I'm Blown Away!

I am truly blown away by how far this group of first graders came in their reading this year. To celebrate, we went outside on the last day of school to blow bubbles!

Letters to Kindergarten

First Graders wrote letters to Kindergarten last week to tell them what to expect next year. They wrote about their favorite lessons, activities, and more. They then visited Mrs. Huggin's Kindergarten class to read their letters and answer questions. It was a great opportunity for them to be leaders and role models. It was also a great opportunity for them to work on public speaking.

First Grade Spelling Bee

The students competed in against "houses" in a spelling bee. Mrs. Guzman called out a word to the first person in the line and if they spelled it correctly, they stayed in the competition. If they did not, they become a part of the audience to cheer their house on. The house that had the most members still standing at the end, won! It was awesome to see how seriously they took spelling their words.

Ice Cream in a Bag

First grade decided to make ice cream in a bag as a special treat. Using half and half cream, sugar, and vanilla in one bag, with rock salt and ice in another bag around it, they shook their bags until the ice cream formed. They then enjoyed their homemade snack!

First Grade is Full of Characters!

Using various templates, the students traced cartoon heads, faces, bodies, and accessories to create their own cartoon characters.  This was just a fun mini lesson to let them draw and work on their fine motor tracing skills when they had completed other work early.

Grand Prairie Public Library Summer Reading Challenge!

Grand Prairie Public Library's Summer Reading Challenge kicks off this Saturday, June 7th. One of the librarians visited our school a few weeks ago to share information and to encourage the students to keep reading over the summer. The library has many fun events planned throughout the summer. You can check out the details on their website.

We Give Books: Read For My Summer

We Give Books, a resource we use in class all the time, has a free reading program this summer. According to their site, they will highlight one book per week, based on your child's age group, for you and your child to read from their online book selection. They have partnered with ReadWriteThink to also provide interactive lessons to go along with the books. We Give Books is free to join. I love We Give Books because for every book that is read on their site, they give a real book to a charity that focuses on bringing literacy to those who would not have it otherwise.


 

Keep Kids Reading This Summer!

As summer approaches, so does the dreaded "summer slide!" Here is a great article from Reading is Fundamental about the "summer slide" and ways to avoid it. They also have an article about what families can do to keep their kids reading during the summer.

Readers' Theater Performance

The students have made great progress this year in reading. To show of their reading, each first grade class learned one Readers' Theater to perform for their families and peers. Then, the entire first grade performed one Readers' Theater together with their teachers and families joining in.

Math Fact Celebration

To celebrate the completion of learning our math facts, we had mini ice cream cones for lunch dessert. Each week we focused on a new set of math facts. They did a practice time test on Monday of each week and then the real test on Fridays. Students who had a passing grade, got into a "Math Facts Club" and got to sign their autograph to a poster in the hallway. The posters were a great incentive for the students to work hard to memorize their facts and the ice cream was a special bonus!

Animal and Plant Habitats

We used PebbleGo to look at different habitats and ecosystems. As a class we made a Tree Map of facts learned for each habitat including what it looks like as well as what animals and plants could live there. The students then used the Tree Map to draw picture representations of each habitat along with at least one animal and one plant that could live there.

Garden Scavenger Hunt

We went on a scavenger hunt in the garden to look for various things such as rocks, plants, bugs, and more. The students identified objects as living and non-living. They identified the parts of a plant. They talked about what animals use the garden as a habitat.

End of Year Picnic

Today we had our end of year picnic. Our last day of school is next Thursday but we celebrated a little early. The students played various ball games, hula hooped, blew bubbles, and more. They then huddled up in the shade for lunch.

Field Day

Last Friday our Coach planned a fun Field Day for all of the students. The students rotated through various events and then had three ribbon events. Two of our students got first place in the wiffle ball toss, one got first in the shoe fling, and one got third in the 40 yard dash. All of the students had a great time!

Safari Sunset Art

As a part of our lessons on various habitats and ecosystems, we talked about the desert and what animals must have to survive in the desert. We also talked about grasslands and the need for larger animals to have a wide space to roam. To extend our learning, I taught the students how to paint a sky to look like a setting sunset. We worked on mixing white into colors to make them lighter and then worked on blending the colors to fade into each other. After the paintings were dry, I helped the students trace various animals that would be found in this habitat as well as trees on black paper. They added these silhouettes to the paintings. They turned out fantastic!

Robot Writing

The students wrote papers about what their robots could do if they were real. They described what problem their robot would solve and how the buttons worked. I displayed their writing with a picture of them holding their robot.

Inventors Research Papers

A few weeks ago the students used PebbleGo to research one inventor of their choose. They wrote their facts on a Circle Map. They then used the facts to help them write a research paper. In the computer lab, they typed up their sentences. In class I called them over to the computer one at a time and we edited them together. We then printed a picture of their inventor from PebbleGo to display with their final product.

Garrett Morgan and the Traffic Light

While we were studying inventors, the students used PebbleGo to learn about Garrett Morgan and his many inventions. One of his main inventions that we discussed was the traffic light. We talked about how he saw a problem and came up with a way to solve it. Using a template of a traffic light, the students wrote at least three facts they learned about him.