It's About Time

Clock Shop

On Time

Stop the Clock 1

Stop the Clock 2

Clock Shoot

Tell Time

Time Match

First graders need to be able to tell time to the hour and half hour on both analog and digital clocks. Those analog clocks are tricky, especially that hour hand! These are some great online games to practice at home. Telling time takes time! The students are doing great but, as always, extra practice can only help.

Field Day

It was a perfect day for field day. We had wonderful weather, great sportsmanship, and super fun games! The children had a blast. Here are a quick slideshow of some of the highlights!

Field Day on PhotoPeach

Rays of Sunshine

In science, we are almost done with our second Project Lead the Way module.  This module on the sun, moon, and stars has been out of this world.  We certainly spent more time on the unit than the original plan suggests.  However, this inquiry based science module took the children all around the solar system.  Our latest experiment was about the sun's ultraviolet rays. The students each got 4 mystery beads.  We made them into bracelets and drew what they looked like.  Then we walked out side....WOW!!!

The beads changed color in the sun!  Amazing.  The beads went back to white or clear after a few seconds out of the sun. When we came back inside, we tried to figure out the why.  Students discussed that the sun gives us heat or light.  So we tried to use a flashlight to shine direct light.  That didn't work.  We tried heating up the beads, no luck there either.  It was the perfect opportunity to introduce a UV flashlight and talk about the invisible rays.  The students were fascinated.

As good scientists do, the students generated more questions about ultraviolet rays. The students wanted to know if sunblock on the beads would change the effect.  So we set up an experiment to test.  We make more bracelets but this time we had a bracelet with no sunscreen, a bracelet with SPF 30 and a bracelet with SPF 50.  Are you curious?  Stay tuned for results.

Let's Bowl!

We had a great time at our end of the year celebration field trip! The children had so much fun! My pictures are blurry and the lighting is poor...but you can see lots of smiles! Thank you to all the volunteers for helping and to Fireside Lanes for hosting us! Enjoy this slideshow with some pictures of our great day!

This slideshow created with Smilebox

Giraffes Can't Dance

This week, the superintendent of Billings Public Schools came to Eagle Cliffs to read to the kindergarten and first grade students. Mr. Bouck and his wife are reading to every kindergarten and first grade this spring. Mr. Bouck read one of our favorites, Giraffes Can't Dance, then he gave us a beautiful copy of the story.



The children loved this delightful story!  What a great message, "Sometimes when you are different, you just need a different song!" We drew giraffes and painted a background in a similar style as the book.  I just love how every single giraffe is unique and in a different pose!

Thank you again, Mr. Bouck. Here is a short video message from some of the Connected Ones!

This thank you created with Smilebox

Contraction Surgery

For spelling this week, we turned our room into an operating room and preformed some very important spelling surgeries. Students had to work in surgical teams to remove certain letters.  Then, bandages and apostrophe sized scars were put in the missing letters' place. After the surgeries, the doctors made rounds. Our patients are very happy with the results and are recovering beautifully. We have a very talented group of doctors.

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Money, Money Money

We are continuing to practice, practice, practice counting coins.  This week we used the Chromebook lab and this list on the blog to practice with online interactive games.   The students worked very hard.  You can access any of these learning games from home by clicking on the links.  The children already know their favorites!

 1. Money Sort

2. Counting Money

3. Enough Money

4. Count the Amount

5. Feed the Dolphin

6. Fruit Shoot 

Not only do we use computers and iPads to practice counting coins, we also use manipulatives.  One example of a game the students love is called race to a quarter.  This is a game students can play at home.  To play, you will need a di and many pennies, nickels, and dimes.  Players take turns rolling the di and taking that many pennies.  When students have enough pennies to trade for a nickel, they can make the exchange.  Further, when a player has two nickels,  he/she exchanges for a dime.  Play continues until a player gets a quarter.  The game can be extended to race to a dollar.  

 

We have had all sorts of games to help us with identifying and counting coins. Of course, the best way to practice counting coins...is to practice counting coins.  The students love to use real money!  First graders should be able to identify pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters and count amounts up to 25 cents.  However, I find these students love a challenge.  We have been counting MUCH higher than 25 cents.  

 

 
Another activity we did to was making words with a coin code.  We used this coin code to show coins that represent each letter.  Then we would spell words, match the coins, and count the amount. Students even found the worth of their first and last names. Then, the children uploaded a photo of their coin name to their digital portfolios in the app SeeSaw.  With the photos on SeeSaw, the students could compare the value of their name to their classmates. You can try out this activity at home.  Who's name is worth the most in your family?

Jedi Training Academy

May the 4th be with you! On May 4th, we transformed our room into the Jedi Training Academy.  We started the day with an opening ceremony.  All the first grades met to learn about what the next couple days would entail.  As always, we were going to work hard and play hard.  The Younglings were told they would be working as teams, as well as, earning individual Jedi points.  Jedi points were earned for displaying characteristics of the light side: honesty, effort, persistence, encouragement, respect, self control, and believing in the force.  They would be working on three teams: team Yoda, Kenobi, and Skywalker.  The students were ready to earn their points and get started on their Jedi journey.

Back to our classroom, we began some reading.  We read an article on May the 4th being Star Wars day.  The students had to read with purpose.  We talked about reading informational text more than one time.  The first read is like a Padawan, you read to get the gist.  The second read is like a Jedi, you dig a little deeper.  Then, the third read is for Jedi Masters and you are reading with the force.  Students had to read the article three times.  They had to answer some questions and highlight the text evidence in the article to prove their answers.  Many Jedi points were earned for hard work and team play.

In math, we did a light side/dark side sort with true and false equations.  We also had a math task with counting coins. The students had to count the coins on iPad slides and then transfer the answers on to a 1-120 chart to make a hidden picture.  This activity took a lot of persistence and patience.  The hidden picture was a picture of R2-D2.

 The students did get to take some breaks.  Whenever they finished work, they had some fun Star Wars choices.  Students could read about their favorite Star Wars characters and starships, work on a word find, or help complete a puzzle.  We even had Star Wars snacks!

In science, we learned about stars.  Of course!  We read some books and articles about stars.  We explored a new app called Star Chart.  It was awesome because we could see the stars in the middle of the day!  The app showed us the constellations and even where the planets were in the sky.  It is incredible what we can "see" using technology tools.

At the end of the first day, the students had done so well.  They worked really hard!  So...we needed to celebrate.  The individual point leaders for each team, got to do a light saber balloon duel to earn a few more points for their teams.  While the children had the dual, everyone enjoyed some Yoda Soda!  A perfect end to day one!

Day 2 of the Jedi Training Academy brought more rigor and fun!  Just another day of being awesome!  It was great to see many children dressed the part!  I love these first graders!  The students again worked hard to earn team and individual points.  They studied reading, math, and science topics all day long.  We learned more about stars by reading an article like a Jedi Master.  Look at the concentration! Oh, and did I mention our guest reader....Darth Vader himself!

At the end of the day, each student received an official Jedi certificate and their own light saber pencil.  Also, individual and team points were compiled.  Team Kenobi came out on top.  What a great two days of learning and fun!