Statue of Liberty

The past couple weeks we have been learning about national symbols. So far we have learned about the White House, the bald eagle, the pledge of allegiance, and the Statue of Liberty. While learning about the statue of liberty we read the book The Statue of Liberty written by Mary Firestone. In this informational text we learned about how big the Statue of Liberty really is. On page 10 and 11 these was a picture with labels telling us how big her nose is, her finger, her fingernail, her foot, her hand, and her eyes. We used some green paper to measure out the size of a few of these parts. We measured her eye (2.5 ft), her foot (25 feet), her fingernail (13 inches), and her finger (8 ft). Blow you will find some pictures. :)

Miss Liberty's Eye 

Miss Liberty's Finger and Fingernail

Miss Liberty's Foot

- Even bigger than 20 first graders sitting in a row!!

iPad Cart

On Thursday of last week our class was able to use the library's cart of iPads in our classroom. We learned how to use a few new apps and also got to play some of our favorites. During reading we learned how to play the app Sparkfish and it became a fast favorite. Sparklefish is like a recorded Madlibs. It tells you what kind of word you need and it then records your voice saying the word. For example if it says you need an adjective you tap the microphone and record an adjective word. At the end you can play the story and your child's voice fills in the missing parts of the story. This fits perfectly with our journey's lessons on nouns, verbs, and adjectives. During math we used an app called Show Me. This app allows the students to record their voice and writing. We used this app to help us solve subtraction story problems. After solving the story problems the kids are then able to playback the video hearing their own voice and seeing their own writing. We did this with multiple story problems. The kids even got to make their own story problems. Below you will find a few pictures and a video. We will have the iPad cart again in a few weeks. :)

October, 22nd

We have also used our two iPads during math time. 

Today we took turns using them to record our story problems. :) 

All other students recorded them in our math journals. 

Literacy Night Web Resources & Apps

Welcome to literacy night on the farm!!! Please click the link below for a list of amazing literacy resources. Once you have the document open you can click the links to check out the sites. If you have any questions please ask!

HAVE FUN!!

- Jennifer Lambrecht & Jennifer Zurawski

Click Here for Links!!!

If you are also intereseted in iPad apps you can find a list of our favorite K-2 apps here!

Click Here for Apps!!!

Phonics Wallets

This week as a part of our daily five mini lessons the kids have been given a phonics wallet. We will be using this wallet to practice our letter sounds for the week. Each pocket gets one letter. We then segment the word (c - a - t) while pointing to the dots on the wallet. We then say the whole word blending the sounds together while sliding our finger on the arrow at the bottom of the wallet. After building one word we then build a new word by changing only one letter. For example if we started with hen we would then change it to pen. Changing only the first sound. The words will become more complicated as time goes on. :0)

Capitol Cat and Punctuation Pup

This week in class we have been working on writing sentences with a capitol letter at the beginning and a punctuation mark at the end. To help us remember to do this we have made two special helpers. Their names are capitol cat and punctuation pup. Below you will find a few pictures of the kids using our new friends during writing time.

 

 

Daily Five

In our first grade classroom here at Hemlock we do what is called the Daily Five. This is a classroom management system that can be used during the literacy block. It gives the students choice and independence when it comes to their reading time. The Daily Five includes: mini lessons from our Journeys reading program and choice time. During the choice time they can choose from read to self, read to someone, writing, word work, listening to reading, SMARTBoard word work, book shopping, iPad word work, and eventually iPad writing. We have 4-5 different choice times thought out the morning that last for about 15 minutes each. In between these choices we meet at the carpet for a mini lesson that includes our words to know, shared readings, comprehension strategies  (CAFE- More to come on this), vocabulary, grammar, and more. So if you ever hear your kids talk about the Daily Five this is what they are referring to. :) If you have any questions about the Daily Five please do not hesitate to ask. Below you will also find a short video to show you what The Daily Five looks like in our classroom. Please enjoy!

New Favorite Songs

Throughout the day we occasionally get to listen to some music while we work. These are two songs that we have really been enjoying lately. Some of the kids said that they would like to enjoy them at home as well. These songs are on Youtube and you can find them below. :)

Twitter

Dear Families, 

 As you may or may not know our classroom has their very own twitter account! You can follow us through your own twitter account or by checking out the right sidebar of the blog. Your kiddos will be posting all of the exciting things we are doing in our classroom. They will be short messages followed by a picture link. At the beginning of the year I will be helping them compose the tweets and then later in the year they will create them on their own. Check back periodically to see if your child has tweeted anything! :) You can also follow Hemlock Creek on twitter for school updates and information. You may also see a tweet from Mrs. Held or Mr. K as they visit classrooms around the school.

Our twitter name is: Mrs_Lambrecht
School Name: WDPHemlockCreek

If you have any questions about how to use twitter or are having trouble finding our tweets please let me know and I will do my best to help you!

Mrs. Lambrecht

Phantastic Phantom - PBIS Video

In our classroom we have been working hard practicing good behavior at school and together we created this video. It demonstrates how we can behave positively at school by being respectful, being responsible, and being safe. We will be making additional videos throughout the year as needed. :)

Welcome to First Grade!!!!

Welcome back to school! We are going to have a great year this year! I am very happy that you were able to find our class blog and check it out! Throughout the year you will be able to find lots of information about what is going on in our classroom. I will be adding pictures, video, and messages. Feel free to share our class blog with family and friends. I am looking forward to a great year and can't wait to fill our blog with lots of fun information!