Mrs. Thompson's Love Bugs

Bunny Hop!

2010-04-07T16:55:00.000-07:00

Put on your ears and get ready to boogy! After making our own bunny ears, we joined the rest of the school for the bunny hop, followed by the ever popular chicken dance and hokey pokey. Jake came back to class with me and took a few photos afterwards-I think his pics were better than mine-the kiddo's certainly hammed it up more for him!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2010-04-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

The week of March 2nd we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday in style. Crazy Mixed Up Clothes Monday, Top Hat Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday (jammies to school), Theodore Thursday (bringing our favorite Dr. Seuss book) and Fox in Socks Friday were the themes that launched our many activities. The kiddo's loved perusing our Dr. Seuss tub-especially because they are finding that the can read them on their own! We ate green eggs and ham, giggled over the Cat and the Hat, and learned Dr. Seuss's real name after reading The Boy on Fairchild Street (Dr. Seuss's biography).

A Few More Scientists...

2010-04-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics of our scientists-from optical illusions to balloon rockets to surface tension to coloring carnations, each child has done a terrific job! The only problem we have has been technical difficulties on my end. Some of our scientist have photographed on my camera and some on my phone. I haven't figured out the phone uploading yet, so there there will probably be more on the way!

Let's Go Science!

2010-04-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the Paramount's production of Let's Go Science! Our lovebugs had a terrific time. The show was entertaining yet filled with important science concepts we study such as matter and forces. A big highlight was when they measured how far air traveled using a hose and toilet paper (it went out about 20 feet). No pictures are allowed during the performance so I snapped a few of us waiting for the show to begin.

Yee-Haw!

2010-04-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our lovebugs had a blast saddling up and heading out to the rodeo this year. The weather was beautiful and we were excited after learning that the rodeo was the state sport of Texas. We listened to old-timey music and danced on the fairgrounds, watched pig racing, ate lunch in the stands, checked out the animals and looked for the Texas symbols we had been learning about such as the longhorn. After walking by many food booths, we finally found the state dish for sale-chili!

Another Snow Day?!?!?!?

2010-04-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we had a second snow day this year! This one was even better-more snow stuck to the ground and it lasted all morning. We went out several times to run and play in the snow! So much fun-I loved watching them stick their tongues out to to taste it!

Don't Leave with a Broken Heart!

2010-04-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

For our Valentine's Day party, each child went to four centers to complete a heart shaped puzzle. The children decorated lovebug cookies, delivered their cards, graphed the vowels in a bag of conversation hearts, and played steal my heart (using chopsticks, they try to get as many conversation hearts as they can before a timer goes off. After made sure noone was broken-hearted, it was time to open our Valentine deliveries! A great day-thank you to my many fabulous parent volunteers!

Pack Your Bags...

2009-12-08T19:53:00.001-08:00

it's time to ride on the Holiday Express! This week we began our around the world of holiday traditions by applying for our passports and getting our luggage packed. Stay tuned for more about our travels!

Scientist of the Week

2009-12-08T19:50:00.001-08:00

Another great experiment by a brilliant lovebug! Today our scientist blew up a balloon using a bottle, vinegar and baking soda! Super job of talking us through it step by step! Great job!

Turtle #13

2009-12-08T19:45:00.001-08:00

We have an new classroom organism visiting us from the Science Health Resource Center-Turtle #13. He's a pretty cool little guy-though a bit shy. He pretty much only comes out when we feed him every other day. We have set up a "turtle lunch bunch." Each child is part of a group who gets to feed him and do their school work by his cage so they can observe him "action."

Snow Business!!!!

2009-12-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

Despite a long Texas history of promised snowfall only to be left high and dry, the weather reports finally came through. It snowed!!!! We had just "suited up" to head out the playground when on our way we noticed snow flurries. We ran out to the courtyard and reveled in our brief snowfall! Ms. Price had her kindergartners join us and upped the volume to her Christmas music CD. To add to the excitement we had magnifying glasses and black paper to capture the snow crystals as they fell. I can't imagine anything more fun than playing tag and tasting snowflakes to rocking Ghristmas music on a December day-a rare and unexpected treat.
We ended the day playing "Melt an Ice Cube" with our 5th Grade Buddies. Each child has an ice cube and depending on the roll of the dice they had to drop it, blow on it, put ten shakes of salt on it, float it in water for 10 seconds, or drop it down their shirt. There were lots of giggles-especially if they had to drop it down their shirt. We had a fabulous day getting "snowed in" and playing with ice!

