October 1st NEWS

Dear Parents and Students,
How are you? Thank you for your help with last week's apple celebration! Next week we'll have an exciting fall surprise! I hope your child will enjoy the math and science activity we will be doing.
In math we have moved on from patterning and are now learning and practicing addition strategies and facts. We have been using 10 frames and counters; we have also been using dominos. We will soon be learning strategies for subtraction and practicing subtract facts. Please help your child practice their math facts at home.
In reading we are continuing to review short vowels and learn new blends. We have also been practicing our reading fluency and doing reading groups and centers each day. Please remember to read with your child each day and sign their reading folders. Their folders need to be turned in each Monday to earn an entry for a bike.
As a reminder: October book orders are due next Wednesday October 6th.

Please check your PTA news/calendar for upcoming school events.

Thanks for all you do! :)

MATH

Check out this cool website for things you can print off and use at home to help your child with math. Right now we have been learning many strategies for addition. One of the things we have been using is dominos. You can print domino flash cards here: http://mathwire.com/strategies/matsdom.html I have a set of these flashcards we use as a class. It is great practice for basic addition facts.

Apples

APPLES IN AUTUMN

It's hard to eat apples

without my front teeth,

but apples in autumn

are really a treat.

The apples are squooshy

down under my feet,

But those from the tree

are still crunchy and sweet!

APPLE TREE

Way up high in the apple tree

two red apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could

down came the apples,

MMMMM..... were they good!

I'm a little apple, short and round,

I make a munchy, crunchy sound.

If you bite into me you will see-

I'm delicious as can be!

(sing to the tune of "I'm a little teapot")

We read a book about John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) and talked about this legend. We read several different books about apples too. Each student in our class brought an apple to graph. We also did apple art by making the prints of apples. The best part was going out to enjoy the beautiful fall day and eat our apples! :)

Practicing centers

Sight word practice.

We start reading groups and centers this coming Monday. We have been busy getting ready! :)

Writing around the room.

The listening center.

Writing word families in their journals.

Playing blend tic-tac-toe.

Word work center.

Patterns

We have been learning about patterns and practicing making patterns. To wrap this up we made pattern key chains for each student to hang on their back packs. It was fun to see all the patterns.

Watermelon

A few weeks ago we learned about the 4 seasons. We have been writing and reading about summer. To culminate this we enjoyed eating a summer treat, WATERMELON! We used our seeds for our art as well. It was fun to go outside and enjoy a cool treat on warm day. I'm excited to learn about fall and do some of the fun activities for fall.

SPIRIT DAY!

As a reminder:
Spirit days are on Fridays.
Students and teachers/staff can wear:

• A GARLAND t-shirt or hoodie. They can be current ones or old ones.
• SPIRIT SLEEVES. They can be on the arms or the legs. (these are available from the PTA)
• A BEAR RIVER t-shirt.
• A RED shirt.

The winning class will receive Grizz for a week and a prize.

******Today our class came in second place with 90% of our class participating in spirit day!!! :)**

Classroom News September 17, 2010

Dear Parents and Students,
How are you? Thank you for all you do! We had a great week of remembering to turn in our homework, trackers, and reading folders! :) Please remember that those things get turned in and recorded each Monday.
I am also wondering how many parents have been able to access our blog. Please leave a comment here if you are reading this.
Next Friday we will have a fun afternoon. We will be having a celebration for someone who has a birthday on September 26th. This person is no longer living but is known for planting apples. To help us with our celebration please have your child bring an apple on Friday the 24th.
You should have received October book orders this week. They will be due on October 6th. Thank you for your support for September orders! Because of so many parents ordering in September our class will receive 23 free books to add to our class library! :)
You should have also received information about our school fundraiser. We will be selling cookie dough to help fund field trips and Smart board technology to use in the classroom. The fundraiser envelopes are due back by September 29th.
This week we started our spelling groups as a first grade. I hope you received a yellow note explaining this. Your child will bring home a spelling sort each week to practice at home. Please help them with this.
Next week we will be starting our reading groups. Reading group and center time for 1st grade is every day from 8:10-9:10. Please help your child to be here on time. Thank you to the volunteers who will be helping us at center time! :)
Sincerely,
Mrs.Shaffer

October book orders

I am sending home our October book orders. Please remember you can order online and earn our class a free book. Visit http://clubs.scholastic.com to place your order. Our class code is GJR3X. Thank you! October orders are due by Wednesday October 6th.

Lady bug math

The 4 Seasons

Here are a few of the songs we have learned to remember about the seasons:

Our Earth

"I am Earth, big and round

Here is my orbit I follow around.

I'm tilted on my axis,

the sun shines down on me,

that's why the seasons change

so much you see!"

(sing to tune of I'm a little teapot)

Seasons

"Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
Summer, Fall, Summer, Fall
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
The year has four seasons in all."
(Sing to the tune of London Bridge is falling down)

Summer
"Summer's hot and school is out
school is out, school is out,
Summer's hot and school is out,
June, July, and August."
(Sing to the tune of London Bridge is falling down)

We have been learning about the 4 seasons. As part of this unit we made a Sun and Earth model to show how the Earth revolves around the sun. We learned that the Earth is tilted on it's axis.

Reading Centers

Writing around the room.

Reading around the room.

Reading big books by yourself or with a partner.

Reading a book from our class library.

Reading with a partner.

Every day in our class we have reading group and reading centers. To get ready for this we have been learning the rules and routines for centers. We have had fun getting to use new things and learn what it looks like and sounds like. Some of our center choices are: reading a big book, non-fiction book, or class library book by yourself or with a partner, reading around the room, and writing around the room.

Patterns

We have been working on learning rules and routines for the many different things we'll do in our class this year. One of the things we do throughout the year is use math manipulative's. We have been practicing what it should look like and sound like when we use our "math tools". Here are some pictures of our class doing this. We were sorting and making patterns.