Thanksgiving Fun Video

Greetings! 

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!  I meant to send this out earlier, but realized I left my camera cord at school.  Anyway...better late then never! 

The students had a fun-filled short week of school!  We read various Thanksgiving stories, and learned detailed information about the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the First Thanksgiving.  Ask your child to tell you an interesting fact they learned.  You may actually be surprised!

We also had a Thanksgiving Parade around the school building, followed by a feast!  A good time was had by all!  Check it out!:

Weekly Update ~ November 20th

What a fabulous week we had in first grade! 

-In Language Arts, we read about animal moms and dads, and how they take care of their babies.  They are like humans in many ways, but also quite different. 

Follow these links to learn how animal moms and dads help their babies. 

http://activities.macmillanmh.com/OralLanguageActivities/main1.php?selectionID=212

http://activities.macmillanmh.com/OralLanguageActivities/main1.php?activityID=404

http://activities.macmillanmh.com/OralLanguageActivities/main1.php?activityID=405

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/

Click here for Life African Safari Animal Camera:  http://www.africam.com/wildlife/index.php

We discussed a very important skill, identifying main idea and details.  Click here for more practice:

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/media/repository/protected_content/COMPOUND/50000207/89/38/comprehension_launch.html

http://www.mhschool.com/vocab_games/mmh_games/content/Grade1/Unit2/w1v1/index.html

-In Spelling, we concentrated on the short o word families. 

http://www.starfall.com/n/short-o/so/load.htm?f

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/media/repository/protected_content/COMPOUND/50000024/78/21/phonics_launch.html?defaultSkill=15&stateCode=PA&defaultGrade=1

http://www.patandpals.com/character_tog_ebook_window.asp

-In our Grammar lessons, we learned about nouns.  The students are able to identify a noun as a person, place, thing or animal.  The students worked together to find nouns in magazines to create a collage. 

They also went on a noun scavenger hunt throughout the school building searching for nouns.  They each took pictures of the nouns they found.  Check it out in the following video.

 -In Math, the students continued to work on addition strategies throughout Chapter 6.  Use the following links to play addition review games. 

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/adding_bricks/

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/seashell_search/index.html

We are also learning a fun doubles addition song that goes with our Dinosaur Doubles Addition book (an excellent resource Mrs. Swisher purchased from http://www.heidisongs.com/index.html).  Ask your child to sing the Doubles Song!

-In Science, we began our Unit on Earth, Land, and Water.  The students learned about the different layers of the earth (top, middle, and bottom), and what can be found at each layer.  We also discussed living things, non-living things, and once-living things.  Finally, the students made observations about soil, and discovered what happens to soil when it rains.  Ask your child where the water goes after a storm.

-We are looking forward to a few days of fun and learning before Thanksgiving Break!  Have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.  I am thankful for your continuous support and the opportunity to work with your children each day. 

Weekly Update ~ 11/11/11

We had another wonderful week in first grade! 

In Language Arts, we started off our week reviewing Unit I skills (listening and reading Comprehension, high frequency words, author’s purpose, rhyming, and literary elements). On Wednesday and Thursday, we completed our Unit 1 assessment. We also worked on writing complete sentences (with accurate capitalization and punctuation) about ourselves and things we enjoy!

In Math, the students were very busy learning and practicing various addition strategies. The students took the Chapter 5 math test, which was the first grade entered into Edline for the 2011-2012 school year! I am pleased to announce that every student earned an A on their math test! Congratulations on your hard word and excellent adding!

We also completed a Thanksgiving activity in which we discussed basic fractions. How will you cut your pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day? Will you cut it into halves, thirds, or quarters? The students practiced shading fractions and identifying what fraction of the pumpkin pie had whipped cream on top!

Check out these websites for more fun with fractions!
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/studyjams/fractions/

http://www.vectorkids.com/vkfractions.htm

In Social Studies, we continued to discuss our country, as we learned about colonists, famous historians such as Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin, as well as United States symbols.  We will be discussing holidays this week.  If your family celebrates a special holiday that you would like to share with us in the upcoming weeks, please contact Mrs. Swisher.

One special holiday we discussed this week was Veteran’s Day.  Veteran’s Day honors the men and women who have served in the United States armed services. It is celebrated on November 11, the same day the Armistice was signed in 1918, ending the fighting in World War I.  Our music teacher, Mrs. Barthen, organized a splendid Veteran’s Day Program for McCormick Elementary School.  The students and staff enjoyed listening to the 4^th and 5^th grade chorus sing patriotic songs such as the Star Spangled Banner and A Tribute to the Armed Serves.  Senator John Pippy opened the program with a short speech, thanking veterans and reminding the audience of the great sacrifices the nation’s service members have made for us.  Six local veterans were also present to share their stories with our school. 

We also had visitors from the high school join us for a preview of their fall musical, A Christmas Carol. The children loved the glimpses of Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.  We were all quite impressed with the high students’ ability to perform, sing, and dance.  We were equally excited to hear that many of the students are honor roll students, who are involved in various school activities! 

