Fall Happenings

It is a busy time in the JH 1st Grade Ranch!  It is hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the school year.  Here are some of our recent activities.

• A school-wide Change War was held to benefit the local Christmas Bureau.  Almost $2,000 was raised in one week!  Jackson Heights patrons are VERY generous folks!
• Our smiles should be healthier now because Dental Screenings were held recently.  Those who chose to participate were also able to receive a Flouride treatment. 
• The cooks prepared a delicious Thanksgiving dinner for us on Nov. 15th.  We wanted to "dress up" for this special meal.  We created a Pilgrim boy, Pilgrim girl, or Indian hat to wear to lunch.  We liked them so much that we wore them all afternoon, too.

As the holidays approach, we are looking forward to these events.

• Our Christmas Concert will be held on Dec. 13th in the high school gym.  All the beautiful music should bring us some Christmas cheer.
• On Dec. 14th is Polar Express Day.  We look forward to parading in our train cars, watching the movie, and enjoying refreshments.
• Christmas break begins on Dec. 21st and continues through Jan. 2, 2013.  May your holidays be merry!

  

 

October Fun at the J.H. Ranch

October was a fun month in the 1st Grade class!  We were able to share what we have been learning and doing with our parents during Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Each student told their parents what their strengths were and where they needed to work harder using Voice Thread.  (Students also had a 4-day weekend due to conferences!)  I really enjoyed meeting with the parents and was so happy to have 100% participation! 
October 30th was a busy day in our class as we attended Mrs. Hufford's 3rd grade plays, and were given a Hay Rack Ride to the Pumpkin Patch by the high school F.F.A.  We were able to pick out a pumpkin to bring back to our class.  We had a super time at both activities!
The students of my class had a different look on Halloween.  Instead of children I saw Spidermen, a raccoon, Army men, Cleopatria, George Washington, and others in my class!  We paraded around the school, then returned to our room for a fun Halloween party.  We played a game and had delicious snacks.  Thanks to all who helped and sent refreshments. 

It is exciting for me to see my students turning into Readers!  This past month we have been talking about what it means to be Responsible, and continue to learn our Addition facts.  Learning is fun! 

Howdy from 1st grade-land!  Our wild west adventures continue.  On September 19th we traveled to the Baldridge Farm to learn about animals.  We were excited to see donkeys, goats, lambs, calves, rabbits, birds, a tortoise, and even alpacas!  We were able to brush and feed many of the animals.  Everyone got to sit on Zoey, the donkey, and have their picture taken.  It was very interesting to learn about animals that we don't normally have on  farms in Kansas.  Thanks again Mrs. Baldridge!
Learning adventures are taking place daily in the classroom.  In Phonics, we have reviewed almost every letter of the alphabet and are learning to spell words with those letters.  We are also reading stories on our own!  In Math, we have learned to use a ten-frame and we are learning our Addition facts.  (Ask one of my students to recite the Doubles Rap or the Doubles Song).  We have also been learning about Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs. We read stories about Johnny Appleseed and ate apples peeled and cut with my apple peeler.  Yum!
We also wrote letters to Mrs. Baldridge, and Emily Holliday who is in Uganda. We can't wait for our upcoming Halloween party!  Yee-haw! 
 

Mrs. Kuglin's Buckaroos

The 1st graders at Jackson Heights are off to a rip-roarin' good start!  We kicked off the 2012-13 school year with a fun all-school assembly to introduce our Western theme.  (The teachers even did a Western dance!)  The following week we traveled to Red Rock Ranch for an interesting (but wet) field trip.  We learned about the wild west of the past, how cowboys survived on the cattle drive, and how to care for  horses.  We even were served warm biscuits, a staple of old west days.  A few days later, Mrs. Bottom and Mrs. Hewitt brought their horses to school and the kids got to take a short ride.  What fun!
The other critters we have been excited about in 1st grade are butterflies!  We received 5 caterpillars from the Extension Office.  After about a week they became chrysalides and hung from the top of the jar.  We then moved them to the large hanging net and a week later we were happy to see beautiful Painted Lady butterflies!  When their wings were strong enough we let them be free outside.  It was interesting to watch them get used to the outside world, and then take off!

My class is also "settling in" as we review writing our letters and numbers and read stories.  I think it is going to be a rootin' tootin' good year!

Our Historical Adventure

Our latest learning adventure was a Field Trip to the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. We excitedly boarded the big yellow "taxi" for our 35 minute ride, enjoying the sites along the way.  Once we arrived, we met our docent who taught us all about American Indian tribes and homes in Kansas in the past.  We were shown and compared the homes of the Wichita, Pawnee, Kansa, and Cheyenne tribes.  We also learned about the natural resources the tribes used to build their homes.  We even got to work together to build our own life-size teepee, and we got to take turns going inside!  When our Indian Homes lesson was finished, we were able to tour the rest of the museum.  We loved seeing the old weapons, the authentically furnished log cabin, and the real steam train!  We had a blast in the Kid Zone Play Place trying on old clothing and playing with old-time toys!  After lunch, we played outside on the museum's playground and equipment.  It was fun but it was also a very hot day (97 degrees), so we were happy to get back on the bus and head home when it was time.  Special thanks to Michelle Hines for joining us on our adventure, and the staff at the museum for a wonderful day!  

What a Great Adventure It's Been!

With the 2011-2012 school year quickly coming to a close, I'd like to reflect on the many happenings and accomplishments of our 1st grade year.

*We have gone from Picture Lookers to Book Readers!
*We enjoyed learning about animals on Baldridge's Farm.
*We shared our musical talents at the Christmas and Spring Concerts.
*Aiden and Devin J. joined our class in January.
*We've worked hard to learn our Addition facts.
*We have passed 375 Accelerated Reader tests, so far.
*We had a great time at our Halloween and Valentine parties.
*We are presently learning our Subtraction facts and telling time to the half hour.
*Everyone brought wonderful train cars for our Polar Express Day and parade.
*We enjoyed fun activities during our 100th Day of School celebration.
*We learned to count money and count by 2's, 5's, and 10's.
*We received Christmas cards from all over the world, and loved our visit from Santa.
*We lost lots of teeth!

These are just a few of the highlights of this year.  Learning is fun!
  

Winter Fun

My 1st graders have had many fun and memorable times this Winter.  During Spirit Week, students had an opportunity to dress up as Nerds, Twins, or wear hats for Hat Day.  The week ended with Green and Gold Day and a Pep Rally at the high school. 

The students look forward to our class parties all year, and we all had a blast at our Valentine's Day party!  Under the direction of Lisa Browning, Mona McKinney, and Misty Hutfles, the class played games, had delicious refreshments, and shared Valentines. 

We were excited to add a member to our class family when Mrs. Mandala delivered a baby boy on Feb. 1st.  Little Marcus and his Mom visited our room with big sister Heather proudly looking on.  We don't often get to see such new little ones!

100th Day Safari Adventure

January 27th, 2012 was our 100th Day of School.  We learned a 100th Day song and wrote 100 words that we know.  We had fun seeing how many things we could do in 100 seconds, like how many jumps, hops, jumping jacks, etc.  We did many Math activities dealing with 100.  We also enjoyed hearing the story 100 Hungry Ants and doing Math activities with it.  We summarized our day by completing the "It's All About 100" papers which are now hanging in the hall.   We had so much fun that we didn't even know we were learning!

Winter Learning Adventures