Penguins, penguins!

Our Penguin Lap Book reports

Do you know what penguins eat and who eats penguins? Are penguins a mammal, fish, or bird? Can you list facts about penguins, sequence their life cycle, and locate their habitat? You can with the help of these colorful Lap Books the kids worked on this week! It is an interactive, lift-the-flap collection of information about penguins, and the kids have loved assembling and writing in it! 

Which part are you working on?

Our mini tube penguins

 We also had a bit of fun making a paper towel tube penguin to sit on our desks along with penguin pictures.

Penguins everywhere

Aren't they cute?!

At the CD listening center we listened to a story about penguins, and at the computer center we read a non fiction story about penguins.

Listening to a Penguin book

Non fiction penguin reading

I'm almost finished!

No one was at a loss for a writing topic this week, since our vacation provided many ideas to write about (even if it was being sick the whole week, as one child was...). This week the kids worked on their narrative and included an introduction, details and description, and a wrap-up closing. It's especially motivating to read it to friends!

Listen to my story!

We also learned about two famous presidents and compared and contrasted their lives- George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We have a poem for each which gives examples of their honesty, read several non fiction accounts of their lives, and were very excited to find their pictures on coins and bills!

Lincoln is on my five and my penny!

We have been reviewing many math skills this week as we solved problems with unknowns, determined equality between numbers and equations (11= 5+6), worked with story problems, compared quantities, and more. We were also able to fit in some engaging math centers.

Playing a game to review telling time

Bump! A fun addition game.

Finding an unknown within a number bond

Our phonics lessons are including more challenging spelling patterns as well as longer words to decode. During L.A. pocket chart center we have been working with blends- two consonants before a vowel as in snap, plane, and brick. We will be introducing the /oo/ sound next week when working with words and had a great time beginning a challenge list of /ee/ words. The game below involves isolating and naming the blend in the picture cards.

Fun!

I know what each part is useful for!

We have a few plants left in school and will plant more in the spring- kids really like caring for plants! Everyone completed their flower diagram with lift-the-flap

labels and words telling the function of each part of a plant. 

Misting the plants

It's always nice to have a bit of free time too, reading with a buddy or exploring math manipulatives.

Reading friends

Math manipulative fun

We have read a couple of Dr. Seuss books this week, always enjoying his rhyming verse and funny scenarios. After reading There's A Wocket In My Pocket, the kids loved using their creativity to make their own 'wockets' in paper pockets. Next week we will feature a few more Dr. Seuss books and read about Oobleck in one of them- more to come on that!

It was fun seeing some of you on BINGO night, and our last PTO school store was a success. Next week we have an early release day on Tuesday and a birthday coming up too.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Dagley 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Will you be my Valentine?!

 Valentine's Day has given us a lot of fun this week- the kids can spell the word with a song we have, they delivered cards all week into decorated bags, they made a mini valentine and a big lace valentine, and they enjoyed a couple of valentine stories!

Let's get lace doilies

Red, pink, or white?

Let's write a message on the back!

Our mom's will love these!

made with love!

So pretty!

Decorating just right!

Lots of pink and red clothes! 

The highlight of the week was spilling all their valentines onto
their desk and looking at all their treasure. Calls across the room of 'Thank you!' and 'Oh look!' and even some hugs of thanks were filling the room. 

Look what I got!

A class full of excitement!

Whistle lips!

Thank you!

I can't believe so many Valentines!

Looking at cards with friends

I like this one!

Of course there was still time for learning amid the excitement- in science we have been thrilled to observe that our sunflower plants are growing! First a little sprout, some even with the seed shell still clinging on, then a taller stem, and finally little leaves. Most of these went home Friday. 

Reading about a plant growing

Look!!

We laughed along with Tacky when we read a funny book Three Cheers for Tacky, and we had a fun look at story problems and solutions as well as perseverance  when we read The Penguin Who Hated the Cold. The Secret Life of Squirrels was a second book in a series that features photos of squirrels who look like they are doing everything people do (having been trained to come close to the sets). This one was a Valentine theme. 

BINGO sight word game

Starfall computer center

Long and short vowels center

Letter card work

Singing the continents

 During social studies, we have focused on cardinal directions and bodies of land (continents) and water (oceans). The kids love singing the continent song to practice naming them!

Nice work on the Polar animal booklet- now we can place arctic and antarctic animals on a map. A fun page in our map booklet was identifying continents by animals that were pictured on each - a lion in Africa, a kangaroo in Australia, a toucan in South America and so forth.

Nice work!

Indoor recess is such a fun time to connect with each other - here are some castle engineers!

Kings of the castle!

 Well, February vacation is here - time to refresh and enjoy some family time. Hopefully when we return, spring won't seem to be so far away!

Have a wonderful week,
Mrs. Dagley

Seed, roots, stem, leaves, flower- let's grow a plant!

Scooping soil into our sunflower pots!

There is something about growing a plant that appeals to kids - of course burying seeds in the soil, scooping the soil, and using a little watering can are all part of the fun, but the day when a sprout appears is always the most exciting. In science, we are learning parts of a plant and what each part is useful for- anchoring the plant in the soil, drinking up water and nutrients, leaves making a sugary 'food', and flowers producing more seeds. We put together the parts of a plant in the order in which they grow using a magnetic model. Here it is completed:

Assembling the parts of a flower

We will be examining seeds, comparing them to their adult plant, and comparing a variety of plants to observe how differently the parts can appear and yet still serve the same function.

Fill it with soil!

Scoop out the soil!

Push the seeds into the soil

Careful filling the pot!

I wonder what will grow?

Fun!

How many seeds did you put in?

In social studies, we continue to work with the globe. This week we read Me On The Map and learned the relationship between world, continent, country, state, town, and street. We made a circular model of each which made it easy to see the size difference between each as well. 

We are we in the world?!

Our lift the flap globes

We took a side trip to Antarctica to discover where most penguins live. Making a lift-the-flap globe allowed us to make a penguin habitat underneath. We will spend a little time in this part of the world to learn and read about penguins. What are the similarities between the arctic and antarctic in weather, animals, location?

Some good reads

We are singing away learning sight words in school! Lots of tricky spellings in these high frequency words and songs seem to be a strong association for spelling them. We are analyzing words that are decodable as well - one vowel or two? Short or long sound? 

Changing quit to quite

Matching sight words

Reading to friends

With the bit of snow and ice we had, the kids have enjoyed some indoor recess time - lots of team playing with legos, animals, car tracks, blocks, and houses.

Lego time

New restaurant opening!

A block zoo for animals

More lego fun

Hot wheel tracks engineers

It's all about horses!

Setting up the house

 You must have noticed something different about your kids on Friday- they are now 100 days smarter! We celebrated 100 Day with related stories, singing 100 words, doing 100 exercises, and making 100 Day hats! They are experts at 1st grade and have learned so much!

100 Day is here!

Valentine's Day is next Friday. We will be decorating bags in school on Monday, so any cards that are ready can come into school any day next week to be dropped in the bags. We will open them all on Friday.

It's bright and sunny outside - have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Dagley