Friends Near and Far: Thailand

                                      Thailand Presentation

During the week of March 4th, First Grade participated in our annual "Friends Near and Far" event. Each class learns about a different country and each student creates a passport to visit these countries in order to learn about the culture of the country. My class learned all about Thailand and presented what they had learned to other classes. They really enjoyed this week and did an awesome job of presenting. Below are some pictures of activities that other classes participated in as they came to visit Thailand.

Students building a house from Thailand

Students using chopsticks

Students making a Thailand flag

Awards Day for the 2nd and 3rd Nine Weeks

                                           Second Nine Weeks Awards Day

 Congratulations to all the students who were recognized for their accomplishments for the second and third nine weeks of school. The award categories included a Reading Award, Math Award, Perfect Attendance, and  Good Citizenship Award.

                             Names of Students on Top Row right to left: 

                     Rachel O., Nina F., Breanna A., Carmen R., and Carina H. 

                           Names of Students on Bottom Row right to left: 

                             Miguel B., Jose R., Jeremiah C., and Tyler S.

                                     Third Nine Weeks Awards Day

              Names of Students on Top Row right to left:

                        Nathaniel A., Rob Roy M., Rachel O., Jacob M., Nina F., Brianna C.

                              Names of Students on Bottom Row right to Left:

                          Jose R., Johnny T., Breanna A., Jeremiah C., Tyler S.

Let Us Give Thanks

We started our Thanksgiving celebration a little early. Before the Thanksgiving holiday, we took the time to understand how this holiday came about. My students then retold the story of Thanksgiving by performing a play and having a feast of their own. Before the students stuffed their faces with food, it was nice to listen to all their reasons for being thankful this Thanksgiving. Take a look below...



Class Thanksgiving Feast (November 20, 2012)

                                               
                          
                                    
                                


                           

Top 5 "Sweet" Leaders of November



Congratulations to those students chosen as the Top 5 "Sweet" Leaders of November.

Olivia C.
Miguel B.
Tyler S.
Nina F.
Ashanti D.

( A special congratulations to Nina for being chosen as a "Sweet" leader for September, October, and November. A special congratulations to Tyler for being chosen as a "Sweet" leader for September and November)



We All Voted on Election Day

Today (November 6, 2012) my students had the opportunity to participate in a mock election by voting for a class president. There was a designated area in the classroom where students were able to cast their votes. Students used their school identification cards as registration cards and after their cards were reviewed by the teacher to assure a match in identification, students were clear to make their choices at the voting booth. This activity provided an understanding of the voting process, which lead to in depth discussions about the importance of voting and why we vote.

  After a day of voting with the students I rushed down to my local voting facility in my neighborhood to excercise my right to vote.

Ms.Carl is being checked in to make sure registration is listed.

Ms. Carl is walking to the poll area to cast her vote.

Fashionable Writing: It's a Process

Just like stepping out with the newest purse of the season that perfectly matches the cutest pair of shoes, is all apart of the in-fashion process, writing a great story works the same way. It's all a process. As my students continue to learn and utilize the writing process to produce great stories and prompts, they are having a blast integrating technology as a way to publish their work. Take a look at some of the books published and view the presentation above to get the inside scoop of how we utilize the writing process.

Awards Day for the 1st Nine Weeks

 First Nine Weeks Awards Day



(November 2, 2012)
Congratulations to all the students who were recognized for their accomplishments for the first nine weeks of school. The award categories included a Reading Award, Math Award, Perfect Attendance, and  Good Citizenship Award.
The following students won an award for the categories listed below:
Math Award:
Anthony M.
Tyler S.
Good Citizenship:
Tyler S.
Carmen R
Nina F.
Breanna A.
Reading Award:
Rachel O.
Tyler S.
Ashanti D.
Breanna A.
Perfect Attendance:
Tyler S.
Brianna C.
Rachel O.
Anthony M.
Olivia C.
Fernanda L.
Jose R.
Nina F.



Trick or Treat?

