b-u-b-b-l-e-g-u-m

Writer's Workshop: In Writer's Workshop today we practiced the "bubblegum" method. This involves children s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out the word and attempting to put down on paper the beginning and ending sounds and then filling in the middle. We practiced together, having students write their words as we stretched as a class.

Math Rotations: Students did another rotation through the teen-related centers that they were introduced to yesterday.

Performing Arts: After reading The Mitten several times, we acted out Jan Brett's story. (I apologize in advance for my singing on the video, I drown the kids out and that's truly a shame.)


Red Book Bags: Students who returned Red Bags on Wednesday checked out a new bag this afternoon.

P.E.: Today in P.E. the students did an excellent job in working through a slight drizzle that began while outside. We played a game of "Totally It Tag" with all 39 students. It was very fun and students did an excellent job of freezing when they were tagged.

Lifeskill Awards...and more!

Writer's Workshop: Today most children chose to write about whichever topic they didn't choose on Monday (penguins or snow day).

Math: We worked more with teens today, doing a series of three math centers.
1. Students pull cards and counted the correct number of pieces. - 2. Students rolled the dice and turned that number into a teen, then wrote that number. - 3. Students chose partners and matched number card with the correct number of objects.

Lifeskill Assembly: At today's assembly THREE of our students were honored. Luke recieved recognition for his participation in the Reflections program. Mridula recieved her award for Citizenship. Devin was recognized for displaying this year's lifeskill (Initiative). Students then were awarded an additional fifteen minutes of recess in recognition for their excellent behavior in January.

Science: We created fictional penguins that the students named and colored in an inventive way.

The Birthday Cake

Reader's Workshop: We did an overview of setting, identifying the setting of The Mitten which can be described as outside, in current time, and in Ukraine.

Science: We reviewed the large penguin pictorial and labeled the parts (eyes, beak, tummy, feathers, etc). We did a step by step drawing of a penguin. These will be displayed in the room in an artist showcase and later will be taken down to label scientifically.

The Birthday Cake: After reviewing the staircase pattern in The Birthday Cake we each created our own smaller version of the story. Students pasted already cut pieces of construction paper to illustrate the cakes on pages with the story already printed. After completion they each had a chance to read the story to me. ALL were successful!

Art: Today students completed their January self portraits.

Computer Lab: We used Student Writing Lab again and created signs by adding borders, text, and clip art. Today students learned that the shift key could be used to make the capital letter at the beginning of their name.

Opposites

Read Aloud: We read a non-fiction story about Penguins. After the story the students had some very thoughtful questions about them "What do penguins die from?" and "Are penguins good at diving?"

Writer's Workshop: Half of the class chose to write about Snow Day (and their favorite things that we did) and the other half chose to write about Penguins.

Literacy: We talked about opposites (things that are very different from one another). Students gave examples: big/small, fast/slow, in/out, etc. then completed a worksheet about opposites in The Mitten big/small, old/young, empty, full, cold/warm.

Math: We're beginning to talk about numbers in the teens (11,12,13..) so we completed an ordering exercise using animals from The Mitten that were numbered 11-18. Students were VERY successful and these are currently posted in our classroom.

Library: Mrs. Williams read us Wolf at the Door. This story integrated characters from a variety of fairy tales and nursery rhymes including The Three Little Pigs, Little Bo Peep, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood.

To end our day we colored and applied our Countdown Badge for 6 days until the 100th day of school.

Snow Day!!!

Citizenship Assembly: Our day started with a gathering in the Cafeteria to do the Pledge of Allegiance and recognize our Citizenship award recipients. Mridula was our class's winner, but was absent.

Let's Make A Snowman: We created a little literary book called "Let's Make a Snowman" which involved coloring, cutting and practicing reading through the 7 pages.

Art: We gathered on the carpet to create snowflakes by biting tortillas.. the kids had a great time!

