What We Did Today!
Our most recent entry appears at the top.
Wednesday3-19-08
We continued our Writing Fair projects today as we worked to be ready for school judging on April 1st. We'll post more of our stories, poems, and essays next week. Click here for a little sample of FIRST GRADE FREE VERSE POETRY. We also completed a few academic papers today, including reading comprehension, multi-digit addition, fractions, and graphs. Mrs. Adams also helped the students finish pastel Easter Egg pictures for the hall bulletin board.
We thank you all for the many Easter Egg Hunt contributions! Our class hunt will be early Thursday morning... We're still completing some assessments for Progress Reports.
I appreciate your patience in this regard. We did send recent "Star Reading" results...and
we'll send the complete progress report cards when students return after Easter Vacation.
THANK YOU!
Tuesday 3-18-08
Finishing our story book illustrations highlighted today's activities. Most students completed or nearly completed this project by the afternoon... We'll complete our "dedications,"
title pages, and covers tomorrow! We also reviewed for the List 29 Spelling test today,
completed a reading assignment, and practiced addition facts. We've started our "Speed
Champ" tests with a class goal of every student gaining mastery of addition and subtraction
facts. We study in class for these timed quizzes, but our most successful students also
practice flash cards at home and play oral math games during car trips with their families.
Monday 3-17-08 It might take a moment for the scrolling photos above to load!
We celebrated St. Patrick's Day by cooking Irish Potato Stew with Mrs.Adams! Most of us
liked the hot afternoon snack...and some had seconds. We also studied our new spelling list today, read AR books, and enjoyed listening to Mrs. Adams read about St. Patrick! We're
working hard to finish illustrations for our Book Fair stories...and we liked today's snow
flurries and Irish music as we worked!
Friday 3-7-08
Another birthday today! Now we have SEVEN seven-year-olds...and TEN six-year-olds
waiting for a spring or summer birthday. We celebrated today with great party food,
show-and-tell, and class games. We're planning another "game day" next week when we'll FINALLY play Trent's Christmas gift to the class...JUMPIN' MONKEYS. Today, we also
worked on some writing for the upcoming Writing Fair...and completed some academic assignments begun earlier this week. A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE SNACK CONTRIBUTIONS THIS WEEK...ESPECIALLY FROM THE "BIRTHDAY FAMILIES!"
THANKS, ALSO, FOR READING EACH NIGHT WITH YOUR 1st GRADER!
Thursday 3-6-08
Students completed important math tests today. We're learning more about multi-digit
addition and subtraction, fractions, time on the "face clock," and money. Yesterday's
great spelling performance allowed us a little time to play a few rounds of checkers as
we finished classwork! We also gave a little attention to our class snake and spiders.
Wednesday 3-5-08
We celebrated a birthday today! The party included time to play a few rounds of checkers,
a popular "cowboy pastime!" Mrs. Adams and eight "student experts" had fun teaching our
nine "beginners" the game! Checkers helps teach strategy, concentration, sportsmanship,
and visual skills...so Mrs. Adams is hoping to incorporate it into the classroom routine often this spring. Mrs. Adams also helped the first graders with their Writing Fair Stories today,
and reviewed spelling words before giving the test on list 27. EVERY student earned a 100...
so NO ONE needs to take the "real test" tomorrow!
Tuesday 3-4-08
Each student wrote at least five good sentences using spelling words today as we practiced for tomorrow's list 27 test. Mrs. Adams also helped us put "finishing touches" on China, Famous Americans, and Cowboy Up! papers... and helped us work on stories for the IRA Young Author's Writing Fair. Although first grade is not officially part of the state mandated achievement testing, Mrs. Monfette did allow us to complete the Star Reading Assessment today in the computer lab. Our tests were given without time limits. As a class, we scored in the 67th percentile at a 2.0 grade equivalent reading level. Individual results will be sent
home in Friday's Book Envelope.
