Last Day of 2007

Today was an excellent way to kick off our Winter Break!

Art: We started our morning doing our December Self Portrait, some chose to do a holiday theme in their portrait.

Literacy: After watching a short slide show of pictures from the year, students chose their favorite memory that we made in 2007 and created a page of our next class book.. "My Favorite thing in 2007 was..."

Spirit Assembly: After recess we entered the cafeteria for a special spirit assembly at which Choir performed. Geremy received our Lifeskill award for this month's life skill of Responsibility.

Holiday Celebration: After an extended recess we entered the room to enjoy our Holiday Celebration. We enjoyed a wonderful spread of (mostly) healthy treats and good company. We had a plethora of parent volunteers who helped students to serve themselves and enjoy the experience.

Reindeer Hats: After we had finished enjoying our feast, we completed our Reindeer Hat project.

I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday with your friends and families. I look forward to all of the great times we will continue to have in the year 2008. See you January 3rd!

Yellow Star, Yellow Star...

Art: We added glitter, and other special touches to our Snowflake art project.

Activity: We worked on cascading tree holiday cards for our loved ones.

Literacy: We read a book called "Yellow Star, Yellow Star". After reading several times and practicing together, students had a chance to make their own copy of this to add to their book boxes. Before we worked on this project, I stressed the importance of taking time during coloring, doing one's best work. I was excited to see that most students really took pride in their illustrations.

Science: Today we focused on the sense of SMELL and did a scientific investigation. We passed around 4 jars with cotton balls that had flavor extracts on them. Students had the opportunity to sniff and make observations about the smells as well as guess what the smells were. Jar #1 was Spicy Sauce - Jar #2 was Maple Syrup - Jar #3 was Lemon Extract - Jar #4 was Almond Extract.

Computer Lab: Today, we continued to make progress in the Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten computer program.

The Nutcracker

Social Studies: This morning students had a chance to learn about the final holiday in our "Holidays Around the World" book - Diwali. Diwali is the "Festival of Lights" and students decorated and colored traditional diyas.

The Nutcracker: Our class had the opportunity to go watch Laurelwood's production of The Nutcracker. It featured 4th and 5th graders, including some of our buddies. We really enjoyed all of the acts!

Writer's Workshop: After returning from the performance of The Nutcracker, students had a chance to write an entry in their Sourcebooks about their favorite part. Many children chose the Mouse King, The Arabian Dancers, and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.

Art: We worked on a project that involved painting snowflakes. We will finish the project tomorrow to be brought home on Wednesday.

GiNgErBrEaD hOuSeS!

Flagpole Gathering: This morning we had our Citizenship Gathering at the flagpole. We did this because we have just recieved brand new American and State flags which were raised for the first time over our school this morning. Eva was our class' recipient of the Citizenship Award!

Holiday Rotation: Today for the Holiday Rotation, students visited Ms. Stryker's class where they learned about Las Posadas, or the Pointsetta and its significance in celebrating the holidays in Mexico. They created a beautiful Poinsettia to include in their Holidays Around the World Book.

Before recess we celebrated Nikhil's 6th birthday! We sang him our silly version of the "Happy Birthday" song and enjoyed a special snack provided by Nikhil and his family. :)

Gingerbread Houses: After recess we met up with our buddies and worked in Mrs. Robinson's room building and decorating Gingerbread Houses. Thank you to our many parents who contributed supplies and those who volunteered. The children had an amazing experience in creativity and all came out with products that looked both beautiful and appetizing. Enjoy the following which can capture only part of the fun:

Read Aloud: After lunch we returned to Mrs. Robinson's class for a read aloud of Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but Invisible Germs. The kids in both classes really enjoyed it.

Stocking's hung by the whiteboard with care...

Writer's Workshop: Today we had a "Go Back and Touch Up" day where students could go back and improve entries from the past week.

Holiday Rotation: Today students studied the German origins of the Tennebaum with Mrs. McDermott. They created and decorated holiday trees to include in their holiday books!

Activity: We worked in partners on a Reindeer craft which will be brought home by some students next week.

Math: Students finished their "Book of Six" project.

Happy Birthday Stephanie! - Our Thursday afternoon volunteer and Room Parent Stephanie celebrated a birthday today! With her help, we sang our wacky version of "Happy Birthday"

Art: Today, Miss Ciampa's class joined us in Room 4 for a joint art project. We made Holiday stockings to help decorate our classroom. Students had to cut, hole punch, sew, and decorate stockings. After school they were glittered and are now hanging in our classroom.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

Read Alouds: The Last Basselope and A Perfect Day(big book)

Holiday Rotation: Today the students went to Mrs. Robinson's class and learned about Hannukah. They colored a Menorah to add into their books.

After recess we assembled our December quilt squares and constructed our December quilt.

Music today was led by myself and Ms. Stryker. We sang some excellent holiday songs about Hannukah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. Some of my favorites included jingle bells (which we were able to have each student use a bell to participate).

Holiday Workshop!

Read Alouds: Today we read two stories about hedgehogs One Winter's Day and The Happy Hedgehodge.

Holiday Rotations: Today the class went to Miss Ciampa's class to learn about Kwanzaa.

Holiday Workshop: With the help of several parent volunteers, we were able to complete our holiday workshop rotation. The three projects were - a Gingerbread Man door hanger, an icicle ornament and a holiday card. The child made excellent products and had an amazing time.

Science: Today we did an introduction to the Five Senses, listing "smell, see, touch, taste, hear". We drew icons that coincided with these sense (nose, eye, hand, mouth, ear)

Computer Lab: Students continued to navigate through the Jumpstart Kindergarten Advanced, attempting to earn enough carrots (which they earn by completing a game successfully) to unlock the newest activity.

Holiday Rotations Begin

Readers Workshop: Again, we practiced reading and identifying sentences. We point out the beginning that has a capital letter and the end that is a period.

Holiday Rotation: Today, students went to Mrs. Chiappe's classroom to learn about Ramadan. They completed the first of their pages for their "Holidays Around the World" Book.

Math: We talked about the concepts of shorter and longer. We used a sheet of paper and sorted various sizes of yarn pieces by whether they were shorter or longer as a whole class. Students then returned to their seats and created their own yarn measurements.

Library: We enjoyed Imogene's Antlers and checked out new library books.

Snowman Countdown

Read Aloud: Hop on Pop. After reading this story we played with the -at word family (creating words like bat, cat, sat, that, etc.) and the -op family (bop, drop, stop, etc.)

Reader's Workshop: We discussed and worked on identifying letters, words, and sentences. We reviewed that sentences start with a capital (or uppercase) letter and ends with a period.

Math: We created a Snowman Countdown to Winter Break. Students wrote the numbers 1-10 on the snowman, decorated, and created a linked chain which they are supposed to color in and rip each school day.

The Potluck: To go with the pages we had created earlier in the week, we drew patterns around the borders of plates and mounted our pages. These will be bound into a class book that will begin to be sent home in the new year.

P.E.: Unfortunately, due to the weather, P.E. was canceled today.

