Make a Christmas Tree!!!!

Today, our ornament told us to make a Christmas tree.  We colored trees green and then cut them out.  There was 3 parts to the tree and now they are tall.  Tomorrow we will color and cut out the ornaments and glue them on the tree. 

Mrs. Dodge put green and gold bows on our candy canes.  Now they are hanging on our windows!!!!

We got to rip our papers in math today because the company who made them made mistakes. 

Make a Candy Cane, Eat a Candy Cane

Today we made candy canes from thick paper and red markers.  Mrs. Dodge put glitter on them and tomorrow she will put bows on them.  Then Mrs. Dodge gave us all candy canes today. 
On the back of ornaments what we colored last week, Mrs. Dodge put a activity on each day.  The ornaments are numbered because it is our countdown to Christmas.  I wonder what tomorrow will be. 
In math, we did Doubles plus 1.  Adding 1 to one of the addends in a doubles fact. 
Our decodable was Pump and Pedal. 
Mrs. Dodge read us one of her favorite books.  It was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  It was about a town called Chewandswallow where food was weather.  Like a giant pancake fell on the school with maple syrup rain, it rained orange juice in the morning, it happened three times a day, and it rained mashed potatoes and green peas. 

We're BAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!! AGAIN!!!!!!

Sorry we weren't blogging but now we are back.  We hope!!! 

SO today, we had 2 hour delay.  Recently, we have been learning about animals and their habitats.  We have done A LOT of decodables, like 20.  HAHA!! Maybe not 20 but it has been a lot. 

We finished topic 3 in math.  It was SUPER DUPER EASY!  Now we are on topic 4 Adding and subtracting numbers to 12.  Today, we did Near Doubles.  It was a little confusing.  But we have a lollipop probelm if we want. 

We voted in a silly election with the whole first grade.  The candidates were Mario, Santa Claus, Spongebob and Cinderella.  SANTA CLAUS won!!! We voted in our class and Billy the Bullfrog puppet won.  YAY BILLY!!!

We added new words to our word wall and flipped over some more cards. 

The Desert at the School

Today, we made candy corns by ripping orange, white, and yellow paper up.  Then we glued them on brown paper. Mrs. Dodge read us Harriet's Halloween Candy before we started.  They look cool!  We did the letter G.  In math, we did easy stuff we already knew like fill in the ten frames.  It was sooooooo easy.  Mrs. B helped us with math today. 

After math, we read a story about the desert.   It was about plants and the animals living in the desert.  The animals kept eating each other.  The flower was eaten by butterfly which was eaten by the lizard which was eaten by the snake which was eaten by the roadrunner.  We saw the coyote, who is active at night, hunted the kangaroo rat.  We learned that in the desert, animals go in the shade or underground to stay cool.  The animals get their water from the cactus because the cactus holds lots of water.  The big and tall cacti are over a hundred years old.  

Today, we got a new decodable called Rag Bits.  Our new high frequency words today were big and got. 

We had inside recess.

Animals Today!

This morning we made books.  They were about The Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves.  She also swallowed a pumpkin, rope, a pole, a shirt, and some hay.  She swallowed it all to make a scarecrow.  We also got a new decodable called Fran and Kip.  It was about two bobcats watching a tall man.  We also did a lot with adjectives.  They are words that describe how nouns look.  In math, we colored tens frames for 2 and 3.  We also got a new book about ten frames and going on a trip.  We started a new unit/topic about five and ten relationship.  Recess was outside because it was a sunny and warm day. 

We're BAAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!!

Sorry we have been soooo busy that we haven't blogged in a while.  But we're back!!!!!  We have done workshop.  We have made Frankensteins and scarecrows.  This morning when we came in, we found halloween erasers at our desks from Mrs. Dodge. 

Today we did the letter c for camera.  We started a new unit called Where Animals Live.  We read a book about a polar bear who wanted to live somewhere else.  He found out that everywhere else was not for him and it was too different.  He liked the cold and ice in the Arctic. 

In math today, we wrote subtraction sentences and it was harder than usual.  Mrs. Dodge used dinosaurs and lollipops to help us learn and understand.  And then she gave us each a lollipop. 

Mrs. Dodge brought in 2 pumpkins today for our class. 

We had a test in writing numbers 1-20 and almost everyone got a 100! 

Yesterday on the playground it started to rain.  Today it was sunny, cold, and windy.

