Just wanted to wish all of my wonderful first grade families a very happy holidays! I am so very lucky to have such sweet students in my class this year. It has been great getting to know everyone and I so much appreciate all that you do for our classroom. Thinking of you and hoping everyone's holiday is filled with nothing but smiles and love. I'm looking forward to hearing all about some fantastic vacations too!
See you next year! ;)
With love,
Miss Waterman
Monday, December 24, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Happy 12/12/12!
It was wonderful seeing parents again this afternoon for conferences! I enjoyed chatting with each of you about your little one. I am looking forward to next week's conferences too. Please let me know if your assigned time does not work for any reason and we will work it out!
We have been busy little elves in our classroom. In Reader's Workshop, we are working hard on our character unit. The students have been meeting characters in their books and thinking about how these characters feel, act, etc. to deepen their undestanding of the story. When reading with your child, you can reinforce this at home by discussing what the character does, how the character changes/feels, and brainstorming words to describe the character's personality.
In Social Studies, we are working hard on our Holidays Around the World unit. Each day, we are visiting a new country and learning about how that country celebrates the holidays. So far we have learned about Mexico and Sweden. The students are using their map skills to locate the country. We have also been reading books and completing information pages in our world scrapbooks. Tomorrow, we will "travel" to Germany!
I hope everyone is practicing their math facts for this week's gumball quiz! Please keep in mind that each student will work at their own pace and we want to celebrate all personal accomplishments. I encourage the students to aim for their personal best, even if that means trying to complete five more problems than the previous week! We have spent a lot of time discussing the difference between being proud of hard work vs. bragging. For some, the quizzes may seem easy at first, but will increase in difficulty as your child continues on. For others, practice, practice, practice is the best way to build that FACT POWER! :)
Stay tuned for pictures coming soon!
We have been busy little elves in our classroom. In Reader's Workshop, we are working hard on our character unit. The students have been meeting characters in their books and thinking about how these characters feel, act, etc. to deepen their undestanding of the story. When reading with your child, you can reinforce this at home by discussing what the character does, how the character changes/feels, and brainstorming words to describe the character's personality.
In Social Studies, we are working hard on our Holidays Around the World unit. Each day, we are visiting a new country and learning about how that country celebrates the holidays. So far we have learned about Mexico and Sweden. The students are using their map skills to locate the country. We have also been reading books and completing information pages in our world scrapbooks. Tomorrow, we will "travel" to Germany!
I hope everyone is practicing their math facts for this week's gumball quiz! Please keep in mind that each student will work at their own pace and we want to celebrate all personal accomplishments. I encourage the students to aim for their personal best, even if that means trying to complete five more problems than the previous week! We have spent a lot of time discussing the difference between being proud of hard work vs. bragging. For some, the quizzes may seem easy at first, but will increase in difficulty as your child continues on. For others, practice, practice, practice is the best way to build that FACT POWER! :)
Stay tuned for pictures coming soon!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Gumball Math
Today your child came home with a letter describing a new thing that will be happening in our classroom each week: Gumball Math!
Please be sure to read over the letter carefully. Students should cut out their flashcards and begin practicing for Friday's quiz. Because the quiz is timed, it is important for your child to build "fact power". This requires memorization and practice, practice, practice!
Any questions or concerns- please feel free to email me. :)
Please be sure to read over the letter carefully. Students should cut out their flashcards and begin practicing for Friday's quiz. Because the quiz is timed, it is important for your child to build "fact power". This requires memorization and practice, practice, practice!
Any questions or concerns- please feel free to email me. :)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thanksgiving Feast!
Today was our Thanksgiving Feast! We sat together with our homemade placemats. Each placemat showed one thing the students were thankful for. Then, we ate turkey and all the trimmings!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends, family and lots of love! :)
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends, family and lots of love! :)
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Scholastic Book Order
For those of you that are interested in ordering from this month's Scholastic book order that was sent home last week, here is the link to the online ordering page:
Simply click the link above, and sign in! If you have not ordered online before, you will need to set up a free account (just an email address and password). The site will ask you for a Class Activation Code. Ours is:
Ordering online is great because I get to pick free books to put in the classroom library for the students. :) If you have any trouble, please feel free to email me. Orders are due by this Friday!