The Lovebug Mall

2009-12-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

In the classroom we have been studying needs and wants as well as goods and services. As a culminating project, the children selected their own good or service to sell to students in a neighboring classroom. They came up with their "business plan" of what to sell, selected a price, created an ad and then ultimately sold their goods. They had so much fun and it was incredibly eye opening to see our economy in action! Some children chose to be sole proprietors while others formed limited business partnerships. Our shops were: yoga classes, nails and "fortune tellers", finger weaving, handmade jewelry, bookmarks, lemonade and cereal, calendars, karate class, crystals and rocks and paper airplanes.
I loved hearing their sales pitches! "You need this bracelet because it is black like your shirt." Our "would you like your crystals washed or dry?" The crystal shop was the first to sell out. The three boys then split the profits. Two of them then used their money to shop at other stores, while a third took their profits and invested it in the paper airplane business at the next table. After a bit of time, our cereal seller decided to go out of business and leave the remaining cereal out for grabs. When he needed money to buy other goods, he then resorted to bartering his cereal for their product. It was a great lesson for everyone involved!

Upside Down Pumpkin Pie!

2009-12-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

Our last two days before the Thanksgiving holiday involved a variety of Native American, Pilgrim and turkey centers. We had a special holiday treat of upside down pumpkin pie. (1 tsp of pumpkin, followed by seasoned vanilla pudding, followed by crushed graham cracker on top) Yum-oh!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I did not take a single picture of this! Not even before we started! First time ever! Usually I pass that camera off to someone..thank goodness for parents-here is the video of the event-your kids are so cute!

Here is a link to the play video:

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/c48f3d5d6991c18cf0d981aaf364a8e5/video/7415894

A link to the poems:
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/c48f3d5d6991c18cf0d981aaf364a8e5/video/7415947

Our First Field Trip...

2009-11-17T19:08:00.000-08:00

was great! Awesome weather, outside all day, fascinating animals, wonderful volunteers...who could ask for more? We went on an organism scavenger hunt and checked out the various habitats. The children enjoyed the petting zoo, and of course the lions and tigers were a big hit. We saw a lion enjoying her lunch right after we ate ours!

Can You Find Your Little Turkey?

2009-11-17T18:57:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow we will be putting up our turkey projects, but I thought I would give a sneak preview...they could not stop giggling as I took their photos!

Shared Reading and Reading Aloud

2009-11-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

In first grade we engage in a variety of reading opportunities. Shared reading with a big book allows a focused introduction on reading strategies and sight words as well as other skills. The enlarged text allows all of the students to "share" in the reading of the text as well as makes it easier for the teacher to model. These texts are read and reread. The children also read to these stories to the class whenever we have a transition.
Author studies are a focused way for me to direct the read aloud with the children. These stories are used to teach higher level thinking and skills with stories that they are capable of understanding but not necessarily reading independently yet. Our first book study from the author Susan Meddaugh-the Martha series. They are great books that the children love and PBS has even made series out of it. We then did a nonfiction book study on the topic of pumpkins to talk about different purposes in reading and different ways texts can be organized. Now we are enjoying the Strega Nona series by Tomie de Paola.

Needles and Other Living Things

2009-11-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

First grade science has a heavy emphasis on organisms. To further enhance this study we check out animals on a rotating basis from the district's Science and Health Resource Center. The day before the animal arrives I give the children clues about our "mystery organism." They have a great time trying to figure it out and have some very good debates about their selections. The organisms stay for two weeks for us to observe them and collect data for ongoing organism chart. Our first organism was "Needles" the hedgehog. (One morning he was particularly active on the wheel much to everyone's delight!)We then followed up with "Tarantula 15" and now have two parakeets whom the children have named as "Blueey and Snowflake."

Rock Solid

2009-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

We have begun a unit of earth science titled "Pebbles, Sand and Silt." We begin by looking at rocks, their properties, and how they can be sorted. The children examined them with a hand lens, rubbed them together and collected rock dust. With our fifth grade buddies we went out and collected rocks from the school grounds and will now categorize and sort them.