Pumpkin Day!!!

Mrs. Dodge used Billy the Bull Bull Frog puppet to help us learn different sounds.  Workshop was easy and fun again.  Mrs. Dodge read us Pumpkin Hill.  It was about pumpkins that rolled down the hill into a village.  There were so many pumpkins that the mayor said everyone had to take a pumpkin and make a jack-o-lantern and pumpkin pie.  So there weren't anymore pumpkins in the future, the farmer said the kids could use the hill for running, sledding, skiing and playing. 

After lunch, we did kind of tricky math.  It was comparing number and we made subtraction sentences. 

We got a new decodable called Lin and Hal.

We had inside recess because it was raining a teeny tiny bit.

It's almost HALLOWEEN!!

Just Ducky Day

Some of us got lollipops this morning from Mrs. Dodge because we did extra math for homework.  Math was soo easy today.  We did take away or subtraction and we had to draw pictures and write subtraction sentences.

We read a story about school long ago.  Most had to walk a long distance, a lot of students sat at the same desk, schools were one room, students wrote on bark or slates, and windows were made of paper. 

We had art class.  We learned how to describe a picture. 

We got a new decodable called Pat's Map.  Workshop was fun today.  We used clipboards, stamps, letter beads, markers, and our Word Work books. 

FIRETRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we went to Mrs. K's room and watched a video about fire safety. We met firefighters, and they were wearing their uniforms and equipment.  It looked like thier equipment was heavy and hot.  They wore helmets and breathing masks and big fire safe boots.  They talked to us about smoke detectors, fire safety plans and what to do in a fire.

We went outside and we got to go in the firetrucks.  We looked at all of the equipment on the different types of trucks.  We learned how long the hose sprays.  We think it is about 21 feet. 

Mrs. Dodge took pictures of us on the firetruck. We got a goody bag from the firefighters and a fire helmet.  It was a fun day!!

Lots of Work

We have been soooooooo busy these two days.  Here is some of the work we have done:

1. We did finding the missing parts in 8 and 9 in math
2. Today we got our work done early
3. We got 2 new decodables
1. Sit
2. A Hint
4. We have done the letters: 
1. h, i, d, n
5. We used the puppets Lucy the Lion and Billy the Bullfrog to help us to learn sounds and letters.
6. We wrote in our writer's notebook  A LOT!!
7. MF and BK read us a story about an apple orchard
8. We had outside recess yesterday, but today we had inside recess

We had 2 great, busy days!

A Day Late

Sorry we didn't blog yesterday, we were on a field trip to the Parsonage and we got back late.  We didn't even have snack.  At the Parsonage, we learned how to make rope.  We got to try soup.  Some of us liked it, some of us did not.  We got to smell the Palatine's soap and it smelled REALLY bad.  Kind of like dirt!  We went there on an orange trailer that had benches pulled by a BIG tractor. 
Today, we got 2 new decodables, Ants and Dad Sat.  We started doing some subtraction in math class.  It wasn't really hard.  We started workshop again this week.  We had another inside recess because it was raining.  Most of us hope we can have recess outside again tomorrow.

Bouncing Like Kangaroos

Sorry we didn't blog yesterday because we had extra recess.  We are finally done with the tests.  Mrs. Dodge brought in blue yoga balls for us to sit on while we are working.  It helps us sit up straight and use our muscles.  We LOVE sitting on them!!!  We want more in our room.  We have 4 now but we might get more.  We got a new decodable yesterday called Matt and Sam and today we got the decodable On a Mat.  Today we did have an easy peasy lemon squeezy math test.  It was soooo rainy so we had inside recess....again!!! 

A Sam, Sam, Sam Day

Some people read a book and took a test.  We made High Frequency Word flashcards and decorated our envelopes for them.  Mrs. Dodge read us A Pocket Full of Kisses.  It was the sequel to The Kissing Hand.  Chester raccoon didn't like his baby brother.  Then he thought his mom didn't like him anymore becuase of the baby brother.  He realized that his mother loved him and his baby brother the same amount.  She gave him a kiss in his hand and then told him to put it in his pocket.  We got a new decodable called Sam, Sam, Sam. 

A Nice Decodable Day

We came in this morning and colored our Number Two Book.  We did a listening test today and it was a piece of cake.  We made paper apple cores before and after PE.  We had a lockdown drill, so it wasn't real, during PE.  The words today in math were sum and addend.  Mrs. Dodge passed out a new decodable today called, I Can See.  Mrs. Dodge read us  Back to School story about schools in different countries.  It was a nice day!

