Anxiously Awaiting...

Friday!  Our WOW word this week is anxious and almost all of our sentences have been about being anxious for Friday because the first graders won't be at school! They are really looking forward to staying in their pajamas later than usual.

In math we have been focusing on addition and subtraction number models.  One way of doing this is the Change-to-More and Change-to-Less model.  Ask your first grader to show you how they work!

We are working to re-tell the story in literacy.  When you read with your first grader at home, ask them to retell the story (or any event!) using only the MOST important parts. We have been discussing what happened in the beginning, the middle and the end.  We have also been summarizing the story in one sentence. 

In Social Studies we have been learning about our community.  We learned that an important part of being a member of a community is being informed and active. To practice these important skills we researched two presidential candidates and compared them across three (first grade appropriate) platforms- healthcare, education, and the environment.  We learned what the candidates believe and how they think they can lead our country successfully.  We made a campaign poster for the candidate we agreed with the most and wrote why we would vote for them. The first graders did a fabulous job with this activity- you can see them in the hallway outside of our classroom!

Counting On

Today we learned a new math game called High Roller.  High Roller helps us practice counting on from the higher number.  Starting with the higher/larger number is important because it speeds up our thinking time!  Also, when you count less numbers, you're less likely to make a mistake!

We are learning all about characters, setting, problem, and solution in literacy.  We've read two funny books this week- Stop Snoring! and My Messy Room.  We filled out graphic organizers to help us track the four parts of the story.  We've also been noticing punctuation marks and using them in our own writing!  The first graders have an impressive knowledge of punctuation marks and wanted to learn about commas and apostrophes this week in addition to periods, question marks and exclamation points- they are so impressive! 

We are focusing on the vowel "u" this week and are practicing reading it, writing it, and using it all the time.  "U" can be short, long and, when combined with other vowels, make TOTALLY different sounds!  We are learning that letters can make many sounds.  Our WOW word this week is evacuate.  Many of us had family members that had to evacuate from Hurricane Matthew.  We have all practiced evacuating a building during a fire drill.

If you aren't following us yet on Twitter, please do!  Our Twitter Feed is: https://twitter.com/PPSHershman

Twitter is the easiest way for us to share photos and videos.  If you don't want a Twitter account, you can still read our tweets.

The first graders love to write and have enjoyed reading their writing like authors to writing partners this week. 

Short "O" and Math Strategies

Our focus in word work this week is short "o" and how it comes together with other sounds to make words. We read a silly poem about hogs and dogs and a serious poem about Christopher Columbus that you'll see in your child's folder today.  We read two poems each day in Morning Meeting.  One is to practice the reading strategies we've been working on and the other is to practice learning and understanding more from a challenging text that we will have a harder time reading.  The first graders do a SUPER job each week with these poems.

Our WOW word this week is somber.  Somber means sad or serious.  It was easy to think of sentences for somber with the rainy weather this morning.

We are discussing strategies for addition and subtraction in math.  Today, we talked about using our fingers and counting on.  We realized counting on works best when you start with the larger (higher) number.  We have some impressive mathematicians in our classroom.

In writing we practiced not getting caught up in tricky words- we do our best and we just keep writing! Sharing our writing is one of our very favorite parts of the day. 

We are continuing to learn about important members of our community.  Today, we learned about dentists and how they help our community.

You will see 4 pages of math homework in you child's folder tonight.  Please do 1 page each night (or whenever is convenient for you) and have them all done by Friday!  

Re-Reading to Make Voices Smoother

Today we practiced another great habit of first grade readers: re-reading to make our voices smoother. We looked a text we had never read before and we tried to figure it out.  The first few times we had to read slowly and use many strategies to figure out the words- we skipped words, we got our mouths ready, we made our best guesses, and eventually we figured it out!  By the time we got to the end, we had almost forgotten what we were reading about, so... we re-read to make our voices smoother and it was SO much more fun!  Ask your first grader what we read to practice that today.  The best part was, I saw many first graders using that strategy in their own books during reader's workshop!  Trying new things is such an important thing to do while we're learning.

