Field Day FUN!

What a great treat at the end of April, FIELD DAY!  I sure hope your students came home as tired as I did.  We had a great time playing field events, picnic eating and cooling off with snow cones.  If you didn't make it up, be sure to ask your students about the scooter races and the traditional kick ball game.  Sad to say, for the first time teachers lost - even after we tried a little creative base running.  It was a great day - and so nice to be while it was still a little cool!

Getting Ready for Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day, we are finishing up our recycling commercials.  Check out the latest two!

Tax Day!

Tuesday was Tax Day all over America, even in 1st Grade!  The day started with a class discussion about taxes, who pays , what is it for, and why is it important.  Students had to pay the tax office. Their tax money was due after lunch.   It was a great way to show students some civic responsibility. 

Be sure to ask your student how much money they have earned. 

Enjoy your long weekend. As for my family, we will rest and celebrate with family!  

What if?

Students learned about animal adaptations that help us survive.  To start out the lesson, Ethan volunteered to get rid of his thumbs, and try some simple task.   We later learned about different animals that have adaptations that help them survive.  Ask your student about the camel's eyelashes... 

Give thet brain a BREAK!

Have your students talked about taking a brain break?  Everyday in the middle of our morning, we take a 3 minute break to get wiggles and jiggles out.  This is a great transition from writing to reading and helps us get ready to focus for the 2nd half of our morning.  I thought you would like to see the kids do one of their favorite breaks!  So what does the Fox say?

Don't just GOOGLE it!

This week we learned how to use a dictionary. Yes, many kids said "just google it". Even my own 25 year old at dinner argued the last time he looked up a word was 2nd grade (the word weather). We talked about why is it important to know how to use a dictionary. Caden said "because you can get eye strain from technology". Eliana said, "if the power goes out and you need to know about a word". I wanted students to use their ABC order and understand how to look up information (a little grit is involved to stay persistent).  

If your at school, check out our bulletin board with the new words we learned!

Texas A to Z 2014!

The kids did a great job bringing Texas to Life from A to Z!  I wanted to share the video from the performance.  The YouTube link is a private link.  Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/uWo77vV7to8