First Grade Fun

Author Celebration

2009-06-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, June 9th, we had an Author Celebration. We got to read one piece of writing that we were very proud of. We were all really nervous, but we did it! Then, we got to have really yummy snacks! It was really fun, because we had BOTH of our teachers there, Mrs. Warner and Mrs. Kershasky! Aren't we lucky!

Last Day of School

2009-06-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

The last day of school is this Friday, June 12th. It is activity day! Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately with tennis shoes and comfy clothes. You might also want to apply sunscreen or bug spray at home as well. It is going to be an excellent day of fun!

Author Celebration Reminder

2009-06-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Don't forget about our Author Celebration tomorrow (June 9th) at 9:15 AM in the LGI. We will be sharing one piece of writing, and having refreshments. We can't wait to see you there!

Investigating Soil Samples

2009-06-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

On May 28th, we went outside to find soil samples. On May 29th, we began investigating our samples. We found sand, pebbles, humus, and gravel just like our homemade soil we made. We also found tiny worms (which we thought were pretty cool) and once we separated the soil we found silt too. This was so fun!

Humus and Homemade Soil

2009-06-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

May 22, 2009
We started looking at humus (hew-mus) which we found out was decayed plants and animals. We made homemade soil. In the basin, we put 2 cups each of sand, pebbles, and gravel. Then we added our humus. This is what actual soil is made up of.

Equal Shares

2009-06-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

May 20, 2009
We started out with 20 pieces of candy and they needed to be shared equally among five friends. We drew a picture to figure out that each person got four pieces of candy.

Matrix

2009-06-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

We used matrix (cornstarch and water) to hold sand together in order to make sculptures.

Mrs. Warner and Jack visit

2009-06-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Warner and baby Jack came to surprise us on Friday, May 15th. It was really fun to see Mrs. Warner and neat to see how big Jack is getting!

Save The Date !!!

2009-05-27T05:38:00.001-07:00

We are having an author celebration in the LGI on Tuesday, June 9th at 9:15. We will be sharing a piece of our writing with you. This will last about an hour and will include some snacks as well. We hope you can make it.

Fun Times With Our Third Grade Buddies

2009-05-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

On April 30th, we got together with our third grade buddies to work on a special project for Mother's Day. We made flowers out of magazines cut into stripes, buttons, and chenille rods. Then we got together again on May 7th, to make the bottles. We used tissue paper with watered down glue to make the stain glass effect on the vases. We got to see our buddies one more time on May 8th, to put everything together. It was fun to be with our buddies to do this project. We were very proud at how we recycled for most of the project by using water bottles, magazines, and buttons. Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms! Thanks for being so special and loving us so much!

The finished product!

How To....

2009-05-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

We began writing How To papers this week. First we have to plan what we are going to write about. We had to think of all of the supplies we would need, along with the steps in order to complete the task. Mrs. Kershasky did some really funny examples. We wrote a class paper on How To Tie A Shoe. She followed our directions, but she didn't tie the shoe! We found out that we need to be really detailed when we write down our directions. After we write down our directions, we share with a buddy to see if they can follow the directions. If they can't, we know we need to add some more details. This has been really fun because we also get to illustrate each step.

These are examples of our planning sheets for the How To papers.

Symmetry and Fractions

2009-05-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

On May 1st, we had an explorations day in math. We used the geoboards to make shapes with rubber bands. Then, our partner had to divide the shapes equally into two, three, or four parts. Some of us were very tricky!

We also used pattern blocks to cover a bigger shape. For example, after figuring out how many little triangles it took to cover the big triangle, we had to say how much that little triangle was worth. One little green triangle covered up 1/9 of the shape. First graders doing fractions? Yes we can!

Sand, Gravel, and Pebbles

2009-05-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

On May 1st, we got to take a closer look at sand, gravel, and pebbles. Mrs. Kershasky had us try to separate the mixture with our hands first, then we were able to use the screens. Using the three different sized screens was so much easier! We were able to make separate the mixture into five different piles: sand, small gravel, large gravel, small pebbles, and large pebbles.

