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  • OERI 2013

Another Wonderful Week!

9/5/2014

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First of all, give your student a HUGE hug because my class has been working so incredibly hard! I must say  - I have one AWESOME class! They are so helpful and encouraging to each other. I am so impressed with their behavior!  A BIG shout out to Keegan and Audrey!!! They were my first students to make their clips go "off the chart!" I got the luxury of wearing both of their clips for the rest of the day after they surpassed pink. We have had quite a few students in room 203 land on purple and blue this week as well! GREAT JOB!!!
ARE YOU ON TWITTER?!?!
This year I am trying something brand new with my class. We officially have a class pet!!!  A goldfish, named Pete, joined our classroom on Tuesday. Okay, okay… so he is battery operated and doesn’t require food BUT… I think he is PERFECT! Each week, Pete will “tweet” about the happenings inside room 203. If you are on twitter make sure to
 follow him @203Pete
The students will be responsible for tweeting out for Pete– so be patient as they get the hang of it. If you are new to twitter, this is the perfect way to get started!

FREE ONLINE READING RESOURCES
* RAZ-KIDS: your student can log in and read books on his or her reading level! They can also listen to books  and take comprehension quizzes!
http://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login
wllardeast1d

* TUMBLEBOOKS: Students can use this to listen to books. There are 24 pages of book titles to pick from. There are also quizzes and games to go with some of the stories!
http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/customer_login.asp
Username: willarde
Password: books

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Rigby
Tues.– Shyly
Wed.– Torah
Thurs.– Travis
Fri.– Noah Happy Birthday!

This week we… learned spelling strategies for words we don’t know how to spell, investigated the difference between a “watermelon story” and a “seed story”, practiced addition strategies, and monitored seeds to see what they need in order to grow!

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Response to Caps For Sale - those silly monkeys!
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A response to If You Give A Mouse a Cookie...
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Writing "seed stories" to focus on small moments.
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First Things First...

4/19/2013

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First, I want to take a minute and brag on my first grade friends. Mr. Matt has been incredibly sick (and he is not a complainer... at all.) It got so bad that he finally broke down and decided it was time to go to the doctor - but he was so sick he did not think he would physically be able to drive himself there! I ended up getting a very last minute sub on Thursday afternoon and taking him to the doctor. Verdict = ear infections, sinus infection, and bronchitis. YUCK! However, when I came to school on Friday, I had a very nice note from our substitute complimenting the students on their wonderful behavior. It is always stressful being gone from the classroom, especially when it is not a planned absence, but I was so pleased to see this note and so thankful for my sweet first grade friends! It makes me sad to think about how little time I have left with them.

Check This Out!

The weeks are flying by so quickly! This week was as busy as ever and a lot of learning took place in Room 203! Last week my students went through the entire writing process and published their own version of the book Should I Share my Ice Cream? These are on display in the hallway and if you haven't had the chance to check them out, I encourage you to stop by! Here are a few samples. Sorry the formatting is a little off. I LOVE this program but I can not chose different page sizes / orientation with the iPad. 
littlebirdtales.com cover image
  • Click to view my tale.
  • littlebirdtales.com logo
littlebirdtales.com cover image
  • Click to view my tale.
  • littlebirdtales.com logo
This week we learned about plant life cycles and what plants need to grow. We even read the classic book The Giving Tree and wrote about how the tree's feelings changed through the book.  We visited other popular books including The Tiny Seed, and From seed to Plant.  We also read It's Earth Day and brainstormed ways that we can help keep the Earth a beautiful place. Did you know that Monday is Earth Day?

News for the Week

SPELLING
boy, toy, joy, joyful, oil, foil

END OF YEAR ABC FUN
You may have seen these ideas floating around on Pinterest or Facebook and the first grade team has decided to join in on the fun. Starting Monday we will do something special each day for the remainder of the school year. A calendar came home today with the schedule. Next week our days will be:
M– Autograph day (don't need to bring anything for this)
T– Bubble fun
W– Camo day  - wear camo!
Th– Doughnut day (Mrs. Kramer will bring doughnuts)
F– Exercise Day

CHECK IT OUT
Be sure to check out the blog this weekend! Our class has been working SO hard on some amazing things! I will post pictures so you can have see all of the amazing things they have been doing!

DON’T FORGET
Every first grade student will need a plastic container with lid or a small shoe box. This is for a project that the students are doing in art. Please label the container / box with your child’s name and our class code: 1-K. Thanks!

