Week 4 in Review

We learned this week that our gym isn't just used for class with Mr. Olack. We made two 'surprise' trips to the gym this week. One was to have our pictures taken (We are one good-looking group!) and the other was for a school-wide assembly. You may recognize the man in the picture because that is our very own, Ella's dad! He and Ella's mom put on a wonderful assembly with the help of some awesome Loon Lakers! We learned all about what to do if someone is bullying us and had a great time too. Ask us about it!
Mrs. Doran finished another chapter book she was reading to us! (We love chapter books and hope you will read them to us at home too!) She has so far read two Magic Tree House books and one Junie B. Jones book. She will be introducing us to different series of books and if we like them, perhaps they are something you can read to us. Check out your local library or order some from our book orders (which are due on October 15th). When she reads to us we build comprehension skills to help us understand stories. Last week we learned to check for understanding. This week we learned the importance of making connections with what we read to our own lives.

After our reading lesson and 'Read to Self' time (We have read for 13 uninterrupted minutes so far!), some of us shared connections that we made while reading our own books! There is a lot that goes into reading. We will continue to add new strategies to our Reading CAFE menu throughout the year!

Did you know that every morning someone shares a little bit about himself/herself using a "Me-Box"? When they are done, we make a book page for that person. We have been practicing drawing detail (which will help us in our writer's notebook) and using only one capital at the beginning of any name (Except Mrs. Doran- she told us we need to use a capital M and a capital D). Soon everyone will get their very own book of friends to read!

We have also had fun with phonics this week. We matched beginning sounds and looked for patterns. You will also see some fun 'ladder work' coming home in our Everyday Folders. We learned a new song about "May", but Mrs. Doran forgot to tape us singing it... perhaps she will have to add it to next week's videos. She has said she needs more hours in the day with us and we all agreed that we would be just fine with that. Some of us were suggesting we have a sleepover and order pizza. We thought it would be fun but some of us were concerned when there was talk of doing it today because we already had plans. We sure seem to love school!

We play a lot of games during math to help us build our skills. We practice using Hundreds Charts and Number Lines. They are great tools to help us find out what comes 'after' a number and what comes 'before'. We also took a quick quiz with Mrs. Doran to show what we know. Those papers will be coming home next week with the journal pages we did from our first unit of study.

There are many things that we can do at home to build our understanding of numbers. Ask us questions when we're in the car. "What comes after 19?" "What comes before 7?" You can also count with us by 2s, 5s and 10s and see how high we can get. If you find we can count really well, see if we can do it backwards! Another fun game we learned this week helped us find numbers that add up to 10. You put out 10 pennies (or counters) and pick up some in your hand. By the pennies remaining, you should be able to tell how many pennies are in your hand. Do you know how many pennies are in Mrs. Doran's hand?

Our behavior chart is now in full swing! Mrs. Doran handed out little calendars for us to color and each day we 'stay green' we get a sticker. It is ok if we aren't always 'green' because we are human and mistakes are wonderful things that help us learn. If we get a red X though, you will get a note home. It is a good idea to talk to us about the X and encourage us to do better. If we start getting a lot of Xs, we may have to meet with you and Mrs. Doran. So far, most of us have managed to stay away from those Xs! The calendar will come home at the end of the month so you can see how we did!

The best part of the week was when Mrs. Doran let us pick a prize from her prize bucket. She and her daughter went out and bought things they thought we would like! Each time we get five stickers on our calendar, we get a prize. But we learned that sometimes Mrs. Doran just thinks that we had a great day and giving makes her feel good (We think that is pretty great too)! If you would ever like to donate items to the prize bucket, that would be great. Mrs. Doran assured us that the prizes won't run out though many of us were very concerned about this. We asked her what would happen if she ran out of money and couldn't buy us more prizes. She told us, she'd just have to get another job and because she loves us, we know she would if she had to!

And finally, on Monday we will begin our homework. Schedules are hectic and so First Grade Teachers at our building send all the work home on Monday and expect it back the following Monday. We are so excited to get homework, but there is something that we need to ask you to do... (click on the video to see what we need...)

We hope you can help us, and we know you can! You are an amazing influence in our lives and what you do has a tremendous, life-long impact! Thank you for being amazing parents, our first and on-going teachers and always doing your best to help us!