Snow Day!

Today is our 2nd full snow day of the school year, we've started late several times as well.  Did I forget to mention that it is only December 6 and not even technically winter yet!?!?  I figured I could spend part of this cold, windy, snowy day catching you all up on the happenings of the first graders.

The kiddos were excited when we got our first dusting of snow a couple of weeks ago.  They came to school in their snow pants and boots, scarves and winter coats, ready to play out in the snow.  There was a little disappointment in the fact that there wasn't enough snow to build a fort yet, but they still loved it!

I have gotten a little more used to my Mimio projector this school year.  It is a little touchy but we make it work in the end.  If I know their handwriting is going to be too messy for an activity using the interactive part of the board, I freeze the picture and let them write with dry erase markers instead.

I just love this note that was given to me.  It will be saved and given back to the author at their graduation.  If you look carefully, mom and dad was erased and Ms. Anglin was left :)

We had another hat day for National Honor Society right before Thanksgiving break.  It seems like every hat day becomes my favorite, but this one really is!  I went to Wal-Mart with this idea in my head and I actually found it- a turkey hat!!

In Social Studies this past chapter we learned about Jobs and we had our own Job Day of sorts.  The kiddos dressed up as the job they would like to have some day.  They were all so cute in their costumes and could all tell me if their job was a service job that helps people, or if they had a job that produced goods for others.  They also had to list some tools that are used at their job.  We had 3 vets, 2 artists, 2 construction workers, 1 cowboy, and 1 horse trainer.

We've had some fun show and tells again lately.  Who am I kidding- show and tell is always great!  Here are some moments I remembered to capture.

Georgia and her elf Chippy

Peyton brought a cute purse
with changeable bows

Georgia brought a zip lining doll

This is not a very good picture but it is capturing one of the whole class's favorite times- including mine.  Sam comes into our room 2 days a week to hang out with us.  She gets to read to the students while they have a snack in the afternoon.  She also helps with reading centers and art projects.  I do not always get that kind of attention and stillness when I am in front of the same kids, so you can tell they adore her.  Thank You Sam!

Our word wall is coming along nicely.  Every morning we read every word up on the wall.  The words come from our reading series and I occasionally add a word if it is something they are consistently writing.  It has taken a while but they are finally getting used to looking to the word wall when they are writing.

Peyton pointing to the words as they are read.

December is the month of Responsibility for character counts.  We wore green to celebrate it.  Responsibility is one of my favorite traits to teach about because the kids are learning that they can be more responsible every day.  We talked about how they are responsible for reading at night, remembering their folder or coat every day, and turning their papers in.  I hope to hear less of "my mom or dad forgot to...".  I know they are little, but I am trying to show them that taking responsibility for things they do is so important in life.  Your mom and dad are not in 1st grade- you are :)

As you can see from the pictures above that the tree is up in the classroom!  I'm not going to sugar coat it for you- putting this tree up is not exactly my favorite thing to do.  But we worked on it all together.  They took turns fluffing the branches, getting dizzy with me wrapping the lights, and placing the ornaments.  It took a full day, but it's up and ready for presents!

Yesterday we had an assembly called Be a Star!  It was a little bit of magic, music, and a positive message about having dreams and not letting bullies get to you.  Meika was a volunteer who shared her dream of being a horse trainer.  I love the way she is soaking up this man's words.

AH that's it!  I am up to date but will soon be back with some more Christmas activities.  Now it's time to use this snow day wisely- make some cookies and read!
~Ms. Anglin

Animal overload!!

This chapter in science was about the different types of animals.  We learned about mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.  One of the ways we studied the different types of animals was by using Topic Triangles.  The students had to match the animal type, a characteristic, and a picture to make a triangle.  

We made a turkey craft to hang in the hallway last week.  The turkeys are holding a peaceful protest...  They are trying to encourage people to "Save a Turkey, Eat More..." strawberries, burgers, cake, bratwursts, hot dogs, pizza, apples, ham, and mashed potatoes! 

Ava brought super show and tell again this week.  Her mom brought in 2 chickens and 5 baby chicks!  They were so cute and seemed happy with us.  There was a lot of chirping, from the chicks and kids :)

We ended the week with the Veterans Day Program at school.  Grades K-3 said the Pledge of Allegiance in front of the crowd at the beginning of the program.  

Have a great weekend!

~Ms. Anglin

November odds and ends

November is off to a great start!  The month started with a special show and tell/ Top Banana (my student of the week) guest.  Amanda's mom came and read a few books to us during our snack time.  These kiddos love story time.

Our character trait for November is Respect.  We learned that respect means treating others how you would like to be treated.  We wore yellow for respect.

The first graders are impressing me with their ability to quietly read to themselves for long stretches of time.  I love the fact that they can be captivated by a book and do not need anything else :)

In first grade we make our own flashcards to practice addition and subtraction facts 0 through 10.  I believe that writing the fact down can help some students remember them.  My main goal for these is memorization.  Here they are working on their +6 cards.

Every Monday when we learn new spelling words we do some exercises.  Here they are doing jumping jacks and push ups.  By the end of the year they will be big and strong, right? 

We had a very funny show and tell last week.  Flubber that makes funny noises when it gets squished down into the container.  They could not control the giggles!

For a Thanksgiving writing assignment, the first graders wrote about 3 things they are thankful for.  They were thankful for their moms and dads, cows, cars, church, school, houses, and of course their teacher.  I am thankful for each and everyone of these kiddos.  They sure do make my heart happy :)

Thanks for dropping by!

~Ms. Anglin

Halloween

We did a lot of fun things in October to celebrate Halloween.  We had fun with other classes, did art projects, and of course had a Halloween party!

At the beginning of the month I turned the class into witches and warlocks.  These are always a hit in the hallway!  Everyone did a great job watercolor painting the night background for this scene.  I then took their pictures in profile and turned them into silhouettes.

A table full of painters

I love how these actually look like each of the kids!

We recently partnered up with the 2nd graders to make Halloween hands.  We filled gloves with candy corn for nails then added popcorn to fill it out.  The finishing touch was a creepy spider ring.

The firsties decorated my bulletin board with their original ghosts.  We have ghosts with a bike, walking a dog, and wearing fancy clothes!

The high school Child Development class came to our room to do a Halloween craft with us.  They made such a cute Frankenstein out of Popsicle sticks!

Peyton with her finished Frankenstein

We finished out the month of October with Halloween (on a MONDAY)!  Everyone looked so good in their costumes!  Once we were dressed up we had some extra time so we played Witch Hat Ring Toss.  It turns out this game is much harder than it looks, but everyone still had fun.

Once everyone was ready, grades K-3 went trick or treating at the nursing home, assisted living, and high school.  They walked away with so much candy, it was almost unbelieveable.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, I know these first graders did!
~Ms. Anglin