Peek at the Week of January 30-February 3

• We are very excited to find out the groundhog's weather prediction about winter.
• Sports Day:  This Friday is "Sports Jersey Day".  So get into the Superbowl spirit and wear your favorite sports gear.
• Reading Workshop:  We will continue our non-fiction unit of study.  This week we will do an author study on Gail Gibbons' books.  She is a writer who has published many non-fiction books.
• Writing Workshop:  Monday will be "D Day"  (aka Decsion Day).  Each child will select their best/favorite "How To' book to publish.  The selected topic will then be revised (add on to make it even better), edited (checking for full sentences/capitalization/ending punctuation) and then published (full color illustrations and our BEST handwriting).

Homework
Monday 1/30
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Winter Word Work

Tuesday 1/31
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Groundhog Math

Wednesday 2/1
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Writing:  What's the Weather?  (at least 3 sentences)

Thursday 2/2
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Study for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

Highlights of the Week January 27

• We had a marshmallow chopstick challenge.  (JN)
• It was a chopstick challenge for Chinese New Year.  (CC)
• We saw Chinese dancers in the Common Room.  Some of the dancers did Martial Arts kicks.  (KB)
• Some people got to learn how to do the rainbow dance using silk ribbons.  (AP)
• We made dragon puppets.  (MF)
• We played a game called Dragon's Tail.  The first person in line tries to catch the last person in line.  (MF)
•  There are 12 animals in the Chinese New Year.  This year is the year of the dragon.  (ES)
• The kids in our class were born in the year of the monkey, rooster and dog.  Miss D. is a rat.  (class)
• We got to take home our own chopsticks to practice eating with.  (MF)
• For 2 days, we did the "Math Olympics".  All the first graders in Darien are doing this for the halfway mark of first grade.  (BS)
• Miss D. was the gym teacher for gym because Mr. B. was absent.  (KD)
• In gym we couldn't play with any balls because we didn't have the key to the closet.  So Miss D.  made up her own games that didn't need any equipment.  (MF)
• We started a new movie called "Parent Trap".  It's the old-fashioned movie from when Miss D. was a kid.  (SS)
• We finished all the Judy Blume books about Fudge.  (MK)
• We started reading "Mr. Popper's Penguins".  (EC)
• The book is different from the movie.  (Miss D.)
• Mr. Popper loves to read about the North and South poles.  He is a house painter.  (CH) 

• He wants to go on exploring trip to the poles.  (AP)
• My mom came in for my birthday on Monday.  (CH)
• In art some people are finishing up other projects and other people are working on free art because we are ahead of the other classes.  It is fun to make your own projects.  (KN)
• Mrs. S. is going to be absent for a while.  We met her sub named Miss E.  (BS)
• Miss D. is going to pick 4 kids to make 'Cheer Up' packages to send to Mrs. S. every week.  (MF)
• Some people got books from Scholastic news.  (AP)

Peek at the Week of January 23-27

"Gung Hey Fat Choy!"  That is Chinese for Happy New Year.  The Chinese New Year begins on January 23rd.  We will have some fun learning about this holiday.

On Thursday we will attend a Chinese Dance show in the Common Room.  This cultural program is sponsored by the PTO.  It should be a lot of fun!

We continue to read and learn about the non-fiction genre during Reading Workshop.  We have started working with a reading partner.  A reading partner is a classmate who we 'check in' with during workshop time.  Since we are reading non-fiction, we have been sharing a fact or two we learned from our reading.

 In Writing Workshop we continue with our 'How To' writing.  We are learning so much from each other!  The home videos have served as wonderful inspiration!

Homework
Monday 1/23
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Winter Word Work

Tuesday 1/24
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes.
2.  Chinese Zodiak

Wednesday 1/25
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Math:  Panda Growth Graph

Thursday 1/26
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Review for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

Computer Zone

Let's play some fun winter games on a Kid's Heart. 

Highlights of the Week January 20

• Today we are going to have Game Day.  (RH)
• Some moms are coming in to run the games.  (BB)
• There are 6 moms coming in.  (MF)
• I was a good captain this week.  (BS)
• This week BS was the captain.  Next week ES will be the captain. (RH)
• We had a bonus Mystery Reader yesterday.  (SS)
• The Mystery Reader was BS's mom.  (MF)
• We wrote about our favorite Fudge moments.  They are hanging on the hallway bulletin board.  (BB)
• BS brought in a DVD about Medivel Times.   (EC)
• In gym we had a pacer running test.  We made a new rule: If you are tired you can wave your hand and catch your breath.  (MF)
• We could run 50 laps.  (KB)
• The second time on the pacer test, if you do not make it to the other side, your challenge is over.  (BS)
• In gym we shot hoops.  We kept switching baskets and they kept getting higher.  (JN)
• CH will have a birthday this weekend.  (Miss D.)

Fairy Tales Summer Class

I will be teaching a Fairy Tale class this summer at Darien Summer School.  I'm offering this class from 8:30-10:30 and from 10:30-12:30.  It's for students who will be entering grades 1-3 in the upcoming school year.  Please pass this information along if you know any families who might be interested.  Details are on the Darien Summer School website.  Registration will begin next Monday, January 24th.

Peek at the Week of January 16-20

There is no school on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King. 

We had a great visit from Ioa from the Darien Nature Center last week.  It was a great way for us to see how animals move.

Reading Workshop:  We will continue to read and learn about non-fiction books. 

Writing Workshop:  We will continue to write "How To" booklets, posters and books.  So many of us have expertise in many areas!