We learned "Roll for 50" in math today.  This game helps us use the number grid to count up and back and it's a little tricky because different numbers meant different things. For example, if we rolled a 6 you got to move "up 10".  If you rolled a 4 you had to move "back 6".  The first graders were VERY excited that they beat me as a class.  I have not won ONE math game this year and they know it is driving me CRAZY! 

In writing we tackled tricky drawings and words by not giving up, going slowly, and doing our best to sound each part out!  

The first graders worked so hard today to be safe, respectful and ready to learn.  We had many behavior and mind-set celebrations!  

We are reviewing the vowel "i" this week and have been on the lookout for words that have short (and long!) "i" in it.  One first grader noticed today, "Hey! Mrs. Hershman!  It's almost like you put all of our word list words in our Spelling City list this week!"  It IS almost like that... :)  Our WOW word this week is "glisten".  Many of us have seen lights glistening at night or off of the lake.

You will see two math homework sheets in your child's folder.  Please complete them at your earliest convenience and send them back.  If they could all be back by Friday, that would be great! 

Rock, Paper, Scissor Tallies and Rhyming

Today we had a special guest, Mr. Whittaker, come in to fix our interactive white board! Ask your first grader what he did that was *so* funny while he was here. 

In math we practiced tallying by playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, (Pencil?)! We played in partnerships and recorded our data on a data-tracking sheet.  We also answered questions about our data when we were finished.  Tallying is a great way to keep track of information.

We learned about "Tryin' Lion" during Reader's Workshop today.  Tryin' Lion helps us remember to try a word that makes sense.  I covered up words in one of our Sammy books and the first graders guessed the correct word EVERY time! We also wrote rhyming words today.  Thinking of words that rhyme was *very* tricky for the first graders.  We will continue to practice this skill each week. We used an alphabet trick that helped us come up with more words.

We continued to practice our "Snap" words during writing and added more to our stories by adding more to our pictures.  We have very talented writers in our classroom!

Twitter will be the place we share pictures this year.  Please make sure to check us out there:

Mrs. Hershman's Twitter Feed

Twitter

Are you on Twitter?  Do you follow our classroom yet?  We tweeted a photo today and it was retweeted by our new superintendent Mrs. Minor!  

You can find us on twitter at:
@ppshershman

Mrs. Minor is:
@CSDAmyMinor

Porters Point is:
@PPSPanda 

If you'd like to see our picture and tweet click here:
https://twitter.com/PPSHershman/status/777901463355985920

A says "aaaaaaah!"

We are learning all about short "a" this week and the many words we can make when we begin to put letters and sounds together.  Today, we focused on ___at and ____an.  We generated a HUGE list of words that have those letters in them, and we started to look for words in our books that have those sounds.  We also spent time practicing our snap word, "look".  Last week we practiced stretching words out that we don't know.  Today, we learned about Skippy Frog!  Ask your first grader to tell you what Skippy Frog reminds us to do as we read.  (If you need a hint... Skippy Frog says, "Skipit!  Skipit!" instead of ribbit.)

Our WOW word this week is persistent.  Persistent means not giving up no matter what!  We had fun thinking of times that we had been persistent in the past.  

We are learning about tally marks in math.  We use tallies to help us keep track and organize information.  Today, we flipped cards and tallied the number.  Our favorite numbers were less than 5, or more than 15.  Apparently we like REALLY easy, or REALLY challenging work in first grade!  

In writing we touched and told our stories across the pages, and then made sure that our words and pictures matched.  We are always making sure that our word wall words are spelling correctly and our letters are formed correctly as well.  

Reminder: Tuesday, September 20th is an early release day.  Dismissal is at 12:45!

Wordless Wednesday

(almost!)

Ask your first grader to tell you about the new game we learned in math, and the strategy this student is demonstrating so nicely!

Word Sorts

Today we dove into the wonderful world of word sorts in Literacy!  We completed a "blind" sort as a class which means that we didn't know how the words were supposed to be sorted, but we had to try to figure it out based on what we saw!  It only took us 5 words to establish a pattern- they all started with M, B, R, or S.  We sorted all of our words and glued them into our Word Work notebooks.  We also accessed Spelling City for the first time from the classroom. Spelling City will be done in the classroom, but can always be done at home as well.  