LLLOOONNNGGG, Tasty Day!

We took a LLLLLLOOOOOOONNNNGGGG math test this morning!!  We didn't know all of the answers but Mrs. Dodge says it's ok.  She says that by the end of first grade we will know how to answer the questions.  Mrs. Dodge changed our desks AGAIN!!!  We have new neighbors in the classroom.  Mrs. H brought in fall cookies and we frosted and decorated them.  They were yummy!!!  Then we had indoor recess because it rained just before we went outside.  Oh well.  We still had a good day! 

We Ate Apples!

Today we colored and labeled apples on paper.  Mrs. Dodge gave us apples.  We had "catch up" time and finished our work.  We drew a picture of Mrs. Dodge in our Writer's Notebook.  We did addition sentences in math.  We got a new decodable today called, There Is.    We did cartwheels on the playground and so did Mrs. Dodge.  Most of us are excited about the weekend but some of us don't want to go home. 

Happy Birthday JS!!!!!!!

We did workshop today!  We did curved lines in handwriting.  We wrote in our Writer's Notebooks and colored with markers.  We took an important math test today.  We decorated our shoeboxes with markers, colored cotton balls, foam stickers, glitter, and colored paper.  We celebrated JS birthday and we also had a long fire drill.  We also changed the way our desks are arranged.

Extra Recess

We gave the kids a little extra recess, so we didn't have time for a blog.  We will be back tomorrow!! 

Inside Recess, Butterflies, and More!

Yesterday, we had a substitute because Mrs. Dodge was testing us. We finally got to have recess inside.  We could play with cars, legos, dinosaurs, color, read and a lot more. 

One of our butterflies emerged from the chrysalis over the weekend.  We released it with Mrs. Dodge in the school garden.  We now still have 2 chrysalis and one of them is dark brown because it is going to emerge soon. 

We got a new decodable today titled Up.  We wish it wasn't raining today so we could go out on the playground. 

Algebra is Easy!

We got extra recess.  In math today, we did algebra.  It wasn't hard and Mrs. Dodge could not trick us.  We are going to see the PTSA fundraiser.  Mrs. Dodge read us A House for Hermit Crab. We are not tired today but we are ready for the weekend!   

Easy Breezy Day in First Grade

We made people to look like us.  Mrs. Dodge will glue our t-shirts and pictures of our faces on them.  We added numbers to 10 with counters.  It was easy.  We did workshop, we read Pete the Cat. We went on the playground and in the cafeteria there was hot dogs and tacos for lunch. 

Our class is cool we hope you like it!!!

Frog Day in First Grade!!

We did a lot of ELA.  We got our first decodable called See!  The High Frequency Words are the  and see.  There are now three chrysalises.  We made caterpillars with paper and they had a pattern.  They are hanging on the windows.  Math was SUPER easy today.  We had our first fire drill this morning.  We made "About Me" Books.  Tomorrow will be an even more super day!

"Remembering"....Day

We went to Art today and made tea cups out of clay.  In our tank, we have 2 chrysalises and one caterpillar who is making his chrysalis.  We read Chrysanthemum.  Today was a special day because it is 9/11.  Whenever we see a fireman, policeman or ambulance worker we will say thank you.  We went outside for recess.  There was HOT DOGS and Chicken nuggets for lunch in the cafeteria.  Tomorrow will be a safe day!

Coloring and Writing in First Grade

We switched desks to fit us and went on the playground.  In math, we made numbers with play doh and then wrote them with our pencils.   There was pasta with meat sauce in the cafeteria with some broccoli.  Four people bought lunch today everybody else brought their lunch.  We did workshop for the first time today.  We liked it!!  We looked at Writer’s Notebook and Word Work Notebook.  We got our Handwriting Books and Skills Practice Book.  We hope that tomorrow is fun and not rainy!

First Grade is AWESOME

Post from 9/7/12

Mrs. Dodge made us close our eyes and she gave us play doh today.  We got to make the letters in our names with it.  We listened to The T-Shirt Song and decorated t-shirts.  We made a friendship fruit salad with pears, peaches,and marshmallows.  In the morning we went to Mrs. Moore's room and she read Moosetache.  First grade is a lot of fun.  We wish it wasn't Friday because we want to be at school.  Woooooo first grade is AWESOME!!!!!

