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Friday, December 16, 2016

Holiday Blog Post

Have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends. See you in the new year! 



Literacy
During reader's workshop, the children worked on:
-retelling a familiar story
-identifying the beginning, middle, and end
-recording a retelling focusing on the important details
-central message

Retelling stories to our reading buddies!












Writing
Over the last few weeks, the children worked on a letter writing unit. First, they learned about writing friendly letters. The children were so excited to write to author Mo Willems. They even addressed their own envelopes and then we placed their letters in the mail. We hope that Mo Willems writes back to us soon!

Editing our Mo Willems letters with a partner.




The children also learned how to write a thank you letter. First, we worked together to write a thank you letter to Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Kelly. Then, the children practiced writing their own thank you letters to someone very special. It’s a secret (but I bet you will find out very soon)! They are doing a great job of remembering the five parts of a letter (heading, greeting, body, closing, signature).  

Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Lane loved our thank you letter!

Snow Globes:
Last week, the children listened to the book, The Snow Globe Family by Jane O’Connor. After, they wrote their own story about what they would do if they lived in a snow globe. The children wrote some very creative stories about life in a snow globe. They also created their own snow globe to attach their writing to. Our room now sparkles with beautiful snow globes hanging from the ceiling. 

Reindeer Application:
After listening to the book, Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight?, the children were very excited to learn that Santa was in need of a new reindeer. Each child applied to the position by filling out a reindeer application. They wrote about why they would make a good reindeer. To go along with their writing the children also turned themselves into a reindeer, complete with antlers and a shiny red nose!



Math
Last week, the children wrapped up Unit 3. They did a really nice job on their Unit 3 test. This week, we began Unit 4. This unit will focus on measurement. The children worked with measuring temperature using a thermometer. Later in the week, the children worked on measuring objects using non standard units, their personal foot, and a standard foot. The children recorded their measurements using approximation language.














Social Studies 
Over the last few weeks, we studied different Winter Holidays. We read several books and used Pebble Go to research each of the holidays. The children learned about how people celebrate Diwali, Eid, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and Christmas. After learning about the traditions and celebrations for each holiday, the children worked together to fill in a holiday celebrations chart. 

The children each decorated a Rangoli. 


After learning about Kwanzaa the children made Unity Cups and wrote a Harambee paper. They learned that “Harambee” means “let’s pull together.” The children each wrote about how they pull together with their friends and family. 




We concluded the unit by reading, Festival of Lights. The children discussed how all of the holidays we learned about use light to celebrate. The children wrote about how they use light to celebrate at their house. They each created a festival of lights craft to go along with their writing. 



Star Students
Angie and Connor were our last two star students. Thanks for sharing all about you!


***Photo of Connor coming soon!***

Royal Readers
A special thank you to Samantha's Mom, Angie’s Mom and sister, and Connor’s dad. They joined us the last three weeks as our Royal Readers. The children enjoyed listening to the two books that you read. 





Happy Birthday
We celebrated Oliver’s, Demetri’s, and Maddie’s birthday this week. Happy Birthday Oliver, Demetri, and Maddie!





Our updates will return in the new year. Check back in to see new photos and read about all the wonderful things we are learning! 

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

News You Can Use!

Hello Everyone! Here are some highlights from our last two weeks! I hope you enjoy learning about what we’ve been up to!

Literacy
During reader’s workshop lessons the children have been working on the following skills:
-Identifying the elements of fiction: Characters, Setting, Problem, and Solution
-Comparing Fantasy and Realistic Fiction stories
-Making connections
-Identifying the lesson of the story
Identifying character traits.

Writing:
In writing, the children wrote a piece about what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Each child wrote about three things they are thankful for and why. They glued their writing to a turkey that they created using construction paper. I hope you enjoyed viewing their writing out in the hallway during conferences. 


The children also wrote a story titled, How To Catch A Turkey. They came up with lots of creative ways to catch a turkey. In their story they had to use the transition words, first, next, and last. Their stories are hanging up in the classroom. Along with the tie-dye turkeys they created on Thursday. I hope you got a chance to glance at them at conferences.