Our snap word is "see" this week.  We will practice writing it, reading it and spelling it all week! 

We had to count objects in math and record our counting.  We will do this again tomorrow and begin to discuss ways to organize items so that if we lose count- it's easy to count again! 

We learned to "Think, Plan and Sketch" in Writer's Workshop.  When we follow these steps, it's easy to get our ideas on paper. We are excited to see what the next step might be! 

We learned about another important community member today- Firefighters! Firefighters help our community by responding to emergency situations and putting out fires safely.

We had such a great day behaviorally!  We earned Granny's Wacky Prizes for beating the timer, winning Pax games, and having successful prizes! We are awesome! 

Writing-Filled Thursday

Today we had our first Writer's Workshop share! The first graders were so excited to share what they have written with their classmates.  We heard stories about recess, the first day of school, and earning Dojo points. 

We learned a new game in math- Penny Dice!  If you have some pennies and a dice at home, you can have your first grader teach you.  It's easy... and really fun! The best part is, you can win with the least amount of coins, or the MOST about of coins, it's all about the final coin toss! 

We chose books for our book bins during literacy and continued to practice careful and neat letter formation.  We've also been practicing our "snap" words- the, of, can.  Ask your first grader to tell you what "Snap Words" are!  

We learned about one type of Community helper- Police Officers- through two books (one fiction, one non-fiction), a song, and a video.  We used a graphic organizer to help us organize everything we learned about Police Officers.  You will see your child's work in their folder today.  

We have been working hard to earn warm-fuzzies and Dojo points. Today, we walked with such amazing Pax feet to music, Ms. Mutz didn't even hear us coming!

Lots of Learning!

We have learned so much today in first grade!  We did "Quick Looks" for the first time in math and we realized that we don't have to count some things because our brains "just know" the number if the items (dots) are organized in a way that is familiar!  For example, when the dots were in a row of three, we didn't COUNT the dots, we just knew there were three!  When there were two rows of three, we didn't COUNT six dots, we just knew there were two groups of three and that three and three is six!  Our brains are amazing! 

We also discussed the difference between estimates and counts during math.  Check with your first grader so they can tell you the difference! We logged onto Dreambox for the first time as well, be looking for an informational sheet about Dreambox in your child's folder soon.

We are learning about characters in literacy.  Today we read a book with many characters, many problems, and only ONE solution!  The book also had a surprise ending with the family dog. I'm sure your first grader will be anxious to tell you the solution for all of the characters except the family dog... his solution was different!  While we read, we filled out a graphic organizer to help us remember who the characters were, what their problem was, and what the solution was.  We put them in our literacy notebooks when were were done.

This afternoon we have Library AND P.E. We are really excited for double unified arts! If you haven't connected with our class on Classroom Dojo, please do that as soon as possible! Let me know if you need another informational flier.

Many of you have inquired about signing up for After School Bowling.  This is a program through Colchester Parks and Rec and you'll need to contact them directly to sign up.  If you need their phone number it is: 264-5640

Hanna says this is the best school ever!  Boy Scout leaders visited our school today.  Everyone got a badge. (Marek) We learned a lot today. (Emily)  I loved math and estimates.  (Nevaeh) 

Last Day of the Week

Welcome to our Friday blog!  (Dominic) We earned many Dojo points today.  (Mari)  We are doing great at school, we like it here! (Noah)  I liked writing.  (Ava)  We have earned 160 Dojo points so far today.  (Emily)  I am glad that we have a lot of Dojo points. ( Marek) Today I liked Tumble Time.  (Destiny) I liked my day today.  (Hanna)  I love sounding words out.  (Nevaeh) Today I loved snack.  (Campbell) Thanks for reading our blog.  (Luci)

(we still have not figured out how to share our photos! ACK! We're working on it~)

First Graders on the Second Day

Today, I liked doing Xtra math.  (Hanna)  I liked doing writing.  (Destiny)  I love the classroom.  (Nevaeh)  We read No, David! And there was a picture of David's naked behind.  (Kasey)  I like my first grade teacher.  (Anders)  I love my seat at the table.  (Dominic)  I loved pattern blocks.  (Campbell)  I like that the sound is working today on our screen. (Julian)  I'm very glad that I saw No, David! I liked when he was in the bath with the funky water.  (Marek)  I loved when David was playing inside with the ball and he broke the glass vase.  (Mari)  I liked when David was acting like a superhero on his bed.  (Emily) I liked when David was trying to reach the cookies.  (Lucy) 

We can't wait for tomorrow!

