Miss Hutchison's Class Blog

We have had a fun-filled past few days of school! It’s so bittersweet to celebrate our year together and prepare to say “see you later.” Thank you so much to each of you for the incredibly generous flowerpot full of gifts. I don’t have words….except that I am so grateful to have spent this year with your amazing kids, and your support is more appreciated than you know. ❤️

Watching our Class Movie (generously made by Ella’s mom, Shari 😊, and another one made by Miss Conely)

Lemonade Day

Visiting a 2nd Grade Classroom

Talent Show

Class Awards

Dance Party!

Notes for Parents:

• If you signed up to donate any items for our theme days coming up, please make sure to send them in by the date listed on the sign-up. We really appreciate your help in creating a fun-filled last week for our first graders!
• Please look for any library books and/or baggie books that you may still have at home, and return them to school as soon as possible. Thank you!
• Red folders with optional summer homework either came to you last night at the picnic or will be coming home on Monday! Working through the folder this summer is a great way to retain all of the skills learned in first grade. You can also take a look at this Summer Learning Note for more learning resources.

CELEBRATIONS

Outstanding Movie Day: We had a school-wide PBIS celebration today… movie day! Our students have worked so hard to SOAR (be Safe, Own it, Act responsibly, be Respectful) this year. We are so proud of their outstanding work. 

First Grade Family Time – At the assembly, we celebrated our learning and birthdays from the week. We also give awards for the quote of the week, lost teeth, and shoe tying. This week the quote was- “Endings are not always a bad thing, it just means something new can begin”  Today we also had a special award for those that didn’t lose teeth this year & kept all of their teeth throughout first grade! 

Countdown – To celebrate the last few days of first grade, we are spelling the words “First Grade” with a balloon countdown. Each day, we get to pop a balloon and do something special that starts with each letter. Here were this week’s countdown activities:

F – free choice (free choice on Clever during tech time)

I – ink pens (write with ink pens for the day)

R – recess (extra recess!

S – soccer (played a game of soccer as a class)

T – teach about first grade (we made Flipgrid videos for the kinders)

G – games (we played lots of class games like silent seat ball, heads up 7 up, and water balloon toss)

R – re-name yourself (students got to choose a new name for the day)

OUR LEARNING:

Writing – This week we created memory books- writing about our favorite specials, our favorite class memory, and our favorite books.  We listed some of the friends we have made and got their autographs. We also put together our writing portfolio which we hope you will enjoy.  This has published pieces of our work from each unit.  Be sure to celebrate your little author!!! They have come so far! 

Math – We worked on some place value review in math this week. This is a big skill in second grade and it was one of the trickiest skills our first graders had to learn in math this year. Keeping up with some place value work this summer will be very beneficial for your child! Even something as simple as writing and/or saying a two digit number and asking them how many tens and ones it has will go a long way.

Reading –  This week we wrapped up our final unit of reading, Readers Get to Know Characters! We practiced thinking about what is happening in the story, imagining what characters might say by looking at the pictures, and rereading to smooth out our reading voices.

Word Study – We finished up some vowel sorts this week and put all our word study skills from this year to the test to help us read some fun Scholastic News articles!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, June 6 – Lemonade Day (wear yellow or pink)
• Tuesday, June 7 – Sports Day (wear sports clothes) & Talent Show
• Wednesday, June 8 – Beach Day (wear beach clothes, NO swimsuits) & Last day of school, early release @ 12:15 pm

Notes for Parents:

• Please look for more information on our special theme days on this paper that was sent home yesterday! If you would like to help donate items for these days, please view the sign-up HERE. Thank you in advance for your help!

[embeddoc url=”https://allixhutchison.edublogs.org/files/2022/05/end-of-year-fun-AH.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]

• We will be having an optional CLASS & FAMILY PICNIC at Hager Park on Thursday, June 2 @ 6:00 pm. Feel free to bring a picnic dinner for your family if you’re interested. Or, your kiddos can just play at the park together and enjoy some popsicles (I’ll provide those!) All are welcome.

