Frogs, Frogs, Frogs!!!!

The students have definitely been busy with publishing stories. What a class of authors!

Taylor wrote about frogs.

Kolten reads about frogs. Did you know that frogs like to lick? Well, that's according to Kolten.

Lauren also wrote a story about frogs.

Daisy tells story about frogs.

Alyssa also wrote a story about frogs. Are frogs really cute?

Daisy has been extremely busy these past few weeks publishing stories.

Her first story is "Playing Around Everything."

Daisy continues with another story titled "Animals."

Elizabeth reads about animals in her story "Animals All Around."




Mateo tells about animals in "Animals in Seasons."

Javan reads about animals in "Animals in the Seasons."

Alexa tells about animals in "Alexa's Animals."

Taegan reads his story "Animals in Fall."



Alyssa reads about animals in her story "Animals in Seasons."

Today our guest teacher from Montana State University--Billings, Miss McMillan, read the story The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything. We made scarecrows and performed a little play.

One pair of boots go, clomp, clomp!
One shirt goes, shake, shake!
One pair of pants go, wiggle, wiggle!
One pair of gloves go, clap, clap!
One hat goes, nod, nod!
One very scary pumpkin head goes, BOO! BOO!
And scares all the crows away!

My Walk-2-Read Group 2 practiced and performed a reader's theatre for A Day at the Pumpkin Patch this week. Students from Mrs. Fleming's room: Daisy--crow, Javan--scarecrow; Mrs. Perius' room: Brianna--sprout 2 & 3, Zander--pumpkin; Mrs. Martinez-Brink's room: Hunter--sprout 1

Final Days

I promised many of the kiddos that I would make one last update to the blog for the summer. We had a very busy week with field trips and fun activities.

Selena was student of the month for May. She has worked so hard this year. I am so proud of her. There is no picture of Selena with Andy because we got the days mixed up and we were at the park for our 1st grade picnic.

We did our Frog and Toad Readers' Theaters. What Fun! I can't believe how much all the kiddos grew in their reading fluency and expression. They have all worked hard on reading this school year.

We had a few authors left that worked hard to get their final books published.

The last few are Jazer, Shaina, and Kenzie.

Jazer reads his story about his dog who is a hero.

Shaina's story is about her kitten.


Kenzie writes about her favorite dog, Briggs.

I will miss all the fun times I had with my class this school year. I can't believe they are all big 2nd Graders now.

Come back and visit!

Last week, our class started learning about the rain forest. We are learning about the different layers and which plants and animals grow in each layer. Jared's mom, Jessica was a super class helper by coming in and helping us with our rain forest mural. We feel like we are in the middle of the rain forest in our classroom. Today we built a diorama of the rain forest. The students should be able to tell you the layers and what the animals are.

We are learning some new vocabulary this week and next. Our six new words are: precious, transform, cautiously, adventure, envy, and fond. Try and use them and see if your child can catch you. The students get to mark a tally for each time they catch someone using the word or they use it.

The school year is coming to a close very quickly, but we keep working up to the very end. We still have a lot to learn and a lot to do to get ready for 2nd grade. Continue helping your child with extra sheets and corrections at home. I appreciate the extra support you give them at home.

Today we had 4 new authors. Take a moment to check out their stories.

Kenzie tells us about her puppy.

Jazer writes about a cat named Tuffy.

Samantha writes about a puppy that she hopes she can get one day.

Malachy tells about his favorite baby animal.

March Author Chairs and Student of the Month

Diago was the Student of the Month for March. He has been working so hard at finishing all tasks and has been focused at getting ready for 2nd Grade. Andy came to congratulate him. We all think he's an Awesome 1st Grader--Can we get an Oh Yah? Here we go: 1, 2, 3...Oh, Yah!

Kenzie writes about how to make her favorite sandwich: A Mayonnaise and Cheese Supreme.

Caleb tells us about his friend Sean.


Rylee tells a story titled, My Family.


Samantha writes a story about her family get-together.

Sean writes about the playground.


Shaina tells a story titled, My Family.


Caleb writes another story. This one is about a get together.

More February Author's Chairs

Kenzie writes about her friend.


Colin reads to us about animals.


Diago tells us a story titled: My Friends


Jazer writes and tells us a story about what he likes.


Mackayla reads a story about Animals All Around.


Samantha reads her story titled: Animals, Animals!


Stevie reads his story: What I Like.



Jazer reads another story: Animals, Animals!

1st Grade Spring Music Concert

Spring Music Concert

O.K. So I know I've been a little behind. I have many author's chair videos to post and I will work on those over the next few days.
It was good to see all of the parents this morning at our 1st Grade Spring Music Concert. The students have been working so hard all year long with Mrs. McQuillan. She has done a wonderful job teaching all the students to play the boom whackers and learn about their singing voices. I love the songs they sing and always catch myself singing along during music time.
I hope you were able to make it. If not, I took a few pictures of the 1st grades and made a little slide show.