Love,
The First Graders 

First Day of First Grade

We are having fun on our first day! (Mari) We are having a good time at school! (Noah) We like it here.  (Luci)  School is great.  I love the first day of first grade.  (Julian)  I love my first grade teacher.  (Nevaeh)  I like first grade.  (Kasey)  I like my new seat because it is right next to the window.  (Campbell)  I have the best first grade teacher ever.  (Emily) I have eight Dojo points! (Which is close to ten!) (Anders) I love math.  (Destiny) I earned a Dojo point! (Marek) I love my school. (Hanna)

We all like first grade!  Even the teachers, love first grade.

(We tried to add pictures, but our technology was TRICKY today!)

Our Babies Have Hatched!

When arriving at school this morning, we were greeted with small pipping sounds. Four of our chicks had hatched early this morning! This is day 20, so you can imagine everyone's surprise. At 1:50 pm we have 8 chicks hatched and more chipping away at their eggs. 

We have four fluffy yellow chicks in our brooder. We can hear them peep in class while we do work. You can see their egg tooth poked out of the egg. We got to hold the cracked egg to observe the membrane and the blood vessels. The chicks have to become fully dry before moving to the brooder. They are adorable!

When they grow up, they will become dinner. They won't lay any eggs, so they are called meat chickens. They need 8 weeks to become fully grown. We will send them back to UVM and then some will be donated to the food shelf. If anyone would like some chicks let us know. 

Chick Hatch Poll

10-11
12-13
14-15    four students
16-17    ten students
Full 18! nine students

Egg Homework

Please crack open an egg with your child. Let them show you the albumen (white part); the yolk; and the chalaza (the rope-like string that anchors the yolk so it doesn't hit the outer shell). Have them scratch the inside wall to feel the membrane, which acts as a protector from germs. Remove the air sac, located on the bottom of the shell. This sac acts as a shock absorber for the yolk.

Giving Thanks for Our Earth

For Earth Day, we made mandalas to give thanks for each aspect of our Earth. Red and white flowers symbolized healing, rice for abundance, lentils for vibrant health, sugar for sweetness and love, and grains for nourishment. We packed the mandalas in a white napkin to compost to give back to the Earth what it's given us. Check them out!

Spring Goals

As spring starts to come upon us and warmer weather begins, first grade is reflecting on changes to strive for in the upcoming school weeks. We've been practicing self-regulation and discussing goal setting. These are our individual goals! 

Alee: I'd like to work on being more safe on the bus. I'd like to work on following directions. 
Makayla: I would like to practice reading more. I would like to work on being a nicer friend. 
Micah: I would like to sit safely in my chair.
Eliza:  I'd like to work on raising my hand to speak, and staying focused. I'd like to stay focused on my work.
Maggie: I'd like to practice working well with others around me. 
Kiera: I would like to work on staying focused and to not talk to my neighbors. I would like to work hard. I'd like to have more expected behavior at tumble time. 
Lex: I'd like to stay focused when I'm doing my word work so I can finish it. I'd like to keep my mouth quiet and bubble free and getting my homework done. 
Desmond: I'd like to try and finish all of my work during literacy and find a better place to sit if I am distracted. 
Madison: I'd like to focus on myself and not others. I'd like to work on staying in my own space.  
Tola: I'd like to keep distracting things in my backpack. 
Noah: I'd like to work on raising my hand when I have a question or comment. 
Breezie: I would like to work on being a nicer friend. I'd like to get all of my work done. 
Clara F.: I'd like to stay focused and work hard on my assignments. 
Andrew: I'd like to get farther on Xtra math. I'd like to help my neighbors stay focused. 
Brayden: I'd like to work on staying focused to get my work done. 
Abby: I would like to work on being safe and respectful. 
Colby: I'd like to work on tying my shoes. I'd like to get my home and school work done!
Ayson: I'd like to be more helpful to my classmates. 
Ben C.: I'd like to work on partitioning shapes. 
Landyn: I would like to work on staying focused. 
Clara D.: I'd like to work on being nice.
Ben P.: I'm going to work on staying focused. I'd like to work on having expected behaviors on the carpet. 
Jayden: I'd like to work on being persistent. I would like to be able to share on Fridays.  
Ms. Gould: I'd like to work on giving students more dojos that have displayed safe, respectful and ready to learn behaviors. 

