The first graders in room 107 have just completed a bear unit.  The children enjoyed creating craft bears, sewing bears, making a bear family from playdough, patterning bears and eating biscuit bears.  We had fun measuring the width and girth of our favorite bears using non-standard units of measurement and comparing the results.  The children read stories relating to bears including Yummy Tum Tee! and Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr., Little Bear by Diane Namm and Good As New by Barbara Douglass. 

Learning about bears as mammals also became a focus of our unit.  The first graders have learned some major characteristics of mammals and have discussed the various creatures which fit into the mammal category.
 

A study of apples followed the bear unit.  Tasting, comparing, stamp patterning and making little books were among the many apple activities which the children enjoyed.   Books such as The Apple Pie Family by Gare Thompson, A Tasty Bug by Sarah Tatler, I Am an Apple by Jean Marzollo, Big Red Apple by Tony Johnston, and Johnny Appleseed and the Bears by David Movak became the reading material for this unit. Through these stories the children have learned new sight words. The words are a, brown, black, blue, green, in , my, me new, orange, on, purple, red, will, you, yellow, so, & what. These words are located on our word wall for the children to use during their reading and daily writing.  A field trip to George Hill Apple Orchard became the culminating activity.  This trip provided first hand knowledge of the life cycle of an apple.  The trip was enjoyed by all.  A big thank you to the parents for volunteering to accompany us on our trip.

You and your child might find the following web site fun to try as your child sharpens  his/her math skills.

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/palmore/01/applemath.htm
 

A Johnny Appleseed Story

http://www.applejuice.org/johnnyappleseed.html

Through our reading and spelling we have been learning to recognize and read the following spelling patterns:  an, am, at, ap, ad, ack, and in.  We will continue to explore the following patterns in October:  it, ig ill, ing and ick.
 
 

A pumpkin and monster unit is in store for October.  We are looking forward to reading monster and pumpkin books as well as exploring the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Thank you for your continued show of support.  It was wonderful meeting all of you at open house.  Looking forward to a fun-filled and productive year.