One Hundred-Twenty-First Day

Everyone should have a copy of their second-period progress report. A new reading log went home today. We have a full week of testing activities this coming week.

One-Hundred-Twentieth Day

Today we reviewed a variety of spellings and sounds in blending. In dictation we focused on short-o spelled 'a' and short-oo. We officially opened our new unit and a couple of knowledgeable students were able to tell us what perseverance meant, so we formed a definition. We brainstormed a few questions about perseverance, stories with the theme perseverance, and activities where we have shown the characteristic ourselves. We reviewed 'cause and effect' and came up with cause and effect scenarios in our groups in order to make a class game.

In math we continued with more coin counting activities.

For art we viewed line and stippled drawings incorporating tone. We also touched briefly on composition and subject emphasis.

One Hundred-Eighteenth Day

Today we took care of some loose ends from the previous unit. We went into depth with prefixes focusing on the meaning of 'un-', 're-', and 'pre-'. We continued working on projects for Open House during IWT. In math we spent a little time talking about fifty-cent pieces. All but two progress reports went home today in a white legal envelop. This is your copy it does not need to be signed or returned.

One Hundred-Seventeenth Day

Today we blended compound words and reviewed words with short-o spelled with an 'a'. We closed our Folktales unit and will move on to our unit on perserverence. We will soon take our first complete reading battery. This test will include the first of two formal comprehension assessments which will need to be passed with a score of 80% in order to pass the final reading grade with a score of 3.

For math we included quarters as a part of our coin value counting. We were visited by the principal today who observed us working on individual projects. He was pleased by those students who were able to articulate their task and relate their 'next step.' He was also "impressed by (our) finished samples."

One Hundred-Sixteenth Day

No Homework today.

We reviewed words with 'ough' spellings. We wrote a set of directions for a new journal entry. We performed our Reader's Theatre pieces.

We counted total value of groups of coins for up to 18 coins.

One Hundred-Fifteenth Day

Today we worked with irregular plurals. We used elements of folktales to come up with Reader's Theatre tales of our own.

We organized coins by value and counted totals. We worked on a quick math project for Open House display.

One Hundred-Fourteenth Day

Today we read The Three Billy Goats Gruff which taught us to not be greedy. We reviewed time-order words. Our blending lines led to a brief discussion of the words 'balk', 'butted', and 'diminutive' as a synonym for 'small'. We also raced to spell words with /shun/ and /zhun/ endings.

We added dimes to our coins for math.

One Hundred-Thirteenth Day

Seven students have had the opportunity to use the computer for word processing and have completed their long-term projects. One student is creating an electronic presentation to accompany her hard copy. Today we read an African folk tale about Anansi the spider. We used the comprehension strategy of clarification to clear up ambiguities and new ideas from the story. We reviewed common nouns and commas with items in a series.

We started a new topic (17) in math today about money. We worked with pennies and nickels today.

For Visual Art we practiced and discussed line as an element of art.

One Hundred-Eleventh Day

We reviewed words with double consonant spellings. We wrote two paragraphs about games using two thinking maps. Three students used the computer today to explore a little bit of word processing for long-term projects.

We explored the use of tally marks to record information and extended the idea a bit to discuss multiplication.

In science we began our weather journals where we will record weather statistics over the course of the next month. We will also use and learn about weather measuring instruments during this time.

For Second Step violence prevention, we discussed predicting other people's feelings as a result of their own or others' actions.

One Hundred-Tenth Day

Today we were treated to a performance of Alligator, Alligator by Harbor Community College
Theatre Arts. The performance was greatly enjoyed by the students. We then wrote reviews and thank-you notes to the company, especially the Clean Fairy and the Clock Hog.

We spent our afternoon sorting objects and shapes by characteristics.

For Health we discussed staying clean (hygiene) and fit.

One Hundred-Ninth Day

Today we practiced more with inflectional endings. We read The Bossy Gallito and learned that using manners can save a lot of time and effort. We created a Flow Map for one of the games we previously mapped.

We learned what a bar graph is. The total possible points for the math test yesterday was 23 including 3 bonus points making 14 a passing score. Of 21 students taking the test, 18 passed with a score of 14 or better. Three students scored perfectly, 1 scored 22, 2 a 21 and 2 a 20.

A note about shoes: I haven't said anything about appropriate foot wear for school, but I would feel remiss if I don't say something about it. The most appropriate shoe for daily first grade activities will be fastened by laces (or Velcro closure) with ALL eyelets being used finished with a bow which is double knotted. Students with this type of shoe not only have an advantage during P.E. activities but are also more likely not to fall, slip, or loose their shoes during class or recess. A laced shoe is also more likely to provide the proper support and insole protection.