Red Mystery Book Bags: Every student had returned their book bags and was able to check out a new mystery book. Remember that these books do not need to be returned until the next Wednesday and should be read several times while at home.

You do the reindeer pokey and you turn it all around...

Social Studies: We had a short lesson about St. Nicholas Day. It's origin is in Holland and traditions for celebrating include placing out wooden shoes at night in hopes that St. Nick will find them on his visit. Children leave carrots to feed his horses, during the night he comes and while the horses eat the carrots, he fills them with candy, coins, or treats. Legend has it that if you have been a little naughty, he instead leaves coal.

Art: Students created and decorated wooden shoes out of construction paper which we left overnight, hoping that we will be visited by St. Nicholas while we are home tonight.

Math: Today we continued work on our Book of 6. We made our cover, tracing the title and creating a pattern along the border. Those who finished their covers continued to create unique formations of six on the remaining five pages of their book.

Music: Miss Casselini and Miss Ciampa led music today. We sang "The Dreidel Song" and did the "Reindeer Pokey" (similar to the hokey pokey).

Rain rain go away..

Writer's Workshop: Today we reviewed the layout of Sourcebook (pictures on the top and words on the bottom) and wrote another entry. Some children chose to write about the Elves and the Shoemaker field trip while others found the rain to be an inspiration.

Math: We discussed the number 6, practicing formation by doing a rainbow tracing sheet. We also began work on our "Book of Six" which will be completed over the course of the week. Using grid paper, students create various different formations by filling in six squares that must be touching.

The Potluck: We read Potluck which is a book that uses the alphabet to create a tale of children who are bringing items to a potluck. The rule in the book is that each page is for a different letter, on that page the child's name and the name of their food item starts with that letter. After reading the story, we brainstormed some foods that we might be able to drink if we were to have a potluck in our class. We will be making a class book with these choices (which students used to create their own page).

Computer Lab: Today in Computer Lab students were introduced to three new applications in the Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten program.

Elves and the Shoemaker

Field Trip: We boarded the bus and headed to Fremont High School to enjoy a production of The Elves and the Shoemaker. The acting was great, the play was comical, and the students really seemed to enjoy their experience at the theater.

Library: As soon as we got off the bus, we headed straight to the library. We listened to Twas the Night Before Christmas and checked out new library books.

Read Aloud: After lunch we read The Elves and the Shoemaker. We had a discussion and made a Venn Diagram of things that were different and the same in the book and the play. The students came up with plenty of excellent examples to fill our chart.

Let's Find Out

Read Aloud: Dinosaurumpus and Rumble in the Jungle
Movement: Old McDonald with a twist - using the animals that were in our book

The Cc Book: We reviewed the letter Cc by creating, coloring, and reading a book which contained things that began with Cc. For example "This is a cup. This is a cookie."

Writer's Workshop: We did our first entry in our Sourcebooks for Writer's Workshop. I modeled drawing a picture and including words about my trip to Chicago. Students were asked to think about a trip or place that they'd gone and were asked to do the same.

Let's Find Out: We finally got the opportunity to enjoy and use the November Let's Find Out magazines. The first was Science based and was about turkeys and how they grow up, then the back asked students to complete and create patterns. The next was History based and was about the life of Pilgrim Children showing what would be different if you were a Pilgrim.

Red Bags: After lunch, students finally had an opportunity to check out Red Mystery Book Bags. These bags will be taken home weekly, and contained great literature for students to enjoy at home. They are an excellent opportunity to practice reading strategies and to dig deeper in their comprehension.

P.E.: Today in P.E. we attempted to complete a relay race similar to the Turkey Trot that was completed at the assembly. This proved to be somewhat challenging with 40 kids, but they were able to practice several locomotor skills including jumping, skipping, and walking backwards.

Effort Award!

Read Aloud: If You Bring A Mouse to School

Turkey Choices: Students chose to do one or all of the following: Turkey Dot to Dot with alphabet letters, Turkey Coloring Page, Turkey Color by Numbers.

Red Mystery Bags: We discussed procedures for Red Mystery Bags which will be sent home tomorrow for the first time. Information will be provided with the bags for procedures and suggestions for reading.

Science: We did Tree Part Labeling in our Science Notebooks. We had images with highlighted portions (Roots, Trunk, Branches, Leaves) and then labeled those parts.

Lifeskill Assembly: Margarita won the award for Effort. Miss Wagenaar also won an Effort Award along with Miss Ciampa, Mrs. Chiappe, and Mrs. Miller (the new teachers). Students were awarded an extra 15 minutes of recess.

Music: Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Chiappe led music singing great song including "The Hola Song" which is a song that involves saying hello in various languages.

After Lunch we finished up the Science Notebooks as well as getting the room tidy-ed up.

This morning we started out jumping straight into Reader's Workshop. We used Post Its to mark characters that we found in books that we read independently. In the mini-lesson, we practiced while reading The Three Bears. After completing reading and examinig, we practiced "Going on a Bear Hunt". Afterwards, we did a small math lesson with taking a handful of pattern blocks then finding a creative way to record that data.

During Choice time in the afternoon, students were pulled out to work on a patterning exercise for assessments. We also had art this afternoon where students completed their November self-portrait. (Reminder: these self portraits will be done once per month and bound together at the end of the year. Already the changes are incredible).

After lunch, during Computer Lab, we explored Jumpstart Kindergarten Advanced. This is an extension of the Jumpstart Kindergarten program and children used three of the activities: music, reading, and art.

Back to School..

Today was not as difficult of a transition as I had predicted. After a lovely and lengthy break we returned back and were off and running. This Monday marked our 60th day of school... We are officially one-third of the way through the school year! (Oh how the time is flying!)

For Social Studies this morning we read another story about pilgrim life and then completed a worksheet about things in the Past vs. Now. Students had to discriminate between things used in the past (milking cows) vs. things that are used currently (cartons of milk).

For Science, students cut out leaf silhouettes and worked with a partner to play a matching game. After they finished matching each of their leaves, they were challenged to create their own game. Their creativity impressed me and they seemed to really enjoy it, even claiming that it was "too fun to be science". We went to the Library before lunch and listened to a story about a bear who stayed awake from his winter hibernation to make preparations for Christmas.

After lunch we participated in our first Earthquake Drill. Prior to lunch we had a conversation about the importance of staying calm and following directions during the drill and all of the students were very efficient at finding a spot under a table to duck and cover. After this the students had math choice time while I worked one-on-one with students to assess Concepts About Print and being more math assessments.

Thanksgiving Week

Monday and Tuesday flew by and were full of excitement. I decided to do a combined post with lots of pictures.

On Monday we talked in Social Studies about the past (long ago) and how things were different than they are now. To lead into this discussion we read a Non-Fiction story called Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl.We then brainstormed things that were done in the past and the difference between those things and what we do now.

In Math we reviewed patterns and then drew them onto plates that we would use for our Feast Placemats. We also made our Thankful Books which involved layering of construction paper to create a book of things to be thankful for (earth, grass, sun, skies, etc). Before we went home we did the first step for making our Turkey Hats. We glued tissue paper onto the "body" of the turkey to be the "feathers".

