Thanksgiving Week!

November has definitely came and went! I cannot believe we are already on Thanksgiving Break! How quickly this year is passing us by...

I hope this 4-day weekend, along with the holiday, has brought you and your family joy. I know it has certainly done so for me.

Below are some snapshots of the days that led up to this wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday...

More Shapes!

This week was the conclusion of the shapes unit. The students worked really hard to memorize and recognize all of the 3D shapes, along with using them in their day to day lives. We did many different hands-on activities to help study and categorize the different shapes we see. They did a fantastic job with this unit and seemed to really enjoy it.

Guest Reader

This week we had another gues reader come visit the kiddos. Gavin from 3rd grade did a phenomenal job reading and teaching the students. This is his second time choosing our class for a guest-reading opportunity, and I hope that it won't be the last.

Thanksgiving Activities

As a class, we spent quite a bit of time these past few days discussing the meanign of thanksgiving, and how different families may celebrate the holiday differently. We read books, watched videos, and even made a Thanksgiving Writing! The students were very excited to write their letters to that special person in their lives that they are thankful for, and they turned out great!

WRITERS CELEBRATION!

That last and most exciting part of this week was the writers celebration. After months of writing and working so hard, the students were finally able to show off their favorite piece of writing. We had a whole-group share, a small-group share, and then enjoyed some refreshments where we had a toast, ate snacks, and visited with one another. The students had a great time and really enjoyed their time in the spotlight. Also, some kiddo's did an AMAZING job at looking just as fancy as their writing! Other teachers in the building were very impressed as well. 

I am so very proud of all of these young writers and cannot wait to see how much their writing has improved during the next celebration.

November is Here!

November is here and it has been good! After some amazing conferences, an exciting Royals win/celebration, and some time off from school, the kiddo's returned energized and ready to learn!

Science Skype Lesson

The first graders at Luff joined together again for another Skype lesson. This time we met with a friend from Florida to discuss the seasons they have compared to ours.

Leadership Award

We had another ceremony to celebrate perfect attendance and good leadership. We had several students receive awards for attendance including Alexa, Chloe, and Maddy. Good job ladies! As for the leadership award, Jason from our class was recognized for his excellent leadership in our classroom. Well done, Jason!

Shapes, Shapes, and More Shapes!

We started our unit on shapes and the students are loving it. One activity we did was folding shapes! We discussed how shapes change and become two once you fold them in different ways. A few students actually stood up in front of the whole class to share their findings!

We also spent some time making shape patterns.

Book Nooks!

This week I introduced book nooks. Book nooks are fun and comfortable places to read around the room. Students seem to love them! The only catch is that they have to EARN the book nook. Staying on task and working hard earns them a book nook for that day.

Until next time!

-Miss. Elliott

Two Week Review

I am back with another two week review! I apologize for my delayed posts. However, there have been so many amazing and fun things happening in our classroom and in our building that this post will be a great one to see! Enjoy!

LAST WEEK

Reading is Thinking!

Student writing the text-to-self connections they make with their independent reading books on post-it notes, then placing them into their reading journals.

Share Time

Your children have been working so hard on their writing, and their favorite thing to do at the end of writing time is share their work with their friends!

STAMP My Words!

I introduced a new word work station this week, which is stamps! The students were so excited!

Skype Lesson!

One of the most exciting parts of our week was the Skype Lesson we got from a police man! The students got to sit and actually speak with a police officer through the computer. He taught them about rules and laws and the importance they have on keeping people safe. It was an experience they will never forget!

PAJAMA PARTY!

The kids had been looking forward to this day for weeks. We finally had our pajama party. We had a BLAST seeing everyone in their favorite pajamas. Aside from regular learning time, we did some pajama party-based learning as well. We played a "Nap Time" game where the students pretended to be a asleep until they heard the correct words, they listened to a story with their stuffed animal, and later on we had snacks and share time to share their toys. It was a blast and the kiddo's loved it.

THIS WEEK

Life-Size Fact Families

Fact families have been a bit difficult for the kiddo's to grasp so we did some extra practice by have student BE the numbers. This allowed them to actually get moving and see the numbers move before their eyes to make the different number sentences.

Nonfiction Feature Books!

We have started a unit in reading where we are studying the features in nonfiction books. Every student got their own booklet to use throughout the unit and they got to personalize their books by coloring and decorating.

Story Problems

We spent some time creating out own story problems this week. Students created their own problem on the white board and traded with their partner to solve the problems. They really seemed to enjoy this activity.

Nonfiction Feature: Photographs

We started our first lesson on nonfiction features by talking about photographs and what they are used for. We shared the photographs of our families and discussed how the photos depict every person better than an illustration would. We also discussed how different all families are.

Fall Party!

The fall party on Friday was an absolute success. I want to thank ALL of the parents that took time out of their day to come volunteer and be there for such an exciting day. The kiddo's had a blast and I know they will never forget it.

Until next week!! :)

-Miss. Elliott