Mrs Delvecchio's 1st Grade class is learning about weather. The students measured the air temperature in the classroom and outside. They also found the temperature in a cup of snow and warm water. The students recorded their information in their journals.
The students had a writing prompt "Where am I?" They had to look at the picture and write where they were. The students were encouraged to add details to their stories. Here are some samples form the first grade students.
Rachel: I am in Alaska. I am cold. I have a snowsuit on and I am still cold. I see an airplane. It comes to rescue me!
Angel: My name is Joe. It is snowing. I am in Antarctica. I am standing on ice. The ice is very cold! I am very cold too!
Shane: I am in Antarctica. I am on an iceberg. I am freezing cold! I am wearing a sweater and a jacket.
Leanora: I am in the North Pole. It is cold in the North Pole. I went by Santa's house. I had cookies there, but now I am lost. Oh know!
Cathryn: Hi, my name is Zac. I am cold in the Arctic. It is snowing hard here. I am like an ice cream cone with a cherry on top. AAAHHHH!!!! I am freezing. I want to go home and be warm. I am home and I will live happily ever after.
Well as Grade 1 prepares for second grade we are working very hard. Our math program has the students estimating, modeling tens and ones with base ten blocks, writing expanded form, learning the mean, range and mode of numbers, comparing numbers with greater than, less than or equal to. YES! All that in Grade 1 and much more ahead!
The students were introduced and taught helpful ways to recognize long vowel words. They are reading daily and continue to become very fluent readers.
During the month of Febraury we devoted lots of time to learning about famous Black Americans who have done something positive in their lives. We learned about Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, George Washington Carver and Martin Luther King Jr.
The first grade weathermen and women have learned about weather. The students had a chance to measure the air temperature outside/ inside the classroom. We took the temperature of a cup full of snow as well as warm water. We recorded all of our findings in a journal. The children had a chance to look at the weather forecast on the internet. We also filled cups of water and left them outside overnight to find that the air temperature was below 32 degrees because our water had turned to ice! They will make great meteorlogists one day!
The students have been very busy writing stories. They had to look at a picture and answer the questions what is in my hat and where am I going? Here are some of the students responses in story form.
Stephanie: In my hat there is a rabbit. The rabbit is eating a carrot and it is wet in my hat too. The rabbit came out of my hat and hopped away. The people watching left. I was mad that they left. I ran away! The End.
Christian: I am a magician. I have a magic cape. There is a rabbit and a carrot in my hat. I am... magic.
Brandon: We are pirates. We are sailing to find gold. It is near the island. I see land! Maybe, it is the island. I have to go find the gold.
Leanora: I am going on a vacation. We will stay there for three days. I am going with my mom and dad. It will be fun!
Hope everyone had a great Christmas break! The students are back to work and preparing for second grade. Our math program has been focusing on interpreting and analyzing graphs of all sorts. The children have made tally charts, bar graphs and pictographs. They have learned how to add and subtract to interpret data from a graph. We have conducted surveys in class to determine which food we liked best as well as which color we liked best.
Our spelling words are now long vowel words which tend to be more challenging for the students. Keep practicing them at home.
Students continue to identify parts of speech in a sentence. We were introduced to action words which are verbs. We have been using past and present tense verbs in sentences.
The students have concluded a unit on animals. We classified animals into groups. Reptiles, fish, birds, mammals and amphibians. We discussed the life cycle of a butterfly and a tadpole.
I will be sending home another book with some samples of the students writing. Once you have read it please send back to school, so we can pass it on to other families.
Don't forget about SPECIAL PERSON LUNCHEON on Tuesday 29-Jan-2008 at 11:30.
January book project is due next week!
The First Christmas Story The first grade actors and actresses took the stage on Dec. 19th and performed The First Christmas Story. The children performed for the entire school as well as, their families. Each student had a part in the play from Mary, Joseph, the wisemen, the shepherds, angels, King Herod, the angels and our stable animals. They concluded their performance singing Silent Night, Away in the Manger, There was A Little Baby and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It was quite a touching performance! The students did a great job! They then enjoyed goodies with their families and friends in the gym.
Click photo for larger image.
Pizza Party On Thursday, the students had a pizza party and had a surprise visit from Santa Claus. They were very excited to see their friend Santa! He gave each student a pencil.
Computer Project Our 6th grade buddies had the opportunity to share their PowerPoint presentations with the first grade students. The 6th grade students gave clues and facts about animals from all over the world and the first graders had the chance to guess the animals they researched. It was very interesting and fun!
The students continue to work on the writing process. I am very impressed with the details the students are writing in their stories. They really enjoy sharing their work with their classmates.
