Word Sorts!

New for the week of September 24-28 are word sorts! The whole class will be starting with the same set of pictures/letter sounds for this first sort until everyone understands the routine and types of sorts that we will be doing each day.  Eventually the kids will be getting their own sorts based on the assessment that I've done so everyone will have specifically what they need!  My plan is to keep the same sort for 2 weeks with re-assessing done every second Friday.  Eventually I am hoping to move these sorts over to part of our Daily Five called Work on Words! Each little piece is starting to fall  into place!  I'm excited to see how the kids like their sorts and want to say a HUGE thank you to my home helpers who have been tirelessly cutting and cutting and cutting in preparation for this program!  I will keep you posted!

Our sight words for this week are red, yellow, blue, yes, no and letter sounds reviewed are m, d, g, f and if time short o/u.  The word family focus is {ap}.

Here is a quick glimpse of what's to come in science.  We are learning to extract natural colour from flower petals and then use the colour to paint a drawing of a favourite place.

In Social we have our FNMI liason Candace Bradford coming in to teach the kids about the history and meaning of the colours in the Metis sash that was worn long ago.  This ties both Science and Social curriculum together!

In Math, we continue with Number Sense and will be adding these concepts to our morning desk work books. We are learning what number comes one more or one less than a given number, how to recognize and print number words to 10, and counting and making tallies to 15.

Also, a special thanks to all those who volunteered to walk with us on the Terry Fox Walk on Friday!  The kids were soooo amazing! Everyone was full of energy and smiles, even at the very end!

Super Start-Up Week!

What an amazing first few weeks of grade one! The kids have really risen to the challenge of Daily Five and have blown me away with "Read To Self!"  They are using words and phrases like "independence", "read the whole time," and have learned 3 ways to read a book 1. read the pictures 2. read the words and 3. retell the story!  I LOVE THIS PROGRAM. What better way to become a great reader than to spend more time in the day practising!  Can't wait for the next lesson which is choosing a "Good Fit Book" using the IPICK system:

I-I choose a book
P-purpose-why do I want to read it
I-interest-does it interest me
C-comprehend-am I understanding what I read
K-know- I know most of the words

We are also diving into "Work on Writing" and the first thing the kids will learn is to focus on ideas and underline words they can't spell and keep going. (spelling will be prioritized once they've developed a base of word wall words and phonetic skills).

Amidst all of this, we are also reviewing letter sounds (ck, e, h, and r for this week), introducing 5 more sight words (play, my, here, is , the), and practising 2 word families (at) and (in). Whew!

In Science we are starting a colour unit and Math is number sense/printing 0-10 review.  Social Studies is all about friendships and rules this month and in Health we are learning about Terry Fox including the Terry Fox walk Friday September 21st.  If you would like to walk with the class, please email or send a note. A letter went home Friday with all the details of the walk. Our class buddies up with their Grade 3 (Mrs.Burke) book buddies for the hike to Nicholas Sheran!

That's about it for now! Thanks once more to all who volunteered for the many, many jobs available! You are appreciated!  Check out the pics for a sneak peak of the art project planned for September! Textured Pumpkins from the DeepSpace Sparkle site!

Cafe & Daily Five!!!

We made it back from a fabulous holiday full of boating and eating  some of the most amazing seafood dishes known to man!!! So delicious!!! During my travels I was on the hunt for 2  "teacher" books created by the now famous Two Sisters called The Daily Five & The Cafe.  I think I found the last copy not on back order anywhere in the world. I am sooooooo excited to have tracked down these books and have read them front to back many many times! I cannot wait to get started with some of these ideas in my classroom this year! Could it really be true there is a way to meet the needs of every single child, and to let them have ownership of their learning and STILL HAVE FUN!?!!?!?! I can hardly sleep thinking about the endless possibilities for my kiddos this year!  

Three Of My Favourite Sites For Kids!

Of course there are a ZILLION sites for kids but these 3 are definitely at the top of my list! The first one is starfall.com which is fantastic for kids learning to read and reading practise. There are lots of fun interactive games that the kids love.  Your kiddos my have used it in Kindergarten and will be able to navigate easily. 

My second favourite is storybird.com which really gets the kids writing because they are inspired by gorgeous artwork from zillions of artists. They get to choose their favourite pictures and then add their own text! They choose the layout and publish an actual BOOK they made themselves! You used to not be able to print these stories but now you can which is a really great feature!! You do have to sign up and get a password, etc.. but everything is totally FREE! We have done this in the computer lab and the kids LOVE it!

Last but not least for science and math is studyjams.scholastic.com which is aimed at a slightly older crowd than grade one, but they still have many primary units for our grade ones (plants, animals, ordering numbers, and more!)  I love this site because it has lots of mini movies,games, show me how features and even SONGS to get the point across.  When the little guys see the animated teenagers they are instantly hooked, who doesn't have a big brother, sister,or  cousin to look up to? Hope you have time to check these out with your sweeties!

Pictures from the Coast! Let the sun shine!


 

WOW! What a view!



Hydrangas Everywhere!



Yummy with butter! Can't wait!




Life on "The Highway"

 



























































Welcome to my new blog!

I am super excited to have created this brand new blog and can't wait to post a million things!
This will be the first of many projects and pictures all about the crazy things going on in my Grade One classroom!  Stay tuned as I learn how to manuver in this new blog location!  See you in September and Welcome to Grade One and First Grade Lemonade!  (PS-the name of the blog came from my LOVE of the drink lemonade but I also like to think that I live my life by the philosophy that when life gives you lemons--and let's face it, sometimes it really does--you can truely turn it into the sweetest and most delicious LEMONADE!  My favourite is actually PINK!