A Full Week!

We have really enjoyed having a full week with no delays, cancellations, or other "odd" days!  The students have been a pleasure to work with!  Take a look at what we have been up to:

The first grade reading students worked so hard and diligently on their very first Unit Benchmark Test.  I was so pleased with their achievement on this test.  It is a testament to the effort they put forth each day and the dedication that their parents and families have shown in helping them be prepared each and every day.  Here, they are working in their "offices" on this test.

Third grade has been working on money.  As an introduction, we made money booklets.  The students "aced" them and we were able to move right on to counting money!  We could certainly tell that their second grade teachers had them well prepared for this task!

First graders learned how to read with a partner.  We learned that we should be pointing to words and that we should take turns, sit shoulder to shoulder, and give our partners strategies (tap it out, look at the picture, write it in your hand) rather than just giving them the word.  I was so proud of them...they are such a responsible group!

Finally, in math we learned that addition sentences can be written vertically as well as horizontally.  This is trickier than it sounds, but we are getting it!  Dominoes were perfect to use for mastering this new skill!

 We are so thankful for another great week with these sweeties!

Mrs. Berry :)

This "Odd" Week "Added" Up To Great Learning!

With a fog day on Monday and two hour delays on Tuesday and Wednesday, we had a fast week, but we made the most of our time here at school!  We have been especially busy in math!

Second graders worked really hard learning all about odd and even numbers.  We made it a delicious learning opportunity, by using mini marshmallows to make different numbers.  We then made a chart to sort odd and even number!  Very fun...and they are really getting it!

Our first graders are learning how to add.  We have learned lots of new math vocabulary words, such as "sum," "join," and "addends."  We have been doing many hands on activities to help the students visualize what addition is.  They are doing really well!  

Connor discovered that six is an even number!

The anchor chart that we created to remember all of the important things we need to remember about odd and even numbers.

It was hard to do all of this sorting with those delicious marshmallows right in front of them, but they worked hard all the way through the lesson!

Kadee discovered that seven is odd...no matter what we tried, we couldn't get two equal groups!

Zevin, Jazmyne, and Blake were sure concentrating deeply on modeling their addition sentences.  We also learned that we can refer to an addition sentences as and equation...they mean the same thing!

Kayson, Madelyn, and Donavin

Braden and Olivia have got this figured out!

Jayce and Brooke working hard!

 

We Are Working Hard!

You would be so proud of these little Raiders if you could see them in action!  They have been working so hard all week long!  Here is a peek at just a few of the activities we have been up to!

Sight words are tricky!  We teach our brain these words by seeing them with our eyes (always look at the word), saying it with our mouths (spell it out loud), hearing it with our ears (listen to what we are spelling), and feeling it with our body (here we are writing on our friends' backs to "feel" the word).  First graders are doing an awesome job learning their sight words!

Second grade has been busy working on skip counting.  This is pretty tough to master sometimes, but we have had lots of fun working on it!  Here, partners worked together to sort their numbers and discover a pattern.  Jordan and TJ worked really hard on their set of numbers!

Connor and Caleb teamed up to figure out their pattern....it was counting by tens!

They did it!  Way to go!

For some reason, I didn't get a picture of them, but Graiden and Kadee worked very hard counting by two's.  They had a lot of work to do!  Great job, kids!

TJ and Jordan discovered they were counting by fives!   Fantastic detective work boys!

Third grade has been busy mastering their addition facts.  Here, they are practicing on our new online program called Xtra Math.  They do this for about 6 minutes each day. They are going to have these facts mastered!

These are my amazing first graders!  They are so much fun to work with!  This week we have been learning all about main idea and details in stories!  These boys and girls are really getting it!  We made main idea trees with the main idea of our story this week, complete with leaves that listed details that supported that main idea! 

Third graders love Fridays in my classroom!  We work on a concept all week, and on Fridays we put it into practice during our math stations to see how well we really understand the concept.  This week we have worked super hard on rounding (which can be VERY tricky!).  We ended the week by playing a couple of very fun rounding games.  The students have all improved their rounding skills, and I think that with a bit more practice we will be able to say we have this mastered!

A Great Week!

Hello Raiders!  We have had a wonderful week in Mrs. Berry's and Mrs. Head' classes!  The students have been hard at work and are really engaged in the learning process!  I don't have any pictures this week, as I have loaned my camera out for a few days, BUT that certainly doesn't mean we can't share what we have been up to!  Here are some highlights of our week:

*The first graders have been reading a story called "A Fox and A Kit" and learning all about how a mother fox cares for her kit in the zoo.  The phonics skills we learned about were suffix -s and suffix -ing.  We learned that suffix -s can mean more than one (cats) or what someone or something does (naps) and that suffix -ing means something being done now (working).  The comprehension skill we worked on was main idea.  We learned that this just means what the story is all about.  The highlight of the week was when Mrs. Worden brought in a fox pelt for the students to see.  They absolutely LOVED it! Thank you, Mrs. Worden!

