Math fact wizard!

Abby earned her subtraction fact certificate for Xtra Math today!   She knows all of her subtraction facts from 10 within 3 seconds!   Abby will now go back and review her addition facts to 10 within 2 seconds!    Congratulations Abby!   

Smarties are found!

Maddie used some very smart thinking to figure out where Mr. Ferrell hid the Smarties in our classroom!   Many children gave up looking already.  I heard comments such as, "We'll never find those Smarties" and "I bet next year's first graders will find them" and so on.   But Maddie used another strategy to help her!   She went home and discussed the dilemma with her family.   Luckily for her, Maddie's older brother Brady was in my class before.   He told Maddie that Mr. Ferrell hid things when he had me as his teacher as well.   He told Maddie some of the hiding places (what a good memory Brady).   Maddie used her new found knowledge and came to school and found them today!   So... Maddie was given the Smarties to enjoy when she decides to eat them!   Congratulations Maddie!

Mr. Ferrell now realizes he will need to come up with some new hiding places when he visits!   When will that be?   If it were up to the kids, it would be today!   Thanks to Mr. Ferrell for making First grade a time to remember!  

The Smarties are hidden on top of our bulletin board.
Do you see them just to the right of the purple chair?

Enjoy your Smarties Maddie!   Good job asking your brother to help you!

Elijah

This is Elijah.   He is our student of the week.   Elijah's favorite color is RED.   He would love to visit Florida.  His favorite show is Ghost Busters.   Someday when he grows up, Elijah would like to be in the Army.  He has a pet mouse named Cuddles, and two cats named Diva and Izzy.   Elijah's favorite book is "Monster Trucks".  His favorite sport is basketball and his favorite food to eat is pizza.   Elijah is special because his family loves him!   The very best thing about Elijah is that he is funny and caring!

"Hoppy Easter!"

We had a special afternoon on Friday!   Mr. Ferrell made a surprise (to the kids) visit!   Whenever Mr. Ferrell is here, he writes a clue with his trademark bow tie on the white board.   See his clue below:

The kids watch anxiously as Mr. Ferrell writes
his clue on the board.  He hides something in the
classroom and whoever finds it gets to have it!

The kids think they need to find some Smarties candies!
They had about 10 minutes to search, and no one found the
candy yet.  The candy can be seen if they look in the right spot!

 After about 10 minutes of searching, it was time to move on to making Easter Bunnies!   The kids LOVE to make crafts, and the bunnies turned out great!   Enjoy the pictures of the creative artists, followed by our finished products!

Mr. Ferrell works across from Evan!

Brandon and Grayson work near each other.

Abby, Vera, Miss Shelby, Tommy and Jaelene choose
to work at their desks.  Miss Shelby makes a bunny for
Keegan, who was absent on Friday.

Isaac, Elijah, Keaton and Ethan work at our 'jelly bean' table.

Josie, Jordyn, Mackenzie, Maddie and Olivia
work in a nice open space on the floor.

Koltin stays at his desk to work (bonus seat by Mr. Ferrell)

Keaton shows off his Easter bunny!

Jordyn made a bunny with a Hawkeye theme!

Mr. Ferrell put his bunny on the board by his clue.

Below are our finished products!   They line the cork strip in our hallway for all to enjoy!   Be sure you stop by and find your child's bunny when you visit Friday for Fun Night at Hamilton Elementary!

 Our fun afternoon would not be complete without celebrating Mr. Ferrell's birthday (it was March 10). First we made him wear a birthday crown so we could sing to him.  We always sing the 'cha-cha' version of the song!   Then, Mr. Ferrell brought ice cream sandwiches to share!

Happy birthday Mr. Ferrell!  Thank you for being
a good sport and wearing the crown!

Yum!   Ice cream sandwiches for everyone!   

 A special thank you to my wonderful husband for spending the afternoon with our class!   The kids LOVE it when you come in and make a craft with us, and the treat is great too!   They especially enjoy searching for the hidden candy.

Happy Easter to everyone!

Jaelene

This is Jaelene!   She is our Student of the Week.   Jaelene loves to eat macaroni.  Her favorite sport is dancing.  She loves to read 'Franklin' stories!  She has one cat named Jasmine and a dog named Liberty.  When she grows up, Jaelene would like to be a hair stylist.  She loves to watch Sponge Bob on television.  If she could choose anyplace to visit, she would go to Disney World.  Her favorite colors are PURPLE and PINK.   Jaelene is special because she loves God, and the very best thing about her is  'God loves me!'

In like a lamb!

     This week we spent a LOT of time assessing for parent teacher conferences and second trimester grades for report cards!   You may have noticed when very little mail came home this week!   But we took some time out of our busy week to discuss the old saying "March comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb".   Each child had the opportunity to make their prediction about how they thought the weather would 'come in' on March 1st on two graphs.   One graph was a horizontal graph, the other a vertical graph.   Most of the time, kids are familiar with the vertical graph, but it is important to be able to gain information from many types of graphs.   Many questions can be asked once the graphs are completed, such as 'which column had the most?', 'which had the least?'   'How many more in this column than the other one?' 'How many fewer?' and many more.   These types of questions are very important for working in math language encountered in future grades and on district and state assessments.   I like to start off asking the class what they notice about the graphs.  I am always pleasantly surprised at the many things they can tell and the math language they use!  
     The day would not be complete without a cute art project to reinforce the concepts learned.   They made lion/lamb faces to hang in our classroom!   Watch your head when you visit next week for parent teachers conferences or you may run into a lion!   Ask your child if their prediction was correct on our graphs!   March definitely came in like a lamb this year!   Enjoy the sunshine and long weekend!

Vertical graph

Horizontal graph

Paper plate lion/lamb project