pictographs. They
also learned how to collect data and create their own pictographs. The
students compared the information in the graphs and did an excellent job
using the words more, fewer, most, and fewest. They also learned how to use
the information in a graph and put in the form of a table. Also in Math, the
students learned about the greater than and less than symbol. I taught them
two ways to remember which way the sign goes: the arrow always points to the
smaller number and the alligator always wants to eat the bigger number! They
all need practice, but I think they understand a little better!
Last Friday the students planted seeds. Unfortunately, Ms. Nagle didn’t read
the directions about using warm water to soften the soil capsules and it
looked like we would have to start over. Instead of trashing the first set of
plants, we planted a second set of seeds, ( following the directions this
time,) and the students will have a true science experiment once the plants
grow, to see if warm water really is necessary. Make sure you ask your child
next week how his/her plant is doing! They are SOO excited to watch them grow
and change!
The students were very excited about Music this week with Mr. Merritt. He let
them use mallets and play the xylophones. They really enjoyed it and they
seemed to be able to keep the beat!
In Extensions this week, Mrs. Lanane continued the discussion about frogs and
toads. The students worked in partners to fill in a Venn diagram about how
these amphibians are alike and different. Mrs. Lanane said our class did the
BEST job on the Venn diagrams. I am so proud!!
Class News
1-27-12
Time really does “FLY by” this time of year. I can’t believe we just finished
our FOURTH week back since track-out! The students have grown so much and
made so much progress this year, not to mention all of the teeth they’ve
lost! I’m proud of their accomplishments and I know they are too!
Our schedule has changed again, for the next 3 weeks. We still have Art with
Ms. Hansley on Mondays, Spanish is now on Tuesdays, Music is now on
Wednesdays and the students will be taught by Mr. Merritt, Extensions with
Mrs. Lanane is on Thursdays, and Computer Lab and PE are on Fridays.
In Art, the students have been working on their Starry Night paintings with
Mrs. Hansley. I’m looking forward to seeing their finished products because
they always turn out so beautifully! Mrs. Hansley does amazing things in Art
with the kids!
We had a more normal week in Language Arts this week, as we had a regular
story and spelling words. Our main story was a non-fiction story about some
animals that live in the rain forest, with a focus on the red-eyed tree frog.
The students loved looking at actual photographs of animals like macaws,
katydids, toucans and boa constrictors! Many students were also able to make
connections to Mrs. Lanane’s Extensions class, as she is reading some non-
fiction books about frogs and toads.
We started Unit 6 in math this week and the students have been interpreting
pictographs, creating pictographs, and comparing the information. Students
have learned that when they are comparing two things, they should use the
words MORE and fewer. However, if they are comparing 3 or more things, they
know to use the words MOST and FEWEST. It’s hard to remember, but hopefully
with enough practice, they will get the hang of it!
We started our third Science unit this week on living organisms. The
students have learned the difference between living and non living things as
well as what living things need to survive. On Friday, we planted seeds to
help students understand that plants are living things and the beginning of
their life cycle starts with a seed.
1-20-12
Class News
This week our class did Writer’s Workshop and Ms. Nagle taught us about how
to write descriptions. We all got to choose our own topic and we spent three
days going through the whole writing process. We first learned how to “brain
dump” (also known as brainstorming!) and then use those ideas to create
sentences. We discussed the importance of putting our ideas in order and
then we learned how to make our sentences better by adding words to help our
readers make pictures in their minds. It took a few days to make our final
product, but we are proud of our work and it is hanging in the hallway
outside of our classroom.
On Wednesday, track 1 celebrated the 100th day of school! Our class played
100th Day BINGO. Ms. Nagle created a special BINGO card and allowed us to
choose our own activities to make BINGO. We had a great time working
together and learning. Check out what we chose to do! Also, as a way to
celebrate the 100th day of school and help our community, Ms. Jurosko’s class
and Ms. Nagle’s class tried to collect 100 cans of food or other items for
the Holly Springs Food Bank. The boys and girls did a great job and actually
collected 130 items!! Thank you to EVERYBODY who donated items!