In first grade math we have been learning all about number sense concepts, such as different ways to make a number (6 can be 3+3, 2+4, 1+5, etc.), fewer and more than, and making and recognizing patterns.  Lots of good thinking happening with these students!

*In second grade math we have been working very hard on comparing numbers using place value concepts, rounding numbers, and working with numbers on a hundred chart.  The students have really stretched their thinking!  We have also been practicing out math facts on Xtra Math every day.  The students love it and the consistency it provides is great for the students!  I see that some of you have signed up at home...thank you so much for doing that for your child!

*In third grade math the students have really been pushed to stretch their critical thinking skills.  We have been working on place value concepts up to the hundred thousands, comparing numbers and rounding numbers.  We have been doing lots of partner and group activities to take apart word problems and think critically about the information given and what we need to do to successfully solve a problem.  It is tough work, be we will keep working on it!

Looking forward to another great week in Raiderland!  Thanks to all of our families for the support you give your child each and every day!

Mrs. Berry :)

Meet the Teacher Night

Special thanks to all of the parents, grandparents, and students who were able to make it to our "Meet the Teacher Night!"  We had a great time getting to know you better!  We enjoyed hearing from Mrs. Cathy Ruiz about the Parent Mentor Program and all that it has to offer.  We also learned about classroom routines and tips and tricks to make homework easier at home.  Thanks again to all who attended!

Be on the Lookout!

Hello Raider Families!

Be on the lookout in your child's folder!  We are having a "Parent Night" on Tuesday, September 10 at 7:00 p.m.  It will last no longer than one hour.  We will have cookies and juice for those in attendance.  We will be asking you to return a slip to let us know if you and your child can make it to this fun and informative evening, so please look for that and return it promptly!

We really want our families to feel welcome in our classroom, and we feel like this parent night will help to do that!  We will introduce ourselves, tell a little about our classes and routines, and answer any questions you may have.  Now that we have a few weeks under our belt, you may have some questions about procedures, homework, etc.  We will try our best to answer them!

We look forward to seeing you on the 10th!

Mrs. Berry and Mrs. Head :)

Welcome to the 2013-2014 School Year Raiders!

Mrs. Head, Mrs. Shepherd, and myself would like to take a moment to welcome all of our Raider students and families back for the 2013-2014 school year!  We are so excited to get started! 

Open house will be held from 5:00-6:30 pm on Monday, August 19.  We look forward to seeing you then!  Don't forget to stop in and say hello!  You will also be surprised to discover that over the summer we have had some of our flooring replaced!  Half of our classroom is now tiled, and it looks beautiful!  We are so thankful to have our old carpet removed and replaced with the tile.  For now, we are operating on half of the room.  This is only temporary until Mr. Childs gets our new floor waxed and ready to use..we can't wait!!!

We are so pleased to welcome Mrs. Dunham as our new building principal!  It has been wonderful getting in the building and having the opportunity to work with Mrs. Dunham as we enter this new school year!  We will also have some new faces helping from time to time in our classroom.  We are pleased to welcome Mrs. Sharon Rice, who will be assisting in our elementary buildings until her retirement in late October.  She is going to be a tremendous help.  Additionally, we want to welcome Mrs. Cindy Crosby, who will be helping in both Mrs. Moran's and our classroom throughout the school year.  It's going to be a great year!

Welcome back Raiders!

Love,
Mrs. Berry :)

Game Day

We had a fun time with Mrs. Moran's class last Thursday!  Every year, Mrs. Moran has her students creat games, complete with instructions, rules, traps, and bonuses.  This is such a great activity and it really requires her students to use critical thinking skills.  Much thought and planning goes into planning and thinking about all of the different aspects of the games.  We always benefit from their hard work because when they are finished and ready to try, Mrs. Moran brings her students and they actually play their games with our class.  Let me tell you, our students just loved it!

Working With Numbers

We have started really looking at and analyzing numbers.  One thing we have talked about is how we can quickly and efficiently count large groups of objects.  After lots of brainstorming, the kids realized that if they group their objects in sets of "ten" and "some leftover," they could very quickly count large groups.  So, we did just that!  Each student was given a bag of Smarties candy and asked to count them using our grouping method.  They then recorded their final count on a sticky note.  The final part of this lesson required each student to count his or her groups to the class to verify the findings.  They did an excellent job with this task!  This activity led into an introductory discussion of the tens and ones groupings that make up two-digit numbers.  It was a great activity...and it ended with eating, which is always a big hit with the boys and girls!

A Great Video!

We made the following video to be used as a practice tool at home.  If you notice that your child struggles to sound out new or unfamiliar words, you might also notice that he or she has difficulty with certain phonetic concepts.  This video is less than 12 minutes and it goes through virtually all of the phonetic sounds and combinations that students are introduced to with our Wilson Fundations Program.  This would be a great daily practice for any student!  We have added it to our reading videos that are linked at the top of this page.  Please enjoy!