Mrs Levy's First Grade Class

Daily News

2012-02-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

"I loved making the hats for the 100th day of school," babbled Leann!

Sally roared "Today at PE we did 101 different exercises. It was a lot of fun!"

"I liked doing the place value math, with Jadon and Evan B." added Noah.

"I liked making the book about being 100 years old," grinned Heather!

"I liked being the busy bee on the 100th day of school," noted Colin.

Our super spellers!

2012-02-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

Snow day In Sunny Southern California

2012-01-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

We had a snow day at school to celebrate our leaving the continent of Antarctica and finishing our weather unit.

What did you like about snow day?

Did you throw a snowball?

Our Favorite Antarctica Facts

2012-01-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Bon Voyage!

2012-01-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

Today we set sail for our tour of the 7 continents! We finished creating our cruise ship, with our cabins and other rooms.

We selected our jobs on the ship and made self portraits.

Finally, we toasted to a great trip with sparkling apple cider.

Next stop Antarctica...

Are there any facts you know about Antarctica?

What do you want to learn about Antarctica?

Our Holiday Party

2011-12-16T17:43:00.001-08:00

Daily news

2011-12-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

"I liked reading The Legend of the Poinsettia," babbled Mia.

"Visiting Australia was fun," roared Colin.

"I liked working on our wooden snowmen," explained Shayna.

"Doing the pointers was fun," grinned Nicholas.

"Seeing Davo was exciting," exclaimed Jadon.

"I liked reading my Garfield books," roared Ben.

In the season of giving...

2011-12-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year. In class we have started to learn about the different continents and holiday traditions around the world. People are very busy buying and receiving presents for Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. In our class we are creating a special present to give to our parents (shhh! It's a secret!).

Thinking of this reminds me of my favorite gift. When I was 14 years old my mom gave me her high school I.D. bracelet for Christmas. I liked it, but really I wanted something new, like a swatch watch

or an album.

I put the ID bracelet in my jewelry box and there it sat gathering dust for a few years. When I was a senior in high school, I gave the bracelet to my best friend, as a way of saying that we would be friends forever. After a while, my friend and I lost touch; we went to college, moved to different parts of the world, and got married. She kept the bracelet with her. It reminded her of me even though we never got to see each other. Many years passed, and one day when I was feeling very sad my friend brought me my mom's ID bracelet. I was shocked. I had completely forgotten the bracelet existed. I was amazed at how beautiful my mom's name looked engraved in the shiny silver. It was the perfect gift.

What is the best gift you have ever received?

Is there anything special you want as a gift this year?

A visitor from down under... Tasmania

2011-11-29T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today we had a visitor from Tasmania, Australia. Miss Wyatt has been traveling across the United States and Canada since September with her stuffed buddy Davo the Tasmanian devil.

She shared lots of interesting facts with us about Australia, the Tasmanian devil and other Australian animals.

Here are some of the facts we learned:

"In Australia there is a kangaroo called the red kangaroo," added Sally.

"The red kangaroo uses it's back legs to attack, " babbled Mason.

"Tasmanian devils run when they get their food, so that the other Tasmanian devils won't get it," roared Christian.

"Tasmania is an island near Australia," grinned Colin.

"There's a lot of Australian snakes that are poisonous," exclaimed Noah.

You can see Miss Wyatt's adventures on her blog: http://mrdevil.edublogs.org/

Turkey Dinner

2011-11-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day

2011-11-17T06:31:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is fast approaching.

We have been busy in Room 125. We have been making turkey glyph puppets, making a pie chart about who likes turkey and solving turkey fact familiy equations. We wrote about what Mr. Turkey would say the day before Thanksgiving and we wrote about how to catch Mr. Turkey.

What will you do for Thanksgiving?

Will you stay home or travel?

November- Our poem of the week

2011-11-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

November

In November's gusty gale

I will flop my flippy tale

and spout hot soup

I'll be a whale!

Spouting once, spouting twice

spouting chicken soup with rice.

written by Maurice Sendak

Daily News

2011-11-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

"I liked playing with Shayna," said Jade.

"I liked doing the Word Find at the when you are done table," babbled Colin.

"I liked meeting Adam," said Michelle.

"I loved doing the separating of the season things," roared Mia.

"I liked doing the pointers," claimed Nicholas.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T15:24:00.001-07:00

First Grade Halloween Party

Creepy Crawly Spiders

2011-10-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

This week we have been learning about spiders.

