Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!   

May you have safe travels and meaningful time

spent with your family and friends.

I-Buddies!

  The third grade students from Mrs. Sikma's class came down to our classroom today with IPads.  They have been working on reading fluently with expression (not like robots!) in their classrooms.  They used the IPads to practice with the first graders.  First, they brought up a book from the A to Z reading website about how zebras were made on the IPads.  They read the story to us and then asked the comprehension questions at the end of the story.  After that, they pulled up a Thanksgiving/turkey game (similar to Hang Man) to play with their buddy.   

  As soon as the third graders left, the room was filled with comments like, "I guessed three words right!" and "That IPad is SO COOL!"  Of course, we asked the third graders to come back again very soon!

All Star Readers

All the first graders at Hamilton Elementary participate in "All Star Reading" time four times a week for 30 minutes each time!  They are placed in groups according to specific needs and talents.  The three first grade teachers, our reading interventionist, Mrs. Lynn Bosch, and several paraprofessionals work with the first graders.   The pictures above show the activity we worked on in our classroom today.  The children practiced reading 'sense' and 'nonsense' words to a partner.  One partner's job was to be the timer/checker and the other partner was a reader.  For one minute, the reader read the words aloud while the timer/checker verified the words read were sounded out correctly.  After one minute, the number of words correct were counted and recorded.  The partners then switched roles.  Their goal was to increase the number of correct words read in each of the three attempts.   This activity helps the children learn to use their phonics skills to sound out words correctly even if the word is not a real word.  As they practice, they depend less on breaking up the word into individual sounds and trust in their ability to read the word as a whole word.   They will also gain the confidence needed to be successful when taking the DIBELS test again in January.  

Kayden Burch

This is Kayden!  He is this week's Student of the Week.   Red is Kayden's favorite color.  He would love to visit the Great Wolf Lodge soon.  The best thing about him is that he is a very good golf cart driver!  His favorite television program is called Avatar.  When he grows up, he might want to be a pole barn builder.  Kayden thinks he is special because he likes to draw.  His favorite book is Pokemon.  Kayden's favorite sport is karate, and his favorite food is drum sticks (chicken, not the ice cream!)

Magnetic Science

Do you like fishing?   Our class had fun fishing with magnets in Science!  The kids learned that the horseshoe magnet was attracted to items that had metal in them.   Of course, the more objects that could be 'caught' at once, the more fun it was!  

Later, we used bar magnets and learned that magnets have a North Pole and a South Pole.   The magnets only attract if opposite poles touch.  Two like poles will repel each other.  The kids had fun playing with one bar magnet and a marble magnet.  They figured out how to push the magnet marbles around without touching them using a bar magnet!   It was fun experimenting with magnets!

Mari DellaVecchia

This is Mari.   She is our Student of the Week!   Mari is wearing her favorite color - pink!  She would like to visit Texas to see her cousin and the new baby.  Mari thinks the best thing about her is that she is nice to everyone.  Her favorite television program is "The Berenstain Bears".   Someday Mari would like to be a vet to help animals.  She is special because she can do lots of math.  She has a dog named Lizzy and a cat named Mooch.  Her favorite book is "Snow White".  Mari is a good soccer player, which is also her favorite sport.  Spaghetti is her favorite meal!

Turkey Time!

 

Let's Talk Turkey!

A new month has come!   We started out our November activities with a much-loved craft time!   We discussed turkeys first.  Did you know that a male turkey is called a 'tom' and a female turkey is called a 'hen'?   The male turkey has a colorful tail, used to attract a mate.  Female turkeys blend in to their environment in order to hide themselves and their young from predators.  One student asked if the turkeys we eat at Thanksgiving are 'toms' or 'hens'.   I had to respond that I did not know the answer to that.  We may need to do a little research to find our answer!   After talking turkey, the kids made 'toms' to display proudly on our bulletin board!  

Other November concepts we will cover include time lines, past and present ways of life, things we are thankful for, and of course, our normal language arts, math and science curriculum when we can squeeze it in.

Word Wall

Our Word Wall has grown!   For the first two months of school, the only words on our Word Wall included our names and the 35 priority words that we will learn in spelling for first grade.   This week I have added many more words to our Word Wall.   These words come straight from the Dolch list that was handed out at conferences last week.  As we discussed, the children will be tested three times this year on the 220 Dolch words.  These are sight words most commonly found in text.  About half of the 220 are now on our Word Wall.  The children are encouraged to use the wall when they are not sure how to spell a sight word when they are writing in their writing journals, science journals, or on their own.   They came in this morning very excited to see the many new words on our wall.  Dakota even said, "Hey, I have a ring with those words at home!"   We will use our word wall for other activities and games as well.  The goal is for all the children to know "by sight" 200 or more of the 220 Dolch words!  

WEB reading and October hours

Hopefully you are seeing your child's reading skills grow and grow.  We have been working hard in our reading series, which introduces two phonics skills each week.  These phonics skills are practiced in the story from the book as well as in the two decodable books sent home each week.  I have seen many improvements in just two months.  The WEB books practiced at home each night with your help have a great impact as well, so thank you for your help and support at home!   Every child in our class met their reading goal for October.  On Tuesday the kids enjoyed a Popsicle at snack time, took home a certificate for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut and a double lunch recess!  

November has begun!  Three or more hours of reading at home is the goal again.  Hours may be turned in as you and your child complete them.   Our bulletin board in our classroom shows each child's progress with their goal.   Thank you for your help reading with your child and his or her progress.  It makes a tremendous difference in the overall success for him/her. 

Please be sure to take a look at the paper newsletter in this week's Friday Folder, which is always copied on pink paper.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Brady Tebo

 

This is Brady Tebo.   He is our Student of the week!   Brady's favorite color is camouflage, but he also likes red and green.   He would love to visit Alaska someday because there are a lot of animals there he would like to see.  Brady thinks the best thing about him is that he likes hunting.  His favorite television program is "Wild Kratts".  Someday when he grows up, Brady would like to be a Zookeeper!  He is special because he is a good friend to others and has many friends.  Brady has two pets:  a dog named Rex and a spotted lizard named Scotty.  His favorite book is called "Dangerous Creatures."  Brady's favorite sport is baseball, and his favorite food is his Dad's beef enchiladas!