Spin the Dreidel!

The first graders have been learning about Holiday Traditions, with one of them being Hanukkah. To wrap up our unit we celebrated with Mrs. Bell's 4th grade class by playing several games of dreidel and making latkes (potato pancakes)! The kids had fun playing dreidel and learned the Hebrew words nun, gimmel, hay and shin. Mrs. Bell and I served up a traditional meal of latkes and applesauce. Overall, the latkes were a hit and fun was had by all! 

Holiday Happenings...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...and the busiest! Sorry that blogging has slipped my mind the past few weeks!! 

There are only 21 days til Christmas and only 17 school days until Holiday Break. We have many fun and instructional activities planned for the month of December! Please note the following dates:

Thurs 12/9 PTO Santa Shop: this will be the ONLY day that our class visits the Santa Shop. If you wish for your child to purchase items, please send money in on this day only. Thank you!

Fri 12/10 Holiday Traditions Music Program 1pm: The first graders will perform many songs about Holiday Traditions and Customs from around the world. You may sign your child out of school following the program. 

Wed 12/15 Canned Food/Toy Drive is over. Please send in canned food and/or a new toy to donate to those less fortunate. We have collected about 30 cans so far! Let's try for 50 or more! 

Fri 12/17 Holiday Craft Party 

Tues 12/21 Holiday Traditions Around the World: students will travel from class to class learning about how other countries celebrate. 

Wed 12/22 Polar Express Day 

What Are We Learning This Week?

Hello! Here is an overview of the curriculum for the week of Nov 8-12. Have a great week!

Language Arts
*Short e
*Double ending consonants (-ell, -ess)
*High Frequency Words: help, said, so, who, now
*Spelling Words: red, bed, fed, tell, well, yell, fell, mess, said, who
* Phonics Story: The Big Mess (reviews high frequency words and decoding skills)
* Main Selection: The Little Red Hen (reviews high frequency words and comprehension skills)
* Writing complete sentences

Math
* Subtraction strategies
* Addition review

Social Studies
* Thanksgiving (history) including Pilgrims and Native Americans.
* Review of mapping skills

Science
* Winter Animals: hibernation, migration, adaptation

Miss Whitley's Class is Going "Batty"!

Bat Day was so much fun! We all participated in activities centered around bats during Language Arts, Math and Science! We learned some cool bat facts and had fun dressing up in our "bat black" outfits! We enjoyed eating a special snack too! Bat cupcakes, carrots and candy corn (bat food!).

Check out some of Miss Whitley's "Batty" Friends!

Bat Math! We learned about subtraction using candy corn as counters!

Bats vs Birds- our Reading class read a book about bats and then made a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the two animals.

More Friendly Followers!

Our blog has more new followers! Thanks, kids!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Our class survived the pumpkin patch! It was very windy and looked like rain, but it held off long enough for us to pick some HUGE pumpkins! The kids had fun on the hayride and saw lots of cool animals at the petting zoo including a buffalo and a zebra! The hay maze and corn box were also a big hit! A big THANK YOU to all the parents who volunteered for the trip to Round Hill Farm! Enjoy the pictures!

Christmas in...October?

Well, Christmas decorations have been spotted in the local Wal-Mart! It's hard to believe, but there are only 60 days til Christmas! I am going to start my planning early! Our class will be having a Holiday Craft/Ornament party when it gets closer to the holidays, but I need parent help to get started. I have made a list of items that we will need to create 6 different crafts. If you are able to donate an item (or two) by November 23, I would be very appreciative! I will be sending home information regarding the party in December so be on the lookout! 

Holiday Wish List Items:

Brown and Green Felt (8x11 size or larger)

Sparkled Pipe Cleaners (any color is fine- silver, gold, blue or purple is preferred if possible)

White and Orange Foam (8x11 sheets or larger)

Sequins (regular or holiday themed)

Sequin Trim (any color)

Rick Rack (any color)

Red Pom Poms (large and small sizes)

Sparkled Pom Poms (any color)

Holiday Ribbon (1 inch or 1 1/2 inch wide)

Assorted buttons (flat on both sides)

Fishing Line

Shatterproof Ball Ornaments (red or gold) *these can be found at Wal-Mart in the holiday section*

Ribbon (the thinnest possible- red, white, green)

I know this is a LONG list but ANY items we receive are MUCH APPRECIATED! As always, thank you for your support!

Pumpkin Pickin'

The first grade field trip to Round Hill Farm has been rescheduled for Tuesday, October 26th.  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately for the farm- long pants, tennis shoes and a jacket or sweatshirt in case the weather is chilly. Your child will need to bring an EMPTY backpack to school since they will be bringing home a pumpkin! Please leave your child's binder at home on Tuesday.

If your child is planning on bringing a lunch from home, please make sure it is in a bag marked with their name. Please no lunchboxes or non-disposable items. If your child is buying a lunch from the school cafeteria, it will be charged to your account.

We are crossing our fingers for sunny weather! If is does rain on Tuesday, this trip WILL NOT be rescheduled. Thanks for your understanding.

What Are We Leaning This Week?

Check out the curriculum for the week of October 18-22!