Skiing Olympics: Due to weather the skiing Olympics were moved indoors. We set up brackets and the kids raced their skiers down the "ramp" (table). After many heats, our championship round was Geremy vs. Eva, with Eva taking the victory.


Read Alouds: Mrs. Ponciano read Good Boy, Fergus to the class.

Snowpeople Sundaes: With the help of many parents, our class (along with Miss Ciampa's Class) enjoyed creating and eating "Snowpeople Sundaes" using vanilla ice cream, pretzels, raisins and m&ms.

Snowball Toss: Due to the weather our Kindergarten-wide Snowball Toss became events in each classroom. We used extra handouts that had been saved to crumpled and create our "snowballs". Then children (and some parents) used these snowballs to toss around the classroom.

red yellow blue pink brown green cakes

Read Aloud: This morning we read a big book titled The Birthday Cake. The book contains a small amount of text, following a repetative pattern. "A red cake." and "A yellow cake.".

Math: After reading the story we introduced and created a staircase pattern. The pattern for this book is woven throughout the pages.

Later in the day we practiced putting motions to this pattern and expanded our patterns.

Social Studies: We talked about appropriate clothing for a variety of weathers. We brainstormed articles of clothing that you would wear in the cold weather and the warm weather. Students completed a worksheet which asked them to circle things they would wear in cold weather and then drove a picture on the back of themselves in cold weather clothing.

We finished our Skiers today by attaching the "skis" (tongue depressors) to our skiers. We explored January's "Let's Find Out" about Winter Festivals around the world.

Art: We read Snowballs by Lois Ehert. We used random items that have been collected or accumulated to decorate the snowmen that had previously been finger painted. The result was great! These will go up to decorate our classroom just in time for Snow Day.

Pp is for penguin

Writer's Workshop: During Writer's Workshop we finished our list of characters in The Mitten that was done by interactive writing.

Science: Today, after reading Marcus Pfister's Penguin Pete's we discussed the difference between fictional penguins and real (non-fiction) penguins. We completed a sort using icons of penguins that were both real and fictitious. Students were very successful.

Letter P: We listed things that start with Pp and came up with a long list. Students practiced their Pp penmanship by rainbow tracing.

Second Step: Doing three more cards in our Second Step program we focused on finding out how other people feel by looking at their faces and bodies. Three cards were presented representing three different emotions: happy, sad, and angry. Students were asked to describe what they saw, recreate the emotion, and give an example of a time they felt that way.

Music: Today in music, Miss Cassellini, Mrs. McDonough and myself led the children in a variety of songs including "The Mitten", "I'm a Little Penguin" and "Ten Little Penguins". We also did the Winter Pokey and the Tootie-Ta.

Art: Today, after a short introduction, students drew faces onto their Skiers.

Portrait of MLK Jr.

Reader's Workshop: We will be starting Guided Reading in the next few weeks, so it is important that we practice procedure for Private Reading so that I'll be able to pull individuals and groups to work 1 on 1 with during this time.

Activity: In preparation for Snow Day, today we created our skiers that will compete in the Snow Olympics. Students colored their own individual skiers, completing both the front and recreating the attire on the back to match.

Social Studies: After revisiting some ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. students colored in a portrait of Dr. King. We mounted them and created what appeared to be a wooden frame.

Activity: Since today was the 90th day of school, that leaves only TEN days until the 100th day of school. We colored, cut, and wore our badges that stated "Only 10 More Days". We will do this each day until the February 5th.

Computer Lab: We once again completed a sign today adding borders, our names, and clip art. Each student was able to print their own work and take it home this afternoon.

ALSO, this weekend I made a very exciting purchase!! New cubbies for Room 4. Students will now have easier access to their personal storage space.

No School today

Healthy Play, Licorice, Fire Drills, oh my!