Mrs. Levy brought in her son's pet tarantula Morgan.

We observed Morgan, read spider books and wrote spider facts.

We looked at a remote control tarantula and compared it in a Venn diagram with the real spider.

What was your favorite spider fact?

Which spider did you like better- the real spider or the toy tarantula?

Halloween Fun!

2011-10-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

This week we are learning about bats, spiders, pumpkins and other fun Halloween creatures.

Is your jack-o-lantern going to be funny or scary?

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Daily News

2011-10-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

"I liked doing the spider web with glue," grinned Ben.

"I got a Cub Kudos for doing the challenging word search," roared Jadon.

"I liked playing at lunch with Michelle," thought Gabrielle.

"I liked doing the math problem with the creepy tree and the spiders," said Shayna.

"Reading with the pointers was fun," roared Sally.

"I loved being line leader," said Mia.

Just keep swimming!

2011-10-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

This week we read many stories about characters that just didn't quit. In Jasper's Beanstock, Jasper worked and worked to make sure his bean grew. Zig, in A Hut For Zig Bug, kept of finding more things to decorate his new hut. On Sunday Mrs. Levy is going to try to remember those great characters when she is swimming in the Golden Gate Sharkfest. I will swim from San Francisco to Sausalito, right under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Update: Here is a picture of

Mrs. Levy and Mrs. McEvoy at the swim.

Poem of the Week: Jack-O-Lantern Big and Scary

2011-10-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Daily News

2011-10-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

"I liked making the Columbus project," said Michelle.

"I liked doing the Touch Math subtraction," babbled Mason.

Ben said, "I liked reading the Skippyjon Jones books."

"I liked making the community art," roared Sally.

"I liked seeing the map of Moby island on the video that we saw," added Noah.

Spooky Writing Prompt

2011-10-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween , please leave us a comment about something that scares you.

Are you scared of spiders?

Are you scared of snakes?

Are you scared of thunder and lightning?

Are you scared of ghosts?

What scares you?

Poem of the Week - October

2011-10-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

Math Fun!

2011-10-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

We have been working on many concepts in math.

More and Less

Subtraction & Addition

Patterning

What is your favorite math center?

Daily News

2011-10-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

"I like being the busy bee," said Jade.

"I like reading with pointers today," roared Evan B.

"I liked coloring the plant page," roared Jadon.

Leann babbled, "I liked going to lunch today."

"Seeing Mrs. McEvoy was fun," grinned Colin.

"I liked learning about plants today," rejoiced Mia.

Special Visitors!!

2011-09-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today we had two special visitors in Room 125. Mrs. McEvoy (our penpals' teacher) and Mrs. Foss (the Calabasas High School principal) came to see our class and talk about our penpal letter exchange. You can see the pictures and story at the CHS blog.

http://calabasaspack.blogspot.com/2011/09/chschapparel-elementary-pen-pals.html

Daily News

2011-09-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

"I liked seeing the pictures of my penpals. They looked beautiful and I like them," said Michelle.

"I liked doing subtraction," roared Colin.

Mason babbled, "I liked doing math with Jade on the white boards."

"I liked being busy bee," roared Sally.

"I like knowing my penpals better," said Mia.

"Using the pointer was fun," babbled Leann.

Ben added, "I liked reading from my book bag."

Welcome Penpals!

2011-09-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Mrs. McEvoy came from CHS to pick up our first penpal letters.

We asked her all sorts of questions about our new high school buddies. We can't wait to see what they write back.

What do you want to learn about your penpal?

If you're one of our penpals, please leave us a comment!

Daily News

2011-09-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

"I liked doing the dot to dot kitty," babbled Jade.

"I liked reading the books," added Mia.

"I liked coloring the crayon," roared Christian.

Evan B. roared, "I liked lunch today!"

"I liked snack today," thought Jadon.

Ben said, "I liked doing the cupcake writing."

Jump on in, the water is fine...

2011-09-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

On Sunday mornings I swim in the ocean. I love the swelly, blue-green salt water and the chill in the misty morning air. It is an amazing way to start the day. As much as I love it, I am always a little bit nervous right before I jump in. I stand at the waters edge with butterflies in my stomach. Will the water be really cold? Will I see any dolphin or seals? What direction is the current traveling? Slowly I get my toes wet, then I go in up to my knees and before I know it I am swimming through the first wave, then down the coast.

