Hooray for Teddy Bear Day!

This week was full of joyful learning in 1H! The first graders were introduced to nouns and proper nouns. They learned how to identify a noun in a sentence and describe whether the noun names a person, place, or thing. We read the book A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What is a Noun? Of course that led the children to wonder about a mink. This is an animal they have little background on, so we took a few minutes to watch a video clip of a domesticated mink on our whiteboard.

The children began a life science unit on birds this week. They have learned a great deal about birds and their feathers so far. For instance, the first graders understand:
Most birds fly, but some do not.
Some birds migrate during certain seasons of the year.
All birds have feathers that vary in size, color, and uses.
Feathers have three parts: quill, shaft, and barbs.
They also participated in an activity that demonstrated how birds mend or preen their feathers by hooking the barbs of their feathers with their beaks.

The most exciting part of our week, however, was National Take Your Teddy Bear to School Day on Friday. The first graders had a great time having their teddy bears join us in our daily activities. They learned about the legend of the teddy bear and then participated in a great writing activity in which they were required to write in their teddy bear's voice. These pieces of writing will be on display outside our classroom soon. We welcome you to come and check them out!

Our spelling words for the week of October 12 - 16:

1. up
2. bug
3. mud
4. nut
5. hug
6. tub
7. the
8. my
9. for 
10. you