Monday, August 22, 2011

What a MARVEL-ous First Day!

Wow! What a fabulous first day of first grade! We started our day with a first day story and played the name game "Hickety-Pickety Bumble Bee" to introduce one another. Ask your child to recite it for you. We then had an assembly with special guest Omegaman! He was so strong! He ripped phone books in half and bent iron rods!  

In Readers' Workshop, we reviewed rituals and routines and read the book, The Kissing Hand. In Writers' Workshop, we created our superhero name, wrote what is means to be a superhero, and who our hero is. We finished our piece with an illustration of what we look like as a superhero. We have some very creative first graders!

We introduced the August elements of Calendar Math and explored pattern blocks, which kicked off our first Math Investigations Unit, Color, Shapes, and Number Patterns: Patterns and Functions

Your child's red home-school folder was sent home today containing our weekly classroom newsletter. Please be sure to read this each week, for it contains important dates, curriculum updates, and vital school/classroom information. The home-school folder is to be returned everyday. Be sure to use the communication log on the back of the folder if your child is going home a different way, was absent from school, you need to schedule a conference, or just have a question. :)

Tomorrow your child will receive and wear their own Chets Creek superhero t-shirt (a gift from PTA). These shirts will be worn on our field trips and flag raising Fridays, so please keep up with them and be sure not to lose them. They cannot be replaced.

We had a very successful and productive first day! We are very excited for the year ahead of us!

Participating in Hickety-Pickety Bumble Bee

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Welcome Back!


We are so excited to begin the 2011-2012 school year! First grade orientation will be held this Friday, August 19th, at 11:00 AM in our classroom (room 120). Please remember to bring all of your required grade level supplies. Volunteer orientation will immediately follow, at 12:00 PM, in the Dining Room. Please make sure to attend this meeting if you would like to volunteer in the classroom/school or chaperone on our field trips. We cannot wait to see you Friday! :)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Milk Jug Bunny Baskets

Next Thusday is our Spring Celebration Egg Hunt!  A letter was sent home yesterday explaining how to make your milk jug bunny basket for this special event.  If you need some more guidance on how to make the basket, below are directions and sample pictures.  Bunny baskets are due Tuesday, 4/19.
  1. Use scissors to cut the milk jug in half. Start cutting the milk jug just above the handle.  Cut all the way around the jug to remove the top half.
  2. Cut two long, skinny bunny ears out of white (or any color of your choice) construction paper, each measuring about three inches wide by six inches high.
  3. Cut pink (or any color of your choice) construction paper in the same shape as the white, with a width and height half an inch smaller, to make the inner part of the bunny ears. Glue these pieces to the center of the white bunny ears with liquid glue or a glue stick.  Then, glue the paper ears inside the back of the basket with the inner pink ear facing forward. 
  4. Glue on eyes and a nose, made out of felt or construction paper.  You can even paint them on. 
  5. Glue pipe cleaners or yarn on for the whiskers.  You may draw these on as well. 
Be creative, but most importantly, have fun! :)  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Our Trip to the Zoo!


Last Thursday we took our last field trip of the year to the zoo.  We had a blast and loved every minute of it.  We saw giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, elephants, monkeys, and many more animals!  We went to an educational program and talked about animals' five senses.  We got to pet a snake, Bearded Dragon, Silky chicken, and a rabbit named Miss Coco. Click here to see pictures from our fun-filled day!

Monday, April 4, 2011

A Look at Our Week!


Welcome back!  We hope everyone had a fun, relaxing spring break. :)  Here is what's going on this week:

Skills: letter combinations, beginning and ending digraphs (ph, ck, kn, wr), high frequency words, bossy ‘e’ long vowel word families

Readers’ Workshop: Read-alouds, continue to practice and review old Reading Strategies, Schema (ask your child about the schema song we learned today!)

Writers’ Workshop: Persuasive Writing

Math Workshop: We will develop strategies for accurately counting and keeping track of quantities up to 20; find the total after 1, 2, or 3 is added to, or subtracted from, a set; use subsets to count a set of objects, using numbers, pictures, and/or words to represent a quantity; repeat multiple nonstandard units to qualify length.

Science: Comparing Plants and Animals: “Where do animals live?” and “How are plants and animals the same and different?”

Social Studies: Weekly Reader: Animal Rhymes

Zoo Field Trip
Our Zoo field trip is this Thursday, 4/7! Please make sure your child wears sneakers (we will be walking a lot) and comfortable, weather appropriate clothing shorts).  Your child will only need a snack that day.

Welcome Mrs. Griffin!
As Mrs. Cole is home taking care of her new baby girl, Mrs. Griffin will be teaching with Mrs. Ciupak in the classroom for the rest of the year.  Mrs. Griffin used to be a teacher and has children here at Chets Creek.  She has subbed in our class this school year.  

FCAT Spirit Week
Even though your child has a few years until they take the FCAT, we are still supporting and cheering on the 3rd-5th graders.  Below is the Spirit Week schedule:

Monday, 4/4- Spirit Week begins!  Dress like a farmer

Tuesday, 4/5- dress in mismatched clothes

Wednesday, 4/6- dress with wacky hair and silly socks


Thursday, 4/7- wear a Chets Creek t-shirt

Friday, 4/8- dress like a pop/rock star 

Monday, March 28, 2011

Eric Carle Day!

Last Thursday, we celebrated Eric Carle Day.  We have been doing an author study on Eric Carle and wrapped up this unit by celebrating a day of fun-filled activities related to his books.  Below are some pictures from our special day.

The mouse from Do You Want to Be My Friend?


The Very Quiet Cricket

 The Very Busy Spider


Mister Seahorse activity



The Grouchy Ladybug hats


Pancakes, Pancakes station


The catepillar from The Very Hungry Catepillar

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Leprechaun footprints...

 
He walked across red group!


Leprechaun notes...he was a sneaky fellow and didn't fall for our traps!
"He he he! You can't catch me!
Love,
The Leprechaun"

More Leprechaun notes