On Tuesday we finished projects which we'd started on Monday including our turkey hats and the our placemats. After recess we went out to the playground and traded students so that each teacher recieved children from each class. This was an excellent way for us to meet new students and share our food for the feast. Each class brought an item to share and we feasted on popcorn, pumpkin seeds, raisins, cornbread muffins, blue tortilla chips, and apples (Thank you for those of you that donated apples!). After we introduced ourselves, shared our food, and feasted together, it was time to return to our own home classrooms.

After lunch we went to Computer Lab where students explored on www.starfall.com (an excellent resource for helping children with phonics and beginning reading strategies). Free choice ended the day, most children chose to help build a "Zero the Hero Trap" since Monday will be the 60th day of school and therefore we will be expecting a visit from our favorite number superhero!

Technicolor Turkeys

Friday was a day full of art related projects.

For Science, we used the tree parts that we had gathered on our Nature Walk to make art.

Our buddies came in and we worked on a Turkey Card that students will bring home to give to someone who they are thankful for next week. This was a nice project for collaboration between the grade levels.

After lunch, we spent the time doing an amazing Technicolor Turkey painting project. This was a step by step art assignment which turned out GREAT.

Nature Walk

This morning's Read Aloud, Gone Wild was an excellent ABC book that contained letters that each corresponded to an endangered animal. It opened the door for discussions into why animals might be endangered (urbanization, logging, hunting, etc).

For Writer's Workshop, students pasted their sourcebook covers onto their folders which are grouped by color (similar to Science Notebooks). Afterwards we created Book Boxes out of the cereal boxes that we've collected from parents. In this box, we will keep books that we create in class that students can practice reading.

After recess, we reviewed tree parts (Roots, Branches, Trunk, Leaves). We then went on a Nature Walk where we picked up things that were parts of trees including leaves, bark, and small branches. This was an AMAZING activity and the students gathered some excellent tree parts. We will use them tomorrow to create a collage of sorts.

In P.E. today we did the standard jogging warm-up, stretching, and a Ghost Tag game. After which we did some catch-up on things that haven't been completed this week.

(the camera has been down for a few days, but I look forward to getting it back in action and including more pictures in the near future)

With a Gobble Gobble Gobble...

This morning the students had a substitute while I attended a Science Training session at Peterson Nature Center. It was very educational and I got EXCELLENT ideas that I can't wait to implement.

While I was gone, the students worked on a variety of Thanksgiving tasks. The continued work on their Floating Down books, making a pointer to practice reading and narrating how they'd like the last page to end. They worked on the first square for their November Quilt. They also worked on turkeys which are two parts (tail and body) that can be attached with a brad and have a pivoting tail.

They also had music led by Miss Casselini and Mrs. McDonough with accompaniment by Mrs. Kwiatkowski.

When I returned in the afternoon I was greeted by a unified chanting, I've never seen them so excited. It's the little things that make the difference sometimes :)

So good to be back...

It was excellent to be back with the class today.

We had a wonderful day! We started the morning picking new jobs and getting used to a little bit of a new set-up (Our classroom got an AMAZING new easel that is soooo useful so we've shifted things a little). Our read aloud this morning was Miss Nelson is Missing, a VERY clever little story about a mysterious substitute teacher (very time appropriate).

We took the rest of the morning to get caught up on what happened last week. The class gave me a report of what they did with Mrs. McDonough and even taught me a game that they learned during Healthy Play (with our special guest teacher, Spencer).

After recess we worked on a booked titled "Floating Down". This book is a repetitive literacy exercise that helps not only with reading and tracking, but also with color identification. Students underlined and colored in the story and will practice reading it again tomorrow.

During math choice time students had the option of working with several different manipulatives including Linking Cubes, Pattern Blocks, and Peg Boards.

After lunch we had Computer Lab where students once again had Free Choice in the Jumpstart Kindergarten program. Next week we will be starting work on an educational website to which I will provide the address as soon as I am sure what it is ;)

Before packing up to go home, we read Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham and students helped to read it, filling in words that I omitted at the end of lines. They are picking up on the fact that the rhyming of the words is what makes it easy to fill in the blanks.

Weekly Bulletin

WEEKLY BULLETIN – ROOM 4

W e e k l y H a p p e n i n g s

Even with tons of interruptions in the normal routines of the classroom, the children were very successful. Along with all subject areas, we’ve been spending a lot of time learning and reciting the alphabet and sounds.

(Ex. A apple, B ball, C cat, D dog, etc.)

Letter of the Week: e

Word Wall Words: the

Science: Trees

Social Studies: being thankful

Math: Rectangles, the number 5

Art: Turkey Art

N o t e s and R e m i n d e r s

Snacks: Thank you to those that have sent in snacks. We’ve gotten plenty to get us through the rest of November.

Thankful Turkey: Don’t forget to help your children to complete the Thankful Turkey take home project.

Red Book Bags: We have collected and organized Red “Mystery” Book Bags that will begin to be sent home next week!! J This will provide excellent literature for children to take home and read.

Playground Reminders: We’ve had some issues on the playground lately, so we ask you review appropriate playground behavior with your children (As we will also do).

Children should go down the slide on their bottoms ONE at a time.

Trikes should be ridden around the track, with the flow of traffic.

No screaming on the playground - it can be confused for real danger.

**Also, we’re being asked to enforce that dogs are NOT allowed on the playground during OR after school. Thank You for Cooperation! **

U p c o m i n g E v e n t s

Monday, November 12^th – NO SCHOOL (Veteran’s Day Observed)

Ee

Another Wacky Wednesday in the books...

This morning the children had a guest teacher - Mrs. McDermott. As part of the BTSA (beginning teacher something or another) I am lucky enough to have a support provider on campus. This morning she led the class through opening, read A House for a Hermit Crab and Readers Workshop to give me the opportunity to observe Ms. Stryker in her classroom. This was very valuable and gave me tons of good ideas to implement.

After I returned, we worked on some handwriting -- the letter e. A song, similar to that used for the letter c, is an excellent way for children to remember how to form the letter. Straight line, go up around and down then stop. Straight line, go up around and down and stop. Straight line, go up around and down, let's make an e. Straight line, go up around and down and stop.. After learning and practicing the letter E, we listed words that began with e including elephant, Eesha, everyone, excellent, Eva, and ear.

We then practiced writing our first sight word: the. Students practiced forming the T - h- e and then reading the word "the". We've now placed it up on our word wall and should be able to read and write this word by the end of the week.

In Social Studies today, we talked about being thankful, and attached some of the feathers that have come in, to our classroom Thankful Turkey. It is starting to look really full and impressive. If you haven't yet worked on the "feathers" with your child, please do so and send them back.

Music today was led by Miss Ciampa and myself with Mrs. Kwiatkowski on piano. We sang several Thanksgiving themed songs and did a couple of songs with movement. Students were well behaved and participated fully during this half hour session. After lunch we listened to The Princess and the Pea and had some short time for choice.