As I was swimming today I was thinking about how starting the school year is a lot like going out into the ocean. Most of us, on the first day of school are a little nervous because we don't know what to expect. But as the first few days pass, we meet our teacher and make new friends, we learn rules and routines and begin to work together as a class. In just 12 days we have already learned so much! We have memorized poems, played math games, started working in our math books and writing in our journals. This week we will start reading in our literature books, map our community and get our first homework packet.

Our class has jumped in and we are diving through the surf :-)

September- our poem of the week

2011-09-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Today we will bring home the poem of the week September. This will be the first poem of our Room 125 poem collection.

Please come to back to school night tonight!

2011-09-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

We have so much we want you to see!

Wednesdays News

2011-08-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Jade said, "I liked doing the yellow color page."

"Doing the friend interviews was fun," roared Leann.

Gabby liked seeing Mrs. Sokolor today.

Shayna explained, "I liked using our new math books."

"I liked doing the pointers," roared Jadon.

Daily News

2011-08-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Colin roared, "I liked doing super readers."

Ben said, "I liked doing the pointers on the poems."

Caroline roared, "I like recess!"

"I liked writing the color words with the play doh," said Suhana.

What did you do today at school?

2011-08-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

What did you do today at school?

Daily News

2011-08-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Noah said, "I liked reading the books."

"I liked running around with Samuel at recess," said Christian.

"I liked coloring the Timothy sheet the best," said Evan B.

"I liked coloring and writing about my favorite t-shirt," babbled Mia.

"I liked working with my friends on the letter sheet," said Nicholas.

Daily News

2011-08-25T15:16:00.001-07:00

Michelle roared, "I liked snack time."

Sally said, "I liked going on the Mystery Letter Hunt."

Mason thought, "I liked making my self portrait."

Remember tomorrow is t-shirt day, wear your favorite t-shirt!

First Day Of School

2011-08-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, on the first day of school time flies. Today we introduced ourselves, talked about summer vacation, charted the number of letters in our first name, read books, took a tour, talked about attentive listening and played with magic play doh.

Here's what some people said was their favorite part of the first day of first grade.

Sally said, "I liked putting my name on the poster."

"I liked sitting in the circle with the busy bee," said Jade.

"I liked playing the quiet game," said Noah.

Kimmie said, "I liked seeing Mrs. Levy and playing with the playdoh you made for us."

Charting Our Names

Reading in our library

Magic Playdoh!!

What was your favorite activity today?

Back to School

2011-08-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we start our new school year. I can't wait to meet our new first grade class and get started on this years adventures.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

2011-07-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Summertime!

2011-06-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hurray for summer! The weather has changed and it's now sunny and warm in Southern California. Next week I'm going to Kauai, Hawaii. I can't wait to go snorkeling, swimming in the ocean and just relaxing on the beach.

What are you doing this summer?

Our Pen Pal Visit

2011-06-09T17:10:00.001-07:00

This Week ...

2011-06-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

This Thursday our penpals from Mrs. McEvoy's class will be walking up to our class for a bagel brunch.

Are you excited to meet your penpal?

What do you know about your penpal?

What are you going to ask them?

Slideshow from Open House

2011-05-22T10:40:00.001-07:00

Open House Room 125 on PhotoPeach

Open House

2011-05-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight is Open House from 6:30-7:30. We have so much that we have learned this year.

What was favorite part of Open House?

Our Trip To Underwood Farm

2011-04-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

Our Trip To Underwood Farm on PhotoPeach

2011-04-06T07:22:00.001-07:00

Glitter Text @ Glitterfy.com

Africa

2011-04-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

Jambo! (that's hello in Swahili)

Today we continued our tour of Africa. Miya's mom, Lisa came in and shared some wonderful stories about her trips to Africa and also shared some interesting souvenirs from her travels there. She brought in wooden statues of African animals.

This is an African chief wisdom stool.

We took turns sitting on the stool.

The wisdom stool must have worked because wrote amazing facts about giraffes!

What facts do you know about giraffes?

Facts We Want to Learn About Africa

2011-03-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

"I want to learn how people survive there," babbled Nina.

"I want to learn what language they speak in Africa," roared Noel.

"I want to learn what type of foods they eat," roared Luke!

"I want to learn what kind of music they listen to," dictated Amy.

"I want to learn how people dance in Africa," babbled Jakob.

"I want to learn how hot it is there," explained Natalie.

2011-03-18T15:15:00.001-07:00

The past two weeks our class traveled to Antarctica and learned many facts about the continent and the penguins that live there.

