Wednesday ~ FUN DAY!

Tomorrow is the much anticipated pajama day in B-7! I can't wait to see everyone in their snuggly soft pjs with their favorite stuffed animals!

EDUBlog Awards

Wow! How cool to see that our very own B-7 Bobcats wikispace has been nominated this year for an EDUBLOG AWARD. Last year, my professional wikispace was nominated. B-7 Bobcats has been nominated under the category of "Best Educational Wiki". It's such an honor, and I appreciate the nomination! I am always excited to share ideas and student work with a bigger audience! Providing my students with enriching and engaging learning experiences is important to me... and sharing what I do is even more rewarding!

Off to England...

~ December Highlights ~

It has been awhile since I had the opportunity to post, and I do apologize! Sickness has run its course in our family, and hopefully we have had our fair share and will be healthy until the holidays are over!

Here are a few updates for B-7...

• On Thursday, December 9th, we will be traveling to the High School for the choir concert. Please return permission slips asap.
  

• B-7 students have been 'buckling their seat belts' for our travels using Google Earth. We will have 5 virtual 'field trips' to learn more about holiday celebrations and customs around the world. At each stop, your child will be exposed to multimedia, and interactive and collaborative activities. If you have not done so already, please send in a picture of your child next to the Christmas tree. We will be doing a writing activity with the pictures. You may email it to me, or bring it in. Thanks!
  

• Holiday Craft day will be on December 22nd. We look forward to seeing you there. Please feel free to stop in as your schedule permits between 9:00-11:00.
  

Spelling City

Here is the classroom link to Spelling City, which will take you directly to the classroom community page. This link will also be posted on the left sidebar of the class wikispace. Have fun practicing your spelling words!
Spelling City

Parent Conferences

What a busy week we've had! Thanks to all of the parents for taking the time to meet during parent conferences this week. Your continued support of your child's learning provides for a successful year in first grade. :)

Here is a quick recap of what we've been up to in B-7...

• We sent out our class book to be published. We are very excited to become published authors. Our book title is "Don't Eat Me..."
• We have began blogging with our 1st Grade pen-pals from Morning Sun Elementary in Iowa. Check out the posts on our KidBlog.
• Morpheus Fortuna, a traveling turtle that visits classrooms across the state is due to arrive tomorrow.

Yikes!

Yikes! It's Wednesday already! This week certainly has gotten away from me. I apologize for the delay in the Spelling word post on the website and the SpellingCity site, which you can access here.

We've had a busy week in B-7. We began Unit 2 in reading this week. The theme of this unit is Communities. Some of the skills we will be learning include:

• sh/th
  
• long vowels
• ch/wh
• endings (ed, ing)
• contractions
  

The students were excited to get their second book to bring home this evening. Please read the story A Big Fish for Max. Have your child read the story for fluency. Reading fluently is reading in which words are recognized automatically. We call it "smooth sailing" in B-7. We don't want "choppy waters!" :) If your child is reading fluently, he/she will be able to read through the story without stopping to sound out words.

We've also been working on our Published Books this week. As a class, we decided on a turkey theme. The students are very excited to become published authors, and have taken such pride in their writing and illustrations for book.

Batty in B-7!

This week, we've been going "Batty in B-7!" On Monday and Tuesday, we learned a lot of cool things about bats. We listened to B-B-B-Bats, used a Venn diagram to compare bats and birds, made bat necklaces, and wrote bat facts that we later made into a web using the laptops and Kidspiration software. We also learned a neat song about Echolocation. It was so much fun!

Today we learned about spiders, and we'll continue to talk about these creepy little creatures tomorrow. (Ms. B is NOT a fan of spiders!) We read the book Spider Names, and recognized that some spiders get their names because they look similar to something else. We then came up with our own creative names for a spider, wrote about it, and illustrated them for the class to guess.

Friday is Pumpkin Day in room B-7. Thank you so much to those who donated pumpkins. If you are available to help out in the classroom on Friday from 9:15-11:15, please just stop right in and join us!

Next week, we will be starting Unit 2 of our Reading Series. This unit focuses on long vowel sounds. We will be back into the 'usual' routine again. :)

On a side note... please be sure to dress your child for the weather. We do go outside everyday for recess unless it is raining. A light coat is often needed on chilly fall days.
Thanks!

Ms. B

Thanks!

B-7 would like to thank our parent helpers, Mrs. Cherico and Mrs. Anthony for coming in this week to help us research African animals and create cool African animal weavings & bracelets.

We also have had wish list items donated to the classroom over the last week. Your generosity and kindness is appreciated! Thank you to the following students/families:

Noel - pretzels & animal crackers
Korrin - pretzels
Riley - glue sticks & pumpkins
Logan - 10 pumpkins
Trevor - glue sticks
Rebekah - glue sticks
Evelyn - glue sticks
Kade & Keagan - pretzels and 2 large pumpkins
Isabella - pumpkins
Jennah - glue sticks & pretzels
Riley T - glue sticks, pretzels, fruities & animal crackers

Safari Fun in B-7!