CELEBRATIONS

Family Time– At the assembly, we celebrated our learning and birthdays from the week. We also give awards for the quote of the week, lost teeth, and shoe tying. If your child has not yet earned a shoe-tying award this year, this weekend would be a perfect time to practice!

Grad Walk –  Hudsonville High School graduates visited their elementary schools on Thursday for a graduation parade. Our students were so excited to cheer on these graduates! 

Countdown – To celebrate the last few days of first grade, we are spelling the words “First Grade” with a balloon countdown. Each day, we get to pop a balloon and do something special that starts with each letter. Here were this week’s countdown activities:

F – free choice (free choice on Clever during tech time)

I – ink pens (write with ink pens for the day)

R – recess (extra recess!)

OUR LEARNING:

Reading– This week we continued learning about the characters in our books. We learned about character feelings and how to identify character feelings by looking at facial expressions and body language. To take it a step further, we practiced matching our own voice and gestures to these feelings as we read out loud.

Writing – We wrapped up our last unit by publishing our series books.  We created a series book box and made about the author pages for our series. Please take some time to sit down and listen to your first grader read his or her stories and compliment them on their ideas, handwriting, punctuation, and details!

Word Study – We spent this week reviewing vowels. We reviewed the long and short sounds for each vowel, and then completed some sorting activities with vowel sounds.

Math – This week we took our unit 8 math test on two-digit addition. I am so proud of the growth our first grade mathematicians have made this year!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, May 30 – NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, May 31 – ART
• Wednesday, June 1 – STEAM
• Thursday, June 2 – MUSIC, optional class picnic at Hager Park @ 6:00 pm
• Friday, June 3 – PE
• Monday, June 6 – Lemonade Day (wear yellow or pink)
• Tuesday, June 7 – Sports Day (wear sports clothes) & Talent Show
• Wednesday – June 8 – Beach Day & Last day of school, early release @ 12:15 pm

Notes for Parents:

• Thank you to all who helped make our field trip a success. Check out the pictures from our trip here. ❤️
• If you have not yet, Please send in a cereal box with the top flaps cut off for your child’s character series writing (with his/her name on it). It should be large enough to fit a piece of paper. 
• 

• We will be having an optional CLASS & FAMILY PICNIC at Hager Park on Thursday, June 2 @ 6:00 pm. Feel free to bring a picnic dinner for your family if you’re interested. Or, your kiddos can just play at the park together and enjoy some popsicles (I’ll provide those!) All are welcome.

CELEBRATIONS

Family Time– At the assembly, we celebrated our learning and birthdays from the week. We also give awards for the quote of the week, lost teeth, and shoe tying.

Mystery Reader–  Miss Hutchison’s mom surprised us as our mystery reader this week! 

OUR LEARNING:

Reading– This week we focused on how we can get to know characters in our books. We learned how we can learn more about characters by looking at the front and back of the book and by looking for pictures and dialogue.

Writing – Students wrapped up their realistic fiction series for our From Scenes to Series unit of study! This week we focused on using correct punctuation and using illustrations to tell important details. We learned that writers can use illustrations to give clues about the setting, bring characters to life, tell secrets to the reader, and add extra realistic details.

Word Study – We spent this week playing many different review games to practice capitalization rules!

Math – We started unit 8 this week which is an introduction to double digit addition. We would like our students to have exposure with some of the methods they can use because this will be a big focus in second grade! This is a very short and tricky unit for first graders, and we will already be taking our test next week. I sent home a review page if you would like to take some time and practice some of these strategies with your child before our test on Tuesday. Here is a poster with all the strategies as well!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, May 23 – PE
• Tuesday, May 24 – ART, last day for take-home books
• Wednesday, May 25 – STEAM
• Thursday, May 26 – MUSIC
• Friday, May 27 & Monday. May 30 – NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day Weekend
• Thursday, June 2 @ 6:00 pm – optional class picnic at Hager Park

We had PERFECT weather for a great day at the zoo today! Thank you to all of our chaperones and guests who helped make our day a success. Families, if you took any pictures at the zoo, will you please email them to me? I’ll add them to our Google Drive folder.