Healthy Play: This morning we had Terri Macma come into our class to lead our students in some Healthy Play activities. To begin, we revisited the reason why we play games (to have FUN) and the most important part of every game (the PEOPLE). Next, we went outside and played a game of "Like Totally it Tag". In this game every person is "it". When they tag another player, that player must freeze or turn into a statue. Once most people are frozen the game is restarted. We played several variations on the game before going back into class.

Literacy: Students, using the inspiration of the "Mittens" book that we've been working on all week, created their own page for our large "Mittens" class book. Their tasks included coloring a pair of matching gloves and then writing the text to accompany them. Together we sounded out and wrote "Mittens with" and then individually I helped students do interactive writing of whatever their page would be.

Math: For math we used fruit loops, paperclips, and pretzels to measure licorice. Before measuring, we practiced estimating how many we thought that it would take, and then recorded the actual result.

Fire Drill: In the afternoon, we had a surprise fire drill. Students did an excellent job quietly walking outside and waiting for instructions. This was a good practice because even the teachers weren't notified beforehand.

Social Studies: After talking about Martin Luther King Jr. this week, we created a peace medallion in his honor. The medallion had on it a dove, which we discussed is a sign of peace (just like Dr. King preached about).

Before going home, we were able to listen to a story from Mrs. Mathur and sing our special version of "Happy Birthday" to Eesha (whose birthday is on Monday).

I hope everyone has a relaxing long weekend. See you on Tuesday!

Magic Rocks, Magic Rocks...

Science: We read a non-fiction book about Penguins and then completed a penguin pictorial where we drew all the important parts of penguins and labeled them like scientists.

Literacy: We completed our last page and the cover of our Mittens book with the text "Now take your mittens and make a pair". Students had to decorate one mitten and replicate it onto the other one.

Social Studies: After reading another story about Martin Luther King and a couple children who participated in one of his marches called A Sweet Smell of Roses

After reading, we talked about how Martin Luther King made it his life to help other people. We brainstormed things that the children could do to help each other, and who they might help. After making a list, children created a card with helping hands on the outside (one traced on beige, one traced on dark brown).

Second Step: We began a new unit on empathy-building called Second Step. This is a series of cards with photos of children with topics to direct discussion around becoming aware of our own and others feelings. Today we talked about how it feels when people listen to each other and ways we can show that we are listening.

Math: In math, we practiced penmanship of the numbers 0-10. Students reviewed our rhymes and then practiced sheets for each number. Most were mastering all numbers, which shows me that they're ready to move on to larger numbers in the teens and twenties.

P.E.: Finally we had sunshine on a Thursday so we were able to go outside and have Physical Education with Miss Ciampa's class. Today we did our laps to warm up, stretched, played an airplane game, and then played Magic Rocks (a game where students impersonate and do animal motions.

How to draw a teddy bear...

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes: For movement, we've been practicing body parts and following directions by singing and doing the kinesthetic movements that go along with "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

Writing PBA: After modeling an example for the students, our quarterly writing assessment was given today. Students were given twenty minutes to complete their illustration and an additional twenty to attempt to spell out (using phonetic clues)

Literacy: After a short lesson on how to draw a teddy bear, students completed the pages in their mitten book with the text "Mittens with teddy bears."

Social Studies: Together, we read Martin's Big Words which was an amazing. It gave an overview of Martin Luther King Jr., his ideology, and some of the events that occured during the Civil Rights movement. After reading the story, we had a discussion about how equality IS important and that the ideals of MLK that we should use words rather than violence.

Music: During music today, Miss Ciampa and Mrs. Robinson led students through songs about Dr. King, The Mitten and the new year.

VIP: Alexa, this week's V.I.P. shared her book and we were able to interview her, asking questions ranging from "What animal would you be" (a zebra) to "What is your favorite color?" (pink and purple and all the colors).

3rd Grade Concert

Writer's Workshop: After rereading Jan Brett's The Mitten we brainstormed and did interactive writing of some of the characters in the story.

Math: Today the students completed their Math Assessment for measurement and comparison. Doing a grab and record, then cutting strips and putting them in order from shortest to longest.