Wow! I can't believe this is the LAST week of our first Reading Unit! Our last story is called Animal Park. It is one of my favorite stories, as we do a lot of research on African animals with some cool projects! Be sure to practice your spelling words this week on SpellingCity, too.
Here are some upcoming happenings in B-7...
Next week, we will be taking our Unit 1 test. Please review the following skills with your child:

• short vowel - a, e, i, o, & u
• beginning blends - sl, st, pr, dr, cr, tr, sm
• ending blends - mp, st, nt
• sentences - telling, question, capitals, periods
• words to read from each story (High frequency words)

We will be having a batty & spider filled time next week as well... full of tricks, treats, and tremendous fun!
Stay tuned for updates on our Halloween celebration next Friday.

Happy Columbus Day!

Today B-7 students had a busy day. :) We were super excited to see Mr. Williams and Mr. Smyton in our classroom installing our projector to the ceiling. No more cart! Yay!
Today we talked about Christopher Columbus and made a picture showing his three boats, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. We also sang a song about Columbus... check it out on our website.

This week, our skill is short /e/ and we'll be talking about consonant blends. The Spelling words are posted on the website, and you can play at SpellingCity too.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Autumn Leaf Festival weekend! This week, we will be reading the story A Fox and a Kit in our Readers. The skill this week is inflected endings (-s). To practice this weeks spelling words at SpellingCity.com, click here.

Thank you to everyone who returned Book Orders this month. The next book order will go out in early November. The Pizza Hut Book-It program will begin this month. Look for information to be sent home this week. Your child will have a set number of books to read each month. The Readers are not included in this number.

A look ahead...

• Picture Day -- October 12th at 9:30am

• Parent conferences are coming up November 9, 10, & 11th. I will be unavailable to conference on November 10th (Wednesday). If you have a time that works best for you on the 9th or 11th, please send me an email and I will do my best to accommodate you. If those days will not work for you, we can schedule at another time.

Thanks!

Spelling & Reading

Hello! Because of the four-day week, our spelling test will be on Thursday. Please be sure to practice! Here is the link for Spelling City with this weeks words. Also, I will be sending the Reading books home for the long weekend. Please have your child practice the three stories we've read so far; Sam Come Back!, Pig in a Wig, and The Big Blue Ox.

Huge sighs...

We had a spectacular apple-activity filled day in room B-7 on Friday. We used our five senses to look at apples, touch, taste, and smell apples, and hear the sound an apple makes when we bite into it... CRUNCH! We even measured ingredients and made our own applesauce! Yummy! And, of course, we discussed Johnny Appleseed and made a special pot hat too.

I took a load of pictures... and unfortunately, my SD card for my camera 'died' on me. When I realized this on Saturday evening, my stomach dropped. I couldn't wait till Monday to have Mr. Smyton try to recover my files. Today, Mr. Smyton was able to recover only five pictures... imagine my disappointment! Luckily, I had the group shot from Friday's newsletter, so I will post our apple-filled day on the class website soon with what we recovered.

That's technology for ya! ;)

~ Johnny Appleseed ~

What a busy day we had in our classroom on Friday! We learned about apples... and Johnny Appleseed. Look for pictures & more on the class website soon. :)

** On a side note... if for some reason you are unable to view content on our class website, it most likely means that your computer needs a java or adobe update.... Let me know if you are having trouble!

Little Red Hens in B-7...

I have posted the video of our version of The Little Red Hen on the class website. We listened to different versions of the story, and decided that we really liked The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. We decided to write and model our story from this book, with the hen making chocolate chip cookies. We sat on the carpet, and together wrote the story script on the easel. Students volunteered for parts, and we recorded in front of the green screen with our Flip Mino class camcorder. We had so much fun! I loved hearing the students read with expression, showing their personalities through their parts. We hope you enjoy our video!

Spelling Games

Here is a direct link to the Spelling Word list for week 2 on Spelling City.com. The words are already added... just click on Test Me, Teach Me, or Play a Game to begin!

Floating Heads!?

Today I introduced the students to "green screen" movie making. We began writing our script for our version of the story The Little Red Hen. Each student will have a part in the final video. I hung our classroom "green screen" up and explained to students that when we record in front of the screen, the background will be whatever we want it to be in the final video. I showed the class an example of a video from previous years. They thought the background change was pretty cool!

One thing I had to explain was the idea of "floating heads". There were a few students wearing green today. I explained to the class, that if you are wearing green, and we replace the background with a picture, everything that is green becomes the background. So... if you are wearing a green shirt, your shirt becomes the background, and your head looks like it's floating in the air! Of course, they thought this sounded pretty neat! :)

We will continue recording our video over the next couple of days. It's always exciting to see student personalities 'come alive' in front of the green screen.