One Hundred-Eighth Day

Today we wrote directions. We also generated sentences from our Tree Map for our long-term project.

We took a math test and worked with answering question with information in graphic form.

One Hundred-Seventh Day

Today we blended with short-oo and short-o spelled 'au'. We discussed the word 'haul'. We read our first selection of the Folktales unit and learned that folktales teach lessons and that animals often speak in them.

We began a new topic in math on graphic representation of information.

One Hundred-Sixth Day

We created a Tree Map for use with our long-term project. We began our next unit about and titled Folktales. We discussed the meaning of the word 'folktale'. We learned that long ago folktales were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. In days to come we will learn that folktales often have a lesson or moral.

In math we used related facts for word problems.

For science we drew a diagram and wrote what we had learned about air in the previous day's experiment.

One Hundred-Fifth Day

Today we spelled words with uncommon long-a spellings. We also began planning work for a long-term project which will incorporate several concepts we've learned over the course of the year.

In math we again solved subtraction problems using addition.

In science we worked with partners using plastic leur syringes and rubber tubing to demonstrate air pressure. We discovered that just a little bit of air can be stronger than 2 1st graders, that air can push, pull, cause sound, and create missile projectiles.

One Hundred-Fourth Day

Today we worked again with inflections. We continued with our reading of Matthew and Tilly using 'clarification' and 'making connections' as comprehension strategies. We then applied the comprehension skill of stating 'main ideas and details'. We learned that sometimes friends don't always get along and sometimes need to spend some time apart in order to better appreciate the friendship. We took dictation today with long /oo/ and long-u spellings with two syllable words.

In math we worked again with fact families. With 3 points of the score being bonus points from the performance assessment, a score of 17 was passing on Topic 15 test. Of the 23 students taking the test, 16 students passed with a score of 17 or better. One student scored 27 and 3 students scored 24, 3 a 23, and 4 a 22. On the social studies exam, again 16 students passed with a 3 or a 4.

One Hundred-Third Day

Today we blended and reviewed compound words. We used the comprehension strategies of "making connections" and "clarifying" for beginning our first reading of the friendship story Matthew and Tilly. We wrote about a time when we argued with a friend of ours and told how the problem was solved.

Topic 15 Test was handed back today. Results will be posted along with the social studies test tomorrow. Today we began Topic 16 which revisits the related facts ideas.

One Hundred-Second Day

Worked hard today. Again we reviewed inflectional endings. We then reviewed initial consonant clusters. Then we pantomimed the actions suggested by our Bath Flow Map. Together we used the Bath Brace Map and the Bath Flow Map to write an expository descriptive essay. We then wrote our own essay using our own Brace and Flow Maps.

We took our Topic 15 math test followed by our social studies map test.

One Hundred-First Day

We reviewed /ow/ spelled 'ou'. We discussed 'scout' as a verb. We reread Big Team Relay Race using the comprehension skill of cause and effect. We read the next selection, Mary Mack. We learned that "hand-games" is a sub-category of games without winners. We worked in groups of 3 to write our own hand game verse.

We used related facts to solve story problems. We took a while longer with math today so we used the rest of our time to do math problems in our head.

If time permits, we should have our social studies continent test and Topic 15 math test tomorrow.

One Hundredth Day of School

Not all days are created equal. "This is the best day ever!" remarked a student. Exactly what I wanted to hear. We worked hard to get here. Thanks to the parents who shared a special treat.

We started the day spelling words with embedded /er/ spellings which led later to alphabetizing to the fourth letter in some cases, no problem for some kids. We worked with time-order words and then combined time-order words with a Flow Map of a story of our own choice.

We then tally counted to 100 to make our 100th day headbands. The rest of our afternoon was consumed by 100th day activities endings with treat time. "This is the best day ever!"

Our homework is a review of related facts.

Ninety-Ninth Day

FWe are ready for our Birthday Celebration! Tomorrow's our big day.

Today we began The Big Team Relay Race. We will work on making predictions and summarizing as a comprehension strategies. Tomorrow we will work on comprehension skills. For this story we will focus on the idea of teamwork. We discussed the meaning of the word relay. A review of the /ow/ spellings for blending led to a discussion of the meaning of the words: fowl, stout, and louse. We created a Brace Map for the the noun 'bath'. We then made our first Flow Map and sequenced taking a bath. These prewriting steps will assist students in formulating ideas for explaining a process/activity to another person.

In math we used related addition facts to help with subtraction.

Hope to see you at Literacy Night tonight.