January Students of the Month

Mrs. Giese visited again this week to present the January Student of the Month awards. We were right in the middle of Math so she helped out with the last page of our lesson. She was soooo impressed with how well the kids are working with numbers to 100!

The awards went to Ethan, Tyler, and Erin, who all had 100% on their Spelling tests during the 2nd quarter. Good job!!

Pajama Day

First Graders LOVE Pajama Day! The kids worked for several weeks on filling up a jar with cotton balls for good behavior. They were quick to tell me whenever they got a compliment from another teacher for walking nicely in the hall, picking up paper towels by the bathroom, standing quietly in line for a drink, etc. They also tried really hard to be good listeners during Math and Reading . It took awhile, but the jar was finally full, and the reward was...

Pajama Day!

The kids got to wear their cozy winter pajamas, slippers, and robes, and they also got to bring along their favorite stuffed animal to keep them company and help them with their work during the day.

Even though they all look pretty calm,

I can guarantee that no one fell asleep during the day!

Don't they look cute?

The jar is empty again. I wonder what the next Reward Day will be??

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a very exciting day for 1st graders! They love to give and receive cards and candy, and it's especially fun since they can now read the messages on the cards! The kids made and decorated heart pockets, and since we have been learning about alphabetical order, we put them in ABC order in the commons area outside our door. During Centers time in the morning, several students at a time got to go out and deliver their valentines (under supervision of a parent volunteer - thanks, Mrs. Johnson!).

During the week before Valentine's Day, the kids folded red or pink paper to make the pockets, and then decorated them with cut hearts.

We practiced cutting hearts - it's quite a skill for 1st graders!

We got pretty good at it!

Wow! Look at all that "stuff!" ABC order really helped during the delivery process. The pockets were literally overflowing by the time everyone was finished! It was hard to wait for the grand opening, and it was a real trick getting all those goodies into the classroom without leaving a trail of candy and cards.

Finally, time to open all the loot!

After opening everything, the kids got to choose one treat to eat, and then it was time to pack up, put it all away, and get ready for lunch.
Backpacks were really full when it was time to go home!
Thanks, kids, for all the cards and treats for me, too!
Happy Valentine's Day!!

100th Day of School

We celebrated the 100th day of school last Friday! Each day since September, we have counted the days by adding a stick to a ones box. When we got to 10, we made a bundle and added it to a tens box. Finally, we got to make a big bundle of ten tens and we put it in a hundreds box! We read stories about ways to make 100, counted our collections of 100 by making 10 groups of 10, practiced counting by twos, fives, and tens, and made a book and a headband.

The kids brought in collections of 100 objects from home, and then practiced counting by tens as they made ten groups of ten.

We discovered that 100 is a really big number!

Eli brought 100 action figures. He needed a bigger tens mat!

The chocolate chips were tempting.

We also found out that we can read a lot of words. We printed words on 100 hearts, and then grouped them into 10 rows of 10. It took me awhile to get all 100 taped up in the hall.

Here we all are in our headbands.

So what does 100 look like? A LOT!!