Simply click the link above, and sign in! If you have not ordered online before, you will need to set up a free account (just an email address and password). The site will ask you for a Class Activation Code. Ours is:
2IHNG
Ordering online is great because I get to pick free books to put in the classroom library for the students. :) If you have any trouble, please feel free to email me. Orders are due by this Friday!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Veterans Day
To celebrate our veterans, the students and I spent some time Thursday and Friday discussing how important it is to thank our veterans for all that they do. We read a few books about veterans and created a chart about what veterans are, what they have, and what they can do. We also did a directed drawing of a soldier.
We glued our soldiers to construction paper and filled the extra space with adjectives to describe a soldier. They came out great! Thank you to our veterans for all that you do to keep us safe!
Here's our little army of soldiers:
We glued our soldiers to construction paper and filled the extra space with adjectives to describe a soldier. They came out great! Thank you to our veterans for all that you do to keep us safe!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Hat Day and Election Learning
Today was crazy hat day! Check out these great hats:
In social studies this week, we have been learning all about the election. Today we studied the two candidates running for President: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney (or as many of the students were calling him, Mint Romney!). We read information about each candidate and created these bubble charts together:
The students took some time to write their favorite facts about each candidate on their own bubble maps.
Finally , I let the students work with partners on their own venn diagrams. The students used their bubble maps to fill in their graphic organizers.
Here's just a few more pictures of us working on election activities during our literacy center time. At Work on Writing, some students were writing about what it would be like to be President for the day. At Work Work, the students were using the letters in "Election Day" to build 2, 3, 4, and 5 letter words.
Have a great weekend!
In social studies this week, we have been learning all about the election. Today we studied the two candidates running for President: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney (or as many of the students were calling him, Mint Romney!). We read information about each candidate and created these bubble charts together:
The students took some time to write their favorite facts about each candidate on their own bubble maps.
After we learned about the two candidates, we discussed how a venn diagram can be used to compare characteristics of two people or things. Using a large venn diagram, we played a little game. I read facts to the students and they told me where each fact belonged. They were so into this and really impressed me with how much they had already learned!
Finally , I let the students work with partners on their own venn diagrams. The students used their bubble maps to fill in their graphic organizers.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween!
I was happy to hear today that everyone was safe during the hurricane. It sounds like the extra long weekend was filled with pumpkin carving, sleeping in late, and watching movies. Have to admit, I was doing much of the same!
We had a great day today celebrating Halloween. This morning, we read In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting. While reading, we noticed the details the author includes to tell us what spooky houses are like. We recorded these details on a chart and then used it to do some fiction writing. The kids imagined they had visited a spooky house and wrote about what they saw, heard, and felt. We did a practice write first, and then each student wrote their final copy story on a ghost shaped paper.
The students glued their ghost writing inside to make it look like the ghost was hiding in the "spooky house". I put out scraps of paper and let the students go to town decorating the outside of the house. What a creative bunch! They knocked my socks off and I think they all turned out great! Take a peek for youself:
We had a great day today celebrating Halloween. This morning, we read In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting. While reading, we noticed the details the author includes to tell us what spooky houses are like. We recorded these details on a chart and then used it to do some fiction writing. The kids imagined they had visited a spooky house and wrote about what they saw, heard, and felt. We did a practice write first, and then each student wrote their final copy story on a ghost shaped paper.
The students glued their ghost writing inside to make it look like the ghost was hiding in the "spooky house". I put out scraps of paper and let the students go to town decorating the outside of the house. What a creative bunch! They knocked my socks off and I think they all turned out great! Take a peek for youself:
We also had a few special visitors come in to do some awesome Halloween crafts with us. Thank you so much to the three parents who volunteered and supplied all the activities! You made our day extra sweet! :) The kids had a blast making placemats, masks, and cotton ball ghosts. The kids rotated in groups to make each craft, and then even had some time to work in little activity books.
What a great day it was! And now, I am off to hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters. I can't wait to see all the costumes! Have a wonderful night with your family and be safe- happy trick-or-treating! :)
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