Puppies & Pigs

We've had a busy couple of days in room B-7. Yesterday we read Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion and did a modeled writing where the students wrote a trick they would like to teach a dog. We also heard the story No Roses for Harry. We discussed dogs, and how responsible owners take care of their pets. One of our "amazing words" in this reading unit is responsibility.

Today we heard many different versions of the classic tale, The Three Little Pigs. We used a Venn Diagram to compare/contrast the original tale with The Three Little Javelinas, by Susan Lowell. We also heard The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. The students really enjoyed this twist on the story... he wasn't called the "big bad pig" for nothing!

Tonight, your child may be bringing home a Decodable Reader, Fix It! or the story If Dogs Ruled the World. They are also bringing home an optional small reader which is yet another twist on The Three Little Pigs story. This optional read, if signed, can be brought back tomorrow for a small 'prize' box item.

Have a great night!

Lost Pets & Laptops

Today B-7 had the opportunity to use the PC Netbook mobile lab. They did such a wonderful job! Yesterday, the students wrote a lost pet ad in their "marble books" (aka journals) They also illustrated their writing. We used a cool website called fodey.com to generate our own lost pet ads. I'll be posting pictures and student work soon on the website.

If you haven't seen our class blog yet, be sure to check it out. I've added the link to the left sidebar of the class website. Also, feel free to add a comment to the students' posts. Mrs. Abernethy's "Creative Cougars", a fifth grade class from East Elementary, in Greenville, PA has added comments to our blog. We will also be learning about pets from her class... they have many classroom pets!

If you do not see your child's blog posted yet... be patient! Three students have been working each day to get their blog going. (During morning seatwork time & down-time throughout the day) Also, please keep in mind that these blog entries are unedited. :)
This blog will show growth in your child's writing. We've been learning and talking about sentences all week. We are slowly beginning to develop our writing.

Homework

Tonight your child will be bringing home a Decodable Reader called The Pack, with the phonics skill of final -ck. Please listen to your child read this. :) Feel free to make comments of both praise and/or concern on the Reader to let me know how your child did. We re-read them the next day during small group instruction.
Tomorrow, your child will be bringing home their Reader for the first time. The Reader will be sent home each week on Wednesday night and again on Thursday night. On Friday, we will have our first Spelling test. Be sure to practice your words!

Today we did review of ten frames on the Smartboard with an online Math activity. You can visit the website here, and play at home too. There are many more math resources located on the left sidebar of the website under Student Activities.

Ms. B

Happy Monday!

Today we began our Reading instruction. We took our first Spelling 'pre-test' and read Tap, Tap, Tap! for our Decodable Reader. Your child will be bringing this booklet home tonight for homework. Encourage him/her to read it at least three times for fluency. We will be reading the booklets together in small groups tomorrow, and your child's book will be 'stickered' and sent back home. Please keep these Decodable Readers for practice at home. They provide a great way to practice fluent reading.

B-7 students have also been introduced to their class blog, http://kidblog.org/B-7Bobcats/. This year, we will use this blog to share thoughts about a topic relating to our Reading unit. Students will discuss a topic or ask questions about something that may interest them during the unit. The first topic for our blog is "PETS". Watch for new posts from the students, and feel free to add comments! Students love to see their work published for an authentic audience... and seeing a comment really builds excitement for writing!

We will also be collaborating this year with a first grade class from Morning Sun Elementary, in Iowa via our class blog and will use Skype to videoconference. Your child will have a "pen-pal" from this first grade classroom throughout the year. What a great way to learn about another part of the United States!

Reading Series

Tomorrow we will be starting into the Reading Series. I have already posted the weeks Spelling Words on the website. We will be working on short /a/, final /ck/ and will be reviewing the words, in, on, & way.
If you'd like to practice your spelling words using Spelling City, click here. There is also a picture link on the bottom left sidebar of the class wiki.

Ms. B

MATH Homework

Today we worked on making 6 in Math. Your child will be bringing home a worksheet for making 7 that is similar to the one done in class today. Please encourage your child to double check their work for silly counting errors. We had many today in class. :)

Parent Orientation

Thank you for those who were able to attend parent orientation last night. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me or add a comment to this post. To learn more about our first grade Language Arts or Math curriculum, click on the links.

Please be sure to review the forty high frequency words that your child should know from Kindergarten. Knowledge of these words is essential for success in reading.
* Words to Know 1-20
* Words to Know 21-40

We have been reviewing word families since school began. If you see these words come home, please review them with your child. On Monday, we will be starting our Reading Series. :)

I'm looking forward to a great year in 1st grade!

Thank you!
Ms. B