BOX TOPS
Our box top challenge is still going on with Willard North! Let’s see how many box tops we can collect to help represent Willard East!



HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon– Bradley
Tues–  Brookelynn
Wed.–  Aidan
Thurs.– Elija
Friday– Early Out - Don't forget school will let out at 12:30
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More Love for Mo!

4/12/2013

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We are still loving Mo Willems in our classroom! We just can't get enough! This week we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and learned a lot about speech bubbles, dialogue, and using voice in our writing. We even practiced using speech bubbles in one of our own stories.
We are also working hard on our own versions of Should I Share my Ice Cream? During inside recess we even learned how to draw the pigeon! It's been a week full of more Mo and we aren't finished yet! 

This week we also got some hands on experience writing a "how-to" piece. We made s'mores and then wrote step by step directions about how we made them. Then, we got to eat the tasty treat - but not before using our five senses to describe them!
SPELLING
broke, choke, joke, woke, soak, croak

SPRING CONCERT TONIGHT!
Don’t forget that tonight is our All School Spring Concert! Students should look for me at 6:40 at the high school. We will sit together as a class and you will pick your student up from Mrs. Whisler after the concert is over. Please have your student wear his or her black Friday shirt.

EVERY CHILD NEEDS…
Every first grade student will need a plastic container with lid or a small shoe box. This is for a project that the students are doing in art. Please label the container / box with your child’s name and our class code: 1-K. Thanks!

BOX TOPS
Our box top challenge is still going on with Willard North! Let’s see how many box tops we can collect to help represent Willard East!

TIGER TIME ROTATION
First grade is trying something new and exciting during our school-wide Tiger Time! Since we finished all of our PALs units, first grade is doing 6 weeks of enrichment (3 days a week). This week, my class learned about weather and the water cycle. For the next two weeks my class will go to Mrs. Jackson’s room during Tiger Time to learn about life cycles. Students will then go to Ms. Smith’s class for two weeks to learn about space and the solar system! This will take us pretty close to the end of the year—hard to believe, I KNOW! We will continue doing Rocket Math addition the other two days during Tiger Time.

ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT…
The water cycle, addition and subtraction by 10s, microwaving soap (so fun!), making and eating s’mores, learning to draw “Pigeon” (feeding our Mo Willems obsession), writing our own books, listening for voice in stories, using speech bubbles, and dressing like your favorite teacher!

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon–  Mia
Tues–  Michael
Wed.–  Rhett
Thurs.– Samantha
Friday– Tucker

UPCOMING DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR
April 26—Half Day for Students and Tiger Pride at 9:00 AM
May 2—Walking Field Trip to High School (leave @9 9:00)
May 3– Celebration with Mrs. Whisler and probably her last day with us

SOAP IN THE MICROWAVE?!?!?!

Picture
During our Tiger Time this week we learned about the water cycle and weather. We read about different types of clouds and learned what clouds are made of. We also made our own cloud out of Ivory Soap! It is true! This is what will happen if you put Ivory soap in the microwave for about 90 seconds. As far as I know, this only works with Ivory soap. It actually will grow larger than this but it shrinks back down as it cools. 

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AWESOME APRIL!

4/5/2013

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We have been working so hard this week! 

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This week we continued to become better writers by focusing on voice and word choice. We read a lot of great books this week and my students have become OBSESSED with Mo Willems. The obsession has been brewing all year but it is in full force now! We have been reading as many Mo Willems books as we can get our hands on and every day we love him more. If you aren't familiar with him, I highly recommend checking him out. I have to admit, I just ordered four more of his books for our classroom.  
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We spent a lot of time in Cara Carroll's I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream unit. We wrote ice cream similies, invented our own new ice cream flavor, and wrote narrative stories about what we would do if we were Ice Cream King or Queen. And... what better way to wrap up the week than by eating a little bit of the tasty inspiration?!?!?
SPELLING
sick, trick, brick, truck, duck, slicker

MUSIC PERFORMANCE
Please join us next Friday night for the Willard East Spring Music Performance. Each grade level will be performing in this Broadway themed show. The show will be at Willard High School and will start at 7:00PM in the gym. Students should arrive at 6:45 and look for me. Your child will sit with me and Mrs. Whisler on the bleacher side of the gym. Parents, friends, and family members will sit on the chair-back side of the gym. I will be leaving a little early but Mrs. Whisler will be sitting with the class and you will pick your student up from her. All students need to wear their Friday shirt for this concert. If you cannot locate the shirt, please dress your child in jeans and a black shirt.

