Spring is Finally Here!

We began our study of plants last week.  We began by studying the different parts of the plant.  This week we will continue with what plants need to live and the functions of the the parts of the plant.

Mrs. Bella’s First Grade News

Monday, May 13, 2013

Zoo Field Trip:  We will be traveling to the Toledo Zoo on May 29^th!  Permission slips have been sent home that includes all of the details.  If you have a zoo membership, you may send that in to me for you and/or your child.  This will then be returned to you the day of our trip.  The permission slip and fee will be due by WEDNESDAY. We are looking for more parent chaperones!  Not all parents will be able to ride the bus.  Please see the letter for more details.   If you are interested in joining us, please let me know as soon as possible.  All chaperones will have to file for a background check.  If you have not yet done this and need a form, please let me know. Thank you.

Science-We are currently studying plants.  Last week, we completed an art project that helped us identify the different parts of the plant.  This week we will focus on the functions of the parts of the plant and what plants need to live.

Open Court Reading:  This week we will be reading the story, The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Saxon Math:  We will focus on the following skills: subtraction facts-difference of 1, subtracting 10 from a number, and identifying and drawing polygons.

Spelling: This week’s spelling list is attached.  The list includes: sing, bring, sting, string, swing.  Sight words: want, why.   Sentence:  I will play at the park in spring.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bella

458-7504                                          hrbella@morenci.k12.mi.us

Earth, Moon, Sun, and Stars

Last week we learned about our Earth, the Moon, Sun, and stars!

Mrs. Bella’s First Grade News

Monday, May 6, 2013

**Our whole class has met their AR Points Goal!  Congratulations for all of your hard work!!

Zoo Field Trip:  We will be traveling to the Toledo Zoo on May 29^th!  Last week, a letter/permission slip was sent home regarding all of the details.  If you have a zoo membership, you may send that in to me for you and/or your child.  This will then be returned to you the day of our trip.  The permission slip and fee will be due by May 15^th. We are looking for more parent chaperones!  Not all parents will be able to ride the bus.  Please see the letter for more details.   If you are interested in joining us, please let me know as soon as possible.  All chaperones will have to file for a background check.  If you have not yet done this and need a form, please let me know. Thank you.

Fluency Homework: This will be our LAST week of Fluency Homework.  Thank you for supporting your child with this weekly assignment.  It has a made a huge difference! 

Open Court Reading:  This week we will be reading the story, Ira Sleeps Over.

Saxon Math:  We will focus on the following skills: identifying geometric solids-cubes and cylinders, subtraction facts-difference of 1, and identifying a fraction of a part of a set.

Spelling: This week’s spelling list is attached.  The list includes: more, wore, chore, score, shore, store.  Sight words: her, hour.   Sentence:  Her score is four.

This Week:

Monday-Thursday:  Math homework

Friday:  Spelling and Reading tests

1-2 times per week:  Read an AR book and take a test in class, review word ring and guided reading book found in their reading bag.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bella

458-7504                                                   hrbella@morenci.k12.mi.us

Word Surgery

This week we were learning about contractions!  So, thanks to donations from parents, we were able to "dress the part," as we became word surgeons!  Each child reconstructed their words and mended them back together with bandaids! 

Next week, we will perform more word surgery with compound words!

NEWSLETTER for March 25th:

 Spring Break begins this Friday!  School will resume on Tuesday, April 9^th.  Have a wonderful vacation!

Pajama Day!  On Thursday, our class will have pajama day!  We will spend some time relaxing and reading our favorite books!  Students may bring in a blanket, pillow and a few favorite books to read if they wish!

Fluency Homework- There will be no fluency homework this week.  We will resume after Spring Break.

Sight Words: This week we will focus on the following sight words:  happy, hello, lunch, and month.

Open Court Reading:  This week we are reading our next story:  The Big Team Relay Race.   We will focus on summarizing, cause and effect, predicting, and compound words.  We will perform more “word surgery” to help us learn about compound words such as rainbow and cupcake.      

Saxon Math:  The following skills will be covered this week: identifying one half, one third, and one sixth, using comparison symbols <, >, and =, and dividing a set of objects by sharing.

Spelling words: There will be no spelling this week.

This Week:

Monday-Wednesday:  Math homework sheets

Thursday:  Math and Reading tests

1-2 times per week:  Read an AR book and take the test in class, read book(s) and review word ring that are found in your reading bag/folder.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bella

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Last week, we participated in a few St. Patrick's Day activities.

Mrs. Harsh made these fun treats to share with the class!  Thank you!

On Friday, we made Leprechaun Shakes!  Thank you Mrs. Spiess for the ice cream!

We then wrote "how-to" papers explaining how we made them!  Our leprechaun art projects that we made were sent home last week.

We Love the USA!

We had a great week beginning our study of American symbols.  Below you will see some of our Liberty Bell writing and artwork.

 

 

 

 



 

 

We also learned about the Statue of Liberty.  After reading a book together, we made a writing map as class.  The students used that to organize three facts in their Writer's Notebooks.  Then, they all completed an informational writing piece.  Nice job, boys and girls!

 

 

 

This week's newsletter:

 

Valentine’s Day Party:  Last week, I sent home a form to sign up for our Valentine’s Day party.  I have included a list of our helpers and supplies that are being provided.  Our party will be on Thursday, February 14^th at 2:00pm.

I have also included a class list.  Students are encouraged to complete a valentine for each of their friends.  We will make Valentine bags in class.

Sight Words: This week we will be working with the following words from our First Grade Word List: this, walk, want, well, went, were.

Open Court Reading:  This week we are reading our next story:  The Itsy Bitsy Spider, told and illustrated by Iza Trapani.  Each day we will listen to the story on CD.  This helps with our reading fluency rate.  Then we will practice together.  We will be working on reading fluency, predicting, summarizing, and verbs.

Open Court Phonics Program:  While reading the story, The Itsy Bitsy Spider,  we will be reviewing the sounds/spellings of:  long and short o.

Saxon Math:  The following skills will be covered this week: telling time to the half hour, dividing a square into fourths, coloring halves and fourths, adding 10 to a number, and counting by 10’s from a single digit.

Spelling words: This week’s word family is –ame.  The words are:  came, name, blame, flame, frame, shame.  The two sight words are:  they and new.

Sentence:  They have a new game.

Social Studies:  We will continue our study of American symbols, being a good citizen, and presidents.

This Week:

Monday-Thursday:  Math homework sheets

Friday:  Reading Fluency Practice Sheet due

Friday:  Spelling and Math tests

1-2 times per week:  Read an AR book and take the test in class, read book(s) and review word ring that are found in your reading bag/folder.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bella

486-7504

hrbella@morenci.k12.mi.us

 



New Year Events

Here are a few projects from our first week back from school after Christmas vacation:

 

 



 

 

 

These New Year Buddies are currently hanging in our classroom.  Student wrote about their New Year's Resolution!

  

 

 

How to build a snowman writing and art projects!

 

 

 

We learned about the oi sound and made pig snouts to remind us of the "oink" sound that they make!

 

 

Last, but not least, we have a little snowman that the girls created at recess!

Martin Kuther King, Jr.

For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we read and discussed the many accomplishments of Dr. King, Jr.   We then, used our facts to create a bubble map and then write about what we learned!

 

 

Later, we made these bells.  Let freedom ring!