Elf Application

Last week the students applied to become an Elf for Santa. We mailed their applications to Santa last week. Yesterday, I looked in my school mailbox and we received a package from Santa containing the student's elf identification badges. They were very excited to find out their Elf Name and what job Santa assigned to them! 

Double Number Addition & Rekenreks

Today we learned how to use the rekenrek to add two of the same numbers together (for example 8+8). The rekenreks are a great visual of making groups of ten and seeing the extra 'ones' left over. 

Winter Concert

On Tuesday, we had our Winter Concert. The kiddos did awesome. Two of their songs are below! Please check them out!

 

Family Trees

We have been learning a lot about families. Today, we wrapped up our unit by making our own family trees. The students have learned about the different people that can make up a family (mother, father, step-mother, step-father, brothers, sisters, step-siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins). They also learned about the different types of families such as Nuclear Families, Single-Parent Families, Adoptive Families, Foster Families, and Blended Families. The students enjoyed putting their family members on their very own family tree.

Pajama Day

The First Grade students at Hemlock Creek participated in the 7th Annual Scholastic Pajama Drive. The students collected 83 pairs of pajamas; way to go First Graders! We celebrated by having a Pajama Day!

I also took a picture of our own class! You will also notice that our class was awarded the traveling trophy for the week. The students have been demonstrating appropriate dress for the weather and appropriate behavior on the playground. 

Hour of Code

Today, we had our Library Media Specialist, Mrs. Gossen, come in and teach us about coding on the iPads. Mrs. Gossen taught us what coding is and how to use three different coding apps on the ipad. The students had the option to choose which app they wanted to play. Below are the apps that the students chose from:

Kodable - The students used code to tell the character, "fuzz ball," to collect the coins on the screen.

Scratch Jr. - The students used code to make the cat go different places based on the background they chose.

 

Tynker - The students used code to get the character to eat the candy. 

We had a lot of fun and look forward to having Mrs. Gossen come and teach us more about the different types of technology that we have available at Hemlock Creek!

Scratch Jr. 

Scratch Jr. 

Kodable

Kodable

Tynker

Thanksgiving Activities

This week we have been learning a lot about Thanksgiving and what we are thankful for. The students participated in some turkey math activities along with a few turkey projects! Check out the pictures below from the activities today.

Charlie Check First

Our Police Liaison Officer came in today to talk to us about making sure we are safe at home and at school. Charlie Check First is a tool Officer Angel used to help us remember to ask an adult before going anywhere with anyone. The students also learned the importance of the buddy system, using "wise eyes" to observe their surroundings, and saying "No" when there isn't an adult around to check with first. They were fantastic listeners and received a certificate, sticker badge, and Green Bay Packer cards. 

Nutrition - MyPlate

In science, we have been learning about nutrition and the food groups.  We have learned about all five food groups (Dairy, Protein, Vegetable, Fruit, and Grains). We learned that each food group gives us vitamins and nutrients that keep us healthy.  MyPlate is a tool that we use in order to make healthy decisions and continue to live healthy lifestyles. MyPlate shows the proportions that we must have on our own plate when we eat. Below is a picture of the MyPlate tool. 

Check out the following link for more information about MyPlate!

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/kids

Fivezi

This game is based off of the dice game "Tenzi."

How to play: Each player is given five dice. The first player to get all five of their dice to match (five 3's) says "Fivezi" and wins the game. To make the game more interesting, I made cards with different combinations of dice faces. Each player takes turns choosing a card. The players will roll their dice and get their dice to match the card. The players can "farm" or take out the dice that they have rolled and pick up the remaining dice to re-roll to get the other dice faces that they need. Check out the video and picture collage below. 

Veterans Day

On Wednesday, we learned about Veterans Day. The students learned that we honor Americans who have served in the military and have fought for our freedom. The students learned that because of their bravery, we are free to go to school, we are free to play, we are free to travel, and much more! After we learned about Veterans Day, we wrote letters to a friend of mine who served in the military. The kids enjoyed writing this letter and "thanking" him for his service.

Small Moment Writing

We have been hard at work with our writing. Since the beginning of the school year, we have been learning about small moment (personal narrative) writing. This form writing focuses on events that have happened to us or something that we have done.  The students have been working hard on writing small moment pieces about recess, losing a tooth, birthday parties, field trips, and much more. We have also learned that our writing needs an introduction, details, and a conclusion. We will be finishing up this type of writing next week and will move on to our next form of writing. Click on the pictures below to see the students sharing their piece of writing with a partner. 

Statue of Liberty

We finished learning about National Symbols. We learned about, drew, and painted the Statue of Liberty. The students enjoyed the change of pace and their drawings turned out great! Click on a picture below to enlarge it and start a slideshow!