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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

More Fun and Learning in 1B

November and December has brought more memorable times for our class.  We recently celebrated Aries' birthday with cookies (and a birthday hug)!  We had the opportunity to help others in need have a happy Christmas through giving during the week of the Change Wars.  We experienced an awesome adventure when Ricky from Wildlife Encounters brought some animals to our school.  We learned about snakes, lizards, and many other reptiles.  We even got to touch some of them!  During Social Studies recently we discussed the Thanksgiving story and made Pilgrim or Indian hats to wear to our school's Thanksgiving dinner.  Thanks, Cooks, for a delicious meal!  Our most recent "safari" happened when the entire grade school followed the high school drum line to the high school in a Snake Line to celebrate the Johnsonville award.  That was an experience we will not forget!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

More Fall Fun and Learning

The Fall fun has continued with a Safari to a Pumpkin Patch created by Jackson Heights FFA members.  On Oct. 28th, Mr. Lierz and members of the FFA came to the Elementary School with a hay wagon to take us on a hay rack ride to the Pumpkin Patch.  There we found a field full of pumpkins both large and small.  We were told that we could pick one to take back to our class.  Our class picked a large one!  Thanks, FFA, for a great time!
Halloween was a fun-filled day in 1B!  During the morning we did The Pumpkin Project, which involved estimating how many seeds were in a small pumpkin, counting the seeds, and comparing the actual number to our estimate.  Our small pumpkin had 517 seeds!  I took the seeds home, cleaned and roasted them, and brought them back to share as a treat.  My students really seemed to enjoy them, as they ate almost all of the seeds!
During the afternoon the class enjoyed an awesome Halloween party!  We had fun games and delicious treats.  Thanks to all who contributed to make this a memorable time!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Fall Fun

Our Safari has continued this Fall with lots of fun and learning!  We took a trip to Baldridge farm on September 28th and learned about lots of different animals.  We were able to pet and feed a baby llama, donkeys, alpacas, calves, a yak, goats, sheep, rabbits, and a zedonk, which is a cross between a donkey and a zebra.  We all chose a favorite animal to write about when we returned to school.  We certainly appreciate Mrs. Baldridge's hospitality!  
In October we have celebrated three birthdays:  Coriander, Ryan, and our high school aid, Aleasha.  We studied Christopher Columbus and Johnny Appleseed in Social Studies.  I brought my apple peeler, and we all enjoyed eating apples (and the peeling).  We also learned about Fire Prevention and safety.  I really enjoyed visiting with all the parents at Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Thank you for taking the time to come in.   

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

1st Graders Continue Their Learning Safari



My "bunch" is settling into the 1st grade routine, with lots of fun and learning along the way.  We are happy to welcome our newest student, Giann, to our class.                                                                                         We had fun watching 5 caterpillars turn into chrysalises (cocoons.)  About 2 weeks after we put the chrysalises into the butterfly net, they became beautiful Painted Lady butterflies!  It was awesome to take them outside and watch them fly away!  Heather brought us another chrysalis, and soon it became a beautiful butterfly also!
Every morning during Phonics time the students love having  Larry the Lion help us learn. (Ask your child about him.)  We have been reading stories and poems about why we go to school.  In Math we are doing Number Sense activities so we can understand our Addition and Subtraction facts in the future.  Social Studies time finds us discussing rules and laws in our school and in our country.  We are writing "Me at School" books during Writing time.  Recently we started Tier Time, which is a 40 minute block where students can get extra help or enrichment, depending on their needs.
We have enjoyed celebrating Ivan, Alex, and Ashanti's birthdays.  What a fun Safari we are having!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Welcome to the Jungle!

On August 18th, twelve excited students "swung" into my 1st grade room!  We have a school-wide Jungle theme, so we have begun our Learning Safari for 2011-12!  We have already read  "Curious George Flies a Kite", eaten bananas, and played a Curious George math game on the computer.  We have been reviewing the alphabet and our numbers to 12.  I can tell that I have a good "bunch" this year!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Young Poets

In February, I taught  my class to write Cinquain poems.  Soon after that I received an invitation from the National Schools Project to submit any poems my children had written.  With parents' permission, I submitted the Cinquains.  In April, many of my students received notification that their poem had been selected to appear (with parents' permission) in the 2011 edition of the Young American Poetry Digest!  A free copy of the book will be sent to Jackson Heights Elementary Library in the Fall.

Our Field Trip to the Kansas Museum of History




On April 20, the Jackson Heights 1st grade traveled to Topeka to visit the Kansas Museum of History.  Our focus was studying Native American tribes who lived in Kansas in the past.  We learned about the types of homes they built, the foods they ate, and how they lived.  We also toured the museum and learned about living in the past in the Discovery Place.  After lunch, the children played on the museum playground.  We had a fun day!