Week 14

Our visit from a local police officer

Two students handcuffed together during the policeman presentation

Star of the week student showing off her pet dog

Students roller skating in P.E.

We had a great week!

Thanks: We had a lot of volunteers come in to help this week with various things.  Thank you for all your help.

Our regular volunteers often get overlooked, and we owe them a huge thank you.  THANKS!

Special Guests: We had an officer from the local police department visit us this week.  He showed the students the various equipment that he uses on the job.  They loved it!

Funny Stuff From Kids: One student talked about a family vacation to “You Nork” (New York).

I overheard some students at recess talk about their fathers’ hunting equipment. One of them said, “We have a six gun pistol.”  If you know about guns, you would know that that statement makes no sense!

You know it’s Christmas time when students start turning spelling practice into a one word Jingle Bells song while they work.  Frog was the spelling word, and it was turned quietly into Jingle Bells by a hard working student.  It went something like this:   “Frog, frog, frog.  Frog, frog, frog.  Frog, frog, frog, frog, frog. Froggie, froggie,  frog, frog, frog. Frog, frog, frog, frog, frog. Hey!”  

Homework: Make sure the students keep up on their homework!

Social Studies: Students loved our visit from the local police, as outlined above.  We also learned about what life is like in other countries, and we’ve revisited the topic of respect for our flag, especially during the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Math: We’ve been talking about measurement a lot.  For first grade, this mostly means which one is longer, which one weighs more, and which one is colder.

Project Read/Spelling: This week we focused on r blends.  Basically, That’s when r is the second sound in a word, such as trick or frill.  Students worked hard, and even though it is a difficult concept, they did very well.   

Speedy Words and Rocket Math: Each student is progressing on their facts and instant words!  Some students have been working less hard during rocket math time, and I may have to begin contacting parents and sending it home with those students as homework.

AR: Everyone is progressing on reaching the goal of 20 books for the next quarter.  Great job!

Writing: This week we focused on a few different things: 1.) Editing sentences (capital, period, doer, and what they’re doing.) 2.) Neatness in writing 3.) A fun writing project about a toy coming alive.

The highlight was hearing the students’ stories about one of their toys coming alive! 

Science: This week we did a few experiments.  First of all, we dropped a basketball and a piece of paper to see which would land first.  Then we crumpled up the paper and tried it again.  The kids were interested and excited about the results. We also did a neat experiment where a skewer is poked through a balloon without popping it.     

Students are really starting to understand the scientific method, and they enjoy doing experiments.  Soon we will add into our science writing a section about why the experiments work.