First Grade Memories 2014-2015

Enjoy the slideshow below. Remember to turn up the volume on your computer so you can hear the voices of the children as they narrate the slideshow. If you get this post by email, you will need to go directly to the blog to view the slideshow.

Then and Now - See How We've Grown

Enjoy the slideshow below. Remember to turn up the volume on your computer so you can hear the voices of the children as they narrate the slideshow. The narration is only on every other slide so be patient. If you get this post by email, you will need to go directly to the blog to view the slideshow.

Summer Learning

Some of you have asked for ideas of things to do over the summer to continue the learning and my top requests for summer learning would be to read, to visit lots of great places and spend lots of time enjoying nature. If you still have time for more learning, then here are a few more ideas for summer learning that are in line with our school philosophy. Click on the pictures below to go to the site with more information.

Physical Activity

GoNoodle is the site we use for body breaks. They are hosting a free online summer movement camp.

Expedition - Science and Social Studies

Wonderopolis is available as a website and as an app. This site posts a "wonder" a day with a huge variety of topics and then gives the answer to the question. Answers usually include text to read along with either photographs or a short video clip to help explain the topic more in-depth. Past wonders include:
Why are pandas rare?
Who was Annie Oakley?
Does hand sanitizer really work?
Why are people different colors?
How do you get allergies?
Why do we need trees?
Do fish sleep with their eyes open?

To visit Wonderopolis, click on the picture below.

Wonderopolis is a site filled with interesting articles and videos on a wide range of topics. They are also hosting an online summer camp.

Reading

Click here to visit a previous post that included summer reading ideas and booklists.

Math

Click here to learn more about the Bedtime Math website.

Click here to see a list of math games to play to practice basic math facts.

Click here to learn the rules for a fun game to play to practice counting money amounts.

Writing

Have your child keep a journal. Things to write about include:

• their own list of wonders
• build a Lego structure, a block structure, a fairy garden, a fort or other cool thing and then write a story about the people or creatures who live there
• a list of books they have read or want to read
• a few sentences about what they do each day
• fiction stories about some of their favorite characters
• research about a topic that they are especially interested in
• lists of things they love
• lists of things they dislike  
• create your own ideas

Our Kidblog page will still be open and available to anyone who would like to write a blog post about their summer adventures. I would also love to receive emails from the crew telling me about their summer activities.

Spelling

Click on the picture to see some spelling games and ideas.

Online Resources and Games

Click here to visit the websites and games that we played in our classroom this year.

The bottom line for summer learning is to have fun and follow your child's interests. It also helps if you are excited about whatever they choose to do - excitement is contagious. I hope your summer is full of wonderful learning experiences.

Thank You Again!

Today was the final day of Teacher Appreciation Month at Renaissance and boy do I feel appreciated! I loved all of the gifts from you and the crew. You are so kind and thoughtful. My book made me cry. The crew asked me to read it to them and I couldn't even get through the first page. Ms. Debbie, Ashlee's mom, had to step in and take over for me. The notes and thoughts that you and the crew expressed in that book mean so much to me. I will always treasure it and your children. Thank you!

This is the first page that I couldn't get through.

I wanted to show you all what the inside of my book looked like but I couldn't choose a page to share so I just let the book fall open and I used that page. Every page is perfect and I love them all. Thank you.

My Crew

Homework
No homework for the weekend. Enjoy some great books with your child.

IA
Our IA next week is Music.

Math Fact Practice - Bonus Post

Today we practiced our 8, 9 and 10 math facts. We learned a strategy to help us with these facts. Since we all find adding 10 to be "easy" we thought about how we could make adding 9 "easy". Our strategy was to think of a problem like 9 + 7 like this: Take one away from the 7 and add it to the 9 to make a ten, then the problem is 10 + 6 and that is "easy". We did the same strategy for adding 8. We first did this using counters and a ten frame but quickly moved into doing this in our head. After that we played a math facts game on our iPads. It is called Math Slide: Addition and Subtraction Facts by Math Adventure. At first we played by ourselves but after some practice, we began to play with friends - up to 4 people can join in a game on an iPad at once. The crew loved it. They made Ms. Wendy and I giggle as we watched their excitement. Ms. Wendy went and grabbed an iPad to film some of the excitement. The growling sound you will hear is actually the beginning of a guttural laugh - no one was harmed in the making of these videos. Enjoy the short videos below. They will make you smile. (If you get this post by email, you will need to go directly to the blog to view the videos.)

Last Collection of Books

We are currently enjoying our last collection of books from the public library. These include joke and riddle books, the Andy series of graphic books (good next step after Elephant and Piggie books), cookbooks, car and bike books, football books, military vehicle books and books about the Titanic. There are books available on every topic out there. Think of a topic your child loves and help them find a book on that topic. It is good to read all kinds of books on all kinds of topics. As Pete the Cat would say, "It's all good!"

The Just Joking series has it all - cool animal photos and facts along with jokes, riddles and tongue twisters.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Practice basic addition and subtraction facts by playing a game either online or offline. Try clicking here, here or here for ideas or suggestions.