The 2nd reading test will be going home Friday. They are doing great!
I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and safe New
Year!
During the month of November the first graders have been VERY BUSY! The 5th graders prepared the first grade students with knowledge of the two mayoral candidates. After, listening to the 5th grade students, the first graders were able to cast their vote on who they liked best! Then, the students voted on two different candies, M&M's and Hershey kisses. After taste tasting both and casting their ballots, the winner was Hershey Kisses.
The students had a history lesson all about how our country and how it first began. They have become quite the historians! The first grade students presented to the kindergarten class the story of The First Thanksgiving. Then, our first grade Pilgrims and kindergarten Native Americans celebrated a Thanksgiving Feast together.
The children have been working hard on many writing assignments. One of our assignments involved what the students were thankful for. Another assingment was based on a reading selection we read during class. The students wrote their stories and the stories were edited. They then typed and printed their story on the computer and shared with the class.
The students seem to enjoy MATH! We have played many math games and are learning all about addition, subtraction and fact families with the sums to 12.
We have been having lots of fun in Grade 1. Our walkathon was a great success. Unfortunately, our class piggy Glinda the Good Pig did not win the pig race, but she tried her best! Congrats to the 3rd grade pig on winning!
Shamrock crossing the finish line.
This past week we had fun learning about POPCORN! Yes, that is right, the very popular yummy snack! The students heard a story about popcorn and found out some interesting facts about the fluffy, white snack. For instance, the Native Americans were the founders of popcorn. They used to cook it over the fire and watch the popcorn, POP! Did you know that kernals that do not pop are called 'old maids'? Interesting! After the story, we popped popcorn and sampled two types. We sampled store bought popcorn and the popcorn we popped ourselves. The students used their 5 senses to describe what popcorn looks, tastes, smells, feels, and sounds like. We then voted on which popcorn we liked best and the store bought popcorn was the winner.
On Wednesday, the first grade celebrated a Fall Festival with lots of activities related to Fall and pumpkins. The students weighed pumpkins, learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin, decorated cookies, made a jack-o-lantern art project and played pin the nose on the pumpkin! Lots of fun was had by all. Thank you to the moms that helped!!!
In math, we have begun adding 2 and 3 addends to find the sum of numbers to 12. We just had our unit test on chapter 2 and the students did well.
The students have completed series 1 in our reading unit. They will be tested on the unit. Continue to go over the words that were sent home at the beginning of the year. Many of the children have moved on to the higher level words, but study them all.
Our first spelling test was Friday! Everyone did GREAT! Look for new words every Monday. The tests will be on Fridays.
*** Don't forget our field trip to the Maritime Center on Nov. 19th.
Have a great week!
The students have been very busy! During the past 2 weeks, the children have read 2 reading selections, Quack and What Does Pig Do? The students are learning about the different parts of a book. We have covered the title, author, illustrator and the table of contents. Throughout the readings I am constantly checking to make sure the students understand the story through question and answer. Keep practicing those site words. More words will follow!
When I introduced greater than, less than and equal to, I thought I had my work cut out for me, but the students did great grasping the concept of the alligator's mouth eating the big, fat, juicy number! Way to go!! We are now in the process of writing number sentences. Some of the vocabulary words the students were introduced to include; addends, sum, vertical and horizontal. The past 2 weeks we have been writing number sentences with the sums of 9 and 10.
If you ever get lost, just ask those first grade students. They know all about direction. We have been reading and studying maps using map keys and directional words such as; north, south, east and west.
Hello everyone!!! The students have made it through our first month. The transition from Kindergarten to First Grade is a big step for the students. First grade is the foundation of education and much time is spent academically preparing students for an exciting and rewarding learning experience.
The students are continuing to review what they have learned in Kindergarten. For example, beginning and ending sounds. It may seem a bit easy now, bit I can assure it will get more difficult.
The students have started writing in their daily journals, doing the best they can with spelling. We have begun our reading groups. Please continue to go over the words that were sent home on a daily basis. It is so important to have them practice their words as well as read nightly. 10 to 15 mins. a night would be GREAT!! The students should be able to tell you the parts of a book. Cover page, title page etc...
Our social studies unit has been devoted to Families, Transportation and Communities. Hopefully, the children can tell you the state and country we live in and how many states are in the USA. The class enjoyed looking at the globe and finding where our conutry and state are located.
On Thursday, we will have a visitor from the water company come and show us how our homes, schools etc... receive their drinking water. Should be fun!
As a class, we have been working on listening skills, cooperation and following rules. Please know that your support is truly appreciated. Please reinforce how important it is to follow class rules!
I am looking forward to a great year!