Finally, on Thursday, we met with our 5th grade buddies in the computer lab.  The students worked together to complete a Webquest Scavenger Hunt about our Author of the Month, Marc Brown.  After, the students explored the following website: http://pbskids.org/arthur/

                   

                        Isn't reading a blast?

Weekly Update ~ November 6th

What a spectacular week we had in first grade! 

On Monday, we had our Fall Celebration!  Everyone had a fantastic time!  Hopefully you had a chance to check out our video highlighting our celebration and some of the fun activities the kids took part in throughout the day!  

On Tuesday, the PTC sponsored a musical health assembly, Slimgoodbody, for the students at McCormick Elementary.  The presentation was very engaging, and the students actively participated in singing songs about bones, muscles, and their body.  To name a few topics, we learned about our cerebrum, cerebellum, heart, muscles, bones, and joints. 

Check out the following website for more information:  http://www.slimgoodbody.com/

Nivesrita promises, "I will never smoke!"

Students stretch their bodies.

Do you remember?:

• What are the bones that make up your fingers and feet called? 

• How many bones are in your body?
• What is the "Down, Down, Down" song?

In Language Arts, the students completed Unit 1, Week 5 as they learned about teamwork and skills involved in the game of soccer.  We also continued to practice identifying types of sentences.  In addition, we worked on blending letters in the beginning and end of words.

*Ask your child to read the following words: 

• black      crack        split          flip         hand           band         rang        sang            grant        slant 

Another skill we have been working on in first grade is putting a list of words in alphabetical order.
*Ask you child to put these words in ABC order: 

• zebra
• alligator
• bear
• monkey

*We have also been discussing the author's purpose when writing a text.  Did the author write the story to entertain, persuade, or inform?  Practice identifying the author's purpose with the following website:
http://studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/h/authorpur.cfm

We will begin next week with Unit 1 review activities, and will take the Unit I Test over a 2-day period on Wednesday and Thursday.  Listed below are some helpful sites for practicing last weeks skills: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/literacy/sentences/index.shtml

http://pbskids.org/lions/games/blending.html

http://www.learningplanet.com/act/abcorder.asp

http://www.abcya.com/alphabet.htm

http://www.primarygames.com/ABC%20Zoo/question_1.htm

In Math, we continued to work on Addition Strategies.  The students learned how to “count-on” by 1 and 2, use a number line to add, and learned ways to memorize the doubles addition facts.  Ask your child about their Dinosaur Double book. 

Check out the following websites for more addition fun!

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-1/adding-doubles

http://funschool.kaboose.com/formula-fusion/games/game_addition_attack.html/

http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/nl.cgi?A1=s&A2=0

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/numberline1_5_04/

*Your child should NOT be using his/her fingers to add.  Instead, always start with the bigger number, say the bigger number…and use a strategy to solve.  Provide manipulatives such as cereal, pennies, beans, paperclips, etc. as needed.  Using these strategies will help your child begin to develop mental math strategies, which will lead to memorization of addition facts. 

In Social Studies, we discussed Native Americans.  We talked about their locations in North America, as well as their different types of homes. 

 

We also introduced our new Author of the Month, Marc Brown. 
Marc Brown is famous for his creation of the character, Arthur.  Check out the following link for interactive Arthur activities.  http://pbskids.org/arthur/

• What are Marc Brown's children's names?
• Where did Marc Brown grow up?
• What is your favorite book written by Marc Brown?

 

 

 

Finally, we ended the week by celebrating awesome behavior demonstrated by the entire class throughout the month of October!  Because we all stayed "in the green" throughout the month, we earned lunch with Mrs, Swisher in the classroom!  Congratulations to everyone! Keep up the PERFECT behavior! 

 

McCormick Rocks: OLWEUS Bully-Free Kick-Off Video

Check out our McCormick Rocks: OLWEUS Bully-Free Kick-Off Video! 
http://vimeo.com/31145386

Fall Celebration

What a spooktacular Fall celebration we had on Monday!

Thank you to our head homeroom mother, Mrs. Maritato for organizing the festivities, and to everyone who donated items and helped to plan our special party!  Thank you to Mrs. Jafarace and Mrs. LaRue for organizing the trick-or-treat bag decorating.  The bags turned out just bootiful!  Thank you to Mrs. Spezialetti and Mrs. Maritato for filling our bags with tasty treats…and leaving out the tricks!  Mrs. Lunz and Mrs. Polster also helped plan some awesome games for the kids.  The children loved the challenging games, Pin-the-Nose on the Jack-o-lantern and Build-a-Skeleton Race.  Mrs. Jaraface also brought in delicious homemade cupcakes for the event!  Yummmmm!  Following our snack, the children took part in a spooky story share presented by Ms. Pittman.  We all laughed as we read about Marley’s Halloween mishaps in the story, Trick or Treat, Marley!    

Thanks to all involved in planning a fun-filled afternoon for the kids!  Everyone had an awesome time!