Spelling Words Week of November 1-5

The Little Red Hen Gets Help

1. set
2. sent
3. ten
4. tell
5. let
6. get
7. all
8. call
9. make
10. of

Optional Challenge Words
compliment
farewell
gentle
penguin
magnetic

Week of October 11-15

Hello!! Just a quick reminder before you read anything else, THERE IS NO SCHOOL THURSDAY AND FRIDAY OF NEXT WEEK!!!!! I will remind you again at the end, but wanted to be sure you saw this. Here is what we have been up to this week:

Reading:
We have been working this week on the short /o/ sound. We read a story called Dot and Bob. Our spelling words were also the short /o/ words. We also worked on telling sentences and characters. We learned why characters are so important to stories, and we shared many of our favorite characters from books and movies. We learned about story structure too, and continued talking about begninning, middle and end.

Flex Reading:
Be sure to keep reading those flex books each night and practicing your words. The logs need to come back signed in order to receive credit for reading.

Math:
We are addition masters! I can't believe how far these kids have come in a few weeks with addition. We took our first test, that will be shared with you at conferences. We have now moved on to SUBTRACTION!!! It is going great! Friday, we even got to practice subtraction with candy pumpkins!

Writing:
We have been working hard this week on making an Autumn Book. We've done some fun science experiments, leaf walks, and lots of writing to go along with it. We will still be working on this next week. I am anxious to share this work with you at conferences!

Other:
**No school next Thursday and Friday for MEA Break.

**Conferences the following week, Monday, October 25, Tuesday the 26th and Friday the 29th. You should have seen a reminder come home this week. It was on pink paper. Please let me know if you need to reschedule.

**Book Orders are due Wednesday, October 20th. You can order online as well. Please see the post below for more information!

**We also talked about Fire Safety this week. The students brought home a workbook with lots of important information in it. Please make sure you talk with your child about a meeting spot if you should ever have a fire at your home.

Spelling Words Week 10/11-10-15

Spelling Words - Lesson 5

1. top
2. hop
3. hot
4. not
5. dot
6. lot
7. back
8. pick
9. oh
10. yes

Optional Challenge Words
mascot
raindrop
patriotic
tropical
optical

Book Orders!!!

Your child's first book order was sent home today. It is a great way to purchase books to build your child's library at home. This is an extremely affordable way to buy books. Please return your order form NO LATER than Wednesday, October 22. You may also choose to order online. It's very easy and allows you to pay with a credit card. To get started, please go to:
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs

1. On the parent page, register by clicking "Don't have a username or password?" link.
2. When prompted, enter our ONE TIME CLASS Activation Code (HGBXP)
This ensures the order is sent to our classroom.
3. Choose from the titles shown. There are even more than are in the flyer.
4. Just submit your order by our due date, and your books will arrive in our class shortly!
5. Ordering online is fast, easy and SECURE.

The best news is that for each order submitted online, we earn a free book for our class!!!






The rest of our newsletter will be posted a bit later. Thanks!!!
Mrs. Bahn

Week of 9/27-10/1

Wow was this past week a busy one! So busy in fact that I'm just getting this updated now. I apologize for the delay. Here is what we were up to:

Reading:
We started working on the short /i/ sound this week
We read words like big, dig, sit, pin, pig, did..you get the idea!

We also talked about inferences. That is sure a big word, but we practiced it a lot, using lots of fun examples. We also went on a fall walk to observe sights, smells, and sounds. We then began working on a writing piece all about saying hello to the fall!

We also began Flex reading groups this week. That means we shake it up in first grade and your child may be going to a different teacher at that time. You should also see Flex book bags begin to come home soon, with a book for you to practice reading each night.


Math:
We are continuing to work on basic addition. We have practiced this lots of ways, using cubes to make number trains, and even our bodies to show number sentences. We talked about how two differents parts make up a whole in a number sentence. We learned about turn-around facts too, how you can flip the numbers and the problem stays the same.

There are lots of opportunities to practice simple addition around your house. If you're setting the table, put out three plates, and then two more, and talk about how many plates are on the table. If you are picking up toys, pick up a couple, and then a few more, and count how many. You get the idea! :)


Other:
We also went on a fun fall walk this week. We are SO lucky to have such a beautiful setting around our school. We were very observant scientists as we explored all of the fall things and changes going on around us. We collected baggies of leaves, and are beginning a fall writing piece this week.

We also painted fall trees on Friday. We used sponges to paint, and even got to use glitter paint. They turned out beautiful. We are going to hang them up here to enjoy for awhile and then we'll take them home!


News:
In big news, our JES Read-A-Thon kicked off on Friday morning. We started our day off with a guest reader from Chaska High School Honor Society who read us a funny book about Polar Bears. You child should've brought home information on Friday about the Read-A-Thon. It ends October 28th. If you have any questions in the meantime, let me know and I'll be happy to try to help.

Also, one more reminder. Mrs. Bahn is done tying shoes October 28th! We have quite a number of students who still need to practice this skill. It sounds like a silly thing but stopping to tie shoes is slowly taking up lots of learning time. If they still are having trouble in November they will have to find a friend, or wear other shoes that don't tie. We especially want to have this mastered before snow boot season! Thanks for your help in working with your child on this.