Ms. Nagle introduced us to a new website called iknowthat .com. We got to
play on the math section of the website called Leon’s Smog Busters. We even
got compete against our classmates. It was fun! The students should be able
to access this website at home, so give it a try!
We continued to honor Martin Luther King Jr. this week in many different
ways. In Music, Ms. Moore taught us a song called “Sing About Martin.” We
loved singing it and we event made hand motions to go with the song. Becca
and Garrett even sang solos! In Extensions, we had Ms. Chasteen as a
substitute and we worked in small groups to make MLK posters. We included
information about him such as his birth date, where he was born and about his
famous speech that he gave in Washington DC.
Reminder! Book orders are due by January 27th!
Class News
1-13-12
Wow! Where does time go? It’s hard to believe that we have already finished
our second week back after track out! Only 7 weeks until track OUT! :)
There will not be school on Monday, January 16th as we recognize Dr. Martin
Luther King’s impact on our society.
In an effort to teach the students about Dr. King, we read a Weekly Reader
about his life and how he impacted us. The students also got to watch a
video about Dr. King that taught them about Dr. King using a combination of
cartoon characters and real photographs of him and audio of part of his
speech. The students were mesmerized. We will continue to learn more about
him on Tuesday when I read a book about him. The students will also complete
an acrostic using the word PEACE to help them understand that Dr. King
believed in peaceful ways of living together.
We started Team Time again this week and the students learned more about how
to make connections to themselves when reading. We will continue next week
with practicing making connections to self and then introduce making text to
text connection.
In Social Studies this week, we continued learning about the changes that
happen in our community as well as the changes over time with technology and
transportation. It’s hard for our children to understand there was life
before computers and other forms of technology that make are lives easier and
better.
In Math this week, the students continued learning about coin combinations,
as well as learning how to solve for unknown addends with teen totals and
solving subtraction problems with teen numbers. We will be finishing Unit 5
at the end of next week and the students will be taking the unit test on
Friday.
Next week we will be having a cultural arts program on Tuesday, entitle The
Story Ship. On Wednesday, we will celebrate the 100th day of school! Ms.
Nagle has created a cool way to celebrate the day! Don’t worry parents you
won’t be helping your child collect hundreds of things for homework!
Reminders
Please make sure your child wears a warm coat on cold days.
Please make sure your child returns his/her library book each week by
Tuesday.
The Cheetah Book Swap will be taking place Tuesday night, January, 17th.
Class News
1-6-12
Happy 2012!! Wow! Half of the school year is over and boy has it gone by
quickly! Can you believe that today is the 93rd day of school?
I hope everyone had a wonderful track out and holiday season. Mrs. Szulak
and I were so excited to see the kids on Monday. MANY of them have grown
taller and LOTS have lost teeth! The students must have had “fairy dust”
sprinkled on them over track out too because they all came back smarter and
more well behaved! We’ve had a great first week back and I look forward to
many more!
In Language Arts this week the students worked on identifying parts of a
story, blending and reading words with long o and long u and they practiced
putting words in ABC order. The students also learned about persuasive
writing and even had a chance to write why they should have a certain pet.
Look for what they would like to add to your family!
In Math, the students have been learning about money including pennies,
nickels and dimes. They have learned how to make 10-partners and 100
partners. They were also taught how to use a Hundreds Board as a tool to make
adding bigger numbers (multiples of ten) easier!
We started Unit 3 in Social Studies this week and we are learning about
people and places and have they have changed over time. The students were
very interested in a book that showed them toys and games that kids used to
play with and how they are different now.
The students have Mrs. Lanane for Extensions again this quarter. She is
teaching them more about fiction and non-fiction. She introduced them to a T-
chart which helped them to easily compare the two types of text.
First grade has started 2012 on the right foot!!