Sharing Our Writing

2009-05-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

On April 30th and May 1st we shared our writing for two different purposes. Some of us wanted to share our neat sheet stories, and some of us needed some help from one another for story ideas. We found that it was helpful to bounce ideas off of each other. After we shared, our friends gave us two compliments about our writing. It was really neat to hear how different everyone's ideas are.

Help please...

2009-04-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

We are beginning a special project on Wednesday, April 29th. We will need some buttons, magazines, and a container (about the size of a soup can or up to a 20 ounce water/soda bottle size). If you could help us out with some of these, we would really appreciate it.

Thank you for your support!

Author Visit

2009-04-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2009
Marsha Diane Arnold came to visit us today. She even read two of her picture books to us! She read Prancing, Dancing Lily and Roar of a Snore. It was amazing to hear read her own stories! She shared with us her idea file. It was filled with pictures, notes on napkins, and magazines that gave her ideas for books. What an amazing experience it was.

Sorting Rocks

2009-04-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2009
We were able to sort our river rocks today. They are called river rocks because that is where these types of rocks are found. Mrs. Kershasky said that we could sort them many different ways. She said to sort them. Then, after we sorted them, she said to come up with another way to sort them. We noticed that we could sort them by color, shape, texture, if they had crystals, or if they had stripes. It was fun to see all of the different ways we could sort them.

ROCKS!

2009-04-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

April 22, 2009
We started our Pebbles, Sand, and Silt science unit. We are having so much fun. We have learned that rocks are solid earth materials. We discovered that rocks look a lot different when we used hand lenses to take a closer look. We even got to wash them. We discovered that the scoria rock bubbled when it was in water. That was really neat! So far, we have learned about scoria, basalt, and tuff which are three types of volcanic rock.

Money Exchange

2009-04-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2009
We played a Money Exchange game in math today. We put 20 pennies, 20 dimes, and $1.00 into our bank that we shared with a partner. Then we rolled two die. We took the amount of money that the die showed and put it into our bank. Once we had 10 pennies, we knew we could trade in for 1 dime. Then, once we had 10 dimes, we could trade in for a dollar. The first person to get the dollar was the winner. It was so fun!

Happy Easter

2009-04-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

April 8, 2009
Happy Easter! We did a rotation between the three first grade classrooms this morning. Mr. Hoffe helped us make a basket. We counted jelly beans and made a graph with Mrs. Rasmussen. Then we read a story and made an egg with a chick inside of it. What a great way to spend the morning with our friends from the other classes. It's always so fun to mix everything up!

Writers' Workshop

2009-04-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2009
We are learning there are many important steps in the writing process. First, we take our idea and plan our writing. We have learned three different ways to plan our writing. Secondly, we write a sloppy copy on a yellow sheet of paper. We know that the important part about this step, is to just get our thoughts on paper, and we can go back and fix it later. Next, we take a red pen and edit our sloppy copy. We are getting really good at finding spelling mistakes, making sure we have punctuation at the ends of the sentences, and capital letters at the beginning. And finally, we transfer everything to a neat sheet on fresh white paper. What a process!

Time Match Memory

2009-03-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

We have been working on telling time in math. We know o'clock (_:00), quarter past(_:15), half-past(_:30), and quarter to(_:45). We have learned that the hour hand continues to move past the hour after the o'clock so that the only time the hour hand is directly (or smack-dab) on the number is at the o'clock time. We are getting really good at this too. We had to match the clock face that showed the analog time with the digital time. Then, we got to play memory!

Parner Reading

2009-03-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

We get to read with a partner everyday after independent reading. This is so fun because we can read from our poetry and song binder, our writing binder, our yellow folders, or any other books in the classroom. Mrs. Kershasky lets us sit anywhere, even on the floor, so we can be comfy as we read to our partner. We have been doing a lot of practice learning that when we partner read, we sit elbow to elbow and use a quiet voice. It has been really fun reading with a buddy everyday!