COSTUMES FOR COMMUNITY

Next Friday is also our April Costumes for Community day. The theme will be to dress like your favorite teacher.

SUBTRACTION FLUENCY
We have been practicing subtraction for the past couple of weeks and next week we will begin subtraction timed tests.  We will be using the subtraction Rocketmath pages but each child will have four minutes to complete the page. We will also continue doing our regular addition Rocketmath as well.

Ask your child about… the water cycle, being Ice Cream King / Queen, the flavor of ice cream they would invent, Futaba (new iPad app), and playing Boggle. 



Helper Schedule
Mon–  Hope
Tues–  Jayme
Wed.–  Maggie
Thurs.– Marley
Friday– Elliot    Happy Birthday!


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Lots of Amazing Things are Going On!

3/28/2013

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Published Book Project

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I hope that you are enjoying our class published book! The students worked so hard on this project and have been excited to show it off. If you did not order a copy but would still like to, please email me and I can pass along some helpful information about how you can still get a copy. 

eBook Project with Mrs. Whisler

This is a project that our class did with Mrs. Whisler last week. It took us a few tries to get it right and ready to share - but I THINK all of the kinks are worked out now! You can click on the icon below or you can use click here!
littlebirdtales.com cover image
  • Click to view my tale.
  • littlebirdtales.com logo
SPELLING
Ink, sink, think, bank, sank, thank

WALKING FIELD TRIP
On Thursday, May 2nd we will walk to Willard High School to watch a short play! I know this seems like a long time away right now but the rest of the year will fly by so quickly! You are welcome to join us but I do ask that you RSVP by the end of next week if you are interested in going. I have to reserve the seats as other classes from our school and other elementary schools will also be attending. We will leave the school at 9:00 AM and return by 10:30 AM.

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon–  No School
Tues–  Aidan
Wed.–  Elija
Thurs.–  Aby Happy Birthday!
Friday– Hayden

Inside our week...

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This week we started talking about how writers use their voice in writing. We read some great books that demonstrate amazing voice. The class favorite was probably Diary of a Worm! I have to admit, it is a pretty funny book and a great example of using voice in writing. We practiced writing with good voice this week too. We brainstormed ideas about a time when we got hurt and then we used our ideas to write these All Patched Up narratives. I started thinking back to August and I got goosebumps reflecting on how much growth has taken place in writing this year. Isn't it amazing?!?! I must say, it is one of my favorite things about teaching first grade.  We will continue learning about voice next week with some more fantastic books and writing pieces!

We also learned about bears this week. We talked about several different types but focused mostly on grizzly bears and black bears. We checked out some pretty fascinating books and also utilized Pebble Go during class and computer lab to help us with our research. We took notes about interesting and important bear facts and then we used them to help us write this little bear report. And what is a report without a cute craft to hang with it in the hallway?!?! 
Ask your child about… bears, narrative writing, subtraction fluency, typing stories in the computer lab, using voice in writing, and Fantastic Caverns! 
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FRIDAY, ALREADY?!?!

1/18/2013

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This week just flew by so quickly. Time flies when you are having fun, right?!?!



SPELLING WORDS 
very, dirty, funny, cry, by, sky

MRS. KRAMER ABSENT
I will be at a Common Core training all day on Wednesday. Mrs. Whisler will be at school and Mrs. Lisa will be in our room, too! Please call the office if your child will be going home a different way than he or she usually does.

100th DAY OF SCHOOL
Next Friday is the 100th day of school and we will celebrate in style! Students (and teachers!) are invited to dress like they are 100 years old. Last year the teachers did this and it was so much fun—so this year we would like to extend the invitation to the students! I have already been checking out a lot of ideas on Pinterest!

VALENTINE’S DAY
A class list will come home next week so your child can write Valentine cards to their classmates. Each student will need a box or bag to put his or her cards in. We will exchange cards before the party (more details to come soon) on February 14th. 

Ask your child about… friendship, measuring, changing his or her writing goal, working with Mrs. Whisler, and Martin Luther King, Jr.



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Writing Assessment

4/23/2012

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Next week, every student at every Willard elementary school will take a common writing assessment. We have prepared for this the entire year and my students are very familiar with the process. I shared the rubric with many of you at parent information night - but let's face it - that was a LONG time ago! I just thought I would take a minute and re-share the expectations with you.
grade1writingrubric.doc.doc
File Size: 49 kb
File Type: doc
Download File

A couple of first grade teachers made a "child friendly" rubric that we often share with the students instead of this one. It has the same content on it, just in more child friendly terms.
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