"I Will Work Hard"

Today we were ultra productive. We started our morning with The Little Engine That Could. This is an excellent story, showing that persistence and confidence can be enough. It also tied into our Social Studies lesson, which was about this month's Lifeskill: Effort - "I will work hard."

For math we read The Raccoon Picnic which is a story that aims to help children with counting the numbers 1-5. We also had an opportunity to do a walk thru of the Book Fair. We did a read aloud of Freight Train, a Caldecott Award winner.

After lunch we went to the Computer Lab, during which we had a Fire Drill. After that, we had choice time. Some students chose to help paint a Thankful Turkey (to which we'll affix the home project feathers). To end the day, I read the children the story of Tacky the Penguin. The children loved this story about a penguin who marches to the beat of his own drummer. As a result, he saves the rest of the penguins from hunters.

Oops, I forgot my hat

We started out our morning reading A Giraffe and a Half and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish which gave the class an excellent opportunity to talking about rhyming.

This morning we started our review of Concepts About Print during Reader's Workshop. Students identified front, back, spine, cover, title page, publication page. We also reinforced that books should be read from front to back, from left to right and top to bottom. We will begin testing for Concepts About Print in the upcoming week or two.

In Writer's Workshop, we began work on the covers for our Sourcebooks. These are the journals that we will be throughout readers workshop. Covers contained the words "My Sourcebook" and the students' name. Around the border, we drew icons to spark ideas of writing topics. For example, some students drew a Band-Aid to remind them that they might write about a time when they got hurt. Others drew balloons to remind them that they might want to write about parties or celebrations that they attend.

For math, we learned and practiced drawing the number 5. Down the street and around the corner, Oops! I forgot my hat. We went to the Library this afternoon and Mrs. Williams read us Bark George and The Napping House. Students checked out books and received bookmarks from Mrs. Williams.

Science consisted of making two charts. One of them was What we KNOW about trees.. while the other was What we WANT to know about trees... These will be the springboard for our study of trees in November. At the end of the unit we will complete a third chart of What we LEARNED about trees..

Pajama Day

Today was a comfy and relaxing day to follow up an exciting Halloween.

We started the morning inviting Ms. Stryker's class into our class to enjoy a movie. We watched The Mouse and the Motorcycle and enjoyed some hot cocoa and popcorn. This was an excellent little movie and the snacks hit the spot.

After recess, we did some social studies - practicing the difference between left and right. In Science, we completed the pumpkin project that has been carried over a few days. We had a little time for choice and in the afternoon completed several Halloween handouts (including Frankenstien coloring, Connect the Dots, and a Which-One-Of-These-Is-Not-Like-The-Other-One type worksheets).

Tons of projects went home today, along with Thursday folders. Reminder -- Book Orders are due tomorrow (FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2nd)

Happy Halloween!

Today was a spooktacular day!

The morning started with us heading out to the blacktop for the Halloween Parade. We had an excellent time parading around, showing off our costumes, and enjoying the creative costumes that the other children were wearing. When we came back into the class, we enjoyed a couple of halloween stories The Spookiest Halloween Story and Clifford's Halloween. Then, we enjoyed some healthy treats: cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies and dip, and jello.

After recess we did a Halloween Rotation. In our classroom, I led classes in making a hanging, twirling ghosts. In Miss Ciampa's room, the students listened to a story and did a ghost counting game. In Mrs. Chiappe's room, the students did a sorting activity with the W, P, and C sounds.

After lunch we quickly completed the "secret ghost project". The children wrote BOO! on the ghosts and hopefully hid them when they got home. I hope that you were able to have some fun with that.

Healthy Play Training

Today I was out of the classroom because I was at a Healthy Play Training, I got some amazing ideas for activities that can be done in and outside the classroom, building teamwork and conflict management.

While I was gone, the students met with their buddies and worked on a project making Witch Holders. Also, student from Mrs. Villareal's multiage class came in to read Halloween stories that they had created.

They continued work on their Pumpkin project, which we will hopefully complete if we have time tomorrow afternoon. They also went into the Computer Lab and navigated in Jumpstart Kindergarten on the numerous games they've learned. The read aloud today was appropriately enough Miss Bindergarten Stays Home.

During Readers Workshop, students talked about the beginning, middle, and end of stories. They used The Gingerbread Man as an example since it was a story they were familiar with.

Reminder -- Tomorrow is Halloween. Students may come to school in costume, but need to change out of it after the parade. Also, if you would like to contribute a healthy snack for our Halloween Celebration, please bring it into room 4 before school. Thank You!

White Ghost, White Ghost...

This morning we read The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat.
Today we read a story, inspired by Brown Bear.. called White Ghost, White Ghost. The characters include a Brown Owl, Yellow Broom, Purple Which, and Black Bat. Students enjoyed the story and we decided that we would make smaller versions that each child could color and practice reading.

In Writer's Workshop today we continued labeling items around the classroom, doing interactive writing. Some things we labeled today: sun, markers, closet, kitchen, crayon box, linking cubes, etc.

For math, we did patterning with a variety of Halloween icons: pumpkins, witches, bats, and ghosts. We also began our culminating Pumpkin project today by doing some of the prep work. Tomorrow students will finish creating the life cycle of a pumpkin and bring home the project on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I will not be at school. I have a Healthy Play Training that all K-2 teachers at Laurelwood are able to attend.

Just a reminder -- Wednesday is Halloween! We will be having the Costume Parade at 8:25. After the parade, we will be having a small celebration (we'll be taking pictures, eating healthy snacks, and changing out of costumes).

Red Ribbon Week: Crazy Sock Day

This morning began with a Citizenship Awards Assembly and whole school Flag Salute.

We started the morning looking at a pumpkin and making observations. We decided that it is smooth, it is heavy, and it is hard. We cut into it and had the children smell it. Then we looked inside and estimated how many seeds were inside. (Estimates ranged from 8 to 1000) Then, just like scientists, we counted the seeds. Each child came and counted 10 seeds into a cup. Once we had ten cups we put them together to make 100. There ended up being 417 seeds! We read Pumpkin Eye and Hoot.

Our day ended with Mrs. Mathur reading the class A Case of the Stripes. (a nod to by choice for crazy sock day)

We also acted out and sang 5 Little Pumpkins!

Red Ribbon Week: Team Jersey Day

Today was wild one indeed. Not only was it team jersey day, but we had our Lifeskill Assembly.

We started our morning by doing a little bit of a literacy exercise, creating a "How Many Pumpkins?" book. This required students to count up to ten, write the numbers up to ten, color pumpkins, AND cut the circles which create the book. This proved to be a challenging task, but the result was impressive.

For science today we discussed Pumpkins. We noted that pumpkins are fruits (because they have seeds), pumpkins are usually bigger than apples and that rather than apple (that grow on trees), pumpkins grow on vines.

After lunch we had P.E. Today we played a game called Magic Rock. In this game students crouch on the floor and then are given directions of what to become, for example flying birds, swimming fish, etc.