MEA break is also just a few weeks away. Remember, there is no school October 21 or 22. The following week is conferences. A reminder will be coming home shortly.

I do have a few pictures from this week but the batteries are dead. :( I will try to get them up tomorrow!!! Have a great week!!

Subscribe!!

I wanted to let you know that I added a quick and easy way to subscribe to this blog, so that you get email updates each time it is updated.  All you have to do is enter your email in the box at the right, and each time I update, you'll be notified by email.   What a great way to stay updated with our first grade class!!!!

Week of 9/20-9/24

Wow, Cool, Ooo-Eee..We're So Excited We're Learning To Read!!!


Language Arts
We sang that song this morning to kick of our day, and I think it's fitting. We have been busy reading and building words this week. We have continued to work hard on the short /a/ sound and reading and spelling words with that sound. We also talked a lot about word order, and the order of words make up sentences. If the words aren't the right order, the sentence doesn't make sense. Ask your child to tell you the two very important parts of a sentence!

Our story this week was called, The Van. We read it together, to ourselves, and even with partners. We also made lots of predictions, and used pictures from the story to help us make those predictions. They are doing just great! We also learned a fun song to the tune of Do Your Ears Hang Low to help us learn about the short /a/ sounds. (See words just below)

Jazz Band

Sam can tap his drum
ratta, tatta, tatta, tum.
Jan can play a jazzy sax
and so can her cousin Max.
If you clap your hands together
you can join our happy band.
It's a grand jazz band.


We also did lots of spelling/phonics practice too . We built the words using letter tiles, we did "Magic Spelling" where we wrote our words with white crayone, painted over them, and our words appeared (see pics below), and used whiteboards to help us.


Math
In math, we began Chapter one which worked on the concept of Fewer, More, and Same. We also talked about before, after, between, and greater than (we talked about giving GREAT big hugs) and less than (little and lower are helper words to help us remember this). Anytime you can use these words at home to help reinforce would be great!! We also played a fun game that you can play at home too. It's called Greater Than You. (Basically it's like the old game called War..flip two cards, decide which one is greater and that person keeps the cards. Even better, make a set of cards (notecards would work great) with numbers up to 20 and play, so they get lots of practice with the teen numbers!)


Other
We also had MAP tests in both math and reading this week. I will let you know when those results will be available to you. It will most likely be at conference time.


We also had Mrs. Folven visit our class and she helped us learn all of the different kind of "smarts" there are, such as word smart, number smart, people smart, nature smart, etc. We read a fun stor called A Hat for Ivan about a boy who wears lots of different hats, and trying to find the one that fits him the best.


Mrs. Butzer came in for a bit and talked with us about our feelings, and how what we think effects what we do, and how what we do effects how we feel.


Next week, we will begin math groups and flex reading groups. Your child may go to a different teacher for either one of these groups. Let me know if you have any questions!


REMINDER THERE IS A 2 HOUR LATE START ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH!!!


It was a wonderful week, despite all of this rain! Have a great weekend!!

Playing "Greater Than You" in math

Magic Spelling

Whiteboard Phonics

Mrs. Folven

Spelling List 9/20-9/24

This week's spelling words are:
1. hat
2. had
3. sad
4. sat
5. bat
6. bag
7. at
8. can
9.help
10.now

Challenge Words:
static
advice
answer
baggage
habitat

Week of September 13-17

Wow!! What a great week it has been in FIRST GRADE!!!

Reading:
This week in Reading, we have been working on the letter a and the short /a/ sound. We read a story called Tap Tap Tap. We learned words like: tap, can, am, at, man, and lots of other short /a/ words. We also learned about making predictions. We are reading a story aloud also called Junie B. Jones First Grader at Last, and we use that story a lot to help us make predictions also.

In writing, we have started to work on writing about a favorite summer memory. We have just begun, so we are still sorting out our ideas. We also had our first spelling test today! Look for it to come home on Monday. We took it in the afternoon, so I didn't quite get a chance to get it corrected.

Math:
Boy did they work hard in math this week. We had to take 5 tests! Well actually it was one big test, but we split it up over 5 days. It is just an assessment to see where we are at starting first grade. They have worked hard and done great! We also continued to explore some fun math tubs like cubes, beads, blocks, etc.

Other:

Constitution Day:
Did you know that today (Friday) is Constitution Day??? We talked about what the constitution is, what it means, and did some fun things with it. We made a fun hat. (See pictures below!)
We also made a class kindness pledge, and all signed it making a promise to be kind.

The Little Engine That Could
We read a story on Thursday called The Little Engine That Could. We talked about having an "I Can" attitude. We all thought of something we can do, and made a train car, so we can make a class train to keep up on our wall this year. They also got to watch the video at the end of the day when we were all done, which they loved! You know you've got a great class when they are all cheering together for the little engine to make it up the mountain at the end! I love it!

General Info.

Picture Day is WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22!!! Please send in the forms as soon as you're ready. They have to be here on Wednesday if you wish to order pictures.

