Squeaky fingers, tennis balls and giant pencils!

The Wonderful Ones are working hard to learn how to use the smartboard. We are trying to develop our drag and drop finger-work!

We have found that the cure to squeaky fingers is using the fingernail to drag items. Also useful items: a tennis ball and a giant souvenir pencil (the eraser end)!

Here is a fall puzzle that is much like the ones we will be working on in our smartboard center time. This will give the students the much needed practice of dragging and dropping on the smartboard, plus everyone knows that puzzles are good for the brain!

Thanks to Maggie for the idea of dropping the puzzle into the blog post!

Money, money, money

We have been studying money in math this week.  We are working on counting pennies, nickels, and dimes.  We also have been counting collections of coins.  Here is a link to a game that will help with counting collections.  Counting Money

We also made coin rubbings and had fun with coin stampers.

Tuesday’s Diversity book review

Today’s read-aloud comes from African-American author, Melodye Benson Rosales.  She is also the illustrator of the Addy books from the American Girl series.  That certainly put her in high esteem with the first graders.  Many of them have heard of Addy and the American Girl dolls.

Leola and the Honeybears is an African-American retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  The retelling is warm with southern language (I know, because I’m from Louisiana), reminiscent of Ms. Rosales’ great-grandmother from Mississippi.  The pictures are fabulously rich with details.  You’ll enjoy this book.

Ariel reports:

I picked this book because I thought that it was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  I liked the part when the weasel came and scared Leola.   The weasel had a mustache.  The Papa Bear was black and the Mama Bear was peach.  The Baby Bear was yellow-brownish.   I like the part when Leola’s grandmama told her not to talk to strangers.

Click here for a Goldilocks puzzle!

Happy Valentine’s Day, Wonderful Ones!

Hello Wonderful Ones!  Happy Valentine’s Day to you.  We had a great time yesterday at our Valentine’s Day Fun Friday.  Here is a puzzle for the Busy Bees at McHarg Elementary!  Come back tomorrow for a fun song to sing!  Write me a comment so that I will know you visited!