Things are brewing up as October comes to an end.

 I cannot believe that October is almost coming to an end. First and second grade have been working really hard and having tons of fun learning together. We have had a lot of opportunities to use the ipads and the students have enjoyed working on their math, sight words, and spelling on them. The application we have been using tracks each individual student and moves them up levels as they master the skills. As they progress, the students earn coins to purchase rewards. This week each student was assigned to an ipad for the remaining of the year. They were very excited about this :) The ipads have been great at helping reinforce skills they have learned as well as provide enrichment for the students as they move forward.

In first grade, we have focused this month on beginning addition. The students have used many different manipulatives to add parts together to make a whole. Today, we started talking about equations and what the plus and equal sign means. Next week, we are going to play a fun function machine game that I played when I was in first grade. I am excited to share it with the class.

In second grade, we have focused on time. They have done a fantastic job at grasping the concept of time. We have worked on telling time by the hour and elapsed time by the hour. We have made up fun stories about some of the students in our class and used the clock to tell their story. The class has enjoyed using real life experiences in math.

EX: Winston went to his piano lesson at 4:00 and was there for 1 hour. What time did he leave?
EX: Mackenzie left for ballet at 3:00 and arrived at her practice at 4:00. She was there for 1 hour. What time did she leave?

This week in reading, we have integrated some of our vocabulary and word work with first and second grade. It has been a great review for some of the second grade students and enriching for the first grade students. The students have enjoyed sharing some of our reading and we will continue to do this as the year goes on.

In social studies we have learned about government services. We discussed what government services are and what those people do for their communities. The students have drafted ideas about a chosen government service. Many have finished their graphic organizer and are working on writing about that person. It will be fun to read them when they are finished.

On Halloween we are going to have a class party. We hope that everyone can make it. We had a blast last year and I know we will this year too! Feel free to join us and read a spooky book and eat some of our delicious brew!!!!

First WILD post!!!!

Hello families and friends!!! I am excited to share with you what we have been up to in this first month of school in the WILD first and second grade.

We started the year off with learning classroom and school procedures. The second grade students have been a fabulous help with encouraging and reminding first graders of how things go in the classroom. We have had some fun lessons and activities together and some divided. The kids are very excited when we do activities together with both classes. One day a first grader came running into the classroom and asked me if we were going to learn about the world together again :) Both classes have begun the first social studies unit and they are very excited about it.

This month we will be starting our new music program with "First Note." I am thrilled that we have instruments that we will get to use in class. The music that accompanies the program is from across the world. It will be great to be able to incorporate social studies through music, too.

We are finishing up our first art project. The class learned about Piet Mondrian and his abstract art. We looked at different pieces of his art through a powerpoint and analyzed his artwork. Next, we created a piece of art that was inspired by a few of his abstract pieces. The kids have enjoyed creating their abstract art and making it unique.

On Monday we had Mr. Gordon (Mackenzie and Gage Gordon's dad) come to the school to teach us about fire safety. He talked to the kids about what firemen do for their job, explained the gear they wear, fire safety, and how to evacuate a home during a fire. The students went into the smoke house and we practiced how to evacuate safely. The kids had a blast learning from Mr. Gordon and loved the smell of the smoke in the smoke house....MMMM pancakes and syrup :) Thank you, Mr. Gordon!

On Tuesdays grades K-4 will be learning Spanish. We had our first Spanish class this week. The kids had so much fun with Senora Emily. They learned some words in Spanish, songs, and how to introduce themselves. I am eager to see what else they will be learning form Senora Emily and to learn some Spanish, too.

Today we used the school ipads for the first time.  The students had a blast using our first application. Today we used Teach me: First and Second Grade. This application has spelling, math, and sight words. The students have to write their answers using their fingers on the screen. One of the neat things about this application is that it will correct the child if they write the letter or number incorrectly. We are in the progress of downloading more applications to help reinforce skills we are learning in class as well as ones that meet the common core standards. Tune in later to hear what applications we will be using. Once I have a list of some great ones we use in class, I will share with everyone in case you have an ipad at home.

I have sent home the login and passwords with each student in the class for Sumdog. The website offers math games to reinforce skills learned in class. The students all work at their own pace and Sumdog will continue to assess them to provide the students with the best practice skills. I am also able to login and see how the children are doing.

I am still looking for volunteers for Thursdays and Fridays each week from 12-3. If you are interested in volunteering a few days, Thursdays, Fridays, or both.....please let me know. We would love to have you :)

I look forward to sharing with you more about the happenings in the WILD first and second grade.