Make My Design

2009-03-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

We are learning about geometry in math. We now know the names for more shapes; such as hexagon, trapezoid, and rhombus. We made a design using 6 different shapes. Then we had to tell our partner to make the same design, only they couldn't see what we made. We had a folder in between us. Afterwards, we got to compare our designs. It was really funny!

Bus Safety

2009-03-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, March 25th, two high school students came to talk to us about bus safety. We learned that when we are ready to cross a street with an adult, we should listen and look both ways. We also found out that if we cross in front of the bus, we have to be five feet in front of it.

Children's Health Education Center field trip

2009-03-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We had a great time at the Children's Health Education Center today. We had to wake up "Big Mouth." We learned the four basic things to help take good care of our teeth. 1) We need to brush at least 2 times every day. We also learned not to forget about brushing out tongue too. 2) We should floss everyday too! 3) Our teeth need fluoride to get and stay strong. We can get fluoride from water, toothpaste, and at the dentist. And finally, 4) we need to visit the dentist 2 times a year.

When a primary tooth falls out, a permanent one grows in.

Did you know that we have 20 primary teeth and 32 permanent teeth?

The permanent teeth have roots! We thought only trees and plants had roots!

We got to help "Big Mouth" brush his teeth!

Geoboard Triangles

2009-03-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

On March 10th, we learned that triangles had 3 sides, and 3 corners. We used geoboards and rubber bands to try to make triangles with 6 sides. This was a little tricky, but we did it!

Surprise visitors! March 5, 2009

2009-03-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Kershasky kept it a secret, but we had a hunch, that Mrs. Warner and baby Jack were going to visit. They came right after lunch today! He is so cute. We knew that we couldn't touch Jack because he's so little and could get our germs easily. But, it sure was great to see Mrs. Warner and neat to meet Jack! What a great surprise to end our day!

Fact Power Game March 4, 2009

2009-03-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

In math we are learning to recognize turn around facts. That's when

the order of the two numbers added together (addends) switch places. We played a game where we rolled a dice, and had to move that many spaces. If we knew the sum (answer) we could write our initials on that spot. It was fun because we were able to practice our facts with a partner.

Word Wall Scribbles

2009-03-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

A new activity was put into the word wall literacy center. We got to scribble on the paper and then we had to write our word wall words three times in those giant scribbles. It was fun practicing on the SMARTboard!

Delightful Descriptions

2009-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

On March 2, 2009 we added some adjectives to our writing. We used our five senses to come up with these adjectives. Mrs. Kershasky brought an orange and we had to use our eyes, fingers, tongues, noses, and ears to come up with describing words. Some of us even got to eat some of the orange! It was so fun!

Mixing liquids with water

2009-03-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

On February 25, 2009 we found out what happened with we mixed a liquid with water. We had four different bottles half filled with cooking oil, corn syrup, green colored water, and liquid hand soap. Mrs. Kershasky poured in water and we watched what happened. Some of us had a lot to see, some of us didn't. Then, we got to shake them up to see what happened then. The green water turned a little bit lighter because we added more water. The liquid hand soap mixed in and kind of swirled in with the water. The corn syrup mixed completely with the water. The oil and water didn't mix at all. In fact, we found out that oil is lighter than water, because the water was on the bottom and the oil was on the top. Mrs. Kershasky even poured some of the green water into the oil and water mixture at the end of the experiment after we predicted that the whole bottle would turn green. We were wrong! We forgot that water only mixes with the water, and not the oil. So, then there was green water on the bottom and the oil was still on top! It was so amazing!

Digraphs

2009-03-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

We went hunting for the CH, SH, WH, and TH digraphs in our classroom. We found so many just walking around the room and looking at things in our classroom that we see everyday! We found lunch, hundreds chart, Kershasky, chocolate, with, and tons more! We are great digraph detectives!

Adding solids to a liquid

2009-03-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

On February 2o, 2009 we added water to our small solids. Then, on Monday, February 23rd, we looked at what happened to the solids over the weekend. Some of us were amazed and couldn't find anything in our bags! Some of us found out that our solids dissolved (the peppermint candy and the rock salt). We found out that the raisins got bigger, and the water got darker. Some of us also found out that nothing happened to our solids (craft stick, tin foil). We had a lot of fun looking at all of the different things that happened!