To view and download any of the pictures from our day, click here. 

Notes for Parents:

• Thank you so much for all of your kindness last week during Teacher Appreciation Week! I have the best job, and I love spending every day with your first grader. ❤️
• If you have not yet, Please send in a cereal box with the top flaps cut off for your child’s character series writing (with his/her name on it). It should be large enough to fit a piece of paper. 
• 
• Our zoo field trip is this Tuesday, May 17. Please remember to email me if you will be attending the trip as a guest and if you would like to take your child home with you or have them ride the bus back to school with us. Thanks!.
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CELEBRATIONS

Family Time– At the assembly, we celebrated our learning and birthdays from the week. We also give awards for the quote of the week, lost teeth, and shoe tying.

Mystery Reader–  We had a week full of mystery readers! Carson’s grandma, Flynn’s grandparents, and Tucker’s grandma were all mystery readers this week

Popsicle Treat – Miss Conley came to visit and brought us a popsicle treat. It was perfect for a hot, sunny day! 

OUR LEARNING:

Reading– This week we continued learning about Nonfiction Text Features. We found Diagrams, Captions, Bolded Words, Labels, and Glossaries in our Nonfiction books. We learned that these text features help us understand the topic deeper and help us navigate our nonfiction books.

Writing – For this unit, our final project will be creating a series boxed set. We would greatly appreciate the donation of cereal boxes for this project by the end of next week! (see note and instructions above.) In writing this week we added some new tools to our writing toolboxes! We learned how to “show not tell” by adding tiny realistic details. Later in the week, we learned all about repetition and the importance of patterns in writing. Next week we will wrap up our realistic fiction writing unit and students will start to publish their very own boxed book series!

Word Study – In addition to adding lots of snap words (sight words) to our word wall this week, we also focused on capitalization. We reviewed when to start words with a capital letter (dates, names, places, I, start of sentence, etc.). We also took a close look at our stories we’ve been writing to make sure we used correct capitalization.

Math – In math we learned how to order objects from shortest to longest as well as longest to shortest. We also learned that we can measure using objects like paper clips to see how long something is. We completed our third quick quiz of the unit as well at the unit 7 test. First graders did an excellent job with these skills!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, May 16 – MUSIC
• Tuesday, May 17 – PE, Field Trip to John Ball Zoo
• Wednesday, May 18 – ART
• Thursday, May 19 – STEAM
• Friday, May 20 – MUSIC
• Friday, May 27 & Monday. May 30 – NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day Weekend

Notes for Parents:

• I hope you had a wonderful mother’s day and enjoyed the sweet card and picture from your first grader. ❤️
• Please send in a cereal box with the top flaps cut off for your child’s character series writing (with his/her name on it). It should be large enough to fit a piece of paper. 
• 
• Our field trip will be on Tuesday, May 17 to John Ball Zoo. Please send your child to school with a completely disposable sack lunch on this day – food service will not be able to provide lunches for students.
• If your child plays a spring sport, please send me their schedule! I’d love to come support your first grader. 

OUR LEARNING:

Reading– This week we started a new unit talking all about Text Features we find in NonFiction books. Things like the table of contents, fun facts, and maps are different kinds of Text Features. We focused this week on Titles and Table of Contents.

Writing – This week students created their very own character that they will use for their realistic fiction series! They used a character web to describe what the character looks like, where he/she lives, and what kind of trouble he/she could run into! Students began writing book one of their series. I was blown away by their creativity! For this unit, our final project will be creating a series boxed set. We would greatly appreciate the donation of cereal boxes for this project over the next two weeks!

