O.R.E.O. Day 2011 SUCCESS!

Estimating, Predicting, Counting,  Exploring, Discovering, Hypothesizing, Concluding...

Just a few things we did on...

O.R.E.O. Day 2011!

We began our festivities by asking, "How many cookies are there in a standard package of Nabisco Oreo cookies?"

 Then, we got down to it!
Stacking the cookies!   We asked, "How high can we build a tower of Nabisco Oreo cookies before it tumbles?"

We have some pictures on our website here, but check out these fun vidoes, too!

 

O.R.E.O. Day is Coming!

This Friday, September 30th our Book Buddies will participate in The O.R.E.O. Project 2011!  This is a wonderful on-line project started by a wonderful teacher in California.  Click on the link to the information website for more information!

Math Menu

We began Math Menus this week, and the Firsties loved it.  Now, to work on the noise level!  Enjoy these pics of the '5 Tower Game' and 'Stars' (Math Solutions).  To get us started, we found our Math Buddy and partnered up to choose any activity.  This next week, the Firsties will be held responsible for getting all of the activities done. 

Spelling

So, last Friday was our first spelling test of the year.  It was AWESOME!  There were NO TEARS!  Everyone just took it in stride, and actually seemed to enjoy the process.  First graders always feel like "Big Kids" when they take out their carboard offices and get their official spelling test paper. 

Here is the list of our words for next week, along with our Focus Words.  We do not test on the focus words for spelling, but they are the high frequency words that we are working on that week. 

not       hop

got       stop

spot      dog

mop       hogs

top       fog

Focus Words:  the, and, can, you, to

3 Ways to Read a Book

The Book Buddies have been working hard the first 2 weeks of First Grade learning procedures and expectations for their new year.  We jumped right in to our Daily 5 routine (see Daily 5; the 2 Sisters are AWESOME!).  We learned that we are already readers!  Check out our Anchor Chart for the 3 Ways to Read a Book

We are ALL READERS!

WOW-ZA!

What an AMAZING first week of first grade!  We have already begun to develop the special bonds that form in a self contained classroom.  We have all learned each other's names, learned what makes our families alike and different, and shared how we can help others in our classroom. 

Check out our Writers who were so brave to share during Writer's Workshop this week:

                                                       Our Friend, Riley

                                                        Alexis, Reading her Story


We celebrated the end of a great week by working with our table groups to complete 100 piece puzzles. 

                                                   Tirzah, Jacob, and Kylee Hard at Work
                                                             Look at the Cooperation! 

Have a restful weekend and we'll see you all on Monday!

First Day of School!

Woot!  Woot! 

It's FINALLY here!  The first day of school!  Tomorrow morning we will wake up early, put on our favorite new duds, strap on our HEAVY backpacks full of supplies and head off in eager anticipation of what our new family of classmates and teachers will bring to our lives. 

 I found this prayer over the summer and it has been in my heart and on my mind ever since.  As a mother and a teacher, I feel this on many different levels.  To the parents of my new students, I promise to pray this prayer on your child's behalf.  As a parent, I pray this prayer for my child and I pray that his own teacher is praying it as well. 

I pray that tomorrow is the first of 180+ days in which all teachers and families can see God's blessings, grace, and mercy pouring through our classrooms.   What a special opportunity to see and know God's love a classroom is!

Anticipation...Meet the Teacher

The Classroom is fresh, Tiger Binders are prepared, and I am beyond excited to meet my co-pilots for the 2011 school year!  Tomorrow is Meet the Teacher Night when I will meet many of these special friends in anticipation of our first day of school on Monday!

I can't wait to see you all!

Tiger Binder Again

Really I am just using the Tiger Binder as a way to figure out how to save my Power Point slide as a pic to insert.  Also, I am using Windows Live Writer tonight to see how it works for me!

 

Ok, friends.  Here goes!  I am going to click ‘publish’ and see what happens! If I did it right, you will be able to click on the pic and go to my Google Doc!  [cross your fingers!"]

So when I taught 3rd Grade we had a "HERO Binder" that housed all of our important information.  HERO was an acronym for Having Everything Ready and Organized.  I spent all last year - my first year in first grade - trying in my mind to adapt it to first grade. 

With the new year creaping up on us, my thoughts turned back to this organizational tool.  But, it had to have a cool, new, Belton-ique name.  I wanted a "TIGER Binder"!  All day today I harassed my poor friend Stacy (...so maybe the harassment started yesterday...) for help with the acronym. 

Im not 100% sold, but with inpiration from http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/ and Stacy, as of today it is a "Tiger Binder" that says "Tigers R.O.C.K. - Regular Open Communication is Key".  So as soon as I figure out how to get my PowerPoint uploaded into Blogger (HELP! HELP!), you can see my beautiful work! 

Meet Hank and Hermietta!

You just have to trust me that these are our 2 newest family members!  Hank and Hermietta the Hermit Crabs!  Apparently, they like to dig and burrow and we barely see them.  They are going to be great friends with our fish, Molly and Billy Bob!

Spelling and High Frequency Words 2011-2012



Spelling and HFW 2011-2012

Click for my 2011-2012 calendar of Spelling Words and High Frequency Words.



The Workroom: Who Voted for SB8 Which Cut Funding to Schools and Decimated Teacher Rights?

The Workroom: Who Voted for SB8 Which Cut Funding to Schools and Decimated Teacher Rights?

Read!  Read!  Read! Here are a few of the details of the decisions made by our legislators regarding education in Texas.   

Firsty for this Firstie!

I am driving blind in this first attempt at blogging.  I may or may not have gotten the background customized, these words may or may not post, and if all of it does work, I'm not certain that I can do it again!