Learning to Read!

Learning to read is a first grader's main job, and we spend a lot of time each day in the process. Our morning Language Arts block is spent in whole group activities such as singing songs, listening to stories, practicing phonics, and learning comprehension stategies. Then we break into small groups. During group time, the children meet with me for small group instruction where we practice new vocabulary, review high-frequency words, play games, and read stories. There is also an independent seat work time, and an activity centers time. If you walked into the classroom between 8:30 and 11:00, you would be amazed at how independent and focused the children are on their "jobs." They have already made so much progress!

The children can play games, color, and read books at our activity centers.

We are working on our first theme, "All Together Now," in our anthologies.

This week, we have been practicing decoding words with the short a sound as we read a story called "A Day at School."

It's fun to read independently!

Our classroom para, Mrs. Robinson, is available during work time to help and answer questions.

We use our finger to point at words as we read.

During work time, we work independently in our Practice Books and also do various reading, writing, and drawing projects.

We can also do free choice reading and writing when we finish our assigned tasks.

Children have a Center Buddy for the week as they rotate through five different centers, one per day, while other children are working with me or doing their assignment for the day. Every center has a choice of activities, and reading books pertaining to the center is always a choice. The manipulatives center is always a favorite.

Puzzles are fun to put together, too!

The book corner is a great place to relax and just read!
It's so much fun to learn to read!

Gunnar's Walk

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet Gunnar Swanson, a soldier who served in Iraq. He came to visit our school and told us about his 1,000+ mile walk to raise money for the children of war-torn countries. After listening to Gunnar tell about some of his experiences with the children, we drew pictures about friendship for them, while older kids wrote letters.

Then we went outside to make a tunnel for Gunnar to walk through as he made his way to the high school.
We all wore red, white, and blue.

We brought our classroom flag, too.

Here he comes!

Yeah, Gunnar!

The kids were very excited to be sharing in Gunnar's project, and seemed to understand that children everywhere deserve a safe, peaceful place to live and learn. The pictures we drew will maybe become the prized possessions of children in Iraq or Afghanistan!

To learn more about Gunnar and his 1,000+ mile walk, or to make a donation, google his web-site at warkidsrelief (for some reason, the link isn't working - sorry!)

Strip Sculptures

We had a great first week of school, and one of our most fun projects was making strip sculptures. First, we learned that a sculpture is a piece of artwork that takes up space instead of being flat. Then, we learned how to use paper strips and glue to make lots of shapes.

We had to share strips with a partner, and we could make our sculptures any way we wanted.
We had to be very patient while we waited for the glue to dry.

Our hands got kind of sticky from the glue, and so did our papers, but fortunately, our hands can be washed, and the glue dries clear.

It's fun to be creative!

We concentrated so hard!

Stop in and see all of our sculptures on display outside of our classroom!

First Day of School, 2009

The big day finally arrived, and it started out sunny and nice! Construction work will be continuing for several weeks, but most of the major projects are completed. Our room looks great, and it's so nice to have new carpeting and paint!

The first week was a bit rough with the bus schedules, but things seemed to be going more smoothly by Fridayafternoon. Please remind your children about getting on the correct bus. We have been going over all the bus numbers each day, but several children have still ended up on the wrong bus - it's a long ride to the bus garage to be picked up by parents! Hopefully, things will go better for the rest of the year!

These pictures were taken right before morning playtime on the first day of school. What a good-looking bunch of kids!

Parents - It was good meeting most of you at Open House on Wednesday. If you were unable to make it, please stop in anytime and introduce yourself. I will be looking for volunteers throughout the year, particularly during the mornings, so if you have some open time in your schedule and would like to make a difference in your child's education, let me know! Kids love to have their parents help! Also, thanks for sending all the school supplies, and if you have not yet completed the registration paper work, please return it as soon as possible. Thanks!

Check back soon for pictures of first-week activities.

Welcome, 2009/2010 First Graders!

Hello, new students! I hope you had a wonderful summer and are all ready to begin an exciting school year in a brand new classroom! We will learn lots of new things this year, and have a lot of fun while we're at it. I will be posting pictures and comments to this blog about once a week, so check in often! The first day of school will be here soon, and I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you!

Look for me on Tuesday!