Our Trip To The Science Center

2011-03-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

Our Trip To The California Science Center on PhotoPeach

Challenges

2011-02-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

Whew, I made it! Today was my last day of the February fitness challenge. For the past 28 days I set my personal goal to swim everyday, and complete 60,000 meters total. I can happily say that I my did it: 28 days, 70,000 meters even. I admit some days I did not want to swim, I would have much rather stayed home and watched T.V. or read a book, but that is the thing with challenges - they are a test to see what you are able to do.

At school I see boys and girls challenge themselves all the time. In Room 125 we just started adding three numbers together, and for some students that is a big challenge. For others, writing more than one sentence in our journal is a challenge. But each week I see more and more students write longer and longer journal entries. Some people at our school are challenging the old hula hooping records, or jump roping records.

It's fun and exciting to see what you can do, if you challenge yourself.

Have you ever challenged yourself?

What is your biggest challenge?

The Reader

2011-02-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

When Lincoln was just a lad,
To borrow a book, made him glad.
He'd read night by night,
By the fires glowing light,
What a fine time reading he had.

By Leland. Jones

Next stop South America

2011-02-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

We have made our cruise ship, selected jobs, made our staterooms and next week we will set sail for South America.

Please vote in our poll about what our cruise ship name should be. Voting will close next Wednesday.

What do you know about South America?

What would you like to learn?

Mrs. Culbert and the computer lab

2011-02-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today we went to our computer lab class. We love to see Mrs. Culbert. Each week she has relevant computer activities to share with us.

Today we were working on creating a Kid Pix picture of Antarctica, just one of the continents we will be traveling to!

Check out Mrs. Culbert's webpage for more computer fun.

What was your favorite activity that we have done in the computer lab?

Twitter Tuesday

2011-02-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

It's twitter Tuesday. We are practicing writing and editing perfect sentences.

Mrs. Levy's Twitter

(Our tweets are protected, send me a follower request if you want to see them posted throughout the day.)

Five Little Kites

2011-02-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

1-2-3-4-5
Five little kites
flying up in the sky

Said hi to a bird
As they passed by.

Said hi to a cloud,
said hi to the sun.

Said hi to an airplane,
Oh what fun!

Then swish went the wind
and they all took a dive.
1-2-3-4-5

Bon Voyage!

2011-01-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

Did you hear?

Room 125 is going on a trip! We are going to travel to all seven continents and learn about the geography, famous landmarks, animals and people. Today we talked about what we would pack in our backpacks for our trip.

We also graphed which continent we would like to travel to most. The winner was Antarctica.

If you were able to travel anywhere in the world where would you go?

Twitter Monday

2011-01-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

We are working on writing super sentences. We will be posting them through out the day on our twitter stream.

Mrs. Levy's Twitter

Daily News

2011-01-25T13:22:00.000-08:00

"I had fun making towers with Samuel in the play yard," roared Rain!

"I enjoyed doing math," babbled Parsa.

"I liked doing the computer game," babbled Jakob.

"I liked reading Click Clack Moo," grinned Jules.

"Today I had fun doing the word search," roared Luke.

"Today I liked doing the Winter writing," rejoiced Matthew.

Daily News

2011-01-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

"Playing handball is fun," babbled Parsa.

"I had fun making our water cycle," roared Luke.

"I was thrilled when we went to the library," rejoiced Gia.

"I was really happy when Mrs. McEvoy came in," roared A.J.

Friends

2011-01-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

We have been talking a lot about friends today. Here are some of our ideas.

"A friend is a person you are nice to," roared Ava.

"A friend is someone that you play with," babbled Amy.

"You don't hurt a friend," added Ethan.

"When a friend get's hurt, you help them," roared Jake.

"You don't be mean to a friend," grinned Collin.

"You should share with a friend,' rejoiced Natalie.

In our class we have started a friendship chain. Each time someone is "caught" doing or saying something nice to another classmate, they get to put their name on a link of the paper chain.

What is the nicest thing a friend has done for you?

How can you be a good friend?

Oshogatsu

2011-01-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

Today Miya's mom, Lisa Sugino came our class to tell us about Oshogatsu, the Japanese New Year celebration.

We learned that the Japanese New Year falls on January 1st and has many traditions that have been practiced for hundreds of years. We looked at a book that explained many of the Japanese New year symbols and traditions.