Four Winds!

We had a great time learning about ball galls today! Galls are bumps in plant stems where flies lay their eggs. Those eggs turn into larvae and then turn into flies!

We saw the dissection of a gall and observed a real larva!

We pretended to be gall larvae by eating snacks in our protective plant stem coats!

Published Non-fiction Writing

Check it out! Students wrote and read their own non-fiction piece into Seesaw for publishing!

Ayson's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.591e80ce-02e6-4a72-973e-6c26397d95fa&share_token=52s3Ig9LSWeQ0pxBfyVEZA&mode=share

Madison's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.af1558dc-d187-42ef-8824-43f8211bc175&share_token=WRnTqxMzSI259DIZ1nmFXw&mode=share

Andrew's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.1b26dad0-60c0-4fb2-a373-8fd2f338d61a&share_token=jhFhIge8SY-y3pI2tV_vIg&mode=share

Eliza's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.d347d842-8e79-4f3a-a083-05257e7c71ef&share_token=sBqT1aztTbq5HBQfJlRr0A&mode=share

Avante's:https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.7d4108c2-6815-405b-87f0-820171d6783f&share_token=dkGtdLGyRIeYl2FCC-CaIQ&mode=share

Clara D.'s: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.66b0634b-a7bf-4e46-91b0-34a88c3194b4&share_token=TGK_aJv6RWqEdvGDueUTLw&mode=share

Kiera's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.e5c86ad2-327e-45b3-a9ab-60162ff8ca5c&share_token=OE7N9pqGQ_6cL6H1ebyyPw&mode=share

Makyala's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.4b9319bf-cb97-4ba6-8740-0971d2538748&share_token=l_qiWtxOTMm893gEX-Uyuw&mode=share

Tola's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.099b82ab-9ca8-4e39-99ed-c8b8fa1f3a26&share_token=P8mK0_OWRsajAW7daBV5eA&mode=share

Clara F.'s: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.8d4bf9d1-59eb-4bbb-aff7-8624f7ab331d&share_token=YX0nNpKxRq-FAV9SspMv_w&mode=share

Ben P.'s: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.f107b44e-f70d-45d9-8e43-715fcb90f9fb&share_token=gT80D1rGRD2c7El-I5fpwg&mode=share

Alee's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.2f414e9c-f6df-443e-80f3-9cfc5a86c4c1&share_token=R3UQRr6gRcOjK0ReUY8-_Q&mode=share

Jayden's:https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.e9e1043b-3167-46ac-bd26-b4d3a2db0a01&share_token=P68zOjGKRNWjg58IM7ssPA&mode=share

Desmond's:https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.3fcdb22e-7ae0-46d8-b10e-79a6a30f7068&share_token=SV1hia-eTpmX_VW3KNRFhQ&mode=share

Lex's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.db7aa2e8-b266-40b5-a880-513359e685d0&share_token=CmsIRBfZR5iQbFffFm37UQ&mode=share

Brayden's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.9d1fd2a6-c5ac-4310-b536-3b3e2a813462&share_token=hBJmxao6T8C3KMZQo8QWIg&mode=share

Maggie's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.14820396-1dcc-4369-ae21-da2f7db78c35&share_token=UnLKIekeQt6Gdz0j7_NdLw&mode=share

Micah's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.3c5aaffc-d1cf-4c8f-968e-0bf02e001553&share_token=PorN4gf3TSCt3F9CbkAYFA&mode=share

