Magnificent Firsties!

We have enjoyed many read alouds during this first full week of school! One of our favorites was The One, The Only Magnificent Me! written by Dan Haseltine. The small boy in this story discovers the importance of being true to himself. After reading this story, our firsties had a short discussion about our unique qualities and the value in these differences. Lastly, we put our fine motor and listening skills to the test and put together large paper people resembling ourselves! If you happen to visit the building over the next few weeks be sure to check out these awesome creations displayed in the hallway. 

Official First Graders!!

Wow...what a fun first three days we have had together already!  We are getting to know one another more and will continue to do so in the weeks ahead!  We also have discussed how we demonstrate that we are a person of character and how this looks and sounds at Wellman Elementary!  As we also enjoyed a 'Friendship Salad' which included yummy ingredients that reminded us of being a respectful, responsible and safe first grader.  The first graders did great 'cooking' up this salad and then we enjoyed eating together!

Swimming Fun!

First grade has experienced a whirlwind of a week! We started with a school trip to the Kalona pool. Although we started the morning with a cloudy sky, a great time was had by all and the sun decided to peek out mid swim!

Fossil Gorge Field Trip

The first graders have been busy, busy this past week!  We kicked off the beginning of the week with our field trip to the Fossil Gorge on Monday.  The students enjoyed walking through the exhibit center, examining fossils at the Fossil Gorge, enjoying a picnic/playtime, and making a surprise stop for ice cream in North Liberty.  It was definitely a fun day!

Track and Field Day!

It has been many years since WE has hosted a Track and Field Day!  There was a large interest amongst staff to host a 2014 Track and Field Day and it definitely was a huge success!!  1st Graders had the opportunity to work through a gunny sack race station, sponge bucket filling station and a 'move it' station filled with hula hoops, jump rumps and frisbees.  We then had an 'A' versus 'B' grade level tug-a-war!!!  Ask your first grader if 1A or 1B was the winner!  The staff also challenged each other in a 3-legged gunny sack race.

Trip to Australia

The First and Second Graders headed to Australia on Friday afternoon and had a ripper (great) of a time on this trip!!  We had a bonzar (terrific) time as we played games, heard music from a didgeridoo, created our own aboriginal artwork  and had some yummy tucker (food) from this beautiful continent/country.  Ask your little traveler what his/her favorite part of the Australian tour was!  A big thank you to the many hands that helped prepare for this special day!  This day would not be possible without all of the help from parents!

 On the way to Australia receiving instructions from our flight attendant.

An aboriginal story from Australia being shared.

Enjoying some 'damper' from Australia.  

 Creating stories with our own aboriginal inspired artwork!

Moving and Grooving to the tunes of the didgeridoo!

An Australian game being enjoyed!!

Developmental Reading Assessments-DRA

As the school year comes to a close, we have begun our end of the year assessments with each child.  Throughout the year, we are continually monitoring and assessing your child's academic skills.  One specific assessment that we use is the Developmental Reading Assessment, also known as the DRA.  In our district, the DRA is administered to all elementary students twice a year; Fall and Spring.  As teachers, the DRA is just one tool that we use to see the overall reading development of our students in the areas of reading fluency and accuracy, making predictions using text features, retelling and interpreting the texts.  If you would like to know how your child did on this particular assessment, please feel free to contact us and we would be happy to visit with you about your child's end of the year reading skills.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Video 

We would like to take the time to wish all of the first grade moms a very Happy Mother's Day!  We are hoping you enjoy your day/weekend with your little one(s) and maybe get some quiet time of your very own!  Please enjoy the special song that the 1st graders have shared with you for this special day by clicking on the link above.  Also in preparation for this special day, the 1st graders enjoyed writing special thoughts about their moms.  Here are some of those great examples...

"Before my mom had kids, she ate better food."

"My mom is so smart!  She even knows how to do 7 x 84 x1000 x 1000!"

"Before my mom had kids, she had a white car."

"My mom is prettiest when she is just being herself."

"If I could give my mom anything in the world, it would be a Barbie."

"My mom is so smart!  She even knows how to ride her bike!"

"Before my mom had kids, she was looking for a husband."

"My mom is special because she is sweet."

"Before my mom had kids, she didn't have to deal with me crying."

Opinions to Share!

As we have shared over the last couple of weeks, the 1st graders were newly introduced to a new genre of writing when we 'dove' into opinion writing.  Students did an amazing job of challenging their thought processes as they shared their supporting rationales for others to ponder.  Your child has published his/her piece of writing on our KidBlog site!  Just hit the 1A/1B blog at the top of this page and you can find your child's name.  Enjoy reading through these awesome pieces of writing and leave a comment for your little one!!

Poetry in 1st Grade!

Over the course of your child's first grade year, we have loved diving into our poetry binders at least once a week as we have grown as readers.  We have discussed different types of poems and enjoyed many topical poems based on what we are learning in 1st grade.  Poems have not only provided great practice for our sight word vocabulary, but also an opportunity to practice our fluency (smooth reading without lots of hesitation) as a reader!  Here is a 'glimpse' into what you might see on a Day 4 afternoon in the 1st grade rooms!

Summer Reading Program Introduced!

The First Graders had an opportunity to visit the Wellman Public Library on Monday afternoon as a kick-off to the upcoming Summer Reading Program that will be offered!  Students enjoyed a tour of the library, listening to a couple of stories and taking part in a craft.  A cookie snack was also enjoyed as well!  This program is a great way to keep your little one motivated to read through the summer months, as well he/she is continuing to develop those reading skills for 2nd grade!   You will definitely want your little one to take part in this program!

Inventors Galore!

During our Social Studies time over the last couple of weeks, we have focused our discussion on inventions of long ago and their affect on our world today.  Students were very intrigued with the early inventions of the toothbrush, oven and radio and how these inventions have improved to make our lives easier.  We also loved learning more about some famous inventors such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and George Washington Carver.  The first graders then used their imagination to 'plan' out an invention of his/her own!  Make sure to ask your child about his/her invention!  Here are some of the cute inventor projects we put together!

Fraction Action!!

First graders have been discussing equal parts over the last couple of weeks, focusing on halves, thirds and fourths.  The students have been challenged to cut objects into these parts and label the fractional pieces.  To put our knowledge of fractions into 'action', we used Hershey bars to help us practice this concept.  We will continue working with fractions through the remainder of the year and will soon be comparing fractional parts to one another! Challenge your firstie to show off his/her fractional skills for you!