(October 31, 2012, Writing )

It sure was a treat to witness how engaged my students were as they wrote Halloween stories with their jack-o-lantern balloon friends. After my students created jack-o-lanterns with orange balloons, black marker and green ribbon, they were pretty excited to utilize all the creative writing tricks we have focused on in writer's workshop. Some of the writing strategies that we have focused on that good writers use include: providing details (who, what, when, where, why and how), include a beginning, middle, and end, find a creative way to introduce your story and an even more creative way to close your story, use common first grade sight words spelled correctly, use good adjectives to describe nouns, and include correct punctuation. It was a great day. So to answer the popular question on Halloween, trick or treat? I would describe our day as both a treat as students were engaged and received some sweet prizes in treat bags, as well as full of tricks as students utilized all their writing tricks (strategies)  to create great stories.

Field Day was SWEET!!!

 



My students and I had a blast on Field Day (Friday, October 26,2012). The way it was organized into several relay races, took me back to my own good old elementary school days (which wasn't THAT long ago...lol). I even got out on the field and raced some of my First Grade Team members. The results..... now that's classified information. Let's just say it was FUN, and I'm still recovering. I loved how my class worked together, cheered for one another, and witnessed what teamwork is all about. All in all, Field Day was SWEET!!!

                                                                                                              



Learning with Technology is Always in Fashion

                    "Fashionable Learning Moments Worth Highlighting"

My students are having a blast as they learn the rules of grammar. As they learn what nouns and verbs are, I have also integrated the use of some of the coolest technology programs as ways for the students to share and prove what they have learned.It may not be stylish to wear pointy toe shoes in a round toe season, but using technology while learning, will never go out of style. After studying nouns, my students performed a small skit on their way to recess. Take a look below by pressing play.You can click the small paintings below to view how the students painted examples of verbs using a fun technology tool. Go ahead, see these verbs in  "ACTION". (Get it?... "verbs in ACTION"... LOL)


      



                                                 Skit: Learning Nouns is Cool
                                    Starring: Rachel, Anthony, Oscar and Rob Roy 

                              Featuring: All other students in Ms.Carl's class                                                                                                                           

The verbal content of the skit is as follows:

Rachel  and Anthony:  "It was sure cool learning about nouns today."

Oscar: "It was sure cool."

Rob Roy: "What?" "What is a noun?" (playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" with friends, and suddenly has a confused look after hearing other students talk about learning nouns)

Class: (in shock they shout) "You don't know what a noun is?"

Class: (Respond) " A noun is a fine word yes siree, a person, place, or thing

you see. Can you draw a picture of the word? If you can, it's

a noun you've heard!"

Rob Roy and Friends: "Oh, so that's what a noun is."

 



Oscar's Verb Painting

 



Tyler's Verb Painting

 




Nina's Verb Painting

  

Jose's Verb Painting






Carina's Verb Painting




Jacob's Verb Painting

  


Rachel's Verb Painting

  

Johnny's Verb Painting





Ashanti's Verb Painting



 

The Great Writers Of First Grade

 

During writing we explored a variety of ways to begin great stories.
As my students wrote their stories, it was fun reading how some pumpkins
came to life, some were mean and scary, some pumpkins even had

my students on a wild breath taking chase, and some pumpkins became the best

of friends for others. Each piece of writing was great in it's own way and captured readers
right from the start.
Here are a list of some great story starters:
Once upon a time...
There once was...
One scary night...
One Halloween night...
There used to be...
Long ago and far away...

   

Breanna A.

         
 Anthony M.

Fernanda L.

Nina F.

Jacob M.

Carmen R.

Miguel B.



Never Eat Slimy Worms

                                                                     
         In Social Studies, we had a blast this week learning about maps, a map key, a globe, the difference between a compass and a compass rose, the cardinal directions, and how a map helps us in our everyday lives. I decided to surprise the class with a treat that would "literally" help them remember their cardinal directions. We all actually enjoyed eating slimy worms.  
                                               
                              ( Never Eat Slimy Worms) North, East, South, West




  

Students prepare to eat their slimy worms by first crushing Oreo cookies and
then spreading yogurt or pudding on their gummy worms.

"Cheers to Slimy Worms"

"The best worms I've ever tasted"

"Tell me why we can't eat slimy worms again, because they are delicious?"









 

 

Top 5 "Sweet" Leaders of October



Congratulations to those students chosen as the Top 5 "Sweet" Leaders of October

Breanna A.
Fernanda L.
Nathaniel A.
Nina Fernandez
Jose R.

( a special Congratulations to Breanna A. and Nina F. for being "Sweet" Leaders

for September and October)