Lovebug Authors

2009-11-09T20:09:00.000-08:00

At the end of September we had our first publishing party. Each child selected a piece to revise and publish and then share in our class. We shared our favorite part whole group, then divided into small groups to read our entire pieces. Finally we toasted our great work and had a special snack. Our next party will be with our reading buddies to share our small moments. Eventually we will work up to having parents participate!

Word Work

2009-11-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

Word work is one of the children's favorite language arts activities. The kiddo's can use dry erase boards, playdough, wikki sticks, magnetic letters and alphabet stamps to practice word wall words, explore word families and spelling patterns, and apply endings or practice blends. We work on developing word power and making generalizations we can apply to our reading and writing!

Tie Dye!

2009-11-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

Our first grade tie dye party was a success! The children loved using all the colors and seeing the vibrant results. We all wore our t-shirts for the first time during Red Ribbon Spirit Week. We will wear them next on our first field trip to the Austin Zoo on November 17th. Thanks to our many wonderful volunteers for setting everything up, twisting shirts, guiding children, cleaning up and washing t-shirts!

Scientist of the Week

2009-11-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

We had our first Scientist of the Week demonstration! C. demonstrated the Bernoulli Effect which explains how airplanes fly. He used a ball and air blower. The air blower created low pressure air underneath the ball while the air in the classroom was high pressure keeping the ball from completely flying off. He also demonstrated this principle with running water and a ping pong ball. He then showed us with a diagram how this applied to airplanes. Great job C.!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-09T17:55:00.001-08:00

The lovebugs had a blast wearing our costumes all day and celebrating Halloween together. We started the by lighting all of our pumpkins and working by pumpkin light. After lunch, fabulous parent volunteers helped us with Halloween centers: facepainting, toss a ghost, witches brew graphing, spooky hand cookie decorating, spooky bingo and arts and crafts. Later we joined the rest of the school for the Monster Mash!

Joke of the Week

2009-09-01T18:09:00.001-07:00

Today I introduced the "joke of the week"-
How do you stop a skunk from smelling?
75% said "I don't know" Then a handful popped up with "kill it!" At that point several more pointed out that wouldn't keep it from smelling because it would rot and decay. Who knew an innocent language arts activity could turn into a science lesson on the circle of life? I love first graders!
P.S. How do you stop a skunk from smelling? Hold his nose...

Welcome to First Grade!

2009-08-30T20:00:00.001-07:00

I can't believe our first week together is already over! We have been busy creating our classroom community and getting to know each other. Your children are brilliant and precious and funny and adorable! They have worked super hard this week learning and following rules and procedures as we have launched reader's and writer's workshop. We have giggled over stories, celebrated a birthday and started counting the days in school. We are establishing our math routines such as number of the day, using manipulatives and playing math games together. It's a long week after having so much time off, but our lovebugs did a great job. Here are a few photos of the first week of first grade!

May the Force Be With You...

2009-03-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

We have started our study of forces, motion and simple machines. We began by talking about two forces-pushing and pulling. We experimented with those forces by building aluminum foil boats and pushing and pulling them in different ways in the water.

We then explored the force of gravity. We held up our arms and felt how tired they got over time because of gravity. We then made 3-D marble mazes and used gravity to manipulate the marble through the maze. The children were SO creative with ramps, hiding places, scoring areas, traps, etc. I was extremely impressed with them! Now we are going to work with magnetic forces before embarking on the second half of our unit of simple and complex machines after Spring Break...

Have a great week off and may the force be with you....

Scientist of the Week!