The daruma is a paper mache doll for making a wish for the new year. You paint one eye when you make the wish, and the other eye if the wish comes true.

Mrs. Sugino showed us a antique paddle that was used to play a game very similar to badminton.

Another of the Oshogatsu traditions is making mochi. To make the mochi, boiled sticky rice is put into a shallow wooden bucket-like container and patted with water by one person while another person hits it with a large wooden mallet. It forms a sticky dumpling. We had a lot of fun mashing the rice.

The picture below shows a very unique kind of mochi which is made specially for New Year called Kagami mochi. It consists of 2 rice balls with a tangerine sitting on top.

We were able to eat some sweet mochi!

Thank you Mrs. Sugino, we loved learning about Oshogatsu!

What did you enjoy the most in the Oshogatsu presentation?

Daily News

2011-01-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

"I loved playing Avatar at recess with Brook, Trevor and Jack," rejoiced Nina.

"I had fun on Read Write and Type in the computer lab," roared A.J.

"I love doing math," roared Rain.

"I loved reading with the book buddies," added Ava.

Our Holiday Party!

2010-12-17T16:11:00.001-08:00

Our Holiday Party in Room 125 on PhotoPeach

In the season of giving...

2010-12-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year. People are very busy buying and receiving presents during Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. In our class we are creating a special present to give to our parents (shhh! It's a secret!).

Thinking of this reminds me of my favorite gift. When I was 14 years old my mom gave me her high school I.D. bracelet for Christmas. I liked it, but really I wanted something new, like a swatch watch

or an album.

What is the best gift you have ever received?

What was your favorite gift and why?

Dreidel Song

2010-12-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

I had a little dreidel,

I made it out of bread,

I did not spin my dreidel,

I ate it up instead.

Daily News

2010-12-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

"I had fun going to library today," roared Jake.

"Starting our surprise project was fun," babbled Amy.

"I liked coloring the worksheet about the boy and girl from Mexico," roared Ethan!

"I loved reading Go Dog Go," exclaimed Yuval.

"I liked doing the super holiday sentences," rejoiced Gia.

"When Mrs. McEvoy came to class, it was great," dictated Collin.

Hurray!

2010-12-07T21:43:00.000-08:00

How exciting our blog was listed as one of the Top 100 Classroom Blogs ! Also listed was our own upstairs blogging pals Mrs. Yollis Class Blog .

Daily News

2010-12-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

"I had fun doing a sand castle with Charlotte and Gracie," rejoiced Gia.

"I had fun doing math," said Nick.

"I liked playing handball," roared Jeremy.

"I liked reading An Egg Is An Egg. I also liked studying holidays around the world," said Matthew.

"Reading Stellaluna was fun," roared Yuval.

Happy Friday!

2010-12-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy day. We read stories, took our spelling test, sang songs with Mr. B, continued our holidays around the world unit (we found Israel on the map and ate some gelt.) Then we finished our stained glass snowflakes and even had enough time for PDR. Whew...

Here's our daily news:

"I liked finishing the snowflakes," explained Matthew.

"I had fun doing play doh with Aliya," rejoiced Gia.

"I had fun doing Legos with A.J.,
noted Nina.

"I liked doing our math pages," roared Jules.

Stuck on a word?

2010-12-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

We have been practicing some reading strategies in Room 125 the past few weeks. For each strategy we have a animal buddy that helps us remember what to do.

CHUNKY MONKEY! Chunky Monkey reminds us to "chunk the word," look at the word, and find chunks you might know (at, an, un, ing, er.)

LIPS THE FISH! Get your lips ready, say the first few sounds of a new word, read to the end of the sentence and say it again.

STRETCHY SNAKE! Stretch it out! Stretch out the word slowly then put the sounds back together.

EAGLE EYE! Look at the pictures, the pictures might give you clues to the words on the page.

SKIPPY FROG! Skip a word you are having a hard time with, read to the end of the sentence and hop back and try again. Skip it, skip it and then read it, read it.

TRYIN' LION! Try to reread the sentence, try a word that makes sense. Try it again!

Helpful Kangaroo! Ask for help after you have tried all of the other strategies.

Never let the word win. Keep on reading!!

What is your favorite reading strategy?

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-19T14:00:00.001-08:00

First Grade Thanksgiving Party on PhotoPeach

Mr. Turkey

2010-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

Mr. Turkey Mr Turkey

Run away, run away!

If you are not careful,

You will be a mouthful,

Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Day!