Thursday folders were passed out, as were Stoplights.

Red Ribbon Week: Wear Red

Our assembly got canceled today, but our class did an excellent job dressing in tons of red! This morning we read The Ugly Pumpkin, a story of a pumpkin who didn't look the same as the rest of the pumpkins. In the end he realized that it was because he wasn't a pumpkin after all, he was a squash.

For math today, we learned the poems and did rainbow tracing for 3 and 4.

Start at the top loop once loop twice,

That makes a three look very nice.

Go down and over and down some more,

That's the way to make a four.

Today we read The Kindness Quilt and created our own kindness quilt. We integrated math into it as we expanded our study of patterns into border patterns, having students create a border pattern for their piece of the quilt. During that time we also were working on painting paper plates orange (we will be using them for a science project that will be completed later this week/early next week).

After lunch we visited the Computer Lab once again, student learned another portion of the Jumpstart Kindergarten game and are really beginning to show a grasp on navigating the program.When we got back, we had a little choice time, more plates were painted, we distributed Book Orders, and filled in our Stoplights before heading home for the day.

Don't forget to wear Hats tomorrow!

Red Ribbon Week: Sweats Day

Book Orders are in and I've separated them. They will be sent home tomorrow. Because of our order from both Seesaw and Firefly students will each be receiving two complimentary books as a gift from Scholastic. Also, I was able to order a TON of books for the classroom with bonus points earned. So thank you, enjoy the books, and we'll hope for a similar response next time. :)

This morning we began by talking about our individual behavior chart. A note about these policies was sent home today, but students were explained t hat they will be held accountable for their behavior and will be reporting their behavior in a note that will be sent home daily. We also picked new jobs for the week.

In library today we read Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons. It is a book full of great life lessons including, for example "Trustworthy means, If you ask me to hold your cookie until you come back, when you come back, I will still be holding your cookie." We then checked out new library books and also got to listen to How Are You Peeling? (a story about emotions told wi th pictures of fruits and vegetables that have expressions). We began work on another set of pattern snakes, using different patterns AABAABAAB, ABCABCABC, or ABBABBABB.

After lunch, we finished our pattern snakes. I modeled good coloring practices and then students helped in coloring our alphabet cards that we will use as we continue to learn more letters. After students finished, the decorated bookmarks that we will use in our library books throughout the week.

Don't forget that tomorrow is "Wear Red Day"
for Red Ribbon Week.

Picasa :)

It has been requested that I make photos from
the slideshows available in full size.

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!

Photos now can be viewed online through
an amazing website (Picasa).

http://picasaweb.google.com/MissWagenaar

Enjoy!

The Roly Poly Spider

Friday truly was another fun filled day. We started the morning working on our Roly Poly Spider books (assembling the spiders, drawing the web, drawing a bug, etc). In Writer's Workshop, we affixed our drawings of last halloween into the first page of our Writer's Notebooks. We read Hoot and Holler and Bats Around the Clock and had more discussion about various nocturnal animals.

After recess, our buddies from Mrs. Varveris's class came in and together we completed a page of things that we can see in Autumn. Some of the children drew pumpkins, bats, leaves falling, etc. Once our buddies left, we put the finishing touches on our Roly Poly Spider book and had Friday Funday (choice time).

After lunch Mrs. Mathur came in and read us The Little Scarecrow Boy. After that a friend of mine, Jeff (a junior high history teacher that I went to Cal Poly with) also came in to meet the class. Together we all did Going On A Bear Hunt before leaving for the weekend.

Creatures of the Night

Today we began our study of nocturnal animals. We started the morning listening to Stellaluna, a touching story about a bat, that emphasizes that differences should be celebrated and accepted, and it's always best to just be yourself.

For Readers Workshop today, students were instructed in how to mark pages of interest with Post It Notes while they read stories. They began with two Post Its and we will work up to more as they practice using them in appropriate ways.

We also read Creatures of the Night which introduced a variety of other nocturnal animals: bat, possum, owl, firefly, snail, eel, etc. This helped students to complete a worksheet which asked them to discriminate between nocturnal animals and those that are not. Nocturnal animals are animals that sleep during the day and are active in the nighttime.

After lunch, we reread Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and listed the characters (just like we did for Brown Bear..) After that, we sorted the characters from BB and the characters from PB.

Fire Truck!!

What an exciting Tuesday! This morning we examined four illustrations (that will be turned into our picture rubric) for Writers Workshop. At this point, many of the children, if not all, will be telling stories using mostly pictures. To set expectations I presented four levels of illustration. The 1 was a drawing of a stick figure in one color, the 2 had a little more detail but was still in one color, the 3 had multiple colors and a little more details, the 4 was in full color and has many interesting details. Children were asked which they liked better and why. We've decided that when students work on their illustrations, they should aim to create something at the caliber of a 4.

For Science this morning, we did a directed drawing of a Spider and labeled its parts. This will be put in with their initial drawings and brought home in a spider notebook in their Thursday folder.

After recess, we put on our Fire fighter hats on and headed out to see Fire Engine #9 and a couple of the Fire fighters from Santa Clara Fire Department. They had lots of great information to share with us, about life as a firefighter and about fire safety. (They reminded us that it is suggested to change the batteries in your fire detector during daylight savings)

When we returned to class, we discussed Stop-Drop-Roll and practiced.

After lunch we had Computer Lab where we learned the puzzle game on Jumpstart Kindergarten. When we arrived back in the classroom, we had balloons and giftbags waiting, and it was finally time to celebrate Geremy, Devin, AND Alexa's birthdays. (Yes, THREE birthdays in class today) We read The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle before singing our own versions of the birthday song for each of the three birthday kids.

We ended the day with a little Fire Safety. We colored a diagram of Stop-Drop-Roll and also began the Fire Safety coloring book. Students will be bringing this home in their Thursday folder and can continue to color it at home. Please read through it with your children, as it contains tons of important information.

ABABAB...

This morning started with choosing new classroom jobs. We took an opportunity to do more team building (sharing our favorite colors, animals, and food). This not only gives the children an opportunity to learn about their friends, but also to improve their oral language.

For math today, we looked more in depth at patterns. Students were introduced to, and practiced AB patterns. Using linking cubes, we made "trains" in AB patterns. (Ex: blue-green-blue-green-blue-green) After creating these patterns, we came back together as a group and shared our "trains" with each other.

In Library today, Mrs. Williams shared a story with us and we again checked out library books.

For Social Studies today, students were introduced to our unit about Jobs that People Do. We discussed some jobs that people do: Firefighters, Police Officers, Teachers, Farmers, Doctors, etc. After a discussion of a variety of jobs, students were asked to think about what they might like to do when they grow up. They then illustrated these aspirations, and the artwork will be bound into a class book.

We read The Roly Poly Spider today in class, one of our last things we will do with spiders before moving on to the study of nocturnal animals. After lunch, we had a short discussion about Fire Safety week and some general ideas for ways to be safe, who to call in an emergency, etc. Then we made Fire Hats that we will wear tomorrow -- while the Fire Truck and Firefighters are at Laurelwood to visit.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider...