Classroom: After

Here are pictures of the classroom right before the students came today (9/6/12). 

 

 

 A view from the door

 From the carpet

 Our calendar area

 Computer Center

 Another view from the carpet

 View from computer center

 Front of the classroom

 Work Display wall.  Each student has an owl to display their work.

 

We had a great first day!  Hopefully we can get the technology working soon!!

 

Onward to day 2!!

First Day of First Grade

Unfortunately, my computer at school will not let me compose a blog post.  So, the students created a blog today on Microsoft Word and I am copying and pasting it to the blog.  I will also post pictures of the classroom from just before the students arrived today.  Here is the students' blog from today:

Students' Posting:

We got to school and we were excited to be here.  We had to unpack into the baskets and then color.  We liked doing math and going outside.  We found clues everywhere around the school in the busy places to search for the gingerbread man.  We found him in our classroom and we ATE him!!!  Mrs. Dodge gave us marshmallows to remind us about marshmallow toes and marshmallow mouths.  Then we got to eat them.  We are excited about coming back tomorrow. 

I hope to be able to post these during the school day.  However, until further notice, I will post the blogs from my personal home laptop. 

The Night Before First Grade

Hello Everyone!!!!!!

Well.....it's the day before school starts and we are all probably anxious.  Remember to read your poem and put your confetti near your bed.  I will do the same.  I am soooo excited to see everyone tomorrow.  Just for fun, I am posting the Magic Confetti poem. 

Back To School Magic Confetti

The night before school is exciting and fun.
There are always so many things to be done.

Your clothes are ready, your backpack is too.
Your classroom is full of fun things you will do.

There are so many questions that go through your mind,
All types of thoughts of every kind.

But sometimes we all get the jitters down deep
Ans that makes it hard to fall fast asleep.

So I've made you some magic confetti, it really is cool.
It will help you be rested and ready for school.

Just place the confetti next to your bed.
On the night before school starts where you lay down your head.

The confetti will help you sleep through the night
And you will wake up in the morning fresh and bright.

I'll place the confetti near my bed, too
And remember, I just can't wait for school so I can see you!
 

Author Unknown

 

 

There are so many things planned that we will all be VERY tired after the day is done.  I hope everyone gets a good night's rest.  We will have a busy, fun and exciting day.  Tomorrow I will post pictures of the classroom.  There will also be the first posting from the students tomorrow.  So enjoy your evening and sweet dreams!!!  See you in the morning!!!

 

Mrs. Dodge

Great Summer!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying this B-E-A-utiful week!  Only a couple weeks to go until the first day, but who is counting.  On the first day of school (September 6th) I will post pictures of the classroom.  The students and I will also create a new post that day and we will attempt to post everyday (I hope).  So keep enjoying your summer and see you soon. 

Mrs. Dodge



Supply list

Here is the supply list for first grade.  Please send all of the supplies with your child the first day of school. 

First Grade Supply List

You will need:

·         A sturdy one inch 3 ring binder (with clear view cover)

·         One zipper pencil pouch for a 3-ring binder

·         4 glue sticks

·         1 pack of crayons (no more than 48 count)

·         3 regular black & white composition books (any color)

·         An art smock (an old large t-shirt is fine!)

·         1 box of tissues

·         3 of the hole-punched 2 pocket folders (for binders)

·         2 large erasers

·         Regular size backpack (no triangle shape, etc.)

·         Plastic pencil/supply box (for our desks; snap shut, NOT zippered please)

·         2 colored pens (not gel pens)

·         1 package unlined 3x5 index cards

·         Scissors (blunt-tip)

·         4 boxes of plain No. 2 pencils (no decorations please)

·         A sturdy shoe box (not child size)

WISH LIST

Any Ziploc bags

Dry-erase markers

Anti-bacterial wipes

Colored pencils

Paper lunch bags

Cotton balls

        

 

Classroom: BEFORE

 Cubbies with no names.  Which one is yours??

 Everything is a mess!

Even my desk is a mess!  I guess the desk fairy won't be leaving me any presents.

Here are some more pictures.  The desks are going to have to be changed.

The room will look different, more organized and put together!!  Can't wait for you to see it!

Don't forget to open your magic confetti on the night before the first day of school. 

Remember: NO PEEKING!!!!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!

Mrs. Dodge