Mrs. Jackman's Class

I know what you are thinking..."It's about time for an update Mrs.Jackman!"  I know, tell me about it!  After spring break I think I just got thrown off.  I was SO excited to go to Texas for spring break, forgot about it, and then life got busy.  But there is NO excuse, so my apologizes!  So here we are, and it has been a hectic couple of weeks, but we have learned SO much and I am so proud of these kids!  I have been trying to cram as much as I can in the last few weeks so they can be prepared for the IRI (it starts this Monday!).  They have done well and put up with my craziness and hecticness (if that is a word) but I can promise, that will be over after next week and things won't be so crazy.

In addition to the new reading concepts we have been learning, there is always some much needed art in our classroom.  As many of you know, I LOVE art.  I'm not an artist myself by any means...in fact I think some of the students have made a joke or two about some of my drawings (mainly because I laugh about my drawings) but I have always loved children's art.  I especially love using children's hands for art.  I always think that using their hands has made their art so much more unique, and it is fun for them tom look at later and see how much they have grown.  A couple of weeks ago we were learning about butterflies, so I decided we should add some color to our classroom and we made these beautiful butterflies.  These turned out cuter than last years, but I didn't say that, because they are ALWAYS cute.  :)

This week we learned about the different sounds that the /y/ makes.  I always forget the rules until I teach them again and it is always fun to remember these rules.  Eventually reading just becomes a habit and you don't really think about the rules anymore.  You just see a word, and know what it says without thinking about it.  I guess that is the cool part about reading.  So for those of you who don't know or have forgotten, here are the rules for the y sound.  Y says the y sound (like in yo-yo) when it is at the beginning of a word.  Y says the i sound (like in fly) if it is a short word.  Y says the e sound (like in happy) if it is a longer word.  Pretty neat huh?

 

We also learned the rules about "is" and "are".  Use "is" when talking about just one person, animal, or thing.  Use "are" when talking about more than one or using the word "you".  I love this part about teaching first grade!  I get to remind myself of the little rules that we all forget about as we grow older.  Okay, maybe it is just me...but I think it is pretty cool and had to share it, even though you might have already known.  But I'm a teacher, it is what I do.  :)

Well, I might not be an artist, but I am glad that I have some amazing artists in my class!

This bulletin board in our classroom has been pretty boring since St. Patricks Day...and that was quite a while ago!  So I had them do a really simple art project that we did during some spare time today.  I think it lights up the room and the bulletin board and gives it the color that it needs!

For those of you who didn't order a class picture, here it is!  I have to say, it is the best class picture in the entire first grade, maybe the entire school.  But I guess I am a little biased, and I have a very small class.  When I first looked at this picture, I realized just how many boys we have!  We have a class full of boys, but it makes every day so much fun and the girls in the class don't even notice, so I don't mind.  I have an amazing class and feel like I am the LUCKIEST teacher in the world this year.  These kids have taught me so much this year and I am so proud of them, and you should be proud of them too.  :)

As we are getting closer to the end of the school year, I am beginning to think about having to really say goodbye to this class.  It is going to be hard to say bye, but another favorite part about being a teacher and parent (I'm not one yet...but I am sure this is a benefit), is watching them grow and learn.  Even if I end up moving away from Idaho (which will probably happen with my husband going to medical school...eventually) I am hoping I will be able to stay in contact with everyone and see who these children grow up to become.  I love being a teacher, especially for this class.  I have also said this before, but I am really lucky to have such amazing parents in the class as well.  It makes being a teacher so much more fun and easy.  Thank you parents for everything you do.  :)