Halloween Party

The Halloween Party was a blast! The class had fun dressing up in their costumes and having a parade through the first and second grade classrooms. After the parade we enjoyed some tasty Halloween treats. We had many activities to do such candy corn bingo and making spooky popcorn hands. Thanks again to our parent volunteers for making it a great party!

Check out all the cool costumes!

What silly faces!

Enjoying our Halloween treats.

Playing Halloween Bingo!

212 News

Reading: Our focus has been on the “L” family blend and “r” family blend. We practiced sounding out and spelling words with the “L” blend such as plan, sled, and slug and words with the “r” blend such as crab, drip, and trim. On Thursday we had a spelling check, which students gave to each other.

During reader’s workshop our focus has been on finding the main idea and supporting details. We read a story about different habitats around the world. As a class we discussed the similarities and differences between the savanna, arctic, tropical rainforest, and coral reef. This week we will put on a reader’s theater performance called Old MacDonald’s Noisy Farm.

Math: Our focus was on pennies and nickels and subtraction and addition number models. Students practiced writing number sentences such as 7-4=3 and 6+5=11. We examined both the penny and nickel and briefly discussed who is on each coin and why. We also practiced counting both pennies and nickels. The big idea this week was that 5 pennies is the same as 1 nickel. This is typically a difficult concept for first graders to understand, please take some time during the next couple weeks to practice counting pennies and nickels with your child. On Monday we took at test on addition and subtraction story problems.

Writing: We have been practicing writing complete sentences with emphasis on capitalizing the first letter of the first word in the sentence. Our focus has been on journals. We have talked about what a journal is and how we can use it to write about things we have done or events that have happened. Ask your child about some of our journal entries.

Media: We had media with Mrs. Seeger last week Thursday in the computer lab. Students practiced logging into the computer and using Microsoft Word. We practiced writing our first name and last name with capital letters and how to change the font, size, and color.

Stroll for a Goal: The fund raiser was a huge success! Sibley students raised over $21,000 for our school. This money will go towards field trips, special events, and guest speakers. Thank you to everyone that asked friends and family for donations.

Important Dates Coming Up:

Friday November 1st--Picture Retake Day

Wednesday November 6th--Critters and Company

Friday November 8th--No School

Stroll for a Goal

Last Thursday Sibley Elementary had it's annual Stroll for a Goal! The school raised $21,836.24, more than $5,500 more than last year! Thanks to all the parents that volunteered for the walk, the trampoline, and to all those who helped students collect pledges. The students really enjoyed the walk, it turned out being a much nicer day than we were expecting. Thanks again for all the help! Check out pictures below from the walk and trampoline. 

Dressed up for our Sports theme!

Enjoying apples and water after our stroll.

Reader's Theater

Last week first grade was able to watch some community volunteers put on a reader's theater. The play was about a young boy named Ping who by being honest and trying his best was able to become emperor, even beating out those who cheated and teased him. The students were a great audience! 

Stroll for a Goal is finally here!

Stroll for a Goal is tomorrow, Thursday, October 24^th. We plan on leaving right after lunch, approximately 11:50. The walk takes about 45 minutes. As a class we are planning on wearing any sports related shirts. It is supposed to be very cool tomorrow, high in the low 40s, so please make sure that your child sent to school with a jacket, hat/headband, gloves/mitten, and appropriate footwear. As a school Sibley raised over $19000! Thanks for all the time and effort you put in to the fundraiser!

Stroll for a Goal Reminder

The Stroll for a Goal has been postponed until Thursday, October 24th due to the expected rain.

On Thursday we plan on leaving right after lunch, approximately 11:50. The walk takes about 45 minutes. As a class we are planning on wearing any sports related clothing. It is supposed to be very cool tomorrow, high in the low 50s, so please make sure that your child sent to school with a jacket and appropriate footwear. As a school Sibley raised over $19000! Thanks for all the time and effort you put in to the fundraiser!

Fire Safety

This week is Fire Prevention Week and Sibley Elementary has been reviewing fire safety. First grade had a visit from the Fire Department and received activity books about fire safety. The fire fighters discussed fire safety, having a meeting spot in case of a fire, and what number to call in case of an emergency. We got to see how the ladder and hose works on the fire truck. Just a reminder to review fire safety at home with your child and check your fire alarms. There is an open house at the Albert Lea Fire Department this Saturday where you can tour the station, watch a demonstration of water rescue, watch fire fighters use the jaws-of-life, and kids can even help use the fire hose! 

Discussing Fire Safety

Raz-Kids

On Monday our class was able to go on RAZ-Kids for the first time! Raz-Kids is a reading program that Sibley has purchased that allows students to read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books at their reading level. I am able to set the levels so that each student is reading at their own independent reading level. The students are able to listen to the books being read, then read the book on their own, and finally take a quiz on the book. The students earn “stars” for completing each component which they can then spend in the RAZ-Rocket! The students did a great job while visiting the site as a class during out computer lab time. I encourage students to go on RAZ-Kids at home; it is a great way for the kids to have access to books at the appropriate level while having some fun with the rocket! I am able to update and change reading levels as I see fit and can monitor how much time each student has been logged in, the number of titles read, etc.

The link to RAZ-Kids is on the right hand side of the blog. Once at the site students must enter the teacher username agonwac (don’t forget the ‘c’ at the end), from there the students can find their name, enter their password (lunch number) and select which books they want to listen to, read, and take a quiz on. Please have your students show you around the site, it’s a really neat, fun way to bring reading home! The students know that the books must be completed in the Listening, Reading, Quiz order.

Login page

Student Library

Listen to the reading (worth 10 stars)

Reading the book (worth 50 stars)

Taking a quiz on the book (worth 150 stars)

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I sure am missing that nice summer weather we had earlier in the week! Hopefully the rain holds off this weekend as I drive back to Green Bay to visit my family. I’m very excited to go to the Packer game on Sunday, Go Packers! (and I suppose Go Vikings too J) We had another busy week in first grade as we continue to practice counting on the number grid and discuss reader’s workshop.

Reading: We continue to practice building stamina in our Daily 5 stations. Every day we practice the five stations: read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, writing, and word work. Ask your child about their favorite station.

Math: Our focus has been on solving story problems and counting on the number grid. We discussed different strategies we can use to solve story problems, such as using a picture or using your fingers. Students learned a new game called Rolling for 50. Ask your child how to play. We have also discussed compliments of ten. Students used pennies to visually see what numbers can be added together to make ten.

Read for the Record: On Thursday we read the book Otis by: Loren Long to participate in Read for the Record Day. Schools all around the United States read the same story; the goal is to get as many people as possible to read. 

Computer Lab: On Monday we spent some time in the computer lab. Students practiced logging in to the computer using their student ID number. We practiced reading and math skills on our classroom blog.

Media: On Thursday we had Media with Mrs. Seeger. We had a great discussion about fiction and nonfiction books. Students worked in small groups to sort books into piles of fiction and nonfiction. We discussed the features of a nonfiction book which include the table of contents, glossary, and index.

Stroll for a Goal: Thank you to everyone for returning the Stroll for a Goal permission slips!! We are getting very excited to walk on Tuesday October 15^th. Next week we will have a vote to choose the theme for our class for the walk.

Have a great weekend, 

Ashley