3rd Grade Concert: We attended the 3rd grade concert today, it was GREAT! They have the luxury of having a music instructor from Starting Arts to orchestrate their performance. The students were a great and entertained audience.

Computer Lab: Today we worked in a new program, Student Writing Center. Through step by step instruction, kids selected a border, typed their names and added a graphic before printing their sign. Some need work with the concept of "double-clicking" but for the most part, kids were able to figure the program out and i look forward to them getting more creative as we continue to work in it.

Literacy: We completed two more pages in our "Mittens" book - Mittens with squares. and Mittens with rainbows.

Vision Screening

Jan Brett Books read today: Berlioz the Bear and Armadillo Rodeo

Writer's Workshop: As a follow-up to Friday's lesson about animals, students brainstormed animals that we could stretch out and spell. Together, we spelled "rabbit", "hedgehog" and "bear". Students were asked to independently brainstorm animals and attempt to sound out at least their beginning and ending sounds.

Science: To begin our unit on penguins, we made a chart of things with think we know about penguins. Ideas included "Penguins are birds", "They hold their eggs on their feet" and "They waddle on the ice." It seems like students have a pretty wide base of knowledge with which to start this unit.

Vision Screening: Students met with several school nurses to have their vision screened.

Library: Mrs. Williams read the class The Giant Hug, a touching story about a young pig who wanted to send his grandmother pig a hug through the mail. In a series of hugs, ranging from the post office workers, to the mail sorter, to the truck driver, etc. the hug finally arrives at its' destination.

Math: Today in math we did a practice for our math assessment that we will be completing tomorrow. Students would grab a handful of linking cubes and record on grid paper how many they had. These will then be ordered from shortest to longest to assess how students are grasping measurement and comparisons.

Different animals inhabit the earth...

Science: Today we had a very engaging lesson that introduced the students to our new unit by reinforcing the big idea that "different animals inhabit the earth". We read entries in an Animal Atlas which described 9 different animals (giraffe, camel, eagle, koala, panda, jaguar, etc.) After finding out information about these animals, we placed magnets of them on a large map of the world. After that had been done for all of the animals, students were excused back to their own seats to recreate the map with their own map and smaller pictures of the same animals. Students were hugely successful with this assignment and seemed to really enjoy learning about the animals in the process.

Literacy: We completed another page in our "Mittens" book. Today was "Mittens with smiles."

Art: The second January quilt square, which we completed today, was much more challenging. It involved creating a snowman out of construction paper. The catch? No scissors were used, students were challenged to use tearing as the only means of creating. Some students became frustrated, but all were able to successfully and artistically interpret a snowman on their square, even adding such details as an orange carrot nose, colored buttons, and white snowflakes falling in the background.

Math: We did a count and write exercise with trees and students who finished early were asked to create their own on the back and challenge a friend at their table to count them and record how many.

Friday Funday

Read Aloud: We read a non-fiction story called Zoo that presented several different animals that you would find at a zoo and told about their attributes. The children enjoyed it very much.

You do the Winter Pokey and you turn it all around...

Readers Workshop: Students practiced both Private and Partner reading while trying to identify complete sentences in their books. We will be working on building up the time that students are reading independently as we will be beginning Guided Reading in small group as January comes to a close. This will give students the chance to be instructed at their own level and begin to make more marked progress in Reading.

Writers Workshop: We reviewed what is required to make a sentence - a capital (or "big) letter at the beginning and a period at the end. We wrote a few short sentences on the board "I like you." and "I love cats." and identified the parts that make it a sentence - ex.) the capital Is at the beginning and periods at the end. Then we circled words that make up the sentence. After that, we underlined each letter that makes up the words in the sentence. After practice, students were asked to go back to their seats and practice with their own sentences, creating and marking the sentences the way we had done as a whole class. Most students were successful in doing this task independently or with a small bit of 1-on-1 assistance.