Daily News

2010-11-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

"I loved Thursday because we did not have any school, and I went to boys and girls club," explained Rain!

"I like doing music" explained Jules.

"I liked playing Chinese handball," thought Jeremy!

"I had fun playing with my friends at recess," rejoiced Ava!

It's Finally Fall~ Writing Prompt.

2010-11-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

Last week we were reading and writing about the seasons. This week, it finally feels more like fall.

The leaves are changing color.

The weather is changing.

And in a couple of weeks, it will be Thanksgiving!

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions?

What is your favorite food at the Thanksgiving feast?

To Ava

2010-11-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

"I liked eating my lunch at lunch time," rejoiced Noel.

"I had fun having our Halloween party," said Parsa.

"I really want to see you when you come back next week," rejoiced Elsie.

"Ava we really miss you and we hope you have fun on your trip, " explained A.J.!

"I had fun doing P.E." explained Matthew.

Daily News from Room 125

2010-11-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

"I played with Yuval," explained Elsie.

"I liked doing math," said Aliya.

"I had fun building a castle with Natalie, Jenna and Savannah," explained Miya.

"I loved when we went to P.E. yesterday," exclaimed Amy.

"I had fun writing my Q's" noted Kiernan.

"I had fun playing with Jules," rejoiced Gia.

Halloween Party

2010-10-29T18:51:00.003-07:00

1st Grade Halloween Party on PhotoPeach

From Mrs. McEvoy

2010-10-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Mrs. Levy's class,

Thank you all for making my Thursdays so special. I smile all day long after my visit with you.

Peace & Love,
Mrs. McEvoy

Jack-O-Lantern Big and Scary

2010-10-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Jack-o-Lantern
Jack-o-lantern, big and scary
Some are sad, some are merry.
Some are large, some are small.
Some just have no teeth at all!

Spooky- Writing Prompt

2010-10-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween coming up in just 11 days, please leave us a comment about something that scares you.

Are you scared of spiders?

Are you scared of snakes?

Are you scared of thunder and lightning?

Are you scared of ghosts?

What scares you?

Buddy Reading

2010-10-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

We have been practicing reading to ourselves for a few weeks now. Some important rules about reading to yourself are:

Read in your head.
Read the whole time.
Stay in one place.
No talking.

Today was very exciting because we introduced "Buddy Reading." Students could choose to read with a classmate, read to themselves or read with one of our stuffed buddies. They did an amazing job and had fun too.

Mondrian

2010-10-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today we learned about the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. We looked at his paintings and discussed his use of lines and primary colors.

Here are our Mondrian inspired pictures:

Who is your favorite artist?

Do you like Mondrian's artwork?

Daily News

2010-10-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

"I liked being with Mrs. McEvoy," rejoiced Noel!

"I have fun going to the library," rejoiced Gia.

"I had fun playing with hula hoops with Ryan," explained Elsie.

"I liked writing my letter to my penpal," noted Jakob!

Aliya said, "I loved doing math."

Quality Comments

2010-10-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

Today in class we read a wonderful blog post from Mrs. Yollis about how to compose a quality comment and watched the video they created. We learned that in a quality comment there should always be a capital at the beginning of your sentence and punctuation at the end of your sentence. Also, you should only use one exclamation point if you want to exclaim something and you should try to end your comment with a question. If you end your comment with a question, you will keep the conversation going.

Check out this perfect example of a quality comment from Hannah in Mrs. Yollis' class.

"Dear Mrs. Levy,

My name is Hannah and I am a student in Mrs. Yollis' class. Congatulations on your amazing swim! 58 degrees sounds very cold!
I went to San Francisco two years ago with my family and friends. I loved it! My favorite part was going on the cable cars. We went on Thanksgiving and all the holiday decorations were up. Ghirardelli square looked beautiful and festive.
My question is, how long did you have to train for the swim? I love swimming but I don't think that I would be able to do the Alcatraz swim any time soon!!

Sincerely,

Hannah"

Very impressive Hannah and all of Mrs. Yollis' class. Thank you for all of your commenting tips.

October

2010-10-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

Our poem of the week by Maurice Sendak

October

In October I'll be host,

To witches, goblins and a ghost.

I'll serve them chicken soup on toast.

Whoopy once,

Whoopy, twice,

Whoopy chicken soup with rice!

Penpals

2010-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Our Penpals, Mrs. McEvoy's Class

Mrs. McEvoy came today to bring the letters our penpals wrote back to us. We were so excited to read what they wrote. Tomorrow we will write back!