Happy 100 Day!

2009-03-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

On February 16, 2009 celebrated our 100th day of school. We did a lot of fun 100 day activities including making glasses! We had fun rotating in between the different first grade classrooms.

Valentine's Day Party

2009-02-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated Valentine's Day in our classroom today. Some of our moms came in to help us too! First, we had to see how many candy hearts we could stack. Some of us remembered from science that you need a strong base to make a high tower. Then we played bingo with those candy hearts (and we even got to eat some). Next we played a game where we had to find the match to the other side of our heart. This was fun to see who we were going to end up with! Then, we got to make a craft. We could choose an elephant, lion, gorilla, or a princess wand. Finally, we got to eat our snacks. What a great celebration it was!

Separating Solids February 10, 2009

2009-02-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Kershasky told us we had to separate the "soup mixture" into five different containers. We knew this task was a challenge, but we did it! We started picking out each small solid with our little first grade hands, and asked if there was an easier way. Mrs. Kershasky then introduced the screens. We used three different sized screens to separate all of the small solids. In the end, we found out that we had to use our hands for the bigger lima and pinto beans, but used the screens for the rice, cornmeal, and mung beans.

Exploring Small Solids February 6, 2009

2009-02-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

In science, we started exploring small solids. We got to explore lima beans, pinto beans, mung beans, rice, and cornmeal. We rotated to the different stations and used three of our five senses to explore. We were able to see each solid, hear what it sounded like when we shook it, and feel how soft and hard it was. We had so much fun! We also found out how slippery cornmeal can be when we spilled a little on the floor!

Lots of Lines February 3, 2009

2009-02-13T06:06:00.000-08:00

In math, we were talking about standard units of measuring. The students explored different "units" of measurement. They used blocks, paper clips, and counters to measure lines. We then discussed why it would be helpful using the same unit of measurement for everything!

GO FISH February 2, 2009

2009-02-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

"Do you have viscous? Go fish!"
The students were learning the different properties of liquids in science. To practice their new knowledge, they played Go Fish.

Surprise!

2009-01-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

It was a fabulous surprise to have so many parents show up to help me celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Warner! What a special morning filled with great baby advice from the students, books and gifts for the baby. We are both so lucky to have the support of such a wonderful Brookfield Elementary community.

Thank You!

Exploring Solids

2009-01-20T12:40:00.001-08:00

We have begun a new unit in science: Solids and Liquids!

We are currently observing the properties of solid objects. Although many things are considered "solids" they can be different in a lot of ways.

Fluency Center

2008-12-02T15:03:00.001-08:00

Today we learned about a new literacy center called the Fluency Center.

At this center we have the chance to record ourselves reading familiar books. The best part is that we get to listen to the tapes and hear how we sound when we read!

First Snow of the Season

2008-12-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

The first snowy recess is always fun.

Don't forget to bring your boots and snow pants!

Turkey Cookies

2008-12-02T14:58:00.002-08:00

The day before Thanksgiving break, we joined our third grade buddies to make turkey cookies.

It was messy, a lot of fun and most of all delicious!

Turkey Cookies

2008-12-02T14:58:00.001-08:00

Painted Lady Eggs

2008-12-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

For the first time some of our Brookfield Elementary Painted Lady Butterflies laid eggs!

We took a close look at Mrs. Rasmussen's class habitat and saw bright green butterfly eggs. Some of them had even hatched and we saw tiny little larva.

It was amazing!

Milkweed Bug Changes!

2008-11-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

Our milkweed bugs have become adults!

We discovered that the milkweed bug goes through a different life cycle than our other insects. Their life cycle only has three stages: egg, nymph, adult.

When they hatch from their eggs, they are called nymphs. They look like the adults, just a lot smaller.

David Stokes Visits Brookfield Elementary School!

2008-11-11T13:04:00.001-08:00

We had so much fun learning from David Stokes when he came to Brookfield Elementary School! He shared funny songs, silly facts and lots of great information about insects.