Math:  We will be starting Unit 6m ("Place Value:  Numbers 1 to 100).  This week's topics are:  Working with Ordinal Numbers, Working with Multiples of 10, Adding Multiples of 10 and Describing a Number as Tens and Ones.

Social Studies:  We will learn about MLK and his place in the history of our country. 

Homework
Monday 1/16
No school

Tuesday 1/17
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Winter Word Work

Wednesday 1/18
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  We Can Get Along

Thursday 1/19
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Review words for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

Computer Zone

Let's visit Squiggly's Playhouse for some fun winter-themed games!

• Five K kids came to read their pattern books to our class.  (AP)
• We learned about how animals move.  The Darien Nature Center brought a rabbit, a snake, a tarantula, a turtle and a dove for us to observe.  (RH)
• The scientist let us touch all the animals except for the tarantula.  (CC)
• The turtle's name was Billy and there is a kid named Billy in our class. (MF)
• Mr. Allen said we are doing a play called "The Barnyard Moo-sical".  (EC)
• Our class might be chickens in the show.  (CC)
• We are going to dress up as characters and put on a show for our parents.  (MF)

Book Order Reminder

If you are planning on ordering from the Scholastic Book Order, please do so tonight. 

I will be placing the order by this Friday. 

Our class code for online ordering is:  HHD6Y.

How To Videos

We had a lot of fun today in Writing Workshop.  We watched 3 videos:  How to Bathe a Dog by KN, How to Make Scrambled Eggs by AP, and How to do a Front Punch by MK.  

Yesterday we watched some other videos:  How to Get Dressed for Hockey by BB and How to Swing a Bat by BS and How to Play Dodgeball by MF.  

Keep those videos coming!

How To Eat an Oreo

Today we worked with Oreo cookies.  We took a survey to see how we eat our cookies.Here are the results:

• Twist and Scrape= 12
• Dip and Bite= 3
• Just Bite It= 3
• Twist and Scrape and Lick= 1

Peek at the Week of January 9-13

Reading Workshop:  We are doing a unit of study on Non-fiction.  This week we will be learning about the text features found in many non-fiction books.  We will learn about reading charts and graphs.  We will also learn how to "read" a photo (using captions and labels to gain more understanding).

Writing Workshop:  We are in our second week of our "How To" unit of study.  Last week we viewed some short videos made by some of my former students.  We also watched an awesome video made by BS called "How to Hit a Baseball".  We are looking forward to seeing more videos which will serve as inspiration to our own writing.  This week we will write some how to booklets on "How to Blow Bubbles" and "How to Eat an Oreo". 

Math:  We will complete Unit 5 this week.  Our topics are:Writing Related Subtraction Facts, Writing Families of Facts, Solving Story Problems, and Analyzing & Comparing Data.

Science:  We are reading about animals during our Independent Reading time.  This week we will also attend a great program put on by the Darien Nature Center. An educator from the DNC will be bringing several animals to Ox Ridge.  We will have the opportunity to be scientists and observe how different animals move and to also learn about how their bodies are designed to help them to move.

There is no school next Monday, January 16th in honor of Martin Luther King.

Homework
Monday 1/9
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Winter Word Work

Tuesday 1/10
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Reading:  Bear Facts (read facts and decide on a title)

Wednesday 1/11
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Math:  Math Mistakes

Thursday 1/12
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Review for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

How to Video

eHow is a great site that has many videos showing you how to do a lot of things.  At school we watched "How to Make Nachos" and "How to Juggle".  There are so many things to look up and learn about on this site.

Highlights of the Week January 6

• We started writing How To books.  (CH)
• For Word Work we made up new groups.  The new group names are:  Cinco Muchachos, Hootie All Stars, Wizards of Words, Angry Birds, and Heart of the Champions. (BS)
• In gym we threw a ball at a bowling pin for target practice.  (RH)
• We made a book about how to set a table.  (EC)
• We made a book about how to make a pizza.  (CH)
• This week BS made a how to video.  He showed us how to swing for a perfect hit in baseball.  (CC)
• I was the captain.  (AP)
• AP was the first captain of 2012.  (MF)
• Miss Dineen showed us how to videos that some of last years first graders made.  (MF)
• This afternoon we will watch a How To video called "Drawing with Uncle Fred".  This video was given to us by Mrs. Middlestadt.  It is from when she was a little kid.  (JN & Miss D.)
• In art we finished our leaf pictures.  (KN)
•  We also finished our snowmen.  (MF)
• We are going to have a Mystery Reader in 1 hour.  (AP)
• TP will be the captain next week.  (RH)
• After everyone has their first turn being captain, we will go back to #1.  The captains will do the math warm-up on their second turn.  (MF)
• We need to make a new winter bulletin board to decorate the hallway.  (CC)
• We got a new flag for January.  It has 3 penguins.  (MF)
• We changed seats for the new month.  (AM)

Peek at the Week of January 2-6

Welcome back from break!  I hope everyone had a great holiday season.   

We will be getting back to business-as-usual here in first grade.  

I'll give a full update of subjects in next week's  "Peek".

Homework

Tuesday 1/3

1.  Read for at least 10 minutes

2.  Winter Word Work

Wednesday 1/4

1.  Read for at least 10 minutes

2.  Writing:  "How to Play_______"

Thursday 1/5

1.  Read for at least 10 minutesd

2.  Review words for tomorrow's test

Have a great week!

Happy New Year!

I wanted to wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year...2012 is going to be a great year!  See you on Tuesday, January 3rd.