Walk to School Wednesdays!

This week kicked off "Walk to School Wednesday" as part of our “Green Wednesday” initiative for our schools participation in Eco Schools. Despite the chilly temperatures, 113 of our 263 students walked, 43% of students took a step in the right direction.

As a class lets try to get as many students walking as possible!

Instead of driving try:

Biking

Rollerblading 

Skipping

Hopping 

Make arrangements to have your child walk from a friend’s house on Wednesday morning.

Walking to school gives you healthy exercise, keeps the air we breathe cleaner and keeps traffic congestion away from the school.

 GET FIT.  LIVE GREEN!

Characteristics of Living Things

This week in Science, we started working on Characteristics of Living Things. We came up with some criteria for a “living thing,” such as they need food, water (drink), they grow, and they reproduce. We went for a walk around the school grounds in search for living and non-living things. We then made two lists of living and non-living things we found on our walk.

Check out this great Biological Diversity website

Click on the link below to test your knowledge on living things.
How do you know its alive?

We will be planting flowers next week so get your green thumbs ready!

Have a great weekend!

Exploring the World of Sign Language

Over the past couple of weeks in grade one we have been learning about sign language. We are now able to finger spell the letters of the alphabet!

We had a great time this week learning how to spell our name using finger spelling! Try it at home with your child.

Click here  to check out the finger spelling alphabet!

Science Materials

We are collecting any recycled items that you don't need anymore that could be used for building materials.  Such items can be all shapes and sizes, and could include:

-paper towel/toilet paper rolls

-Juice/milk cartons

-Cans, containers, plastic bottles

-Boxes (cereal, shoe, etc)

-Cardboard

-Lids

-Egg cartons

-Anything else you can think of!

Thanks for your help! 

Our 5 Senses

In Science this week, we had a wonderful time exploring the 5 Senses in the human body.  We rotated through different centers, and recorded our work.  At the smelling center, we smelled different things and had to guess what they were. Our favorite smell was the mint! At the tasting center, we tried foods that were sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Everyone liked the chips and chocolate! No one liked the onion. We learned about our sense of sight by trying to drop a paper clip in a jar while closing one eye. At the touching center, we had to guess what was inside a dark sock. We all liked the feel of the smooth rock.  In the hearing center, we listened to the sounds different materials made inside a yogurt container. It was lots of fun!

After exploring our 5 senses we had a class discussion about how these characteristics help humans meet their needs and explore the world around them.

We watched a  YouTube video on our five senses. Check it out!

Here is a  fun game on the 5 senses!

Money!

This week we started to learn about Money.  We learned the names of the coins as well as their values. We also started to learn how to count coins.  At home, show a handful of coins to your child. Have them practice examining each coin and have them tell you information about it.  Also, when counting, we must remember to start with the coin of the highest value, and then use our skip counting skills to help us!

Grade One’s Money Rap

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters!

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters!

Now a penny means one,

And a nickel means five.

Dimes are worth ten,

And quarters….twenty-five.

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters!

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters!

Five pennies in a nickel,

Two nickels in a dime.

Five nickels in a quarter,

You’ll know it everytime!

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters!

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters!

Money Worksheets

Try counting dimes

Try counting quarters

Welcome to the dollar store. This online game allows students to use coins pay for toys in a store. 

Fun with Time!

Its been a snowy week in grade one!

We have been doing a lot of work, learning how to tell time to the hour, and half-hour. We have learned how to read the time on a digital and analog clock.  We have also learned how to write the time in words and digitally.  The "half-past" times are MUCH more difficult for the students.  Please practice this at home.  Here are some things to check for:

-Be able to look at a clock and write the time two ways- using numbers and words (e.g., 8:00 and 8 o'clock, 8:30 and half-past 8)

-Show the time by placing the hands on the clock face that clearly indicates the time (making sure that the hands are different sizes)

-Hour hand- the shorter hand, is often drawn with a red pencil

-Minute hand- longer hand, is often drawn with a blue pencil

-When illustrating half hour, be sure that the hour hand is drawn so that it is clearly between the numbers on the clock

-a.m.  versus p.m.

For practice  worksheets on time, click on the links below. 


 On each clock face, ask your children to draw the time that matches the digital time written below each clock.

 Ask your children to write the digital times in the space below each clock face on the worksheet.

Litterless Lunch Day! Friday April 22nd

Hi Parents! On Friday April 22nd our school will be taking part in a Litterless Lunch Day. All students are to bring a litterless lunch. When packing lunch for your child consider the following ideas. Not only is it better for the environment but it can save you money as well.

Here are some ideas to munch on:

• Reusable lunch carrier 
• Reusable containers
• Reusable drink bottles
• Cloth napkin
• Silverware – to wash and re-use
• Healthful snacks

Earth Day 2011

This year marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, a yearly celebration to promote environmental awareness and to help nurture and support the health of our planet. There are so many simple and quick ways you can do your part in helping save our environment. From conserving energy by just turning off a light switch, use only the water you need and recycle metals, plastic and paper. Click on this link for a fun site about Earth Day http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/index.cfm

Welcome!

Welcome to the wonderful world of grade one!  I have created this blog as a way for parents/guardians and students to communicate throughout the school year. Here you'll find updates, games, links and information about our class activities. Visit regularly to see what's going on!

Ms. Weir's Classroom