2009-03-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can blow up a balloon with vinegar and baking soda? Thanks to our latest scientist, we do! Our scientist did a great job of talking us through her entire experiment. The first time, the balloon did not get a perfect seal and we could hear the air escaping-it was very cool! Our scientist repeated the experiment, and we were so excited to see the balloon get so big. We have enjoyed watching the balloon slowly shrink each day in the science center. Great job!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2009-03-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

We had Super week-long celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday. We kicked it off with Mixed Up Monday and wore crazy clothes (turning our stuff inside out if we forgot). We read Horton Hatches an Egg and then made our own mixed up organisms.
On Top Hat Tuesday, we read the Cat in the Hat books and then created our own Cat in the Hat adventure. We made a special cover for the book by painting our feet like the Cat in the Hat.
Wacky Wednesday gave us a chance to wear our jammies to school and eat Green Eggs and Ham..more than half of our class had never tried it before! The final votes was 17 yum's and 2 yuk's.
On Theodore Thursday we graphed our favorite Dr. Seuss books and shared them during GRAB time. The Lorax had the most followed by The Grinch and Bartholomew and Oobleck.
For Fox in Socks Friday we got to go all day without our shoes in our crazy socks. We counted up the times Mrs. Thompson's tongue got twisted reading the book and we watched The Lorax. You can check out our stories on the hallway bulletin board.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-03-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun celebrating this sweet holiday! We were surprised when Mr. Thomson and Mrs. Pundt came to visit and facepaint hearts for us. Thank you to my many wonderful parent volunteers for making run so smoothly. The lovebug cookies were fun to make and the cupcakes so yummy to eat, and we had fun playing the game "Steal My Heart." The children used chopsticks to try and get as many conversation hearts as they could in one minute. It was the quietest they have been all year! The best part of course was delivering and opening our Valentine cards!

Scientist(s) of the Week(s)

2009-03-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys-a little late to post again...we had two fabulous scientists the past few weeks. One was a "diving" experiment in which a toy diver was placed in a bottle of water and made to float and sink with the exertion of pressure on the bottle. The kids were so excited to see it sink!

Another great experiment was building a model volcano. The eruption was extremely cool...if you are going to do it go with plain old vinegar as opposed to apple cider vinegar-much more of an eruption!

Martial Arts

2009-02-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

This week we started our 10 week Martial Arts program. On our first day we learned the signal for attention and practiced different kinds of animal walks-from duck to frog to crab, the kiddos had a great time!

We Survived 100 Days of First Grade!

2009-02-08T16:21:00.001-08:00

I can't believe 100 days have already gone by! To celebrate the 100th day of school we worked in centers to earn a 100 points for the day. Each center was worth 10 points and the children chose the order they wanted to do them.
Some of the centers were making a 100 day hat and snack, doing 100 exercises, illustrating our 100 day poem, measuring with a hundred paper clips, drawing ourselves when we are 100 year old, and creating a 100 word collage.
One of my favorites was writing to the prompt "If I've told you once, I've told a 100 times..." Apparently they are told to clean their rooms A LOT!
Now that we have counted up to the 100th day, we will count down to the last day of school. Only 74 left! Where is the time going?

Scientist of the Week

2009-02-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

Our latest scientist taught us how to keep our apples from turning brown after we cut them. The secret? Lemon juice! Our scientist showed us a chart they made to organize the pieces of apple, and we had a great discussion about controlling our variables. Super job!

Where were you...

2009-02-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

for the inauguration?
We got together with other first grade classes to watch it live on TV and have a picnic lunch. The children were so into it. They were a great audience and soaking up all the details. We tried to spot one of our classmates that was attending but gave up on that idea when we saw how many people were there. They wanted to know about all the previous presidents and other important people in attendance. We listened to the musical transitions, and saw the oath and speech. We thought it was cool that someone wrote a special poem just like we do in the poetry center. The loved spotting Sasha and Malia. Afterward we reflected on what we saw and learned about on this historic day.

Scientist of the Week

2009-02-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

We learned all about color being absorbed by celery stalks thanks to our scientist of the week. In addition to showing his results, he set up the experiment in our science center for us to continue our investigation. Great job!

Me and My Shadow

2009-02-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

We were "marmatologists" this week. You know, the people who study groundhogs? We learned a lot of cool facts like:
1. A groundhog or whistle pig can move 700lbs of dirt in one day!
2. Groundhogs can swim and climb trees.
3. Groundhogs have a separate potty from their nest inside their burrows.
4. When a groundhog hibernates, it breathes only once every six minutes. We tried it ourselves, the longest anybody was able to do it was about 1 minute.
5. A groundhogs teeth are always growing.

We also did some work with our shadows. We measured them at 3 different times of day. We discoverd that as the day goes on, our shadows become shorter!