Word Study – This week we learned from our bloopers when we read.  We focused on the mistakes we make when we read.  We tried a few tricks to help us remember tricky words like Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants to spell BECAUSE and Father And Mother, I Love You to spell FAMILY

Math – We learned all about equal shares this week! The kids learned how to divide shapes into halves and fourths. We also played around with shapes and realized that we can create new shapes by putting different shapes together. The kiddos were also introduced to 3D shapes which included sphere, cylinder, cone, cube, and rectangular prism.

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, May 9 – STEAM
• Tuesday, May 10 – MUSIC, library
• Wednesday, May 11 – PE
• Thursday, May 12 – ART
• Friday, May 13 – STEAM
• Tuesday, May 17 – Field Trip to John Ball Zoo

We had a blast spending the day as safari adventurers! Thank you so much to those of you who donated items to help make this day possible. 

I can’t even believe it’s already been a whole year with these amazing first graders! The kids keep saying they’re “happy sad” about this being our last surprise day before summer, and I couldn’t agree more. 

To see all of the pictures from our Safari day or to download any of them, click here.

Classroom Transformation

Soft Start & Safari Pictures

We completed a “Measuring Safari” where we used a ruler to measure all different kinds of animals.  

Next, we made a craft: WILD ABOUT FIRST GRADE! Students wrote what parts of first grade they were “wild about.” Then, they made these adorable animals out of their writing!

We enjoyed some safari snacks: zebra cakes, tiger tails, and jungle juice.

We wrapped up our morning by going on a “Virtual” safari field trip! 

Our class had so much fun celebrating Miss Conely yesterday afternoon. We will miss her, and we have been so lucky to have her join our classroom this year! Here are a few highlights from our celebration. 

Eating Pie

Watching the video we made for Miss Conely

Giving Miss Conely the presents from our class

Miss Conely wrote our class a book based on our favorite read aloud, “The Book with No Pictures.” The kids thought this was hilarious!! Avery also included a note for you in your student’s blue folder, along with her gift bags for each student. ❤️

Notes for Parents:

• We only have one more “surprise day” left this school year – where did the time go?! Our final surprise day will be a Safari day on Friday, May 6. If you are interested in donating supplies to help make this fun day possible, please check out this sign up.
• As she wraps up her time in our classroom. Miss Conely’s farewell celebration will be on Thursday, May 5. ❤️
• If your child plays a spring sport, please send me their schedule! I’d love to come support your first grader. 

CELEBRATIONS

Family Time– At the assembly, we celebrated our learning and birthdays from the week. We also give awards for the quote of the week, lost teeth, and shoe tying.

Mystery Reader–  On Friday morning, Avery’s mom surprised us as our mystery reader. She read us a fun book about spring!

OUR LEARNING:

Reading– We focused this week on figuring out life lessons that we can learn from our characters and our stories. We learned how we can save those lessons for times in our life when we might need them! We finished the week on how we can compare and contrast our books.

Writing – This week was the kick off to our last writing unit!! We are working on realistic fiction stories.  We spent the week brainstorming our characters, settings, and a problem. Our class worked together to create a shared writing story as an example of what this genre will look like. We wrote a shared story called “Gracie in the City: Lights Out!” 

Word Study – This week, we learned about “Bossy R.” Bossy R changes the vowel’s sound when it’s next to it. We learned how to read and write words with ar, er, ir, or, and ur.

Math – This week we focused on time in our day and the tasks we carry out at specific times. We also learned how to tell and write time in half-hours! 

Social Studies – This week, we did a mini-unit comparing schools in the past vs. present. Thank you for sending in pictures from your school days – the kids loved looking at them to compare! We learned about timelines by putting pictures in chronological order. We also filled out a venn diagram comparing schools in the past vs. the present. On Friday, a group of Hope College students visited our school, and we took a time machine back to a classroom in 1965. The class had a blast with this!!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, May 2 – STEAM
• Tuesday, May 3 – MUSIC, library
• Wednesday, May 4 – PE
• Thursday, May 5 – ART, Miss Conely’s farewell celebration
• Friday, May 6 – Early release @ 12:15 pm, Safari surprise day