This week we learned how to add -es and -ies to words.  If you ask your child to say the chants, they should all be able to do it.  We did motions with them and everything.  I meant to video tape them doing it, but my week go away form me and I completely forgot.  Maybe I'll do it on Monday and add another post later.  Sometimes, I am simply amazed at how much these kids can comprehend.  Adding -es and -ies to words is a really hard concept to learn, but they picked up on it pretty well!

Friday was Dinosaur Day!  What better day can a group of 12 boys and 5 girls have?!  It was fun and they were on their best behavior all day long (for the most part).  As many of you know, I LOVE children's books.  I don't think anyone can ever have too many books.  Some peoples shopping weakness is shoes, but mine is books.  All week we have been reading some of my favorite dinosaur books.  This was my first time reading Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures With The Family Lazardo, and I think it is a new favorite of mine.  Such a cute story, and the kids were really into it the entire time!

 

Here is another we that we got ready for the Dinosaur Museum on Dinosaur Day.  We made habitats for dinosaurs and made little dioramas.  

We talked about what the world was like THEN:

 And what it is like NOW:

This was my FAVORITE part of the entire day, and I think it was the kids favorite part too!  They were SO quiet during this part and were really trying to focus.  The students all got to be Paleontologists!  They excavated dinosaur bones (chocolate chips) from the earth (a cookie) using a special tool (a toothpick).  First they looked at their earth and estimated how many bones they thought were there, then they dug them all out.  They had to decide if their estimation was more than or less than the actual number of bones that they found.  This activity really went well and I really enjoyed walking around and watching them work.  The best part - they got to EAT these bones!  :)  For the record - I did not come up with all of these ideas, but they sure are great ones!

 This was another fun activity that we all loved.  We have been working on measuring things with centimeters, so I wen to the dollar store and bought some little dinosaurs.  They had to measure the dinosaurs using centimeters and record it on their whiteboard.  We talked about what would be the best way to measure them, standing up or on their side.  They decided laying them on their side would be easiest.  After they all measured 2 different dinosaurs, they compared them to the other ones in their group to see if any of them were the same.  Then they held up the dinosaur that was longer, then the dinosaur that was shorter.  Because they worked really well during this, they got to keep the dinosaurs.  

I love learning in fun ways!

 For this game, two children play against each other. Each child needed a different colored crayon.  The first child rolls, adds one to the number and colors in that many squares on the mat. The second child rolls, adds one to the number. and colors in that many squares on the mat, with a different colored crayon. At the end of the game, the player with the most squares colored in is the winner.

The last game we played, but definitely not the least, was a fun game called more or less?  I'll tell ya what...making these cards took longer than I thought it would (about 3 hours longer) but it was completely worth it.  It was a fun math game and they will last a long time now (after I get them laminated).  For this game, I put about 20 cards into a bag and put them into pairs again.  They shake the bag with the cards in it them spill them out on the carpet  On the recording sheet, they wrote the numbers (or tally marks) to show how many of each dinosaur are facing up.  The children then had to circle the number that was less each time.

 After we did all of these fun things, we got to go to the dinosaur museum and see Sue!  I learned a lot, and I hope the students did too.  It was nice to go out and do something different, and everyone stayed together, and that was my biggest worry!  I did NOT want to lose anybody, and it all worked out just fine.  :)

What a fun filled week!  Also, we are DONE with the IRI and everyone did so great!  I am so proud of all of them, and you should be too!  They all have improved their reading a tremendous amount.  Thank you parents for everything you do!

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.  :)

I know I forgot last week, and I felt so bad when I remembered!  I never forget...and now all of a sudden I am forgetting so many things.  But I am going to make up for it with this post.  This week was tons of fun.  One of the days we read an article about taking care of our earth, then we went out and picked up trash from the courtyard.  I was amazed at how much trash there was.  But I think we picked it all up!  At least for now.  But it was a nice break for all of us.  We might have to go outside every morning and pick up trash.  :)  

One of the things that I forgot to do this month, was make our March calendar.  We have had SO much going on this month, with 2 short weeks, and spring break...I completely forgot about it.  Thanks to one of the students reminding me, I made sure to find time to do it before St. Patrick's Day.  The girls made slits in the paper for their pencils so they can mark off the days as they go by.  They are so creative.

We also made this bulletin board that turned out extremely cute, if I do say so myself.  I don't like how the pot of gold turned out...but I didn't want to redo it.  Plus, I figured nobody really cared THAT much.  It's still cute.

I think next year, I am going to turn this one big bulletin board in to two smaller bulletin boards.  It is in such a bad place with the TV in the middle and wires hanging down...I think that's what I'll do.  But for now, it is a good place to hang some of their art work.  I have always said I love seeing the different things they do because their personalities really show through their art and writing.  I just love it!

So we made these leprechauns.  They had to make the face, and the girls decided that there needed to be girl leprechauns.  I agreed.  And what leprechaun doesn't need a teddy bear?

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Friday, and had a good time with it.  It was a pretty crazy day and we had a TON to do, so we didn't do much to celebrate it, but they got rainbow cupcakes and they all got to make pretty sweet hats.

If you would like to know how to make the rainbow cupcakes, click on this link:
 http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/taste-a-rainbow-cupcakes-842128/

Remember that we don't have school on Monday.  If you bring your child, it would be really boring.  :)  Also, parent/teacher conferences are on Tuesday and Thursday.  I am looking forward to seeing all of you there!
Thank you parents for all that you do!  I would never be able to do what I do without all of you.  I am a very lucky teacher to have all of you as the parents of my students, so thank you!  Have a WONDERFUL weekend.  :)

Dr.Seuss has got to be one of my favorite days of the school year!

There are so many fun things to do with Dr.Seuss and ALL of his amazing books.

Some people don't like Dr.Seuss...but I have to say I love him.

Every single book I have read, I have loved.

Earlier in the week, we read There's a Woket in my Pocket.

Then, the students made their own pockets and had to make up a funny character that is in their pocket.

Have I ever mentioned how much I don't like where this bulletin board is?

Oh well...maybe I'll change it for next year.

To start off Dr.Seuss Day, we made Cat in the Hat hats!

I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

I hate pictures of me...but the kids sure have cute smiles!

 And who doesn't love silly faces?

 For math, we did the same thing that we did for valentines day, just with gold fish this time.

I gave them a little baggie of colored gold fish, they had to make tally marks as they counted each color and make a graph on the back for the different colors.

This was my favorite part of the day.

If they wanted to bring their favorite Dr.Seuss book, they could tell us about the book and why it was their favorite book by Dr.Seuss.  If they wanted to read it to us, I gave them the microphone and they read it!

They are sure confident readers.  When I was their age, I think I would have been terrified to read out loud.

I was terrified to read out loud in high school.  I am still sometimes scared to read out loud with a big group.

They are such a wonderful group of kids.  Such great examples and such confidence.  I have seen that confidence grow throughout the year and watching them read fairly difficult books put a huge smile on my face.  Not only did they read the books, they read them with EXPRESSION!  I am one lucky teacher.  :)

It was a fun day!  We all had a TON of fun, and we have learned a LOT this week!

This wasn't the only thing we did this week.

We also learned about compound words!

I taught them the compound boogie (on youtube), and we listened to it every day.

Songs are always a fun way to learn a new concept.  

I can't sing at all...but they don't judge me and I love that.

I have had an amazing week thanks to a wonderful class and amazing parents!  :)

Thank you parents for all that you do!