We even got to look at and touch a lot of insects-both real and pretend!

Fire Safety

2008-11-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

Firefighters from the City of Brookfield came to school to help us learn about fire safety.

Does your family have a meeting place outside?

Remember to practice your fire escape routes at home, just like we do at school.

Fall Party Fun

2008-10-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of the parents who helped to make our Fall Party a huge success!

Everyone had tons of fun and brought home some great crafts.

Drama Center Story Re-Telling

2008-10-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

We have so much fun strengthening our re-telling skills at the drama center!

October Buddy Fun!

2008-10-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

To get into the fall spirit, we painted terra cotta pots to look like candy corn with our third grade buddies. It was a lot of fun and now we have a great holiday decoration too!

Nature Center Field Trip

2008-10-24T14:22:00.001-07:00

It may have been raining, but that didn't spoil our fun at the Nature Center!

We stayed inside the building and learned a lot and had great fun with Mr. Wolf. Thank you to all of the parent volunteers that joined us in our quest to learn more about insects!

Spelling Words

2008-10-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Some words are spelled the way they sound and some words are not.

We used a Jack and Jill poem to explore this concept.

Changing Insects!

2008-10-24T14:10:00.001-07:00

OUR INSECTS ARE CHANGING!

This week our mealworms, waxworms and painted ladies changed from their larva stage to their pupa stage. Wow! We can't wait to see what happens next.

Penny-Nickel Exchange

2008-10-24T13:58:00.001-07:00

This week we learned how to play the game "Penny-Nickel Exchange".

It gave us a lot of practice exchanging 5 pennies for 1 nickel!

Milkweed Bug Habitats

2008-10-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

When our third insect, the Milkweed Bug, arrived, the first thing we had to do was create a habitat for it. We used a large bag for it's space and punched little holes in it with a push pin to provide air. Then we added sticks and cotton to the bag. Our insects need food, so we made pouches of sunflower seeds so that they could eat the sunflower seed oil. Finally, we created a water foutain with a vial and paper towel. Each table now has their own milkweed habitat to watch and learn from!

Waxworms

2008-10-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Our second insect has arrived-the Waxworm!

Waxworms need food, water, air and space to survive.

Food and Water: Mixture of baby cereal, water, sugar and glycerin

Air: Air holes in the lid

Space: Covered cup

Using Rulers

2008-10-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

During math this week, we explored the use of rulers.

The two main uses we discussed were:

Drawing straight lines
Measuring

It took a lot of work to hold the ruler still and draw a straight line!

Mealworms

2008-10-03T15:34:00.001-07:00

Our first insects have arrived! They are called mealworms.

We set up a habitat for them with all of the things they need to live.

Food: wheat bran

Water: sweet potato

Air: air holes in the lid

Space: vial

We can't wait to learn more about them in the coming weeks!

Calculators

2008-10-02T13:01:00.001-07:00

Today we used our calculators for the first time.

We learned how to use the ON/C key to "erase" what was on the screen.

Literacy Centers

2008-10-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

We are having a lot of fun practicing rhyming at the Skill Sharpener center!

Rolling to 50

2008-09-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

Everyday Math gives us a chance to practice our skills by learning lots of new games.

Today we played "Rolling to 50" to practice using our number grids.

Sorting Names

2008-09-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

You can learn a lot about words by looking at names.

We found many ways that the names of children in our class were the same!

5 Little Monkeys

2008-09-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about different Literacy Centers in our classroom.

At the drama center we will practice retelling stories.

We made puppets to tell the 5 Little Monkey stories.

What fun!

Book Fun!

2008-09-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

We love reading new books in the classroom. There is something for everyone!

School Rules

2008-09-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

Each picture shows kids following one of our school rules. Can you guess the rule?

Follow directions

Respect people and property

Practice good manners

Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself

Silence and slowtime in the hallways

Welcome Back to School!

2008-09-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

We have lots of new friends to meet and a lot of great learning to do,

But I can't get started without YOU!

Have a great year-

Mrs. Warner