Science Fair

2009-02-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of all our budding scientists! We had four fabulous entries into the science fair, and even a 2nd place winner! The children did a great job of sharing and explaining their projects with the whole class.

Junie B Part 2

2009-02-03T19:33:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful time at the Paramount for the Junie B Jones performance. The children were excellent audience members. They loved being at the top of theater, and we can't stop singing "Top Secret Personal Beeswax" (well at least I can't-it's very catchy!)

Guest Speaker

2009-01-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

This past week we had a wonderful guest speaker. Mr. Miller came from the Paramount theater to our classroom to help prepare us for our upcoming field trip to see Junie B. JOnes. It was terrific! He talked about acting, then got the children involved in acting out several vignettes from 3 Junie B Jones book. This hands on workshop was great. The children were so expressive and excited! We are definitely prepped and ready for Junie B!

Scientist of the Week!

2009-01-19T18:18:00.001-08:00

This week our scientist showed us how to create an "ocean in a bottle" with water, oil and food coloring. We loved watching the colors mix and the oil "gallump" in the bottle. Afterwards we put the bottle in the science center, where many children are trying to mix it up! We do pretty good as long as it is shaking vigorously, but as soon as we stop things start to separate! Great job!

Scientist of the Week!

2009-01-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

Another fabulous presentation from a resident science expert! Vinegar and baking soda makes a very cool reaction. The science behind model volcanoes was great to witness up close. Our scientist was very excited to share, and we tried out different amounts of baking soda and vinegar to see what happened. Great job!

New Year, Old Pics

2009-01-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry about not updating sooner! Time got away from me again...of course you can never have too much of the holiday season, so here are a few more pictures. We finished our Christmas around the world tour, by making gifts with riddles like they do in Sweden, eating yule logs and making Noel door decorations for France, and making Christmas cards in the English tradition.
We also learned about Hanukkah-playing the dreidel game was fun and we loved making latkes from scratch. After taste testing we decided we liked them with sour cream followed by applesauce followed by plain. (It was a close race!)
On the last day, we came back to the USA and participated in the school sing a long, made gingerbread houses-VERY fun! The children were so imaginative with their decorations and made such intricate plans for their houses. What better way to clean the sticky tables afterwards than to bust out the shaving cream and write on the table with it! After all the excitment, we decided to calm things down by with the good old American tradition of TV! We watched the old school Grinch and clay-mation Rudolph. It was a great day to end the semester-thank you so much to our many wonderful parent volunteers!
I am excited to be back for 2009! The children seem so grown up-how has it only been two weeks? We have had a fabulous first week back!

Holidays Around the World

2008-12-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

Pack your bags and get your passports ready-it's the holidays! The children have had so much fun working on our social studies unit centered on culture and the holidays. We started off studying Kwanzaa and talking about it's similarities to other holidays.
Then we made passports, created luggage and headed off on Thompson Airlines. We check in with the airline, head over to our seats to color our maps of our destination, buckle our seat belts and put our tray tables in the upright position and take off! When we land we check in at the customs desk with our passport. There we practice the local language by saying Merry Christmas in the native tongue. Then our tour guide picks us up at our hotel and takes us over a local museum or cultural center to learn about that countries tradition.
Our first stop was Italy where we learned about the Legend of Old Befana. We wrote about the story and created mini Befanas.
The next day we headed to Germany where we learned that Christmas trees originated from there. We created paper Christmas trees and also did some German paper cutting.
Today we went to Mexico where we learned of the Legend of Poinsettia and then made a poinsettia from butcher paper. Countries left on our world tour: Sweden, England and France. We will also be learning about Hanukkah.
Next week we will take turns in each first grade classroom learning more about Holidays Around the World!

A Few More Yoga Pics...

2008-12-11T18:01:00.001-08:00

Yoga and Yogurt with your Yogis

2008-12-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today was our last day of yoga. The children have really enjoyed participating in this movement class. It was fun watching them come up with their own poses at our last session. It was great having so many parents participate today-no small feat in work attire! We enjoyed our healthy yogurt snack afterwards (slightly less healthy with sprinkles involved, but hey it was a celebration!).

Lost Teeth!

2008-12-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

These are the kiddos that lost teeth in November. No one has lost teeth so far in December!