Reading our letters.

Our class with our folders

Daily News

2010-10-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Busy day for the busy bees! Please remember that homework is due tomorrow. Thanks for all of the classroom donations. I will be sending out volunteer info. over the weekend, once I compile my email list.

Here's our daily news;

"I liked when Mrs. McEvoy came in," exclaimed Amy!

"I loved doing the leaf art," explained Aliya.

"I had fun doing our math pages," noted Natalie.

"I had fun going to the library," rejoiced Jake.

Daily News

2010-10-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

"I had fun doing our math work," explained Jules.

"I loved looking at the Winnie the Pooh books," explained Rain.

"I had fun playing at the playground at recess time," noted Noel.

Nina said, "I liked jump roping."

"I liked to learn in school," noted Kiernan.

Alcatraz swim!

2010-10-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Levy, Mr. Levy and Mrs. McEvoy swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco on Saturday. The day started out cold and rainy but fortunately the rain stopped in time for the race.

We jumped off of the ferry at Alcatraz Island and swam the 1.5 miles. The water temperature was 58 degrees (the same as the temperature as the water at our beaches.) All three of us successfully crossed and enjoyed the fabulous swim! We celebrated by enjoying a great day in the lovely city of San Francisco.

Have you ever been to San Francisco?

Where was your favorite place to go?

Hello to Mrs. McEvoy's Class

2010-09-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Penpals,

Kiernan asks, "What is it like in high school?"

Nina noted, "I hope you have a great time."

A.J. wondered, "What are you learning about in high school?"

Collin rejoiced, "I cannot wait to meet you."

Ava asked, "When are we going to get our letters from you?"

What do you think?

2010-09-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Next Saturday Mrs. Levy and Mrs. McEvoy will be swimming from Alcatraz in the 8th Annual Swim with the Centurions.

How long do you think it will take Mrs. McEvoy and Mrs. Levy to do the swim?

What is the distance from Alcatraz to San Francisco?

Do you know any facts about Alcatraz?

Do you think the ocean temperature is warmer or colder in the San Francisco Bay?

Daily News

2010-09-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

"I had fun watching the movie during recess and lunch," explained Parsa.

"I liked doing P.E." rejoiced Ava.

"I liked going up to get hot lunch," noted Luke.

"I had fun doing the monkey bars," explained Elsie.

"I had fun doing the pen pal letters, " rejoiced Matthew.

Music with Mr. B

2010-09-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had music with Mr. B. We practiced the song"You're a Grand Old Flag."

Do you know the lyrics to You're a Grand Old Flag?

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.

Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Daily News

2010-09-24T15:55:00.001-07:00

"I had fun playing marbles at PDR with Logan and Rain," exclaimed Jakob!

"I loved drawing at PDR," noted Ethan.

"I liked doing math," said Nina.

A.J. said, "I loved writing Lego pictures."

Wow, look how impressive our sentences are getting!

What was your favorite activity this week?

Dogs, dogs, dogs

2010-09-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

This week we have been writing about dogs, reading about dogs and today we checked out some inspiring artwork from George Rodrigue, Blue Dog series.

We created our own interpretation of Blue Dog. Here are some of our colorful results

2010-09-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

"I loved playing with my brother," explained Noel.

"I had fun playing handball," rejoiced Collin.

"I had fun making our Blue Dogs," rejoiced A.J.!

"I loved reading books," explained Amy.

Daily News

2010-09-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Aliya said, "I liked the rainbow words."

"I liked playing in the sandbox with Jules, Charlotte and Savannah," exclaimed Miya!

"I loved doing the word stamps," noted Kiernan.

Book order forms went home today and please remember picture day is Friday.

Poem of the Week

2010-09-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Our second poem of the week went home yesterday. Remember to keep collecting those poems until the end of the school year.

Cats
Cats are furry, cats are small,
Cats are hardly big at all.
Cats can purr and cats can mew.
Do you like cats?
I sure do!

Friday = PDR

2010-09-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Friday is always exciting because in the afternoon we have PDR. Students can choose from a variety of creation stations. Here is what our class had to say about PDR today.

"I had fun playing Legos with A.J., Luke, Ethan, Yuval and Nina," explained Parsa.

"I had fun doing PDR," rejoiced Jules!

Jeremy said, "I had fun playing play doh with Noel and Jake."

What was your favorite PDR station?