Language Arts
* Short O words
* - S Plurals (dogs, logs, frogs)
* Antonyms
* Review of nouns and verbs
* Phonics Story: Jog, Frog, Jog (decoding skills, high frequency words)
* Main Selection: Tadpole to Frog (high frequency words, comprehension, author's purpose)
* High Frequency Words: does, he, into, this, water (continue to review the words we have learned from Unit 2:  come, down, away, no, will, all, are, find, make, play, went, walk, did, me, saw, how, many, on, why, they)
* Spelling Words: job, dog, log, jobs, dogs, logs, this, into, rock, frog

Math
*Introducing Subtraction with a number line
* Reviewing Addition with sums 0-12
* Number sense (writing numbers and number words)

Social Studies
* Mapping Skills
* Key Words to know: compass rose, map key, symbols, north, south, east, west

Science
* Pumpkin Life Cycle
* Seasonal Changes

Spelling Test and Comprehension/Vocab test will be on Friday, October 22nd.
End of 9 weeks is October 28th

Check It Out!

I have added a new link on my blog that details my Language Arts curriculum. The link will give parents a better understanding of Guided Reading strategies and a description of literacy centers used in the classroom.  Stay tuned for more posts about Word Study, writing and fluency strategies!

The link is located on the right hand side of this page under the title Reading Is Fun!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Due to the forecast of heavy rain tomorrow, October 14th, the first grade field trip to Round Hill Farm will be postponed. I will let you know as soon as possible if we are able to reschedule. Please send your child prepared for a normal school day (send binder as normal). Since we will be having a regular day, chaperones will not be needed.

If your child ordered a bag lunch from the cafeteria, it will still be available to them for  lunch tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your cooperation and understanding!

What Are We Learning This Week?

Hello! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Below is the curriculum for the week of Oct 11-15th.

Language Arts
* Short i words
* Final /X/ (box, mix, fox, etc...)
* Finding the action part of a sentence (verbs)
* Review the naming part of a sentence (nouns)
* Writing complete sentences using spaces between words and proper puncutation
* Phonics Story: Fish Mix (decoding words and high frequency words)
* Main Selection: How Many Fish? (comprehension, high frequency words)
* High Frequency Words: how, many, on, why, they (students are also repsonsible for reading all words from Unit 1 and the following words from Unit 2: come, down, away, no, will, all, are, find, make, play, went, walk, did, me, saw)
* Spelling Words: fix, mix, six, in, him, did, on, they, fox, box (Spelling test on Friday 10/15)


Math
* Adding numbers 0-10 to find a sum
* Number sense: writing and recognizing numbers 1-30 and number words through ten

Science
*Fall changes
*Pumpkin Life Cycle

Social Studies
* Christopher Columbus
* Mapping Skills

Fabulous Fall Weekend

I hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather is supposed to be lovely and there are lots of fun fall activities going on around Culpeper this weekend! Take some time to enjoy the sunshine, beautiful fall colors and family!

Oct 9-10 Grave's Mountain Farm Apple Festival 10am-4pm

Oct 9 Culpeper Air Festival

Oct 10 Taste of Culpeper at the Depot 12-5pm

My Friendly "Followers"!!

Check out my first grade friends who have joined our blog!! Thanks, kids!!

Books Are Fun!

The Scholastic Book Fair begins tomorrow, October 7th and runs through October 15th. Our class day to visit the book fair is Thursday, October 7th at 110pm. If you wish for your child to purchase books, please send in an envelope marked "Book Fair" in the zippered pouch of your child's binder. The book fair is also open until 7pm on Friday, October 8th if you would like to bring your family!

Since we will be visiting the book fair during our library time, students will not be checking out a new book this week! Hope everyone takes advantage of the great books Scholastic has to offer!!

What are We Learning This Week?

October is here and we can finally feel the fall weather in the air! We will be learning many things this week in all subjects! Below is a outline of our curriculum for the week of October 4-8th. 

Language Arts

* Short i words

* Final sound ck

* Reviewing Short a words 

* Action parts of a sentence (verbs)

* Phonics Story: What Did I See? (builds fluency and decoding skills)

* Main Selection: I Went Walking (predicting, practice high frequency words)

High Frequency Words: did, me, saw, walk, went (students are responsible for reading these words, along with words from the last 2 weeks: all, are, find, make, play, come, down, away, no, will)

Spelling Words: it, sit, hit, sick, pick, kick, saw, went, duck, black (Test on Friday, October 8th)

Math

*Joining groups

*Adding numbers 0-10 to find a sum

Please review writing and recognizing numbers 1-30 and number words with your child at home.

Science

*Seasons

*Signs of Fall 

*Pumpkin life cycle

Have a wonderful week! Don't forget to read, read, read!

Miss Whitley is a Blogger!

Hello! Welcome to my classroom blog. I am new to the world of blogging, so bear with me! I plan to use this blog as a way to keep the line of school and home communication open. I will be updating the blog at least once a week, so please check back often for curriculum updates, homework information, important dates and upcoming events! I will also be posting pictures of the students, kid-friendly websites and much more! 

Please, please "follow" our classroom blog! It's easy to sign up and I would love to hear responses from parents, other teachers and the kids! Hope to hear from you soon! 

~Miss Whitley