Scientist of the Week

2008-12-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

This morning we had our first scientist of the week! Each week on Wednesday, we will send home our Scientist Tool Kit with a different child from the class. All of the information needed about this project is inside the kit. The experiment will be performed the following Tuesday.
Today we had chalk soaked in vinegar to see what happened. The hypothesis was that it would dissolve which turned out to be partially true. We are leaving this experiment in our science center for further observation. Great job!

Native American Centers

2008-12-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

What better way to spend our short week before Thanksgiving than engaging in some fun learning activities with our 6th grade buddies. We worked on our countdown to Thanksgiving plates,we played several Native American games like jump the snake,and hiding the rock in our mocassins. We made totem poles and teepee's with Native American symbols. The best part of all was sampling Native American fry bread made fresh in the classroom (the kids REALLY liked it).

T'was the Night Before Thanksgiving...

2008-12-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

We had wonderful turn out for our Thanksgiving feast! I was pleased to see that all of us could fit in the classroom together, even if we had to eat somewhat picnic style. The children did a fabulous job of our reenactment of the book T'was the Night Before Thanksgiving The children had a great time making props and practicing. I think their facial expressions were the best. Each time we practiced they wanted to add more and more details-all of them took their roles very seriously! I still haven't forgotten about that video!

Dinoland...

2008-12-09T18:48:00.001-08:00

A couple of pics from the Dinoland field trip. A few weeks later we were working on a book as a thank you-the children feverishly discussed which was their favorite part of the trip-clearly the had a great time!

Halloween Centers

2008-11-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a blast! We loved wearing our costumes to school and our centers were definitely a success. We had a very fun hay ride in the middle of the day, and enjoyed several Halloween stories. Face painting was awesome, and the children loved playing the games and making the snacks. Thank you so much to all of my fabulous volunteers who either donated items or helped run the centers that day! Lots of pictures!

Slimey Buddies

2008-11-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

We created slime with our 6th grade buddies. Lots of giggling and oohs and ahs were heard throughout the room. We love reading and working with our buddies. They help us read our books, play math games with us, and now science. The slime was a hit this Halloween season!

Our Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much for partcipating in our family pumpkin project. The carved pumpkins really had us pumped up to come to school. We loved looking at the different carvings. I could see each child's personality coming through their designs! We toured our pumpkin patch, read by pumpkin light on Thursday in the classroom, and took them into the hall on Friday to display for the school as well as light them up. We participated in a 1st grade hallway GRAB time. We were surprised at how many pumpkin seeds we found in our pumpkins, and loved tasting all the roasted pumpkin seeds. These photos have us posing by our carved pumpkins. Great job!

Our Own Yogi

2008-11-03T19:32:00.001-08:00

Today in yoga, Ms. Sarah, had one of our classmates demonstrate a new yoga pose. Way to go!

Student Led Conferences

2008-11-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

October conferences were a success! The children loved showing their work to you and setting learning goals. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and we will continue in February with another round. Open House was a success as well. It was a much more relaxed way for the children to show you what they do every day.

Pass the Paper, Please!

2008-11-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

After studying wood, we then moved on to paper. We discussed, explored and sorted the various types: corrugated,tagboard, newsprint, cardboard, wax, etc. We experimented with writing on each type using markers, crayons, and pencil. The children loved taking a closer look at something we use everyday! We then used tagboard folders to create our own personal offices. The children enjoyed decorating their spaces and use them as needed to concentrate on their work.

Dogs that Talk?

2008-10-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks we have engaged in our first author study. We have thoroughly enjoyed the Martha series by Susan Meddaugh. The children have laughed at all the funny adventures of Martha the dog who learns to speak after eating alphabet soup. We have had rich discussions about story elements and similarities among the stories.
We learned more about the author and her affinity for animals, that Martha and Skits were based on her actual pets and that she got her idea for the books when her first grade son Niko was eating alsphabet soup and asked if their dog, Martha would talk if he fed her some.

We were so excited to find the secret words hidden on the book covers. We each selected our favorite story, graphed the results and did a literature response deconstructing the story elements.

Martha is such a popular children's book that they have made a television series based on it on PBS. It's focus is on building vocabulary. Also, you can go to pbskids.org and click on the Martha for games and other activities. The kiddos really enjoy this site.
We are now on to our second series-Angelina Ballerina!

