May 2012
Wow! Where did April go? We've been so busy it flew by! Thanks to all that attended the Pioneer School Carnival. It's always a great way to spend time with the students and their families. The 1st graders are continuing to work very hard in the classroom.

Science:	The class studied plants and planted a radish. We hung them in the window and watched them sprout. Thank you Rebecca Beddes for helping with this project. They also drew vegetables that grow underground and they did an awesome job! We also completed a unit on insects and spiders. We focused on the body parts of each, how each grow, and what they eat.
Social Studies:	The first graders have just started a unit about the atlas. This unit contains skills in reading, language arts, math, and some map skills. They will be using deductive reasoning, sequencing, inference, and creative thinking. During the month we also completed unit 5 in our social studies books. They read about what a law is and how people and government work together to make laws. We focused on leaders such as mayors, governors, and the president. We also discussed symbols of the United States.
Math:	In our Saxon Math the class has been working on adding two-digit numbers using dimes and pennies, telling time to the half hour, dividing a shape into fourths and coloring halves and fourths. They have been adding 10 to a number and counting by 10's from a single-digit number. Towards the end of the month the class was introduced to comparing and ordering numbers to 100, measuring and drawing line segments, and identifying dozen and half dozen.
Reading:	In our reading series the class read books that focused on favorite folk literature passed down through generations. We developed summarizing strategies, story elements, and sequencing as well as decoding vowel pairs (oo, ew, ow, ou).

Congratulations to the first grade class on winning the Pioneer Penny Drive. I hope everyone enjoyed the skate party. Thank you, Mrs. Leischner!

Our school nurse, Karen Graf visited our classroom. She presented a great lesson on portion size and healthy snacks.

Thank you Pioneer PTA for the wonderful field trip to the Alberta Bair to see Raven Who Stole the Sun.

Pioneer School had an interactive presentation from the Art Mobile of Montana. This exhibit of 20 - 25 contemporary Montana visual artists' works including Native American art. Thank you Jennifer Thompson for the art lesson!