Field Trip to El Dorado Nature Center

At the El Dorado Nature Center we learned about the four needs for all animals. These include water, air, food, and shelter. We saw a coyote den that a mother coyote used in the spring when she had her pups. We saw drakes on the water that had migrated south in preparation for the winter. Also, we saw squirrels, spiders, pill bugs, beetles and grasshoppers. We heard a King Fisher bird calling from high atop the trees. We hiked and dug in the dirt and went bug hunting. All in all, we had a great time in the outdoors!

Fun Filled Week

This week will truly be a fun filled week! On Tuesday we will be going to the El Dorado Nature Center for a field trip. Going to the Nature Center is an excellent way for our students to see animals in their natural habitat. The Center has a small museum with a hands on area for students to discover different body coverings, bones, and pictures of different animals. The children really enjoy going to the Center. If you have the chance to go as a family, I highly recommend it.

On Friday, the students will be able to take part in a costume parade around our playground. If you would like your student to wear a costume, please have them wear it over their school clothes. The children take their costumes off after the parade.

Also on Friday, the students will receive their first "Star Party" as a reward for good classroom behavior and participation. The children work together as a team to earn 30 stars for their party. The students voted for ice cream as their party treat. I will be serving them small ice cream sundaes after lunch on Friday.

Lastly, this week is our celebration of Red Ribbon Week. During this week we talk about ways to be and stay drug free. The children will be engaging in lessons on drug awareness and avoidance.

Animals

We have started to study animals and their needs. For example, we have learned that mammals take care of their young and most reptiles do not. Ask your student what facts he/she can tell you about bats. The students listened to several books about bats and are working on writing their own bat report. They know a lot about bats. First graders, please leave a comment if you can find a new fact about bats! Let's see how much we can read and learn about bats.

Reading Counts

Often times we take for granted that children can identify the local supermarket logo or the icon for Mom or Dad's favorite team. But it is that icon recognition that shows us children are ready to begin to read. We call that print recognition and it is very important to developing as readers. As students gain proficiency with reading, they begin to automatically change and manipulate letters and sounds while they read with out any thought or effort. However, it is important that they are able to do that verbally as well. Thus our focus on phonics and sound/letter manipulation. We engage in word play and letter manipulation as a way to demonstrate our understanding of sounds and letters. An effortless decoding ability leads to an increase in comprehension. Comprehension is the ultimate goal to reading well. Please play word games with your children in the car, waiting in line, on a walk. You will be surprised how much they like it.