Student Connections: Penguin Unit

Wow! I have been so impressed by the connections that our students have been making during our Penguin Unit. So far, we have studied Rockhopper, King, Little Blue, and Gentoo Penguins. A giant 2 foot Penguin is also now sitting in a cooler in the back of our classroom. After students went home to survey parents and siblings about good names for our new friend. The end result was that they voted to name our penguin Spike. We've had a lot of fun welcoming Spike to the classroom by learning how to write friendly letters to him. We are also reading Mr. Popper's Penguins and the students are excited to find out each day what will happen next. I have been very impressed with their listening skills and comprehension skills during the story! Here are some pictures of great home to school learning connections that students have brought in to class. Way to go kiddos! Skyah and her sister went home and drew this picture of the southern hemisphere. She was so proud to bring it into class. On another day, Skyah also wrote a poem about penguin habits. You can read her special poem which is now hanging on our classroom wall. Jasper went home and made a food chain showing the hierarchy for antarctic animals. I love seeing how proud they look when they bring in their new discoveries to school, or tell about how they talked about their learning with families.

New Phone System

Exciting news, Bohemia now has a new phone system. When you call the school you will have an option of calling your child's teachers directly. Of course, the phones will be turned on silent during class time. However, I will be checking the voice mail several times during the day for any messages. More information about the new phone systems will be going home in the school newsletter. Here are some important tips:

* If you are calling about a transportation change please call directly to the office. If you leave a message on voice mail it may not reach the teacher before the end of the school day.

*If you are calling about attendance please call directly to the office as well.

Welcome Back! Look Out for Penguins

Hi Families,

How exciting to be back after the holidays! There is a lot to look forward too in first grade over the next few weeks. We will be starting our Penguin unit of study on Tuesday when the kiddos come back to school. Room 4 will be all about Penguins. We will read, write, measure, and research the different kinds of penguins that live around the world. If your family has any photos, books, magazines, or movies that are penguin related don't hesitate to let your kiddo bring it in for show and tell. Our new policy on show and tell is that students may bring in anything that is related to what we are studying. I will be posting some great links for further exploration of penguins later on after the unit gets underway.

We have some more changes happening in first grade as well. Your child will now be receiving spelling instruction in his/her homeroom instead of reading groups starting next week. Spelling homework will be sent home on the first day of the week, and the packet will be due on Fridays. You may need to help your student with extra practice as well because the spelling words and rules that we will be studying are going to be relatively complex. Of course, if you have questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to call.

Thanks for all of your care and support this year!
~Mrs. Elliott

Family Fun: Thanksgiving

We've been enjoying seeing how each family decides to disguise Tom Turkey and keep him hidden until after Thanksgiving is over! I will try and post pictures soon, although the kids would love to have you all visit them in person.

Here are some great links that you can explore with your student to help him/her learn more about the first thanksgiving:

America's Hometown

Pilgrim Hall Museum

The First Thanksgiving: Be the Historian

Boston Children's Museum

Scholastic Thanksgiving Activities

History Channel: Thanksgiving

Hubbards Cupboard Thanksgiving Activities

Science Unit: Studying Air

We learned air can move things!

We learned that air can fill things!

We've been studying the properties of air the past few weeks. Just ask our students what they've learned so far with all of their fun (and messy) experiments. Things we so engaging that we forgot to take pictures! Here are some pictures from our first experiment!

Our Class Harvest Party

We ate yummy treats!

All together in our costumes!

We played fun games and had a school wide parade!
Special thanks to all of our wonderful parent volunteers!

Extra Math Practice

Some parents have asked for more math homework for first graders this year. Instead of copying more worksheets and possibly overwhelming other families, here are some fun games and links to free worksheets online. Please let me know how this works out for your family. Extra math practice is always wonderful as long as kids get a chance to play and be kids at home too.

Math Blox- resource for free math games.

Family Math Night Modules- games and activities to do together as a family.

First Grade Math Worksheets- simple activities to introduce and reinforce concepts.

Homeschool Math-searchable site for fun games and activities.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives- super great website that has fun games and activities.

Our Shady Oaks Pumpkin Pickin' Adventure

Come join us and see what fun we had!

We fed the goats and chickens today!

We rode on hay bales!

We picked out pumpkins!

We were joyful and excited and young!

We are proud pumpkin owners.
We picked pumpkins that were just right!

Playing Catch-Up: Our Fire Station Field Trip

Here is the story about our adventure at the fire station. We met many friendly fire fighters and learned a lot about fire safety.
We learned how to escape from a house in case of a fire.
We met at the mailbox to discuss fire safety plans.
We learned about fire trucks.
We each got to squirt a fire hose.!
We learned about how an ambulance works.

Special thanks to our parent volunteers and to the fire station for helping us have a fun and educational trip!