Writing With Elaborative Detail

The first graders had a blast writing with elaborative detail with Mrs. Carolyn! They created scarecrows with all sorts of scraps and doodads, described them in a graphic organizer, and then created descriptive sentences about their creations! Excellent work!

Go Fish

Practice the word families we have studied (-at, -an, -ack, -in, -ug, -ad, -ap) or trick words using the game Go Fish!

We have been studying about animals in science and have been learning about expository text (ask your child to tell you that expository text is non-fiction text that is designed to teach/inform) during writing. The students have been creating their own expository writing after reading about various animals. Check out the National Wildlife Federation with your child and read about a variety of animals. What is your favorite thing about this site? Share your ideas in the comments section. :)

Coins for Cancer

The Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation is presently sponsoring its Coins for Cancer fundraiser. Our class set an all-time 1st day record by collecting $241!!!! Way to go! Keep up your generous spirit and earn the ice cream buffet!! Special thanks to Emily for organizing her lemonade stand over the weekend to earn donations for this worthy cause.

Addition Game

This week we will be learning how to write addition number sentences. While looking for some math activities, I found this cute addition game called Farmer Fred's Pumpkin Patch. You may need to explain number sentences to your child (what the + sign and = sign mean), but once they get the hang of it, I think they will enjoy growing pumpkins. Have you found any online games your child enjoys? If so, share them in the comments so others can benefit. :0)

Animals

During the 1st quarter of the school year we study animals. We learn about living vs. non-living (ask your child about the experiment we did with the rock and the goldfish). We then learn about what animals need to live (food, shelter, water, air, and sometimes care from humans). We have learned that a habitat is a place where something lives. Soon we will be exploring what lives in our local habitat. National Geographic has some really wonderful articles about animals and excellent photos. Share these with your child, discussing each animal's needs and its habitat. Post something that you and your child learn about the animals you read about. Be looking for upcoming information about our field trip to Wildfest on October 29 (after linking to this site, scroll down to read the info on Wildfest). So exciting!!

Math Game

We have begun rudimentary addition. Next week we will actually begin writing number sentences to match adding one group to another. If you want to get a "jump start", check out ABCya! You will need to show your child how to make a group to represent the first addend and then another group to represent the other addend to find the sum. I like this one since there are manipulatives for the students to use. Let me know what you think!

First 1st Grade Blog!

Now that I am "settled in", it's time to start making this blog part of my weekly routine! This year's first graders are FABULOUS! We have already studied quite a few word families, met with reading groups, been to literacy workstations, ordered numbers, created and written about scarecrows using elaborative detail (be sure to check out the display case as you enter the school as well as the displays outside each classroom), learned about families, and are now beginning to learn about animals. We are very busy each day! I will use this blog to keep you up to date on what we are doing. This will not take the place of the weekly letter (which is posted on the CHES site each week). This is merely a supplement to the information you receive in the homework folder. I will provide links to online activities for you and your child. I will also share student work on here. I hope you will take part in this blog by leaving feedback. You do not have to have an account to do so. You can write a comment, sign it, and submit it using "anonymous". Please remember that this is a public forum and that it is designed to be a positive place for us all to share and support the students. Any negative comments will be deleted. I invite you to share any nifty links you find as well. Thanks for supporting our class!

We have already studied the following word families: -an, -at, -ap, -ug, -in (and are introducing -ad this week). To practice these families, try The Word Family Game. After your child has come up with the sentence, write the sentence down. Cut apart each word (make the period in the sentence separate from the words). Have your child read each word. Give your child the words in the sentence making sure they are not in order. Have him/her put the sentence back together in order and read it to you. You may want to do this on index cards and write each sentence with a different color so you can tell which words go with each sentence. You may also want to keep track of what each sentence says on a "master" list or by writing the sentence on the back of one of the cards so the activity can be used again later (you can store the cards in a baggie for safe keeping). Let your child choose his/her favorite sentence to share as a comment on this blog entry. When you check this site again, see if there are any comments and have your child read the sentences for practice.