Perfect Timing... Almost!

We have been working on a "Snowman" unit along with our Reading and Math Skills and the snow was a perfect addition- well almost...until the parking lot disappeared in less than an hour! These were taken around 1:00 yesterday...

Front Circle:

 Gym Parking Lot:

 Bagley Road:

 Now, back to the work...

 "Snowy Day and Night" visualization: I read two different poems as the students expressed what they were visualizing on the paper with chalk. They did a great job!

Snowman Measurement: We worked with non-standard units of measurement and measured the parts of a snowman with snap cubes. The students also got to see how many "snowmen" tall they were. We then took the data and found out that our class would be 66 (and some more) snowmen tall. So much fun!!!

 How to Build a Snowman: The students got to draw their own snow man, write a story about how to build a snowman using "first, next, last, and then" writing skills and then measured their snowman drawing with cubes. 

After all this I sure hope they got to go home and build a snowman yesterday! If you have any pictures of these snowmen...e-mail them to me and I will show them to the class. 
 

Playing Catch Up!!

Wow! I would like to say I am rewinding all the way back to Christmas, but I was so busy with our activities that I forgot to snap some pictures.

 So, I am going to begin with the Dairy Farm Visit we had right before the break. The Alabama Dairy Farmer’s Mobile Classroom came to visit the whole school.  This was a very interesting opportunity for the students to learn how we get milk from the cows on the farm to the kitchen table in our homes. I have to say I was educated in this process as well!

Do you see the milk below in the glass container?

Fire Safety Week...

Every year the Bagley Fire Department comes to the school to talk to the Kindergarten and First Graders about fire safety. They also like to come so the students are familiar with them in case they ever have to respond to a fire at their house.

I think it is great that they volunteer their time to come and talk to our students about Fire Safety. It always reminds me to be thankful that these firefighters are willing to put their life on the line to keep up safe in the case of fire or emergencies.

The students learned about how the truck and firemen manage the water that comes in and out of the firetruck. The students were given the opportunity to see just how heavy the end piece of the hose is that the firemen carry. They even received a complete tour of all the tools and gadgets on the truck. It as a great visit as always!

I LOVE Surprises!

It was a normal day of checking my mail box in the office as the students went to PE. I had this interesting brown package that felt like a book sitting there in my box. My name and school address were hand written too! I rushed back to my classroom and could barely make it to my table to open the package.

To my surprise it was a a signed book from an AUTHOR himself! He had randomly selected a few classrooms across the country and my classroom had been chosen! I am sure most of you aren't aware of this, but I NEVER win random drawings. It's just a bad luck thing I have going on. So, hopefully my luck is changing.

Anyways, I am a leery person and quickly googled this author. I found out that he is a true author and has a great platform and passion for helping our nation's students become healthy and active. He is an author, speaker, and fitness expert. He has been featured on national TV and has written articles for many magazines including Fitness, Woman's Day, etc.

 

 

 

Here is the note he included for our class.
 
The class was SO excited about this. They loved the book too!
 
(Click picture for a larger image.)

 

So, I have planned for the class to write letters to the author in response to him sending us a copy of his book.

 

http://www.steveettinger.com/

 

Mystery Boxes

What have we been doing lately? Well, a WHOLE LOT! So much that this is the first opportunity I have had to update the blog. So, I thought I would share a little about our latest math station we have worked on that the students love *by the way!

Mystery Boxes:

The object of this activity is to bring about an awareness of organizing objects into groups and counting them. These organizational strategies help the students to count the items in the box. This also works on their counting and addition skills. We have talked a lot about having organizational strategies when counting objects to 20. Like making rows or groups. Also, double checking our answers!

Example 1:
This student decided to group by colors and count the groups "all together" to get a total. I seriously would have grouped cars and frogs if it had been me. This one really thought "outside" the box! I love it!

 

 



Example 2:
This treasure chest of dishes and flatware has been a big hit! The possibilities are endless. 16 can be "4 groups of 4"

 

Example 3:
These buttons are great because they can sort by size, color, and sets. This student forgot the total amount on the paper, but counted 15. This one allows them to see that 15 can be "3 groups of 5".

 

Mystery Boxes is an easy activity you can do at home for practice with your child on counting, grouping, adding, and organizing strategies.

"Jitter" Juice!

Our first day was amazing! We have such a wonderful class this year! Today we read about a student who didn't want to get up and go to school. Her dad (so it appeared) was trying to get her up. Well, on the last page of the book we realized that it wasn't a student not wanting to get up for school. It was a teacher and her husband was trying to get her up to go to her new school. The children just sat there in amazement that teachers might actually be nervous about school starting as well.

So, after admitting I was so nervous today that I actually woke up way too early (go figure that), we made "Jitter Juice" to help take all of our first day of first grade "Jitters" away! It was actually an entertaining event. I thought it would be a wonderful idea to mix  two of the ingredients in a pitcher that has a built in "mixing handle". After just a few small "mixes"... Sprite and lemonade mix spewed out the spout and then through the lid. It was all over my table and floor. Needless to say, it was a sticky situation that turned into somewhat of an "Amelia Bedilia" type moment. The students were very caring and concerned about the mess. No problem! A mop bucket, a *few* paper towels along with some Clorox wipes and we were on our way to the Juice.

The students made little labels and glued them onto their cups and enjoyed a Jitter Juice Treat! They had a blast and I really think my "entertainment" along with the juice helped the "Jitters" go away!

**By the way, I will never put your child's face on the blog. I have the utmost respect for their safety and privacy.

Are You Ready?

I am getting excited about school beginning MONDAY!!! Parents, you are more than welcome to walk your children in the first day of school. Also, the PTO has invited the Kindergarten and 1st grade parents to a "Boo-hoo, Yahoo!" breakfast. This will be in the PTO room, which is right across the hall from my classroom. If anyone is interested in being on the PTO to help and volunteer at school, please let them know!

A few things to remember:
 

·         Please send forms and supplies to school the first day if you haven't already.

·         Don't forget a backpack with your child's name written on it.

·         Lunch Money amounts have changed for this year: Lunch-$1.95, Breakfast- $1.25 and Visitors Lunch- $4.25, Breakfast- $1.75

I have added a few pictures of the room below to get your child excited about Monday! Have a GREAT weekend and I will see you Monday morning!

Are you ready to BLAST OFF into FIRST GRADE??? I am :)

We have a whole shelf and wall

(black and blue board above) dedicated to MATH/ AMSTI!

This corner above is the Reading, Grammar, and Language Art side of the room.

So, exciting to see the Promethean Board up! Especially since we had training yesterday- now I know how to do all sorts of fun and exciting lessons with it!