Weekly Update- week 4

Welcome to the FOURTH week of first grade in Mrs. Stagg's Class!

Here's a peek into our week :)

Theme:

Force & Motion/ Transportation

Literature:

Various- transportation

Language Arts:

fact/ fantasy

Phonics:

initial sounds h,d,k; _ot, _op

Writing:

What makes a sentence?

Math:

Data & Graphing continued

Science/ Social Studies:

Force & Motion

Web Wednesday- Rush Hour

Rush Hour

This is a fabulous strategy game that drives me mad, but it's one of those things that you just can't quit! Your kids will LOVE playing this game and one benefit is that there are several levels, so once you have mastered the beginner level (and I am convinced I will one day :) they get harder and harder!

Here is the site incase my link doesn't work.
http://www.thinkfun.com/RUSHHOUR.ASPX?PageNo=RUSHHOUR

Phonics Poem- My Twinny Twin

My Twinny Twin

I can point

To my chinny, chin, chin.

I can touch my finger

To my shinny, shin, shin.

I can count the freckles

On my skinny, skin, skin

And I can twirl around with

a spinny, spin, spin.

I can fix a button

With a pinny, pin, pin

And I can do it all

With my twinny, twin, twin.

Identify the words from the -in family and brainstorm more words that end with -in.

Weekly Update- week 3

Welcome to the THIRD week of first grade in Mrs. Stagg's Class!

Here's a peek into our week :)

Theme:

Family & Homes; Feelings

Literature:

Various (Napping House, Hello, Goodbye Window)

Language Arts:

listening/ main idea

Phonics:

initial sounds f,g,l; _ig, _it

Writing:

Practice keeping a journal/ sequencing a story

Math:

Data & Graphing

Science/ Social Studies:

discuss feelings, identify feelings through signs and body language, role play how to be a good friend

Kids Can Cook- Party Mix

Awesome Microwave Snack mix




Prep: 15 min., Cool: 30 min.
Use a glass bowl when you zap this in the microwave. (Don't use a plastic bowl; we tried it, and the mixture got too hot and could possibly burn.)
Yield: Makes 13 cups

Ingredients
2 (1-oz.) envelopes Ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups crisp oatmeal cereal squares
3 cups corn-and-rice cereal
3 cups crisp wheat cereal squares
2 cups pretzel sticks
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup candy-coated chocolate pieces

Preparation
1. Whisk together Ranch dressing mix and 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a large microwave-safe glass bowl. Stir in oatmeal cereal squares and next 3 ingredients.

2. Microwave mixture at HIGH 2 minutes, and stir well. Microwave at HIGH 2 more minutes, and stir well. Spread mixture in a single layer on wax paper, and let cool 30 minutes. Add cherries and candy pieces. Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Quaker Essentials Oatmeal Squares for crisp oatmeal cereal squares, Crispix for corn-and-rice cereal, and Wheat Chex for wheat cereal squares.

Southern Living, OCTOBER 2006

Logical Consequences

In our classroom, I believe in logical consequences.... If you do something to hurt some one's feelings, you make it right. I explained this to a student today, when he made the not-so-nice choice to break a friend's Lego ship he had built in free station time. He decided to write his friend a note:

It says

Dear _____

I am so sorry I broke your ship. I will do anything to fix it.

Love, _____

These were his own words... I thought it was precious! To me, this has been settled. I think the boys feel like it has been settled, too. I believe that writing the note and having to apologize to a friend was more meaningful than sitting out at recess or getting a note home, however, if your child writes a note like this, I will send a copy home that day, just as a conversation piece.

Web Wednesday- Raz-Kids

Raz- Kids

This awesome site will become a regular part of my curriculum this year. Raz-Kids is a division of Reading A-Z, which I use on a weekly basis in the classroom. Raz-Kids gives kids the chance to work independently on reading/comprehension/fluency on their own level and it's FUN! my students last year absolutely LOVED it and begged to get on it and work! Little did they know how many skills were being reinforced in the process. The great thing about Raz-Kids is that is it accessible from home and I encourage you to read with your child using this site. In addition, if you have a voice recorder built in to your computer, your child can record themselves reading a story and listen back to it. Here are the instructions on how to access your child's account.

***A big WOO-HOO to PTO for purchasing this site for all of 1st grade this year!***

1. Go to http://www.raz-kids.com/ (or you can use the link to the right of this post)

2. Go to the 'Log In' tab and type in 'charlystagg' (all one word) and hit the GO arrow.
3. Have your child click on their name and they will know how to do the rest. Encourage them to sign on independently each time. It makes computer station time so much easier once they know how to do this on their own!
That's it! have fun and happy reading!
Oh, also, I get a report each Monday and can award extra Raz Rocket stars to those who are reading a lot at home!