We're Thankful First Graders!

It is hard to believe that November is almost halfway over and Thanksgiving is next week. Listed below are pictures of art projects that we have done this past month! :)

In Writing we read the book, I Need My Monster. This book is great and very similar to the movie Monsters Inc. After we read the book we made our own monsters off of a monster glyph. The monster glyph was as follows:

Body Color:  my favorite color

Leg Color:  Pink if I’m a girl

Blue if I’m a boy

Teeth: number of letters in my first name

Eyes: number of kids in my household

Horns: number matches my favorite subject:

1)         Math   

2)        Reading

3)        Writing

At the beginning of October we made owls. The students had to rip small pieces of brown paper to make the owl's body and then cut out the rest of the pieces. 

For Halloween we made scary pumpkins that the kids got to cut out themselves. It was so fun to see the different sizes and shapes of pumpkins that the kids designed! 

This past week we read a few books about Thanksgiving and talked about different things that we are thankful for. I have a great group of thankful first graders! Each student got to pick four things they were thankful for and write them on their pilgrim. 

Nature Walk

Last week we took a walk around the school to use our senses. The students had to find what they could look, touch, smell, and hear on our nature walk. We found a bird's nest as well as lots of pine cones. The students recorded what they saw, heard, touched, and looked at on the walk and then wrote a story about nature. They turned out great and the kids were so excited about what they found on the walk. Here are a few pictures from our walk!

 Walking to the 2nd grade playground was SO exciting. :)

 Stopping to record our findings so far!

Edgerton Field Trip

Here are some pictures of our field trip to the Edgerton Center. The students enjoyed using all of the hands-on learning activities in the kids zone as well as seeing several science demonstrations.  A few of their favorite things were the flight simulator, doodle glow tube, balloon cave, bubble pit, and the air cannon. Ask your child about their favorite thing about the trip or go visit their blog at www.kidblog.org/MrsHighsClass2.

Last week we were able to attend the homecoming parade. We walked over as a class and sat on the curb next to the football fields. The students really enjoyed seeing the older kids and their relatives in the parade. 

Swinging Into First Grade

The school year is off to a GREAT start and I can't believe we have already been in school for  a month! Looking back over the pictures from the first few weeks I can't believe how many things we have already done. During the first week of school we read some books about being a star. We talked about how everyone is unique and different and very special. These are a few of the books that we read.

After we read the books I let my students dress up like a movie star. They thought this was GREAT!

We also read the David books by David Shannon. These books are a good way to teach rules and expectations. The students really enjoyed these books and got to make their very own Davids. 

Our kickoff theme this year was how to fill a bucket. This goes along with two books about filling others buckets. The books discuss how everyone has an imaginary bucket and you are either filling their bucket or dipping from their bucket. We talked about ways to fill others buckets such as giving a hug, saying hello, sharing, being kind, including everyone, and helping others.  Pictured below are the two books that we read. 

This past week we started reading Pete the Cat books. These silly books are about a cat named Pete who really likes to sing and his shoes. We listed to the song, "I Love My White Shoes" and made our very own Pete the cats. If you get a chance read some of these books with your child. They are very fun and your child will want to read along with you! :) 

I am SO excited for writing today. The students are going to write about what type/color of shoes their cat is wearing. I can't wait to see what creative ideas they come up with!

Mrs. High