Guess Who's Coming to Read?

2008-10-08T19:28:00.001-07:00

I have finally been organized enough to start our guest reader program! Our first guest reader brought a very cool book about bats which sparked a lively discussion. She even a had a cute sidekick. The next week we enjoyed a wonderful story, Snuggle Mountain by Lindsay Lane a local author. I'm not sure what was more enjoyable for the children-the terrific story or the Donald Duck voice...I look forward to more stories read by our fabulous first grade families!

Smile!

2008-10-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

The month of September has passed with 4 kiddos losing teeth. Here ia a picture of their toothless grins. I wonder how many jack-o-lantern smiles we'll have after October!

Totally Teeth

2008-09-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Each month I plan on taking a photo of the kiddos that have a lost a tooth during that time period. We started the with two children in August (playing catch up on the pictures right now). Next week with the end of September we have at least 4 faces so far, but several wigglers! Keep watching!

Who Wood-n't Like Science?

2008-09-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

This week we began our study of Wood and Paper. We have been exploring several types of wood-redwood, pine, basswood, plywood and particle board. We have been describing, comparing and classifying. We also have been exploring what happens when the different types of wood interact with water. Ask your child about their favorite type!

Yoga!

2008-09-25T18:35:00.001-07:00

Today we had our first day of Yoga class. This program will run for the next 10 weeks. The children enjoyed working on the different poses and breathing. Lots of groans were heard as we reached for those toes, but they loved the "easy" position. Ask your child to give you a demonstration! Namaste!

A Few More Tie Dye Pics...

2008-09-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tie Dye!

2008-09-23T18:52:00.001-07:00

Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers that made tie dye this year easy and FUN! The kiddos had a great time while practicing the important science vocabulary of "saturate!" The shirts look awesome-we'll take a picture of soon all decked out in our new shirts!

Not Just An Ordinary Birthday...

2008-09-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

What? No birthday? This Love Bug decided that this year he would give up his birthday to help an organization called charity: water. This group works towards funding and building clean water sources in countries like Ethiopia. Instead of getting birthday presents, he has asked that everyone he knows donate money in his name through charity: water to build a well. He has raised over $14,000 so far!!!! Did you know that over a billion people don't have access to clean water? Something we definitely take for granted! Many of the children in the class thought this was pretty cool, so if they ask about giving up their birthdays, you'll know where that's coming from. I asked his parents if it was okay to include his webpage. They agreed so here is the link: http://www.charitywater.org/birthdays/fundraiser/sept/view/72

Still letting the pictures say a thousand words!

2008-09-16T20:09:00.001-07:00

Just a Few More Pics...

2008-09-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Five Senses

2008-09-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

As part of our introduction to science this year, we began with a unit of study on the 5 senses. One of the favorite activities was trying to identify different "mystery" smells (vinegar, perfume, lemon, baby powder, vanilla, chocolate). We practiced "wafting" the smell to our noses as scientists do. Using our sense of touch we tried to identify 6 unknown objects in bags, and we also practiced using our sense of hearing and sight with games.

The Colors of Us

2008-09-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

As part of talking about ourselves this year, we read a great story called The Colors of Us followed with an discussion about all the different colors we had in our class. Using multicultural paint, the children selected a skin tone and painted their faces. Then we added additional facial features and hair. The children were so serious holding different papers up to each other faces to match lip and nose colors. If you haven't got a chance to see the finished product, stop by our room!

Zero the Hero

2008-09-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today is the tenth day of school! To celebrate, we had a visit from "Zero the Hero." We have learned a special song for our hero which he performed fabulously with us. The kids were so excited and all day long asked, "When is Zero the Hero coming?" We drew pictures of what he might look like and where we think he lives. This was a great way to begin our discussion on place value. We already can't wait for the hundredth day when there are TWO zeroes in our number of the day!

The other big event of the day was heading to our first library checkout for the year! Now that we are big first graders, we can check out 2 books. Our library day is every Monday at 10:30. Each week will alternate checking out books with story time.
Your child will get to keep their books for two weeks before they are due.

