Tuesday, September 30, 2014

September Update

We were busy in September!
We've had dance class...


learned how to sign in to Microsoft Office and Typing Agent during our computer class...

and some of us are enjoying Art classes.

We've been loving class time, too!


We have new "offices" to use at our desks...



Worshiping God through worship and prayer...

learning as a class...

including a new way to think about sums of ten!

Monday, September 15, 2014

1st Grade Cartographers!

Today was a "rainy" day. Well, not really, but since the forecast was 113 degrees, we had indoor recess and lunch. We all know that indoor recess can make kids a little... well... crazy! We battled the "crazy" today with a fun map-making project! Reading maps and making maps are one of the skills to learn in our history curriculum. The students loved looking at maps and making their own maps. We looked at maps from all around the world in our classroom, and looked at our community in Google Earth. Then, we set to the task of making our own maps! We made sure to include labels, street names, and important buildings (like schools, hospitals, and of course, Disneyland!). I'm looking forward to seeing how all of the maps turn out. I know they will look amazing in our classroom!

In groups, students went around the room to look at example maps from all around the world! One of our favorite maps was completely in French!

Some maps included information about that country. For instance, this map shows where endangered animals in Africa live!


Students were able to inspect maps of the Germany, as well as maps that included information about the rain forests in South America.

We even looked at a map of outer space!

One of our favorite maps is this one of Paris. They symbols on the map for the buildings were very easy to read, even though the labels were in French. We saw where the Eiffel Tower was located, and even learned that there is a second Statue of Liberty in Paris!


After all that inspiration, we got to work and made our own maps.

Mrs. Bohne and I were talking about this activity and realized many of us no longer even use paper maps anymore. I was glad I was able to pull out my collection and let the kids explore!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

How would you help a neighbor?

We read a story called, "The Storm," last week and the students brainstormed different ways they could help a neighbor during a storm. Here are a few of the responses. The rest are on our World Class Work wall! It is great to get the student's work up in the classroom. We have a class of wonderful writers!



"During a storm, I can help my neighbor carry the groceries."



"During a storm, I can help my neighbor by bringing them carrots."