Week of March 1

Hello again!

March is finally here, which means that spring is hopefully nearby! We have quite a few birthdays this month. This week we are celebrating Ava's birthday (March 1) and also Dr. Seuss's Birthday (March 2)! Tuesday will be Read Across America Day where we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday by reading his stories and learning about him. Adults and children alike enjoy Dr. Seuss stories and they bring back fond and wonderful memories from childhood to everyone! On Tuesday evening, there will be a Read Across America Family Night in the library from 6-8.

We will also begin writing to pen pals this week. The class we are corresponding with is a first grade class from Westville Elementary in Westville, IN. We will write one letter per week. I am very excited about this project and I know the children will be too!

Also beginning this week: We are excited to have a volunteer come in to teach special social studies lessons once a week through a program called Junior Achievement. Our lessons will be based on "Our Community."

Here are some things we will be learning about this week:

Language Arts:

Long i Words (i-e word families)

Identifying Problem and Solution

Asking Questions as a Comprehension Strategy

Writing a Letter

Writing about New Ideas

Math:

More Addition Practice

Science:

Different States of Water: Liquid and Ice (solid)

Thanks!

Miss Kohler

Week of February 22

Hello! I'm so glad to finally be back to a normal school week. Here is what we will be focusing on this next week.

Language Arts:

Long A (a-e word families like late, cake and sale)

Identifying the Problem and Solution

Describing Words telling How Many

Math:

More Addition Practice (Plus 10 and Doubles Plus 1)

Science:

Needs of Living Things

Social Studies:

George Washington (his birthday is Monday)

Citizenship

I will also be introducing the Smart Board to the kids this week. The Smart Board is like a giant computer screen on the wall that you control by touching. We will be doing various activities and I am excited to be using it! I will post a picture at the end of the week.

Keep checking back for more news and updates!

Miss Kohler

News!

Congratulations to Emily who lost a tooth during school today!

As we all know, losing your first tooth is a very important event in a first grader's life! We were all so excited when Emily came back from the nurse's office with her wiggly tooth finally out!

In other news, I've started a sticker reward system with the class. Each day, every child begins with a sticker. If they misbehave, they will lose their sticker. They will be able to earn their sticker back with good behavior for the remainder of the day. At the end of the week, students will earn Paw Prints for their stickers (5 stickers=2 paw prints, 3 or 4 stickers=1 paw print). I am hopeful that this system will work for us and we will have a productive, happy rest of the year.

Thanks!

Miss Kohler

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello! I just wanted to share a few pictures from our Valentine's Day activities this past Thursday. It was already a very exciting day because it was Pajama Day and Wear Red Day. But then we were surprised by a few parents coming in and making it a Valentine's Extravaganza! We had food, games, prizes and loads of fun!

Passing out Valentines

Valentine's Day Craft: Foam Bookmarks

Pin the Heart on the Bumble Bee

Heart Toss Game

"Hot-Teddy-Bear" (Like Hot Potato)

Our Class! Can you guess what they've been eating?

(Not Pictured: Dylan P.)

We all had tons of fun during our party! Thank you again to you parents who surprised us and were able to help out!

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend!

Miss Kohler

Snowed In!

Hello! I hope you are all enjoying your snow day!

Because today was supposed to be Pajama Day, tomorrow will be both Pajama and "Wear Red for Jump Rope for Heart" Day.

The kids had many different ideas about how to accomplish this...

"Does that mean we have to wear red pajamas?"

"I think it means we have to wear red clothes over our pajamas!"

"I can wear something red and something pajamas!"

However you do decide to do it, I look forward to seeing everyone dressed for the last day of Spirit Week! I will bring my camera and post pictures of the kids in their outfits and doing our various Valentine's Day and Lincoln's Birthday activities. I wish I hadn't forgotten it during Crazy Hair Day! Honorable mentions on Crazy Hair Day: Breanne, Noah, Kaitlyn, Gavyn, Makayla, Kerilyn, Michael, Abbie, Anthony and Adrianna!

Have a wonderful day!

Miss Kohler

Week of February 8th

Hello! Here are some news and events for this week.

We will be stretching out the Language Arts lesson for the next two weeks, so our spelling pretest will be a week from Wednesday and the reading and spelling tests will be that Friday.

This Thursday, we will be having Valentine's Day activities. I encourage students to bring Valentine's cards for each other. You can use store-bought cards or your child can make his or her own out of construction paper. If your child brings cards, please remember to have one for all the children in the class so that no one feels left out. Thanks!

These are the topics students will be studying during the next two weeks.

Language Arts:

Long a Words (like "play" and "rain")

Describing Words (we usually call these "adjectives")

Writing a Description

Cause and Effect

Math:

Continued Practice with Addition and Subtraction

Reading Graphs

Congruent Shapes

Social Studies:

Abraham Lincoln's Life and Good Deeds (in honor of his birthday on Friday, February 12)

Lifeskills (Integrity, Courage, Perseverance and Responsibility)

--For a complete list and explanation of the lifeskills, go here. (This is not our Mrs. Jones's site.)

Science:

Learning About Land, Water, and Earth

I will keep the blog updated with important dates and games relevant to what the students are learning. Be sure to check back every few days to see updates and class news! As always, email me if you have questions or comments at rkohle00@pnc.edu.

Thanks!

Miss Kohler

Spelling City Instructions

In order to find our class spelling list and robust vocabulary on Spelling City, you must first go there by clicking the link on the right hand side of this page.

Then, click "Find A List."

Type "kohler" in the search box and click "Search."

Find "Rebecca Kohler" at John Simatovich Elementary. Click my name (it is last on the list).

Now, you are ready to practice your spelling words. Click on the list you wish to practice. They are next to the red arrow in the picture.

Whenever you come back to SpellingCity.com, my name will be where the red circle is, in the "Recently Visited Pages." Simply click my name and you will find this page.

Happy Studying!