November & December Learning and Fun!

November and December have been a whirlwind of learning, activities, programs, events and parties. I decided to put together a little iMovie to share a glimpse into these past 2 exciting months in 1st Grade. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you enjoy our holiday break! The kids have been working super hard and have earned it! Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year! See you back at school on Tuesday, January 6th.

 

 

 

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October - Part 3 & Welcome November!

I'm on a roll now that my technical problems are fixed with my blog.  (Thank you Ms. Gelles!)   Wanted to share a few more pictures from October.  Halloween was fun where students could dress up as a favorite book character.  Oh, and teachers did too!  First Grade Teachers loved our stories we read about scarecrows - so we all dressed up as scarecrows!  Our students looked fantastic!  It was a fun day!

We also picked the October BEAR BRAG WINNERS.  These students exemplify great qualities of a good citizen here at school.  They are friends to others, kind, helpful, responsible and always try to follow rules and expectations.  Congratulations to Maren and Connor.

And finally, as we moved into the month of November, we took time to learn a little about our country and the military and veterans who help protect us all.  Veterans Day was celebrated with a special program honoring student's family members who are serving or have served our country.  Students loved having the chance to write letters to a veteran, and they were really sweet.  Here are a few samples:

As you can tell, it has been very busy!  Welcome November and our Thanksgiving season!  Check back soon for more sneak peeks into our classroom!

More October Fun - Part 2

Pumpkins were popular for a while in October.  We talked and read stories about pumpkins, used our senses to learn about the properties of pumpkins, carved a pumpkin, had a pumpkin contest, took a survey about jack-o-lanterns, made a graph about pumpkins and painted a pumpkin to decorate our classroom.  October and Pumpkins.  Nothing is better!

We also began to learn about blogging using Kidblog -- a wonderful app where each student is blogging about things we are learning in class.  We will soon have a lesson on writing "comments" on other people's blog and what appropriate and kind comments sound like.  Then students will begin to read and comment on classmate's blogs.  We would love for parents & relatives to eventually comment on your child's blog in Kidblog!  We want to practice writing blog posts a little while longer though.  I'll keep you posted when a good time to check out Kidblog gets closer!

And here is a class pic that we had Ms. Husby take for us!!!  It is hard to always have every one of us be in the room at the same time, so sometimes we just have to squeeze close and take a photo whenever we have the chance!

October Fun - Part 1

I was having major technical difficulties with my blog, but hopefully have them fixed and up and running again!  Here are a few highlights from October:

We have been practicing tons of concepts with numbers 1-50.  Skipcounting, number order, greater than/less than, etc.  Here are a few snapshots:

We love using these apps to help with math concepts:  Number Pieces Basic   and   Schookit Math.  Both are free apps!

We also spent the month being a part of the Global Read Aloud, where we were reading aloud the chapter book Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Students have loved learning and practicing many comprehension skills through this wonderful book.  We have learned how to make inferences, make mental images and to do a lot of predicting!  All great skills to help with our reading comprehension!  

More October updates coming soon!!

Snapshots from September

Learning library rules and expectations with our librarian Ms. Johnson and friends from Ms. Gelles' Class.

Observing wind patterns during our summer weather study.

Ms. Johnson helping us download apps to our iPads!

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Learning graphing skills with popcorn.

 

International DOT Day is a global celebration about learning how to make your mark on the world. We had such a great celebration! We read Peter Reynolds' book "The Dot". We talked about learning how to make choices that will lead us to a successful life. We drew and shared what we want to be when we grow up and how what we learn and do TODAY helps us toward that goal. We Skyped with a FIrst Grade Class from New Jersey and sang a special song about making our mark! We are creating 2 special trees in the hall with all the other first graders that represents our future! We sorted and counted "dots". We Tweeted about DOT day with other classrooms from around the world! I hope your child shared some of their experiences with you. Here are some pictures :

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this September Snapshot of 1st Grade!

 

 

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Week One is All Done!

Welcome to Mrs. Simmons' classroom blog - "Footprints of First".   I hope to write a blog post every couple of weeks that will show highlights and share tips and treasures from our classroom. Enjoy and share this blog with family near and far, and leave a comment for us to read!  Here is my wonderful group of sillies wanting a funny picture to begin our year!

WELCOME to the 2014/15 School Year!

I was so glad to meet so many new parents and students last night at Meet the Teacher Night!  I hope your son or daughter is excited about entering First Grade!  I know it is going to be a fun and rewarding year!

School Starts -   Monday, August 25th @ 7:45 a.m.   It is a FULL DAY, please send lunch or lunch $.

School Ends - Dismissal is promptly at 2:45 p.m.  PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE PICKING YOUR CHILD UP FROM SCHOOL!   They can get very upset and stressed when they are not picked up and it is extra time spent for teachers and staff to locate a parent or guardian to come pick up a child.  If you are running late for any reason at dismissal, please call the school right away so we can let your child know you will be late.

Orange Sign (That has your last name on it) -- Use this sign to pick up your child when you are in the drive-through lane.  First Graders are picked up in the front of the school building.

The first week of school is exceptionally hectic at dismissal time, and I do ask that when you see our class walk outside, please do not pull your child from the line!  Let us sit in our designated spot first, so students can learn the after school expectations.  We want to keep all of our students safe during this busy time at school!

Thank you so much for all that you have done to help your child transition from Kinder to First Grade! I am looking forward to a great school year with your son or daughter!  Please e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns!  WELCOME TO FIRST GRADE!

Hello June! Hello Summer!

Goodbye to First Grade! Time flies and here we are on the brink of closing another school year. It has been a fun, learning year for me and the kiddos. So very proud of all of the students growth and accomplishments. I know every teacher says this, but please have your child read over the summer! Make visiting the local library a regular event. They need this one simple skill to be encouraged by every adult in their lives! Reading is the one singular thing that will make or break their school success! So help your child make a reading goal this summer. Read 20 books? 30? Kids can read books online too. Go to the BCE library page for links to on line catalogs like Tumblebooks. Thanks for a really great year! Here are some snapshots from our final weeks:

 

Future computer scientists. Exploring computer coding apps like Kodable, Daisy the Dinosaur.

ABC Countdown !

Career Day!

 

 

 

Garden Fun!

 

Trying a "Google Hangout! With multiple classes.

Thank you for a great year! Over and out!

 

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Goodbye April...

Time Flies when we have so many exciting things going on.  We cannot believe it is almost time for Ms. Musgrove (student teacher) to leave us!  Her last day is Friday May 2nd and we have really enjoyed having her for the last 2 months.  She will be missed and we wish her the best of luck!  She will be a great teacher!

Congratulations to recent Bear Brag Award winners!  The kids vote on who deserves this outstanding student, citizen of our classroom award!  I have to agree with the students - very good choices!

More EGGciting news!  As I am sure your child has told you --  4 out of 6 eggs hatched into baby chicks last week!  Students have learned all about the life cycle of a chicken and are now learning a lot about baby chicks and their needs!  They are growing very fast and we have found the perfect home for them too!  We will give them away to a wonderful person who will take really good care of them and continue to send us pictures on their growth!  Can you see the first crack below?  Then all the fun began!

Once they were all rested and dried off... we had some pretty cute chicks!  Here is the first born:

Here are all 4 chicks in their brooder!

In honor of our chick hatching we celebrated with "Chicks and Salsa" ...  I mean "Chips and Salsa"!  We made queso, salsa and danced the chicken dance with Ms. Gelles' class!   

Oh, and we also planted a Salsa Garden !!  Tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and onions!

Goodbye April!  We learned so much!