The 100th Day of School

Our class decided to share ideas about what we could do to celebrate the 100th Day of School.  Below is our Padlet board with all of our ideas.

Created with Padlet

On Wednesday, we will find out which ideas were chosen. We can't wait until it's the 100th day of school!

Science Alive!

Last week, one of our favorite programs came to our school.  It's called Science Alive.  Science Alive brings REAL animals into our classrooms to experience them up close and personal.  Yes, that's right!  We get to see, feel, and sometimes hold real animals as the biologist shares all kinds of information about them.  Each year our PTA brings this program to our school.  Each year they come with a new group of animals.  This year we had a two snakes, one of which was a python, a chinchilla, a toad and a skunk (without the gland that creates the bad smell of course).  Take a look at some of the pictures.  It was a lot of fun and one of our favorite in-school programs.

We LOVE Science Alive!  What fun programs do you have at your school?  Have you ever touched one of these animals before?  Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King

This year, we learned a lot about Dr. Martin Luther King. We read books about his life and we watched videos to learn about all the important things that he did to help our world become a better place. In the United States we celebrate his birthday on January 20th, which is Martin Luther King Day. One of the things we did to celebrate the day was to share our dreams for the future. Here are some of the dreams we shared: I can Dream Like Dr. king. My dream is... "No more smoking because it is not healthy." "To have no hungry children any where." "No more drunk drivers."

This is a song we sang all week about Dr. Martin Luther King. We sang it every morning during our morning meeting.

MLK song from Valerie Ruckes on Vimeo.

We learned a lot about Dr. Martin Luther king. Happy Birthday Dr. King! What did your class do to celebrate Dr. King's dream? We would love to know. Please leave us a comment.

Weather Watchers

Today we started our first unit in science.  It's called Weather Watchers.  First, we shared what we know about the weather.  Take a look a our responses below.

Created with Padlet

We also drew pictures of our favorite weather in our science journals. Here are some of the things that we would like to know more about: I want to know more about... *the rain *the sun *lightening *the sun in space. *winter *snowflakes *snow *thunderstorms *tornados Does your class learn about the weather?

Fun Run! Fun

On Thursday, our school had its annual Fun Run.  First graders wore their yellow t-shirts and we ran laps around the bus loop to music.  It's always an exciting day.  First, we take a class picture.  Next, we go outside and run our laps.  (You can also walk if you get tired.)  Parents were cheering us on!  After that, we went inside for water and a treat.  The Fun Run is always lots of fun!  By the way, Mrs. Ruckes ran, too.

Our class poses for a quick picture. 

Kayla is get ready for the event...groooowlllll!

We're off and running...

Does your school have a Fun Run?  We would love to know about some of your school events.

Family Read Along

Last week, we held our annual Family Read Along for all four first grade classrooms.  Yes, 80 first graders and their families.  It's always a huge event and a huge surprise.  It's a time to celebrate our reading lives with our family and friends.  The theme is based on the book, The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant.  In the story, the relatives visit and there is lots of hugging, kissing, and eating.

Everyone in our class was extremely surprised when their family members appeared at our classroom door. There were moms and dads, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and volunteers!  They brought along lots of book to read, snacks to share, and blankets to sit on.  It was the best reading time ever!  What does your class do to celebrate reading?

Math Fact Families

This week we have been working on fact families in math.  We decided to share our work using an App called a Show Me.  We started by throwing two dice to determine the three numbers for our fact families.  Next, we wrote down our three numbers.  Afterwards, we wrote our fact family.  Finally, we demonstrated our learning using a Show Me.  You can see some of the Show Me's we created below.