Ms. Garverick’s Class

We are back at school, afer a wonderful summer. Right now we are in workshop with Mrs. Smith in the computer lab, and she is helping us with our blogs.

I PROMISE I will enter a post on this blog at least once a week. I am looking forward to meeting all the new first graders on Monday.

I will write more before school starts.

We voted for the next president of the United States this morning! The fourth grade ran the polls today at Downtown Elementary. Each of us walked up to a computer, reviewed our choices, and clicked on our candidate. We should know who won the DTE election today. Stay tuned!

Langston thinks about it, then casts his vote.

We talked about how voting is a private matter and we should respect each other’s choices.

We listened carefully to the directions for voting.

We had such a fantastic time today!! Thank you to all the chaperones who made my life so much easier today: Olivia’s Mom, Jordan’s Mom, Nathan’s Dad, and Juston’s Mom. It could not have been a prettier day.

Ask your child this evening what he/she learned today. I think you will be surprised. We learned about bats an “echolocation”, honey bees and pollination, how Native Americans used corn, the differences between fruits and vegetables, and how seeds are dispersed. We also got to play in a haystack, make “Apple Monsters”, and paint a pumpkin. All of that was followed with a picnic and some playtime in the Spider Maze.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Amauri enjoys some of the banjo music.

Olivia, Somerset, and Katelyn- The Bat Girls!!

Class photo, some are hidden behind the bat masks!

Jordan is digging for worms in the compost pile.

Lucy and Tommya are close behind.

Marques, Nyla, and Lucy learn some cool things about bats.

Many of you have asked about what our class is doing for the district wide exhibit. First Grade is focusing on the Social Studies curriculum for the second six weeks and comparing and contrasting other cultures with our own. The first grade team is learning  about a different country on each continent. Our continent is Europe, so we decided to study about France. We have created maps of France. We learned about and designed a map key that shows all the different landscapes of France. We made French flags, and are working on creating our own Impressionist painting ( a la Monet) of water lilies. We are going to construct the Eiffel Tower using popsicle sticks, and sample some French foods. Mrs. Boggs is helping us learn a French song. We have a lot planned and are very busy trying to put it all together. Don’t worry, students will be working on this at school- I won’t be sending any assignments home. If you would like to volunteer to help at school next week in the afternoon, let me know! Send a comment here or a note.

Merci!

Ms. Garverick

Reminder!!!

All field trip money is due by Friday, Oct. 24th. The cost is $9.00, and the students will need to bring a sack lunch. We are leaving at 9:30 and will return to school at 1:30. In case of bad weather, a rain date will be scheduled. I have room for one more chaperone that can attend for free if anyone is interested.

As first grade content becomes more difficult, I have been looking for some more ways for parents to help their child at home with reading. I found this list in my files, and I think that it has a lot of great suggestions of things that parents can do at home when you are reading.

The ABC’s of Reading To and With Your Child

A sk questions while reading together. “What do you think will happen next?”
B uy books as gifts for birthdays and other holidays.
C hat about what is happening in the book and how it relates to everyday life.
D rop everything and read! Set aside 20 minutes a day during which the whole family reads.
E xamine book illustrations in detail. Select books that have large, bright pictures.
F ind books that interest your child. Make suggestions, but don’t turn reading into work.
G ive hints when your child gets stuck on a word.
H ave fun! Smile and enjoy the story. Read with a slow, relaxed voice and be expressive.
I nvite your child to the bookstore. Take time to lounge in the chairs and read the books.
J oin in your child’s reading successes. Celebrate every small step with sincere praise.
K ids love to receive mail. Send your child a magazine subscription in an area that interests him or her.
L earn to read with, and not just to, your child daily. Read aloud, share ideas, and answer questions.
M odel reading. Share with your child, whether you are reading for information or entertainment.
N ever force your child to read. If you are both too tired or discouraged to read, take a break.
O ffer your child a variety of reading materials, such as books, magazines, cereal boxes, comics, and newspapers.
P redict story elements, draw conclusions, and retell the story with your child.
Q uiz your child at the end of the story. Informally, of course!
R eread books to familiarize your child with the words and to build self-confidence.
S ing songs, recite poetry, and do finger plays to help develop language and listening skills.
T ry to help your child understand that it’s o.k. to make mistakes.
U nderstand that reading is developmental and that it takes time and practice to become fluent.
V isit your local library on a regular basis. Sign your child up for his or her own library card.
W elcome wordless picture books into your collections. They generate conversation and allow the non-reader to create his or her own stories.
“X hibit” patience when your child is selecting books. Your support is empowering.
Y ou are the most important person in helping your child develop a life-long love of reading.
Z ealous readers are the result of supportive and nurturing role models.

On Thursday, the afternoon reading class created pumpkin glyphs. The First grade reading teachers did this activity during Family Reading night. Glyphs are “pictures” that can be read, like hieroglyphics. The students have to read and follow directions in order to create their own pumpkin. Other students can tell things about the student just by looking at the shapes and characteristics of the pumpkins. Here are some photos:

I hope everyone had a nice and restful fall break. Sorry for the time between posts. Edublogs has been updating, and I haven’t been able to post.

We are starting Unit 2 in Reading this week. Our story will be A Big Fish for Max.

The skills for the week are as follows:

phonics- digraphs sh, th and the vowel sound in ball

Comprehension- Main Idea

Grammar- Introduce nouns

Composition- review telling/asking sentences

Spelling- sh and th

News for the week:

Oct. 16th- yearbook pictures

Oct.24- Field trip money due ($9.00)

Oct. 29- Field Trip to Botanic Gardens for Harvest Festival

(Please let me know if you would like to chaperone. I already have 2 and would like at least 2 more)

*** Sign up to be a Mystery Reader!!! See post below with the details. We would love to have friends and parents come and read to us!!!

**** A special thank yo to Langston’s mom, Mrs. Bibbs, for coming to read to us on Read for the Record Day. We enjoyed hearing her read Corduroy to us.

This week we learned about Johnny Appleseed and how he helped the pioneers who were settling in the west. We had fun talking about all his adventures.

As an end to our mini-unit, we had an “Apple Investigation”. Students examined their apples, and created a list of words that described their apples. We cut the apples open and compared and examined the seeds. Here are some pictures from our investigation.

I would like to start our Mystery Readers program next week. Mystery Readers are visitors who come to our class on Wednesdays at 12:00 to read a picture book to our class. Mystery Readers are to send in 5 clues (ahead of time) that give us a hint about who they are. We would like to start next Wednesday. If you are interested in signing up, send me a note or an email. Thank You!