Thankfully, the rain held off until the very end of the school day.

We started the morning like any other, with calendar and weather. Our read aloud this morning was Are You a Spider?, an excellent non-fiction story about spiders.

This morning, in Writers Workshop, we practiced doing the Turn and Talk that we learned from Mrs. McDermott. To practice ordering the number 1 to 10, we colored and cut the characters from Brown Bear, Brown Bear.. which had numbers on them. They were then asked to glue them, in order, onto a long sheet of paper.

After recess we had a special visitor, Sian Brady. She is a MLS soccer player from England who teaches soccer camps in Santa Clara. She read the students The Itsy Bitsy Spider and then helped us to create our Spider Hats. It was excellent to have her here!



We had Friday Funday after our Spider Project. After lunch we completed our October Self Portraits. Throughout the year, we will draw self portraits monthly. Even comparing September and October was neat. It will be entertaining to see at the end of the year. This afternoon, we also read Anansi and the Talking Melon and .

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Today we were productive, got some exercise, and worked on our teamwork.. all while having a good time.

This morning we had a talk about taking care of our classroom supplies. All but one of our PlayDohs were dried out, so we reviewed procedures for taking care of and properly using PlayDoh.

In Readers Workshop, students were introduced to Partner Reading. This occurs when students have completed Private Reading and are ready to share what they've "read" with a partner. Students were urged to hold the book between them and take turns in sharing and asking questions.

After recess, we came in and reviewed the text and illustrations of Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom. We then created our own Coconut Trees (using tearing and cutting construction paper) and letter stickers to spell our names climbing up the coconut tree. They turned out spectacular. They will be displayed in our classroom, so feel free to come and take a peek before or after school. I'll photograph them and post, for those of you who are unable to do this.

In the afternoon, we met with Miss Ciampa's class and went out to the Primary Playground for P.E. Today we just practiced lining up, doing a warm-up lap, and a variety of stretchs. From now on, we will be doing P.E. every Thursday afternoon. Please make sure your child comes to school those days dressed appropriately.

After P.E. we had a read aloud of Do You Want To Be My Friend? by Eric Carle. There is not text in this story, but it reinforced with students that a story could be told without using conventional letters and words.

Another Wacky Wednesday..

Today Mrs. McDermott came in to teach the class a Writers Workshop lesson, introducing the "Turn-N-Talk" method of sharing with a partner. It involves turning toward a partner, knee to knee and eye to eye, and taking turns sharing their stories and asking each other questions about details of the story.

We practiced the formation of the letter C. There's a song that can help reinforce proper practices.
(sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It")
Start here go up around and down then stop.
Start here go up around and down then stop.
Start here go up around and down, let's make a C.
Start here go up around and down then stop.

After reading Aaaaaargggghhhh! Spider! we reinforced the difference between fiction and non-fiction stories. We've had many examples of each of these kinds of stories, especially relating to spiders. Linking to this discussion, we used our Science Notebooks to sort clip art of fiction and non-fiction spiders. Students were highly successful in this task.

After recess, we cut colored and assembled a globe with a boat that travels around the perimeter. (It's hard to explain, but will be coming home in Thursday folders tomorrow for you and your child to enjoy.)

We had music for the first time today with all of the Kindergarten classes. We sang a couple of classic children's songs: "There was a farmer had a tree and guess what grew upon it. A-P-P-L-E..." and "Skitamarinky Dinky Dink, Skitamarinky Doo, I Love You..."

A Windy Tuesday

Today the wind definitely had the kids wound up. :)

Our morning started with our first experience with Writers Workshop. I read the story Down the Road and asked the students think about what the pictures were showing and what was happening along the way. After the story was done, I encouraged the kids to think of something that had happened to them recently and to think about how they would tell that story. We will be jumping into actual "writing" next week.

For Science today, the students were asked to draw a picture of a spider, without having any instruction. Afterwards, we did a pictorial of a spider and labeled parts of its body (Legs, Eyes, Thorax, Abdomen, Claws, Jaw, and Spinneret). We read Anasi and the Moss-Covered Rock and a non-fiction book about Spiders.

For Social Studies, we started in talking about location words (near, far, left, right, under, over, in front, in back, etc.)

In Math we did an introduction to patterns. First we worked together as a large group to build a pattern with linking cubes and then work together to continue the pattern. We used between 2 and 4 different colors to create different patterns. Students then moved back to their desks and work on creating their own individual patterns with linking cubes.

In Computer Lab, we continued to learn more games in Jumpstart Kindergarten. Afterwards we took some time to work on getting to know each other, passing a Hot Potato around while saying each others' names.

Christopher Columbus Day

This morning we started our day by choosing jobs as "Room 4 Helpers". Some of the jobs included: Librarian, Housekeeper, Door/Light Monitor, Carpet Monitor, Attendance Monitor, Calendar Monitor, Teacher's Assistant, and Line Leaders. Each job has two students who will fulfill it for a week. Each Monday we will shift jobs, hopefully giving each child a chance to perform each task. This is an excellent opportunity for students to take ownership in the classroom, as well as having an outlet for their energy and desire to participate.

In Reader's Workshop we practiced Private Reading (meaning that each child chooses a book and reads his/her own story without talking or sharing with others.) At the next Readers Workshop we will learn the proper way to partcipate in Shared Reading. Then students will have a chance to share what they have "read" with a partner.

Before Recess we began our Christopher Columbus/Explorer project. It involved coloring and cutting and pasting waves, ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) into a portrait. While we worked on the project we had conversations about what explorers are. Some compared them to pirates, but we discussed that pirates were looking for treasure and explorers were looking for land.

At Recess, Mrs. Mathur brought treats for the students and afterwards we were able to sing her Happy Birthday and present her with a card before she read up Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. The children LOVE having guest readers, so this was quite a treat for all of us.

We continued more work on our Columbus project, doing a directed draw/cut of the sun and clouds for our projects... as students finished, they colored an illustration of Christopher Columbus and traced the phrase "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

We also had Library today. Mrs. Williams read the class If You Give a Pig a Pancake and we returned/checked out new library books. Again this week books will stay in your child's cubbies. Once we get into the routine and get the go-ahead from the librarian, students will begin to bring their borrowed books home.

Wacky Week: Day 5

Today was truly a Friday Funday on this last short day of the week!

We started our morning with an integration of math and literature. We reviewed the numbers 1 through 10, counting as a class and reviewing the order. Then we read Dr. Seuss's The Apples Up On Top. Students then worked independently to create a picture of themselves and cut/paste apples (numbered 1 through 10) on top of their heads.

After recess we met with our buddies for some shared reading.

We had a surprise visitor after recess: MY MOM, Mrs. Wagenaar. :) (She was visiting for the weekend and decided to stop in to help with some art projects) We did art centers which consisted of: Painting Gingerbread Men for our September Quilt, Fingerprint Apple Trees, and Watercolors. The projects all turned out successful and the kids had an excellent time.

