October 29 - November 2 Spelling Words

This week we are studying the R-controlled vowel /or/.

or

for

corn

cork

fork

more

hang

ring

two

from

Look! Up in the air! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a 1st grade PARACHUTE!!!

We are currently studying AIR and WEATHER in science.

To begin our exploration of air we made individual parachutes with napkins, string, and paperclips. We then took them outside, let them go, and made observations about how, where, and why they moved on the air.

Below are some pictures of Scientific Minds At Work:

October 22-26 Spelling Words

Here they are...

sing

sang

hang

rang

ring

bring

bus

must

your

when

Thank You!

1st Grade Families,

I so enjoyed getting to talk with you during conferences. Thank you for being so supportive and present in your child's education. There is nothing that will help them succeed more.

Please remember that I am available all times (not just conferences) to discuss your 1st grader's school life. The more we communicate, the better I can serve your little learner. Thanks for a wonderful First Quarter! Let's have 3 more just like it (or better)!

~Mrs. Reimer

October 15-18 Spelling Words

This week we explore the short /u/ sound:

us

bus

bug

rug

mug

must

with

then

she

use

Fire Station!

We learned a ton about fire safety on our trip to the Offutt Fire Station. Our adventure wrapped up our health unit on safety. It was also one of the most thrilling parts of Fire Safety Week.

Our field trip began with an informative and hilarious movie with our favorite fire dog, Sparky.

Sparky reminded us that it's important to HAVE TWO WAYS OUT in the event of a fire.

We actually got to meet Sparky! He's a sleepy guy, but our boisterous yells riled him up enough to come and give a few high fives and hand shakes.

Everyone loves Sparky.

We were given a taste of what we would see and hear if a fireman came to save us. The sound was very Darth Vader-ish.

 One of the most poignant parts of our quest for fire safety was an experience in the "smoke house". During this time we went into a simulated mini-house (a camper) that then filled with smoke and had warm doors. The students had to get low and find their way to safety. (A lack of pictures is due to extreme smokiness.)

We ended our trip with a water show. Chilly.....

October 8-12 Spelling Words

Here are this week's spelling words. We are introducing the digraph -th this week. Fun stuff!

then

them

this

that

path

with

men

set

was

said

Fontenelle Forest

We had a wonderful trip to Fontenelle Forest last week. We met a snake, a turtle, and a rabbit. We also got to see some beautiful raptors.

This trip helped solidify our understanding of the different animal classifications.

REMINDER!!!

Please remember:

• Spelling Test tomorrow!
• Book orders due tomorrow!
• Scarecrow due tomorrow!

A bit of Daily Five

Every day I meet with small individualized reading groups at my back table. This guided reading time ensures that each student is getting reading guidance at their reading level and understanding. What are the other students in the room doing? Good question. Some of them are reading with Mrs. Rieple, our reading specialist, some are with Mrs. Ewing, one of our resource teachers, and the rest are being Independent Learners in Daily Five. Daily Five is a time for students to do independent literacy activities while their teacher (me!) works with classmates in small groups. These five literacy stations are 1)Read to Self  2)Read to Someone  3)Work on Writing  4)Listen to Reading and 5)Word Work. Sometimes the students have the choice to do any of these activities, sometimes they can choose from a selection of them, and sometimes I choose for them. They work quietly to build their literacy stamina and independence. Give them a pat on the back for being such hard workers!

Here is a snippet of what goes on during Daily Five. Stay posted for pictures of Word Work and Listen to Reading!

October 1-5 Spelling Words

Spelling words go home in homework folders today. For your convenience (and to those who are dependent on their computers like me!) I will also post every week's spelling words on this blog. Here they are:

hen

pen

men

end

send

set

all

call

very

that

Please practice these words with your kiddo! You can have them write them and spell them out loud. If you have a set of Scrabble, or Bananagram, or magnetic letters you can have them build the words with those. Or, you can make your own set of letters using beans or simple squares of paper. Try to make spelling as fun as possible with games and challenges.