Apples in Autumn

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!

This is a poem we have been practicing with our apple unit.

APPLES, APPLES, APPLES

This week we did a fun unit on apples. I always like to do this unit as a way to integrate reading, writing, math and art. I also think that it is one I really enjoy and the kids do too. At the first of the week we talk about what we know about apples and what we want to know about apples. I then read some information books about apples to our class. We wrote down what we had learned about apples. It was fun to learn new facts about apples. Then the students wrote their own "apple stories" to make a class book. We also made apple art to hang on our tree in the hallway. On Friday it was Johnny Appleseed's birthday. We read a big book about him. Each child brought their own apple today. We graphed them by color. We counted how many and found out which color had the least and which color had the most. I then wrote a graph on the whiteboard to show what it looked like. The students then wrote the graph in their journals. They did a great job with graphing our results. Then, we went outside to enjoy eating our apples. It was fun to see some of our class eat all the way to the core of the apple and find the seeds. We even had some kids in our class break the core in half and find the star in the middle of the apple. It was really neat, (I didn't get a picture of this because we were so involved with talking about this). I love this group of kids! We have had a great year so far! I am so proud of the way they are listening and following directions so we get to do fun activities like this!

Class News September 22-26

Dear Parents and Students,
How are you? We have had another fun week in first grade. Today we celebrated the birthday of Johnny Appleseed. Thank you for sending an apple to school. We were able to graph the apples and write in our Math journals about apples. I will hopefully have the pictures posted on our blog after this weekend.
We are getting closer to Parent Teacher Conferences. Please look for a note to come home with your student next week. Conferences will be Oct 8- 10. I am excited to meet with you and show you how well your child is doing!
I am also sending home a new book order for October. This is due back by October 9th. Remember to send your child’s order and money in an envelope with their name on it.
I also wanted to remind everyone about joining PTA. I know that several of you have already joined. The PTA does so many great things for our school. We have a welcome back assembly on Tuesday that the PTA will be helping with. It is only $5 to join PTA. The PTA is also having a contest to see which class has the most students join PTA. If our class has the most students join PTA we will get to have a pizza party!
Thank you for all you do! I look forward to another great week in first grade. Have a great weekend!

Classroom News September 15-19

Dear Students and Parents,
How are you? We have had another busy week in first grade. On Monday, our class took the DIBELS reading test. I was quite pleased with how our class did. I am excited to see the growth and improvement throughout this year.
We also finished chapter one in Math and took the test. We started chapter two and your child should have brought home the story for chapter two. Please read over this story with your child so you are aware of the new concepts we will learn. I am also sending home an enrichment activity attached to this message. This is practicing patterns. Please help your child complete this and return Monday for a special reward. Next week we will be doing a special reading and math activity. Please help your child by having them bring an apple to school on Friday the 26th. We will be using their apples to graph and write apple stories. I will try to take pictures to post on our class blog.

Reading Centers, Weekly Reader, and Math Journals

This week we have worked really hard at learning new reading centers that we will begin using when we start reading groups in a few weeks. I think our class is doing great with these! We have also started reading our "Weekly Readers". This week we read about apples and how they grow. We also worked on writing in our Math Journals. Our class learned how to use dominoes to do addition. It was a really fun way to practice addition. This is something that you can practice at home with your child to help them with addition.

Classroom News September 8-12

Dear Parents and Students,
Thank you for another great week at school! I think that our class is doing very well following the class rules and expectations. These are the rules/expectations
Follow the directions the first time given.
Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
Put people up, not down.
Be in the proper place.
Use material and equipment properly.
Please review these rules with your child. Ask them how they are doing at school and what rules they could do a better job at following.
I am very proud of our class. We have been learning so many new things, and they are all trying their best and working hard. I appreciate all that you do at home to help your child. Thank you for remembering to sign and return your child’s homework each week. Please remember to fill out their trackers as well; this is what I use to keep track of reading minutes each week.

******On Monday, our class will be taking the DIBELS test.********
Parents, please make sure that your child goes to bed early Sunday night and gets a good breakfast Monday morning. They will be able to concentrate and do better on the test if they are well rested and have food in their stomachs. Thank You! I appreciate all you do!
Thanks,
Mrs.Shaffer

The first two weeks of school

We have had a very busy two weeks of first grade. Our class has learned many new routines and been working hard to practice those routines. These are some of the pictures of things we have been doing. Our class learned how to do math centers. Each math center group had their own math manipulatives to make patterns with or sort. We have also learned how to read with a buddy for reading centers. We have learned about being a good listener and have practiced being good listeners too. We have also had fun learning the procedures for "Writers Workshop". It is fun to read our creative stories!

Class News for Sept. 2-5

Classroom News
September 5, 2008
Dear Parents and Students,

I am excited to begin the month of September. We will continue to learn many new things. We will also do many fun Fall activities. Please check your Classroom News each week for an update.
Our school fundraiser is due next Monday, the 8th. Please remember to return your child’s envelope that day. We will also be having school pictures next Friday, the 12th. You should receive a flyer with more information next week. I would also like to complete our Weekly Reader order by the end of next week. Thank for donating $5 for your child. If you haven’t yet, and are able to, please send the $5 by next Friday. Thanks! J Also, each child received a “Person Like me at back to school night, I received a few back and just wanted to remind everyone to send those to school when you are finished making it.
Thank you for your help with homework papers. Please contact me with any questions concerning homework. Remember to write down your child’s reading minutes each day. Our school is doing a school-wide reading incentive called “Road to Success”. Information about this was sent home earlier in the week. I encourage each child to read at least twenty minutes nightly to help our class and our school reach our goal for reading minutes.
Thank you for your support! We have an awesome first grade class this year! I look forward to many great months of learning and having fun this year. Please call with any questions or concerns.
Thanks,
Mrs. Shaffer