I also want to thank Diago's mom, Kim for coming into our room and sharing "learning landscapes" with our class. The students were able to design a dream playground. The students worked together in groups and came up with a theme for the "learning landscape." The students had a blast coming up with very creative ideas for their ideal school yard. Today Kim presented our class with a poster that showcased our work. She was able to send a copy for me to post on our blog. Thanks Kim!

I hope to visit with all the parents next week during Parent-Teacher Conferences. Don't forget the kiddos are out of school at 12:00 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Check back soon for the author's chair videos.

Word Painting and More

This week and last, we have been working on six new text-talk words. We read the story, The Principal's New Clothes and learned drafty, delicate, imposter, rave, trickster and genuine. Try to use these words and see if your child can catch you using them.

Our class has also been busy learning about word painting. We have been using musical concepts to develop oral and reading fluency. We are creating original poems and chants to develop this fluency. Last week, we were learning about groundhogs. The children brainstormed many words that had to do with groundhogs. They came up with a wonderful poem: Groundhog's Day.

The students did a little performance just for you!

Groundhog's Day

Groundhog, groundhog, furry and brown
Sleeping, sleeping, in the ground
Shadow, shadow, will he see?
Oh No! Six More Weeks!

This week, the students came up with another poem for Valentine's Day.

Hearts

Loving hearts, caring hearts,
Sugar hearts, candy hearts,
Chocolate hearts, sweet hearts.
It Valentine's Day!

The kiddos will be making their own poems using the conversation heart candies this week. Some of the students have already come up with the ending to their poem. Now, we just have to get the beginning!

On Monday, Kenzie was named our new student of the Month for January by Andy the Armadillo from Texas Roadhouse. Our class is so proud of you Kenzie!

Sean shared a book that he wrote about Animals at the Zoo on Friday.

100's Day and Groundhog's Day

Today was 100's Day and Groundhog's Day! We had a very busy day making 100 cheerio necklaces, sorting 100 buttons in different ways, grouping our collections by 2's, 5,s, 10's, 25's, 50's, and 100's, and making a fun book about Mr. Wolf's Chicken Stew.

Thank you for sending in 100 items with your child for today's activities.

We have started a new program in our classroom called Text Talk. Every two weeks, we will read a new story and learn six new vocabulary words. All the children are encouraged to use these words in their everyday conversations. We tally each time a student uses one of the new words. Don't be alarmed when your children are telling you that they are craving their favorite meal and that it is the most scrumptious meal they have ever eaten. They may even tell you that they are being devious by making a scheme to stay up late.

I will try to post the new words every other week--check back and see what they are and see if you can have your child catch you using them!

On January 23, we had some more authors--boy are the kids keeping me busy publishing!

Jared tells us about animals at the zoo.



Diago also tells us about animals.



Quincy sees many animals, too!



We also had a Mystery Reader. Sean's mother, Melissa, surprised us with a great book with lots a rhyme. The kids enjoyed the visit--she even brought them a special treat--Raisins!

Still Catching Up!

On Friday December 12, Nanette came in and surprised our class with the story "A Christmas Carol." Nanette is a family friend of Kenzie's. Kenzie was so surprised to have another mystery reader come in that she knew. Remember, our class is always the new mystery reader to be you--so sign up today!

Jared was our student of the month for December. He tried his best on every assignment and is always kind to his neighbors. Way to go Jared!

Our class had some new author's over the past few weeks. We have had eight students share their stories. I will post some now and some later this weekend so check back soon!

Colin tells us about what he likes.

Samantha tells about the animals that she sees.

Rylee tells us about animals.

Kenzie tells about animals that she sees.

Catching Up!

I hope that everyone had a nice Christmas and is enjoying the new year. Thank you for being patient with me getting the latest activities and news posted to our blog. I was without a computer that would read the flip videos and when I could get a flip video to post, it would take over an hour. I now have a new computer that will read the videos, allow me to edit them, share them with the class, and it will post the videos to our blog in no time at all. In the midst of everything going on, my family bought a new home and moved. Things have been crazy and I have been on autopilot. I am looking forward to settling in to my new home and getting everything back on track.

I have a lot of catching up to do. Our room has been very busy with 2 new students of the month, Mystery Readers, and many up and coming authors.

Where to begin...

Our Student of the Month for November was Jazer. Jazer worked extremely hard at his handwriting and being a good citizen. I am so proud of his efforts! Way to go Jazer!

Our authors on Friday, December 12 were Jared and Rylee. Let's give them a round of applause. They wrote and illustrated a story about what they like.