Word families

We learned about word families. If you can read or spell one, you can read or spell lots of words! 

We used the app Popplet Lite to organize our word families, and recorded them on paper as well. 

Read-A-Thon Pumpkin Competition

Our class entered the Pumpkin competition for the Read-A-Thon.

We voted to make our pumpkin Skippyjon Jones - the Siamese cat whose ears are too big for his head.

Here he is! Pretty great huh? Our students did the whole thing, except hot glue on the ears, but they did draw them! 

Here' sour Skippy with all the other pumpkins ...

Don't forget to log your minutes and collect pledges for our reading fundraiser for PTO!

Have You Ever Seen A Pumpkin Song & Video

This week we started working on making Mental Images and visualizing while we read. We started out with a familiar topic - pumpkins!

First students drew their mental images to 2 pumpkin songs we read and sang.

Then today as a class we created collaborative images for one of the songs using our iPads, Apple TV and projector. You'll notice that we used the details in the songs to create our pictures.

We were able to pass the iPad around and work on drawing the mental images in Doodle Buddy, while it was projected to our screen through the Apple TV. It was awesome! We love sharing, writing together and seeing all the action as it happens!

Then we used iMovie to add the images and record our song.

Here's the finished product ... We are all so proud!



Did you spy the round one, the tall one, the bumpy one and the squashed one?


PS - Here's what our rotting pumpkin looks like today (10/25). Lots of gross mold!

Rotting Pumpkins!

We started rotting our small pie pumpkin on Monday of this week.

Here are some pictures of what we've observed so far ...

Today we saw mold! Eew! 

Pumpkins! Ooey, Gooey Pumpkins!

We have been having so much fun with pumpkins in the past weeks!

We've used this ThingLink with resources - hover over the image to see some interactive icons that will let you watch the videos we've been watching!




We've also read Rotten Pumpkin: A Rotten Tale in 15 Voices

And yes, it's every bit as gross as it seems! We LOVED it!

Today we cut into our pie pumpkin, and put it in a jar to rot! We'll be taking pictures each day to show the gross process! We are thrilled!

Here are some pictures ...

Writers Publish & Celebrate

Today both first grade classes shared their very first published stories. Look for them in backpacks today!

If you can read ...

In word study we are working on practicing that we can read and write words if we know their endings. We call them word families!

For example: If you can read mat, you can read splat, chat or pat.

Here's the chart we made ...

We also love watching this short Between the Lions song!

Fall Playdough & Pumpkin fun

We added fall playdough to the science station today!  We really had fun figuring out the two scents - cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice!

Click here to find the recipe that Mrs. Zig used to make it.

We have also started our pumpkin investigation, and are working on several fall projects!

Small Moments with Closed in Endings

Today we talked about keeping our small moment stories all in one place. Basically, keep your story in one place, and about one topic.

Our awesome class likened it to a turtle in his shell - all in one place!! 

Here' style chart we made to help us remember & pictures of the sign language symbol for turtle! We're going to use it to help us remember to keep our stories "inside the turtle shell".

Star Wars Reads Day 2013 - Pictures

We had a great time on Friday celebrating Star Wars Reads Day!

Here is a Haiku Deck with some fun pictures from the day ...

Star Wars Reads Day - Celebrating Tomorrow!

Star Wars Reads Day II is on October 5th.

We'll be celebrating tomorrow morning during station time!

We'll be using books, apps and activities to celebrate!

Here's the official Star Wars Reads Day II trailer ...




Here's a link to a bunch of resources for you  - apps, books, and more! Click the picture below.

Students are welcome to bring a book, or other Star Wars related item to share, as long as it is school appropriate and you as the parent are okay with them bringing it!

We are very excited!