Native American Culture Presentations and Activities

Today as a part of our culture studies, all the 1st graders at Hemlock Creek got to participate in three activities and presentations by Mrs. Carl and the Oneida Nation Museum. They got to make pinch pots from clay, make an Oneida clan mobile, and enjoyed listening to Oneida storytelling. They also learned some Oneida words and how to count to ten. Below are some pictures from our day.

R-Controlled Vowels - ar and or

This week is Fundations and reading we are learning to read the r-controlled vowels ar (as in car) and or (as in horn). Below are two videos that we watched to help learn about these two tricky sounds.

Evergreen Theatre - Storybook

Today the Evergreen Theatre came to school and presented to the kindergarten - second grade students. This years play was called The Story Book. It focused on family and had many character from a few of our favorite stories. The stories included Peter Pan, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella. Below are some pictures and videos from the play.

Compare and Contrast

For the last two weeks in class we have been working on comparing and contrasting. We started by comparing the characters Chrysanthemum and Lilly (Lilly's Plastic Purse). While making comparisons we focused on what they looked like, what they did, what they likes, and what the said. We then also compared the pigs and wolf from the three little pigs. Today we did Venn diagrams comparing ourselves to a classmate. The kids did great and learned a lot about each other. :) 

PBIS Classroom Reward

On Friday our class had a special party in the afternoon. Over the course of the year they earned parts on Mr. Potato Head for making good choice in the classroom and around the school. As a reward they earned some class pets and a Perler Bead party.

Informational Writing - iPads

This trimester we have been working on writing informational texts. Each student has selected one of their stories to type up on the iPads. We are using an app called Story Buddy 2. Through the use of this app the kids can write, color, and record one of their stories. I can then save a copy including audio in iBooks. I will also print off one color copy of their story for them to keep. Below is an example of one of the kiddos stories that has been completed. They can work on them during Daily 5 time or during their scheduled iPad writing time once a week.

Click HERE or on the picture below to read a PDF copy of the story. :) 

The Amazing Octopus

This week in one of our reading groups we read the story The Amazing Octopus. We focused on text features and comprehension. Today we used an app called PicPlayPost to create videos talking about one text features from the book. :)

Your Child's Art Work - Artsonia

To view your child's art work online and to share it with others visit www.artsonia.com. 

Type Hemlock Creek into the box below.

Type in your child's first name. Look for their name and grade level. 

Click on their name and enjoy!

Text Features

This week in reading we will be focusing on non fiction books and their many text features. We have already learned about some earlier in the year but we will be adding many new ones this week. We have discussed each feature, hung a poster, highlighted text features in a paper book, read and discussed texts, as well as finding and documenting text features. To document text feature students will be using an app called PicCollage. They will be photographing a text feature and it's matching poster. They then put them together in PicCollage to make a new image. They will then email them to me and I will post them here! You will also see a bag of mini posters coming home with your child. They should use them while reading non-fiction books at home!

Elliot with his
Mini Posters

Base Ten BINGO

In math this unit we are working with base ten. Below is a great game you can use at home to practice as well as an app you can download on your iPad for $1.99.

Base Ten Bingo Game

Base Ten Bingo App