Ben C.'s: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.d234a94e-8a44-4799-8e0f-cb7e85d81808&share_token=lZTxI2qyS8OrEC0l6R8aag&mode=share

Breezie-Lynn's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.9ed793a2-00a9-4abb-8ee1-9187385dd529&share_token=O5lektUWThCVO--mSvISnw&mode=share

Abby's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.9fe22bd0-072a-4476-899f-b56725071980&share_token=1g4kfUB5S12bwJLzxXEWxg&mode=share

Colby's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.c61ce321-394b-4d58-a24a-50cc3a363edf&share_token=buKvqdV1QMOcd4mg-5YnPA&mode=share

Noah's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.7dca7c3a-bf3c-435b-902b-44bb9afb905c&share_token=SxTopspLS2OBF13HR9Ei3w&mode=share

Landyn's: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.2fa02abf-e017-4594-8564-a0f4d80c93b6&share_token=ZxJO-yUWRAelsLqZxUzL8w&mode=share

Animal Experts

Mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds are all categorized into different groups of animals. They all have different characteristics. Some are oviparous and some are viviparous...Parents, do you know what those mean? (Ayson wanted to see if you knew) Some are vertebrates and some are invertebrates... Some are herbivores, some carnivores and some are omnivores. 


Kiera: Elephants are mammals.
Maggie: Chickens are birds and descendants of dinosaurs. 
Noah: All reptiles have scales. 
Desmond: Reptiles have armor for skin. 
Alee: Cats are mammals. 
 Alexander: Insects have an exoskeleton.
Avante: Turtles are reptiles and they have hard shells.
Ben P.: Snakes and crocodiles are reptiles.
Makayla: Sharks have their own category. 
Eliza: Amphibians start to breath with gills then grow lungs.
Breezie: All insects have 6 legs and 3 body parts. 
Brayden: People are mammals!!
Andrew: All reptiles' stomachs are close to the ground. 
Tola: Mammals produce milk for their babies. 
Ayson: Mammals are warm blooded. 
Landyn: If an animal is cold blooded, it will have to rely on the warmth from the sun. 
Clara F.: Whales are mammals!

Nurturing Parent Program

Heather Kelly the behavioral Specialist at Union Memorial is coordinating a Nurturing Parent Program at Union Memorial School this spring. This Nurturing Parent program is geared towards improving communication with your child, developing empathy, practicing self care for parents and empowering your family. It will be on Thursday evening from 5:30-7:30 at Union Memorial School and running for 14 weeks.  It will be starting on Thursday, March 17th.  The is a FREE program.  Call or email to register: (802) 498-0607 or Hniquette@pcavt.org.

Magazines Needed

For our new animal classifications unit, I would love for families to send in unwanted magazines. We will be using them for a art/science project! Magazines that are animal or outdoor related would be best, but everything helps!

On another note, it was great to meet you all at conferences. I'm looking forward to a fun 3rd trimester! 

Skype Singapore

We had a student whose uncle and fiance live in Singapore, Asia. We've been studying China, so we put together some questions to ask them. We Skyped them at 9 am our time, it was 10 pm their time. We learned a lot! Here are some examples of what we talked about.

1. What is school like?

School ends everyday at 4 pm and elementary students learn physics! They only have two vacations, summer is two months off and winter has one month off. 

2. What are some interesting ways of life in Singapore?

You cannot eat or drink on public transportation. Stores don't sell gum. It is so clean outside on the streets, you could eat off of it!

3. What are some of your favorite foods?

My favorite food is chicken feet! It's really delicious! It's a very popular dish in Asia. 

4. How do you celebrate the Chinese New Year?

It's a huge holiday here. It's as big as Christmas is in The U.S. I get 7 days off from work. My parents send me red envelopes filled with money (Yuan).

5. Is the pollution really that bad in Asia?

Yes, sometimes we have to wear surgical masks to go outside.

Thank you so much to Graham and Jackie for letting us chat with you. Xiexie!!