Monday 3-3-08
We had a few students absent today...but most were here to enjoy a snowy Monday. Those
with snowsuits played in the snow during recess...and everyone had a traditional cup of
hot chocolate to celebrate the storm. We practiced our new spelling list twenty-seven with
our student teacher, Mrs. Adams. We also located and spelled the five Great Lakes on our
spelling maps. In math, we're studying time and money, writing our own "word problems,"
and counting by 10's starting with 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Mrs. Adams helped the class work on our
"Cowboy Up!" booklets today...and we finished the movie Seven Alone, the true story of
the Sager Family's 1842 journey on the Oregon Trail. We're trying to finish our latest A.R.
checklist this week! Students read and take tests when finished with regular class work,
and can also take tests before school and during recess. Most books at our reading level offer a five-question test with students earning .5 (half ) point for a 100, .3 for an 80, .2 for a 60. Congratulations to PAYTON for being this year's FIRST 1st grader to reach the 50 Point Club!
Snowy March 2008
Who will be selected by the Republicans?
Who will be selected by the Democrats?
Cooking Irish Potato Stew
On St. Patrick's Day!
.Most recent entry appears at the top...please scroll down for earlier news from this week!
Wednesday 3-11-09
We had eleven 100's on today's spelling test! Other students also did a good job...and they'll have an opportunity to improve grades during the "real" test tomorrow. We worked on double-digit addition and subtraction problems today...and completed our Abraham Lincoln Booklets. Congratulations to Sidney for becoming our first "75-Point Club" member in the Accelerated Reading Program! Our class has now earned over 400 points in the AR program...and we've independently read over 800 books. We enjoyed reading from the AR Bookshelf this afternoon as we sat near the window during the snow fall!
Tuesday 3-10-09
The first graders did a good job listing this week's spelling words in alphabetical order.We also practiced spelling the words in preparation for tomorrow's practice test. In math, we completed word problems and number sentences and reviewed ways of counting by tens. We're also learning to tell time to the exact minute on the classroom "face clock." Several students have finished their story narrations. We plan to start story illustrations next week! A morning highlight was talking by cell phone to a classmate visiting Florida this week. We know where Florida is on the map...and it's an extra credit spelling word on list twenty-seven! A special thanks to Jai for today's healthy snack!
Monday 3-9-09
We had a warm time inside on this snowy, windy day! Students practiced Spelling List 27 by reading and writing the list words as we prepared for Wednesday's practice test. We also discussed and read more about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Some students took AR tests on books they've read about
"Young Abe." In math, we're working on congruency and geoboard concepts, telling time, place value,
and graphs. In language arts, we're trying to identify subjects and predicates...and trying to recognize verbs, nouns, and pronouns. We're also starting our storybooks for the Spring Writing Fair! A special thanks to Jennifer for today's Honey Gram Crackers that made the snowy-day hot chocolate taste great at snack time!
MAY 2009
The first graders did well on the achievement/assessment tests this month! Mrs. Monfette administered the NWEA tests in the computer lab and Mrs. Cook gave the DIBELS test. That was great for me ... because I stayed in the classroom and read with students as they returned from testing! Testing results were sent home with final progress reports. I'm proud that ALL students did well in DIBELS and scored above "projected levels."
Our class NWEA testing showed academic growth greater than the national level. Our academic success is the direct result of our great families! Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, sisters, and brothers are the most important people in a child's education. THANK YOU!
Tuesday 4-28-09
We practiced spelling, writing, and reading today by writing ten good sentences using words from Spelling List 33.
Our work will be on display in the hall this week...and spelling test 100's will be on the classroom bulletin board... so come by and visit if you can! We might not be in the classroom at "regular times" because we're starting the spring reading & math achievement/assessments in the computer lab. Mrs. Monfette is monitoring the tests...and students are able to complete their work privately at their own pace at individual computers. We should be finished with testing by next week. Students are working hard to do well...and I am proud of their efforts.
Monday 4-27-09
Our High School reading buddies joined us this afternoon. We enjoyed reading the project boards we made for Saturday's Otero Country Earth Day Science Fair in Alamogordo. All 15 of our Solar Car projects received compliments from Science Fair judges...and THREE students gained individual honors! In the Kindergarten-thru-2nd Grade Division, Kalani won 1st Place...Jai won 3rd Place...and Haley received an Honorable Mention! If you weren't able to attend the Science Fair, our projects will be on display at school during the Academic & Fine Arts Fiesta on Thursday, May 14th. Click here to see some of our Solar Car Science projects!
There were 67 entries at the Otero County Earth Day Science Fair at Alameda Park Zoo in Alamogordo! Saturday 4-25-09
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