Wacky Week: Day 4

This morning during calendar, while counting the number of sunny days this week, we counted in seven different languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, and French. It's excellent to have such diversity brought to the table.

We also read Jason Alexander's children's book Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy? It was a cute story to explain the mystery behind the tooth fairy.

We worked on individual Apple books. They contained Red Apples, Yellow Apples, Green Apples, and Blue Apples... Students colored the illustrations and underlined color words. These books were sent home in Thursday Envelopes today.

Our Social Studies lesson today centered, once again, around School Workers. Students were instructed to match workers' job titles with images of those workers.

This afternoon, after lunch, we read A Picnic in October. The story was about a family who celebrated the Statue of Liberty's birthday with a picnic. This peeked the students interest and we decided to go on Google Images and find more information about Lady Liberty.

DON'T FORGET - - Book Orders are due Tomorrow! :)

Wacky Week: Day 3

Today we started our morning with ANOTHER Eric Carle book, The Grouchy Ladybug. We also read several more books about apples today, including Apples, Apples, Apples

In math, we were introduced to Monster 3. We practiced his cheer and completed a couple worksheets after practicing tracing 3s in the air and on friend's backs.
Monster Monster Number 3, How Many Claps Should There Be (clap clap clap)

In Social Studies, we discussed school workers and their role in our lives. We watched the DVD that goes along with our unit and brainstormed which people were helpers at our school. Librarian, Computer Lab Helper, Principal, Teacher, Secretary, Crossing Guard, Janitor, Lunch Lady, etc.

The students listened to a story about a little boy who was sent to look for a little red house with no windows and no doors and a star inside. The story revealed that he eventually found this when he cut open an apple and discovered the "star" inside. During choice time students were pulled individually to stamp an apple onto paper and draw a house around it.

During choice time, we also finished our paper tearing Apple Book. :)

Wacky Week: Day 2

Another minumum day, due to Parent-Teacher Goal Setting Conferences.

We started our morning by taking a look at all the upcoming events in October: Pumpkin Fest, Birthdays, Halloween, etc. We also read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.

In Readers Workshop, students were instructed in using illustrations as a tool to aid in comprehension. Using this, they worked independently and examined illustrations in various Golden Books.

For math today, the children were given an opportunity to first do a taste test of three colors of Apple: Red, Yellow, and Green. After tasting the apples, they were asked to go back to their seat and draw their favorite color apple. After they completed their drawings, they cut and placed them on a classroom graph. The results were the 5 students enjoyed the red apples the most, 6 students preferred yellow apples and 6 said their favorite was a green apple.

After recess, we made our second entry in Science Notebooks. This page was titled "Parts of an Apple". Students built an apple using several patterns on construction paper and labeled the parts (which were previously presented on the apple poster): stem, leaf, skin, meat, core, seeds.

This afternoon in computer lab, students chose a game from Jumpstart Kindergarten that required students to use left and right arrows on the keyboard to line shapes up in corresponding colors.

Wacky Week: Day 1

Today was our first minimum day of the week..

We started our morning with a new calendar: OCTOBER
In Reader's Workshop today, children were finally able to start into the private reading portion of our program, choosing their own books, and reading them independently. Our mini lesson centered around how to choose a book (looking at the cover, thumbing through the pages) and how to return a book to the box where you got it. The students did an excellent job sharing with one another.

In Social Studies, we read a big book of Goldilocks and Three Bears and discussed Goldilocks and how she was a character. We talked about the events of the story that she was involved in and her intentions.

After recess we had Hearing Screening, children were asked to respond when they heard beeps in their ears. We then went back to class and worked on our "Yum Yuck" Apple Book until Library. This book is a class project which we completed today, children worked in small groups to tear construction paper and collage the apple illustrations. (pictures to follow)

During Library today, children had the chance to check out a library book. These books will be kept in the classroom and returned next Monday. After children have gotten into the routine of borrowing and returning books, they will be given the chance to take the books home with them.

DON'T FORGET, Scholastic Book Orders are due by Friday, October 5th! (Take advantage, there's great books in there at great prices)

Assembly, Pictures, Walk-A-Thon, oh my!

Today was a long and action-packed day!

We started promptly at 8:15 with our Citizenship Assembly. One student from each class was recognized for displaying outstanding citizenship in the classroom. From the assembly we headed back to class with just enough time to line up in alphabetical order for Picture Day! We practiced our smiles, and headed to get our photographs taken. We finally were able to finish our morning routine (calendar, weather, read aloud, movement) and distribute Walk-A-Thon t-shirts just in time to head to recess. (phew, I'm still exhausted, just thinking about it)

After recess we did large apple chart, drawing and labeling the parts of an apple. Next week, students will create their own personal version of these Apple Parts and labeling them. (core, seeds, stem, leaf, meat, skin)

We also used the apples that have been brought in by students to work on a math sorting activities, sorting them into groups: yellow, green, and red. Following this, we had Friday Funday.

After lunch we had a short time to rest, did another read aloud, and "Going on a Bear Hunt" while waiting to meet up with our buddies. Our 4th grade buddies came to meet up with us and we completed a couple laps together at the Walk-A-Thon before heading home for the day.

Some people stayed afterschool to do a few more laps at the Walk-A-Thon, enjoy the Family Dinner, and participate in the Silent Auction. A good time was had by all!

Our Best Day Yet!!

Today was an excellent day all around. Behavior was on point, students were productive, and we were able to tackle a wide variety of tasks.

Our main activity for the day was an EXCELLENT science experiment. Since we've been studying apples, we carried out an activity to test items from around our classroom to find out if they were "heavier than an apple" or "lighter than an apple". Students made predictions and tested them and we worked together as we individually recorded our results in our Science Notebooks.

For math, we used yellow, green, and red apples to do patterning. For Readers Workshop today students were introduced to our classroom library and the types of books it contains: fiction, non-fiction, hard cover, paper back, big and small.

Today we also made Brown Bear books of our own to review colors and practice literacy. The students enjoyed both creating the books and reading them together after they were completed. We started out reading Ten Little Dinosaurs and Max the Minnow. Both were crowd favorites (I'd like to claim that it was my reading, but I'm pretty sure it was the googly eyes that are contained in the books).

Our 1st Blue Day

Today we had our first Blue Day Spirit Assembly. It began with a school wide song promoting our Walk-A-Thon (sung to the tune of The Adams Family). Next, classes were awarded pizza parties as a reward for success in the PTA Membership Drive. Finally, Mrs. Paolinetti recognized students from each class for showing this month's life skill: CONFIDENCE. After the assembly, students were rewarded for their excellent performance in September with an extra 15 minute recess. HOORAY!!

We completed another Math Lesson today which centered around parts of a calendar and specifically the Days of the Week. We identified month, days, weeks on the calendar and then did a cut/paste activity to order the days of the week. Many students used the Days of the Week poster at the front of the class, others used the calendar, and still others sang themselves the days of the week song.

