Students had a wonderful first week back at The Academy of Hope this past week. Teachers and staff were pleased to see how well behaved, courteous and kind students were. It reminded us how blessed we are as AOH Staff! This next week 1st grade will be incorporating Science into the new nine week period. We got a jumpstart this past week by re-examining our five senses and how they help us discover, investigate and learn. Now we head on to a unit of study (in text and otherwise) about plants. Both first grades will be planting seeds to observe how plants grow--what they need to successfully survive. This week is also Red Ribbon Week with activities for student and staff to participate in each day. Please check The Academy of Hope's Facebook page and your child's homework folder for day-specific activities:) We will incorporate plant study into all phases of the curriculum as we also read and write about different kinds of plants while integrating our Rigby ELA Curriculum. Everyday Math class and Home Links will be forthcoming, so please check your child's homework folder daily. New Spelling Vocabulary will be coming home also. Tests for Spelling Vocabulary will usually always be on Fridays. In case of change, you will be notified ahead of time. Look forward to seeing many of you on Monday, October 24 for Parent/Teacher Conferences. Have a great week!!! Don't forget to click on the links provided on last blog that take you to Spelling City (first grade word families activities by me) and Math activities:)

Sequences Games

Sequences Games

CLICK ABOVE FOR MATH GAMES!!!

Learning Activities and Games

Learning Activities and Games

CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE FOR 1ST GRADE ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS ACTIVITIES!!!
This is to jumpstart your first grader with spelling, which will be formally assessed this second nine weeks, now that all students have "practiced" writing lots of these words during Wonder Writers and Word Works sessions during ELA period. Have fun with these Word Families!

Crossing Puget Sound with the van aboard the ferry...

This is me in a rental vehicle driving into one of those ferries described above and once boarded, a view out into Puget Sound from inside the vehicle. Whoaa!!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Wow!!! Intercession came fast. Time is passing quickly. So much to learn. Although we are getting a break from the rigors of school work here at The Academy of Hope, it doesn't mean we shouldn't stay focused on learning. There is so much to learn about in the world around us that can help in our everyday lives. The local library is a great place to extend the learning. When I get back from Seattle, one of the first things I plan to do is stop by the library to return some great books I used in the classroom for Read Alouds and for students to browze and to check out some different ones I can use for the next few weeks. While here on the Pacific Northwest Coast, I discovered so many new things...like, did you know that the average adult seagull here is over three times the size of the average adult seagull on our Southeast Coast? And, did you know that there are humongous sea anemones and starfish huddled all along the docking areas, along with varying sizes of jellyfish? These are all highly visible with the naked eye from the piers, which are lined with sea vessels, personal watercraft and ferries of different sizes. Speaking of ferries, I also learned that people living around Puget Sound use ferries to travel to and from school, work and from one city to another by using ferries; some people not only get on the ferries to travel from, say, Port Orchard to Seattle, but also to put their car or truck on one of the decks of the larger ferries to have it taken across the water to that same destination as well. Learning of these things make me reflect on how easy it is to take for granted that what we know as our customary way of life and the way it looks, and how we may feel about it just may not be considered normal somewhere else in our country. How does knowing this help us in our everyday lives? Well, when we consider that what is "normal" for us may not be normal for someone sitting next to us at church, the movie theatre or standing behind us in the checkout lane at the grocery store (because that person may be from another part of the US or world, for that matter, or it may be that this person has been raised with different beliefs or feelings about something), it causes us to think twice before forming an opinion. It causes us to think "outside the box". Thinking outside the box is what we all need to begin to do more often; to consider that there are many possibilities, or phrased in the academic sense, many "right answers", not just the one we are familiar with. Being with my husband and one of my sons here at this very point in time and seeing and hearing their very enlightening commentaries helped remind me that it is always important to "think outside the box". Thanks, guys. It is something I will take back with me to my classroom at The Academy of Hope. I'm pretty sure it will help me be a better educator for my world-class students.

This is an entrance to a restaurant in the Pacific Northwest; most of the area is "different" just like this entrance!