Fire! Fire! Fire!

We were lucky today to have Mr. Barton (Mrs. Barton’s son) and his son, Cody come to speak to the first grade about fire safety.  Mr. Barton is a firefighter in Longview and the fire chief in Hallsville.  The kids were so excited to have him there. He showed us all his gear.  It was super cool!  He can get all his gear on in 29 seconds!  We counted!  :) Cody is graduating this year and plans to become a firefighter, just like his dad!  Thanks Mr. Barton and Cody for coming and visiting with us!

Eric Carle

It is ERIC CARLE month here in R1-4!  I love love love Eric Carle.  He is one of my all time favorite children’s authors.  We will be doing activities with his books throughout the month.   Keep watching the blog for more Eric Carle-ness!

The Grouchy Ladybug

We used the Grouchy Ladybug this week to compare fiction and non-fiction texts.  We ready The Grouchy Ladybug then Ladybugs, a non-fiction informational text.  The kiddos learned a lot about ladybugs.

We then discussed feelings and being grouchy.  We wrote about what makes us grouchy.  We put our writings into some pretty awesome painted ladybugs.

Here is a picture of us with our ladybug writings and our “grouchy” faces!

Donor's Choose Will Match Dollar for Dollar

Until May 8th, Donor's Choose will match dollar for dollar any donation our class' project recieves.  Just enter MORNINGJOE at check out!!!

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/listen-and-learn/760160/

Area! Area!

In math this week we are working on area.  Today we decided to explore area in two different ways. 

 First we used linking cubes to find the area of a book, an index card, a folder, and a DVD case.  We recorded our information on a Mrs. Richardson made sheet (which explains the plainness of it!). 

We also used mosaic tiles to find and order the area of three different rectangles!  These beautiful pieces of Math art will soon be decorating our hall!

This was a great activity to help make it through a STAAR test day!  We might not have to test, but we have to be quiet, which can be somewhat of a challenge for ALL of us here in Room Richardson!  J

Understanding Characters

This week we are working on understanding characters.  We read The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley and Eric Carle.  We made our own Python and wrote character traits on them.  We decided that the python was not only greedy, but strong, long, and very hungry!!!

Hippity Hoppity....Let the Egg Hunt Begin

On Thursday we had our Easter party and Egg Hunt!!  What fun!  The kids got to run around outside in search of yummy filled eggs.  Afterwards, we got to munch on pizza and cupcakes!  What a great way to begin our Easter break!

Gators and Friends

We had a blast at Gators and Friends!  The kiddos loved all the animals.  Thanks for all the parents who were able to come and help.  Here are a few picture highlights from the day!