Homecoming NEXT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th! We will be celebrating homecoming next Friday! Please look for an email coming home next week about a dress up day on Friday!

Star Student
Star Student will start next week with...Me! Mrs. Bahn will be the start student next week so I can set a good example and show everyone how it will go! A schedule will be sent home next week so you know when it will be your child's week!

Shoe Tying
If your child doesn't know how to tie his/her shoes, please work on this skill with them at home! I told them I won't tie shoes after Thanksgiving!! They will either have to find a friend to help, or find shoes that don't hve ties. I'm just trying to give them a goal to work towards. With switching shoes for Phy. Ed. etc. it is very time consuming to have to tie lots of shoes.

Whew..I think that is all! So much news to share in First Grade!!! Paige, Emma, Jayla, Dylan and Ruby have been great captains this week!! Thanks for a wonderful second week of school!

Our Constitution Day Hats - Free To Be You And Me!!

Had to do a silly one too

Working hard on our hats

Working on our What I Can Do Book

Working on our Morning Work - Some math and reading practice that we do everyday and will eventuallybecome independent work when they enter the room in the morning

Homework!!!

Homework will begin coming home this week! It was sent home last night, and will also come in a yellow notebook. Please work on the day's work with your child, sign, and send back the next day, as we will look at it. Homework will come home on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The goal of our homework in first grade is mainly to teach your child about responsibility, and the importance of working hard and trying your best in school, and to show you what we've been working on. Though it is also great practice as well!

A Great First Week!!

**The first blog post! This is how I plan to do weekly updates, post schedules, etc. You can always find old posts on the right hand side of the blog. So if you're looking for the Captain Schedule, you should see it, click on it and there it is. It also archives by month, so if you need something in December that was posted in October, click on October and it should be there. I'm hoping that this will work great, so please let me know if you're having any trouble.

Well it's the end of our first week. It has been a great week, filled with all sorts of fun things! I hope your child had as much fun as I did! Here is a recap of some of the things we did in our classroom:

*Learned about Morning Meeting
*Learned a cow greeting and a stick greeting
*Sang some fun songs like the Mack Chicken Dance, The Freeze and The Wishy Washy Washer Woman
*Read lots of stories like, First Day Jitters, Chrysanthemum, Wemberly Worried, and Jillian Jiggs
*Started reading a chapter book aloud, Junie B. Jones First Grader at Last
*Read about a monster who came to school and came up with our own rules. We decided on
1. Be Safe
2. Be Respectful
3. Be Responsible
4. Be a positive member of our classroom

*Had a visit from our counselor Mrs. Butzer
*Explored centers like math cubes, stencils, painting, stories, and beads
* Practiced writing our names, numbers and letters
* Made name posters
* Learned more about each other with Star Pods
* Played Letter Bingo
* You'll have to ask your child about all of the other fun things, as there were more, but I'll stop there!
As you can see, the week was filled with lots of fun activities as we got to know each other. We will be doing so many fun things in first grade! Next week we will begin our Storytown Reading series, and math! Watch for some homework coming home next week as well.

Wednesday Folders
*This year, we will try to save and send all important papers home on Wednesday. They won't come in a special folder, just on Wednesdays, so please be looking for them. Others will come home from time to time, so always be on the lookout, but especially on Wednesdays!

Captains
*Every two days we will have class captains. See the post below for details and the schedule!

Picture Forms
*Picture forms came home TODAY. Pictures are Wednesday, September 22! Please return it by then if you wish to order photos.

Pat your child on the back for an awesome week of FIRST GRADE!!!! It's going to be a GREAT YEAR!!!!

Here are just a few pictures from centers this week

First Classroom Captain Schedule 9/13-10/14

We will begin our class captains next week. Every two days, we will have two captains for our class. These people are my special helpers for the two days. They are the line leaders, help with the calendar, pass out papers, clear the lunch chart, run errands, and a variety of other tasks. We will switch every two days. They will have a couple opportunities to do this throughout the year. The following is the first schedule.

9/13-9/14 - Paige and Emma

9/15-9/16 - Jayla and Dylan

9/17-9/20 - Morgan and Ruby

9/21-9/22 - Lina and Annalise

9/23-9/24 - Marcos and Cale

9/27-9/28 - Nathan and Jessica

9/29-9/30 - Hannah and Malachi

10/1-10/4 - Jasmine and Leonardo

10/5-10/6 - Owen and Angel

10/7-10/8 - Alex and Cara

10/11-10/12 - Jake and Katie

10/13-10/14 - Mohamed and Jayla (This is where we are starting over)

Welcome to First Grade!!!

Welcome friends!!!  I'm so excited you've found your way to my blog, and hopefully that means I'm going to be lucky enough to have you as a part of my class this year!  I enjoy blogging, so I thought it would be a perfect way to keep us connected this year, and keep you informed with what is going on in our classroom! 

I plan to update this just like a newsletter, with important announcements, fun news, pictures, helpful links, and many other things!  I think we'll have a lot of fun with it this year!

I so look forward to learning, laughing, reading, growing, smiling, and having fun with YOU this year!  It's going to be a great first grade year!