Sign up for conferences

It's time again for conferences. I'm excited to meet with all of you! I've been having loads of fun with your students and can't wait to share our experiences. Follow the link for sign ups!
https://pickatime.com/client?ven=11606279&event=285559

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today we celebrated the Chinese New Year! We learned that 2016 is the year of the monkey, and that red is a very lucky color. The Chinese celebrate their new year in some of the same ways as we do in the U.S.! Although their New Year comes at different times between January 21st and February 20th every year. 

We made red lanterns with characters written on them also! It was very exciting!

Baby Update!

Greetings from home! I wanted to let everyone know that baby Hershman has arrived, although I'm sure the first graders told you!

It was a *long* 24 hours, but Andrew Martin Hershman greeted us Friday night at 7:18pm, weighing 5lbs 15oz and 19.5" long! We came home from the hospital yesterday and are settling in quite nicely. He is named after my father, Andy, and Mr. Hershman's grandfather, Martin.  I've been sending Ms. Gould and the class pictures and updates regularly. It looks like they had a wonderful time celebrating the 100th day of school! 

Happy 100th Day!

Today we celebrated the 100th day of school with a couple of fun activities that got us thinking about what the number 100 actually means. 
They could eat 100___? (doughnuts- Kiera) 
They could share 100___?(M and Ms- Lex) 
Jump in 100___? (swimming pools-Madison) 
Students also celebrated by dressing in black and white to honor our panda mascot,  wrote about their favorite part of the day, and drew themselves as 100 year olds. It was a very exciting day regardless of the horrible weather!

Four Winds Learning

We have been learning about new things in Four Winds.  (Eliza) We learned about life cycles. (Alee)  We learned about how plants die and how they grow. (Avante)  We made our own plants.  (Madison)  We watched a non-fiction puppet show that taught us real facts. (Ben P.) We learned important words like: dormant, hibernate, active and migrate.  (Maggie)  We also learned about water cycles. (Landyn)  We learned how animals help to spread seeds. (Jayden)  Some animals stay up (active) in the winter.  (Tola) Migrate means animals fly to a different place in winter. (Andrew)  Birds are an example of an animal that migrates. (Colby)  Some animals hibernate during the winter, that means, sleep! (Noah)  Trees can sleep during the winter too, that is called dormant. (Alee) When whales hibernate, they travel to new, clean, good water to look for fresh food. (Ben C.)

We had a fun time at Four Winds today! (Makayla)

Love,
The First Graders!

Magic "E"

We had some very careful readers today who found words with Magic "E" as they were reading in their book bins!

Surprise Baby Shower

Wow!  The first graders (with the help of some very generous adults) threw a surprise baby shower for me on Friday!  I was TOTALLY surprised!  We had a wonderful time celebrating, opening presents and eating lots of treats!


Thank you so much to everyone who helped us have such a fabulous Friday afternoon!


Wow!

Word Work

We have been busy this week in first grade.  Yesterday, we wrote opinion pieces about why Martin Luther King Jr. was an important person in history.  The first graders wrote extremely impressive opinions about how MLK Jr. helped to change our world. 


Today we wrote about our favorite drink.  We all had different favorite drinks, and some of the reasons for them, made us wish we had them right now! Can you guess our favorite drink based on these reasons? 


Clara F's favorite drink is served with an orange...
Ayson's favorite drink is served with cherries...
Maggie's favorite drink is good for your bones...
Makayla's favorite drink is frozen and delicious...
Andrew's favorite drink is lemon-y...


Ask your first grader what they wrote about today!


These first graders are working on writing "snap" words.  Words they should be able to write by heart.

DARE

We have started having Officer Fontaine come to our classroom each week to talk about safety and D.A.R.E.  We have learned about when to call 911, our phone numbers and addresses and today we talked about road and sidewalk safety.  We learned to read signs on roads and paths.

We also welcomed a new student to our classroom this week!  We are so happy to have an addition!

We learned about Martin Luther King Jr. this week and how he helped the world become a better place.  This morning at school-wide morning meeting Ms. Millham lead us in a sing-a-long of "We Shall Overcome."


Please remember there is no school on Monday in observance of MLKjr. Day!