Today we also started Science. Students were given their "Kindergarten Science Notebooks" and assigned to groups. Each group was able to give themselves a team name that had something to do with their table color and science. Our science teams are: The Oranges, The Lemons, and The Blueberries. :) We will be keeping all of our records and observations in our Science Notebooks, which students will be able to take home at the end of the year.

We met our Buddies!!!

Today we met our 4th grade buddies. For the school year, our class and Mrs. Robinson's Kindergarten class will be sharing Mrs. Varveris' 4th Grade class. We will be meeting about every other Friday to work together on many different activities, mostly doing shared reading. Today, as an icebreaker, students were given "puzzle pieces" with their names, which would connect to their buddy. Once they were found, they worked together to find identify things they both liked or disliked.


Today we reviewed procedure for Readers Workshop and explained more in depth the schedule we will be following each day during readers workshop. A pie chart was which was used to explain that the Mini Lesson's purpose is to share ideas, strategies, or directions to follow while they're reading (my time), the Reading is their time to explore Look Books (their time) and the Closure is to discuss what we've learned or read about (our time).

Social Studies began with an introduction to holidays celebrated in honor of America: Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, etc. We also talked about some people from the past including George Washington, Daniel Boone, and Benjamin Franklin.

We went to Computer Lab after lunch and learned another couple games on the Jumpstart Kindegarten program. The students did an excellent job working independently on their computers and are showing improvement in their manipulation of the mouse.

We also read Curious George today, which the kids really enjoyed.

Character Rocks!

Back to school for another Monday... We started our morning with a discussion on Readers Workshop. Today we mainly just talked about proper ways to sit on the carpet during Readers Workshop: Sitting Flat, Facing Forward, Hands in Lap, Ready to Learn.

We also began our study of Johnny Appleseed by reading a book about him and discussing who he was and what he did. He was introduced as a character, our vocabulary word for the week in Social Studies. We've defined character as a person or animal that is in a story.

We reviewed the characters and colors from Brown Bear and without my prompting, the class read me the story. After recess we reviewed day and night, covering a math standard which requires students to know the times of the day. Children created their own charts showing things they like to do in the day and in the night.

After lunch, we attended the Character Rocks! Assembly, which revolved around the six pillars of the Character Counts Program. (www.charactercounts.org) : Trustworthiness, Responisibility, Respect, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship. We did a conga line, the chicken dance, and played "Good Choice, Bad Choice, My Choice"

Color Week: BROWN

Our final day of color week was spectacular. As a culmination of our study of colors, and since our color of the day was brown, we took some time to work with the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? We starting with reading, then rereading with the students mouthing the words with me. We reviewed the colors and listed the characters from the story. Using that information, we distributed "costumes" and put on our own production of "Brown Bear.."

We also had a Fire Drill on Friday. The students did excellent, evening receiving praise from many of the 1st grade teachers. Finally, our afternoon ended with Friday Funday. They really seem to enjoy that special choice time. It was a great day, to wrap up an excellent week.

Color Week: PURPLE

Although I missed being in class today, I got a glowing report from Mrs. McDonough.

The children had a Bus Evacuation Drill, worked on some worksheets for purple day, and watercolored their Rainbow Fish.

Remember: Newsletters and Rosters will come home tomorrow, please ask your student for them. :) Be ready for a full update tomorrow, once I've had a chance to catch up with the kids.

As a side note, the reason I was out of class today was for a Beginning Teacher Training Event in which we were introduced to our Literacy Programs and got a ton of great ideas, both for curriculum and for classroom management. I am rejuvenated and ready to put them into practice in the classroom.

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

I.T.L.A.P.D. came to Laurelwood Elementary School with another one of our new teachers, Mrs. Champa. I think it will be a long running tradition here, as our first year was a giant success.

We started the morning with our "AHOY" book... this was a self-made book that basically just was Ahoy (students name). Most students answered back with "Ahoy!"

We read "I Am A Pirate" which was a book that consisted of color words and articles of clothing. Students then were able to go back to their seats to work on completing their own copy of "I Am A Pirate". Most students were able to follow directions and have created an accurate replica. Others may have more original interpretations.

For snack we tried "Pirate's Booty" (from Trader Joes).. most of the kids really enjoyed it!

We stopped a couple times along the way to read such books as: , How I Became a Pirate and Bubble Bath Pirates. After recess we worked more on our books and children had the chance to do "Pirate Choices" which consisted of a treasure map mazes, making a pirate buddy, a pirate coloring page, and making a pirate-themed bookmark. While students were working on these, four at a time were pulled to get a chance to FINALLY play with our class pirate ship. They really enjoyed it and I think it will be a popular option for choice time.

Right before lunch, students created their own Pirate Hats, these were cut out of construction paper, labeled with a white crayon, and then stapled to fit their heads. I think they really enjoyed wearing these and they all certainly looked adorable.

Reminder: I will not be in class tomorrow, but hope to get a full report from our sub, Anne McDonough.

Color Week: WHITE

Today was an eventful and action-packed day! We started the morning reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?. After reading through it one time, the class joined in making animal sounds for the corresponding pages. (very fun)

We continued the morning with a large project: making a color book. Students cut and pasted the appropriate color names on the corresponding color construction paper. These will be bound and students will keep these in class to use as a resource for several upcoming projects before bringing them home.

Today, we also started Social Studies. Our first lesson was on Rules. What is a rule? Why do we have rules? What rules do we have? During the lesson we had group discussion, watched DVD clips that accompany our text, and made lists on the white board. The children REALLY enjoyed the video and I think that we have a grasp on what a rule is and why they are in place (to keep us safe).

After lunch we made our first visit into the Computer Lab. Children got acquainted with the computers and their parts (monitor, keyboard, mouse, headphones) and were shown how to type their names to get into Jumpstart Kindergarten. They were introduced to and spent the time playing a game which involves ordering Nesting Dolls .

Finally we started our Math Unit on sorting by working in groups to sort linking cubes by color. Students showed interesting methods for organizing their sorted cubes and seemed to understand the task and enjoyed using the manipulatives.

Color Week: PINK

Today we started the morning with an Oral Language exercise: sharing about what we did over the weekend. This gave students an opportunity to practice both speaking to the large group and being good listeners. We reviewed that being a good listener includes sitting quietly as well as looking at the speaker.

Our day also included some worksheets centered around the color pink. In the afternoon we reread The Gingerbread Man. Most students were able to complete the often repeated lines "Run run, fast as you can, can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!".. After the story, we worked on a sequencing activity which involved cutting, coloring, and pasting six scenes into the correct order.

We also began talking about our shape of the week: SQUARE! We made Boxman Square (our newest character) and talked about the characteristics of a square. It has four corners, four sides, and all of the sides are even. Throughout the week we will complete more work similar to those that were completed with Curvella and circles.

Today was also library day, we went to the library, listened to Mrs. Williams read It's Tough to Be 5 by Jaime Lee Curtis. We also wrote our names on library cards and practiced the proper way to turn pages (grab from the corner, slide your hand down, and then turn).