Social Studies
To wrap up our Thanksgiving Unit the children used all of their graphic organizers to create a book titled, The Wampanoags, Pilgrims, and Me. Each child wrote down the facts they learned over the last couple weeks about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. After, they illustrated their book to give the reader additional information. They are very excited to share their book with you over Thanksgiving break!



















Math 
In math, the children have been working with:
-the number line
-finding and identifying skip counting patterns 
-practicing counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s. 
-using the number line to find the answers for addition and subtraction number stories. 
-writing addition and subtraction number models (Remembering to use the correct number symbols: +, -, and = to complete each number model). 
-telling time to the hour and half hour

Art Appreciation
On Monday, November 14th, Mrs. Barbieri came in and presented another Art Appreciation presentation to the children. The children loved learning about the painting and getting a chance to draw Saint George and his shield. Thank you for preparing such a wonderful lesson!















Star Students
Thank you to our past two star students, Samantha and Kenley. We enjoyed learning more about each of you!


***Kenley's Photo coming Soon!***

Sorry for the delay, here is Wesley’s star student photo!


Royal Reader
A special thank you to Kenley’s family who joined us the last week as our Royal Readers. The children loved listening to the stories that you read. 


Notes:
-Now that the weather has turned cold be sure to send your child to school each day with a warm jacket, hat, and gloves. Once the snow starts, please remember to also send snow pants and boots. The children will continue to go outside for recess each day, unless it is too cold. Be sure to label your child’s coat, hat, gloves, and boots. Many children have similar items and labeling them helps to make sure each child keeps their own!

-Holiday Book Order! If you would like to place an order for books from the Scholastic book order, they are due Wednesday, November 30th by 3:30pm! It is a great time to order some wonderful books for the holidays! Please email me if your order includes any gifts. I will email you when the order arrives and set up a time for you to pick up your order secretly!

-There is no school Wednesday, November 23 - Friday, November 25. School will resume on Monday, November 28.


Happy Thanksgiving! 
I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and friends! I am thankful that I get to work with your children each and every day!


Sunday, November 6, 2016

News You Can Use!

Hello 1-1! 
I hope that you are enjoying this beautiful weekend! Here are some highlights from our last two weeks!

Halloween Fun!
The children had a wonderful fun filled Halloween afternoon on Monday! The children kicked off the Halloween festivities with a parade around the Dryden neighborhood. Thank you to everyone for coming out! After the parade and a short recess, we headed back to our classroom for our Halloween party. The children enjoyed rotating through 4 stations: Making Ghosts, Pumpkin Bean Bag Toss, Roll a Pumpkin, and listening to Halloween Stories. Thank you to everyone who sent in supplies for our party: crafts, prizes, and games. A very big thank you to our four party volunteers, Mrs. Stowe, Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Wilt, and Mrs. Wilkin. Thank you for your incredible job planning and running our party. The children had a great time!




Super Sentence Heroes
On Friday, the children turned into super sentence heroes! Each child created their own super sentence hero mask. Using their graphic organizers from earlier in the week, they chose one telling, asking, and exciting sentence to glue onto their mask. The children had a lot of fun with this activity and enjoyed sharing their sentences with one another. 










Get Buggy Field Trip
On Friday afternoon, a scientist from High Touch High Tech came into our classroom and taught us all about bugs. We learned about the creepy, crawly, weird, wacky, incredible life of insects and arachnids. The children learned about the life cycle of butterflies, bees and beetles. They got to see through the eyes of bugs, make their very own insect habitat, and were excited when they got to touch real bugs!


First Grade Musical
The children did a great job on their first grade musical. I am so proud of how hard they worked! They were so excited to share it with all of you on Thursday night. Thank you for attending the performance and watching your stars shine! Enjoy the photos below.










Star Students
Thank you to our past two star students, Maddie and Wesley. We enjoyed learning more about each of you!


***Check back for Wesley's Photo soon!***
Royal Readers
A special thank you to Maddie’s family and Wesley’s mom who joined us the last two weeks as our Royal Readers. The children loved listening to the stories that you all read. 



Notes:
Tuesday, November 8th there is no school for the students. School will resume on Wednesday, November 9th. 

Have a great rest of the weekend!