Thursday, Friday!!!!

 TOMORROW: Kids may wear their pajamas as they reach the North Pole on the Polar Express.

Remember Friday is an EARLY RELEASE day at 11:45 a.m.
Our party is from 10:45 - 11:45 a.m.

Thanks for all who have sent small gifts for everyone's gift bag. We will have so much fun.

Parents, here are some reminders as we close out the 2012 year.

1. Your scholar needs to know how to tie their own shoes by the time they return to school in January. This is an important skill, but honestly, we don't have time to teach that skill nor do we have the time to tie everyone's shoes. :)

2. Our Christmas party is next Friday, December 21 from 10-11 a.m. Please return the red form including how lunch will be paid.

3. Also, students may bring a small item for each student in our class to include in the goodie bags we will be making for each scholar to take home as a gift from the party. Suggestions are: piece of candy, homemade card, pencil, something small...We have 18 scholars in our class.

4. Begin to check our blog often in order to get the most up to date information. The plan is for newsletters to be stopped at some point this year. 

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! We have had a tremendous fall semester and look forward to an even better spring semester.

Geometry and Fraction PBL

PBL? That means Project (or Problem) Based Learning. Much of our scholars learning is coming from lessons designed to use the appropriate level of skills and concepts in various subjects and use that information to solve real world problems. For example, why does one need to know a square has four equal sides? Well, we found out that it isn't just to know your shapes, but is also useful in planning how to create buildings, design art projects and make quilts. Last week, Barb Clark, from Quilters Dream in Colleyville, came to talk to scholars about how she uses geometric shapes and fractions to create beautiful and useful quilts. Not only did she bring some of her own creations and discuss the various shapes in them, but she also brought a small project for every 1st grader to make their own quilt square using fabric cut into shapes. She also talked about how she can cut a square a certain way and make a new shape. Yes, there is a real reason to learn about geometry and fractions!

In a Snap Words

Please study these words, students will be required to know all by the end of the year.

Family STEM Night-Whew!!

Thanks to all the scholars, parents, siblings and grandparents who came out for our very first Family STEM Night. We were so glad to see everyone and see how engaged you were to work on a design challenge. Our scholars LOVE this!

We hope you all have a very relaxing, safe and fun Thanksgiving holiday!

The Book Fair is Coming to Cannon!

Literacy Work Stations

Jackson is using a word building app.

Trey, Jake, Kameron and Jackson are using various word building apps.

Jada, Nick, Bella and Aston are working together to build short a, i, o and u words.

Nandini is listening to a story about moving things.

 

Working Together to Make Words!
Students were given the task to work together to make as many words as they could using the following letters: u, i, c, d, g, k, l, n.  After working for a period a time, they were then given the challenge to discover the "Magic Word".

Harley,  Micallen, Lizbeth and Dakota (not pictured) were the first group to discover the "Magic Word", duckling!

Let the voting begin!!

Today our scholars participated in their right to vote for the president. We have been studying how to be a good citizen and voting is one of the ways we practice being a good American citizen. Scholars were issued a Voter's Registration Card, which had to be stamped at the poll. Then they were given a ballot to mark their choice for president. We will have our school's results sometime this week. Will it resemble what happens in our country?

Yes, we are good citizens! We voted!

Project Based Learning 1-Building a house

Mr. Elmore, a local home builder, came to our school on Thursday to talk to first graders about how he builds homes. He talked about having a written plan in order to be sure and have enough materials without buying too much. He also showed pictures of a home he was building and the process of laying a good foundation and creating walls, windows, the roof and finishing it so it can be lived in. 

Thank you, Mr. Elmore, for coming to talk to us!