Literacy: We began a week-long literacy project called "Mittens" The book contains various kinds of mittens and each pages contains the phrase "Mittens with _______." For example, today we colored and practiced reading the pages "Mittens with stripes." and "Mittens with dots."

Math: We introduced and practiced forming the number 9. We did rainbow tracing and practiced the poem "Draw a circle, then a line. That's the way to make a nine."

Music: Mrs. McDermott and Mrs. Chiappe led music today, doing the "Winter Pokey" and songs about The Mitten.

Red Mystery Bags: Students who returned their bags after the Winter Break checked out new Mystery Bags. (Just a reminder- the instructions that're in the Mystery Bag need to stay their, please do not remove and leave at home. Thank you)

Happy Birthday Miss Ciampa!

Penmanship: We introduced the letter Aa - formation and created a list of words that start with the letter Aa.

Writers Workshop: After practicing stretching out words, students were given sounds tubs for letters that we've already covered (C, E, D, G, A). They took items, drew the items, and attempted to spell out by identifying as many sounds as they could.

Social Studies: Today we discussed Holidays, watched the accompanying DVDs and reviewed holidays that we'd already celebrated (Thanksgiving, Christopher Columbus Day, etc.) and upcoming ones which we would soon learn more about (Martin Luther King Jr. Day).

As a follow-up to Social Studies, most children chose to create a Happy Birthday card for Miss Ciampa during choice time today. We presented these to her after singing her "Happy Birthday" in passing from Computer Lab.

Math: We reviewed the number 8 and practiced writing it using the poem "Make an S but then don't wait. Up to the top, that makes an 8."

Computer Lab: Today we completed more exercises on the Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten program in the Computer Lab.

Science: We focused on the sense of Touch - discriminating between things that are HOT and things that are COLD. Students cut, colored, and sorted objects. This was a very successful exercise and students seemed to really grasp the concept.

Happy Birthday Rosie!

Math: Measuring with non-standard units - we used pipe cleaners to find objects around the classroom, measure, and record their length. We also introduced the concept of 1/2 as many of the items were one and a half pipe cleaners long.

Science: We concluded our study of the five senses today by matching up the words "hear, see, taste, touch, smell" with pictures of an eye, ear, nose, tongue, hand. Students were very successful and we will follow up with these concepts throughout the year.

Library: Today during Library students learned to use shelf markers to choose library books off of the shelves to check out (rather than those previously selected by Mrs. Williams)

Before lunch we sang our special version of Happy Birthday to Rosie!

Art: After reading a story about snowflakes, we used paper folding and cutting to create snowflakes to decorate the classroom. Some students creativity was really sparked, and as soon as then go up it will really brighten up the room.

In 2008, I want to...

Friday was a fun day in Room 4.

We started our morning talking about New Years Resolutions. After sharing ideas for resolutions, students worked on writing their own resolutions and illustrating. (These are being made into a class book which will be coming home starting on Monday)

In Math we did an investigation measuring using paperclips as the non-standard unit of measure. The students were very successful and made accurate measurements.

I want to extend lots of thanks to the special visitors who joined us later in the afternoon to celebrate my birthday. It was a lovely surprise.

So this is the new year..

Today was an excellent first day back, off to a great start.

Writers Workshop: We started the morning with a class discussion about our Winter Breaks, including trips taken, gifts received and people that time was spent with. After our discussion concluded students were asked to make an entry in their Sourcebook surrounding this topic.

Science: In Science we reviewed the 5 Senses and completed a worksheet about things that we saw, smelt, heard, tasted, and touched in December.

Math: We began our unit on measurement using linking cubes to measure various items around the classroom from a student's height to a colored pencil. Over the next month we will be exploring and comparing with various other units of measure.

Throughout the day, we were reminded of classroom routines and procedures. With this fresh start, I am urging children to use best judgment, and treat each other with kindness and respect.