Your child is able to choose one book for fun, and another book to help them learn to read. As the year progresses and their reading levels change, I will give them more guidance in their book they "learn to read with." For now we began by choosing a book that we recognized at least a few words or letters on the page. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful librarian that helps foster our children's love of books and literacy development. Please consider donating to the "Friends of the Zilker Library" fund-contact Mrs. Kraal for more details!

Week Two!

2008-09-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are already in our second week of school! I feel like I have a permanent smile on my face. The children are amazing, the families are wonderful and it's great to be at Zilker!

We had fun eating our special Wild Things Snack on Friday. Who knew that rat toes, dried worms, ant eggs and bug eyes could taste so yummy? In math we have been working together to learn games to build fluency, and we are laying the foundation for Reader's and Writer's Workshop.

I just wanted to do a quick post with a few more pictures of the children!

The Rules of the Classroom...

2008-08-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today we began the process of rule making in the classroom. I feel it's important to keep the kiddos involved. We discussed in pairs and as a class the importance of rules and brainstormed a list of rules we think we should have in our classroom. Over the next few days we will refine our list until we have a finalized set of classroom expectations. We also read several stories, including We Share Everything by Robert Munsch (a super funny children's author-they love his stories) and we worked on pages for a class book about what we can share in first grade. We continue to get our procedures in place for packing up, getting to and from places and how we move in the classroom. We also began sharing favorite books from home. This included an animal encyclopedia, two chapter books-one scary, one funny, and a Dick and Jane book. The children had an amazing discussion about which books we read by ourselves, what type of stories we like, how we can use pictures to get information, and rereading books for fun. This is so beneficial in setting the stage as a community of reader's. I look forward to seeing the other children's selections!
As we start this year, I try to notice things that are working well and try to tweak procedures that aren't. Right now, dismissal is on my mind. With the high traffic area by our back door, I have decided to exit now out of our classroom side door. I get a little paranoid about keeping together, and while the card system has worked well, I think that it will help us stay together if we take a slightly different route!
I love your children-they make me smile all day! Here are a few more pictures!

On The First Day of First Grade...

2008-08-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! We had a GREAT first day! We read several books (Froggy Goes to School, The Secret Birthday Message, Where the Wild Things Are, and Lunch), and learned a short poem. We did some writing including a page for our time capsule that we will open at the end of year. We also worked with our math tools and drew sets of numbers. We celebrated a birthday and wrote "secret birthday messages" for her. I was amazed at how creative they are-from signing their name with a question mark to keep it "really secret" to folding it like a paper airplane for delivery. We read books from our classroom library, discussed how to take care of them and talked about what good listening looks like and sound likes. We enjoyed PAT time at the track and recess is always a highlight despite the heat. The kiddos did a great job with our goodbye routine of handing a card with a special goodbye on it to me before they leave with their adult. This helps make sure I've made eye contact with every person picking up so I know the children are getting home safely! We did have very rumble-y tummies at 9:30 so having snacks on hand was great-please send more if you can! I am including a few pictures. If you haven't sent back your paperwork I did not add your child this time to the photos. As soon as I get permission I can post them on the web! Have a great evening!

Welcome to First Grade!

2008-08-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there!
My name is Tammy Thompson and I am so excited to be teaching first grade at Zilker Elementary this year!I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am married to a wonderful and patient husband and have two fabulous kiddos-Jake, 4 and Cooper, 2.
I grew up in San Antonio and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's in Applied Learning and Development. I have always wanted to be a teacher and used to practice on my little brother and best friend all the time!
I began my formal teaching career in Killeen ISD in a multi-age K-2 classroom. Four years later I moved back to Austin, teaching Kindergarten and then 5th grade at J. Houston Elementary. While there, I earned my National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist, along with my Special Education and ESL endorsements. After five years, I transferred to Zilker to teach Kindergarten. Unfortunately, after only a year here, my husband accepted a job in San Antonio and our family relocated. I maintained ties to Austin ISD as a part-time curriculum coach for the math department for the last two years training new teachers in math instruction. I am thrilled that we have moved back to Austin-there's no place like home!

P.S. This photo was taken in the Amsterdam airport during my world wide tour of Starbucks. Actually-we were in Europe for a wedding-the Starbucks was just a bonus. The other photo is of my boys trying to stow away on our trip. We were on to them and had them stay a week with grandparents instead.