Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Thursday's Field Trip

     The theater company has cancelled Thursday's performance.  Our field trip will be rescheduled for a later date.  I hope everyone is enjoying the snow!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Monday, January 19, 2015

Projects

     Boy!  Did the time lines come out FANTASTIC!  They all really did come out great and it was fun to watch the children present them to the class.  It was very clear that they were excited about their projects.  I thought I had a picture to post but it disappeared from my phone.  Stay tuned for that.

     We have been reading lots of great things in class.  First, we are in the middle of reading The Littles Go Exploring.  The Littles have set off down the brook looking for Grandpa.  They accidentally found a group of Brook Tinies who invited them for lunch and told them they have seen Grandpa.  The Brook Tinies warned the Littles that it was dangerous to continue down the river but the Littles decided to keep on going.  They want to find out what happened to Grandpa.

     We also have read two non-fiction books.  One about Buddy the first seeing eye dog and another about Penguins.  We have been reading Tacky the Penguin books too.  Tacky is an "odd bird but a good bird to have around".  Ask your child to tell you more about him.

     This up coming week will be fun.  Last week, I went to a day long workshop on science.  It was FUN!  This week I plan on sharing the owl pellets.  I have two already dissected and one ready to go. We had hoped to check them out on Friday but time got the better of us so I PROMISED we'd do it on Tuesday.  I know they are excited about them.  There were lots of disappointed faces on Friday.

     We are starting our animal diorama projects this week.  Directions will come home tomorrow but basically, the students pick an animal to research, answer questions on, and create a diorama about.  A diorama is a scene in a shoe box.  Ideally, each student will pick a different animal so we can learn from each other's projects.  On Thursday, the children will have the opportunity to check out books about animals from library to aide in their research.  Start thinking about what animal you'd like to choose.  Remember, this is your child's project and I know you'll have to help but the diorama does not need to look like it belongs in the Museum of Fine Arts. ( I'll search for some pictures from last year to share-stay tuned for that too.)

     I'm feel as though I haven't been posting as much as I'd like.  I will be completing my Retell course this week.  It's a course all teachers must take in order to renew their certification.  I've been taking it since Sept. and it isn't hard but it is LABOR INTENSIVE.  It ends this week-whoop whoop.  I know you all feel me when I say I don't have a spare second in my life (does any parent?).  So fitting this course in has been a nightmare challenge.  I should be back to my old (but still overbooked) life by Friday-YIPEE!

Friday, January 9, 2015

Timelines

     Today, I sent home a timeline project.  It is not due until next Friday but I thought that some students may want to get a start on the weekend when they may have more time.  We have created a few timelines in class, one on Martin Luther King and one on Miss Nicole, so the process is familiar to your child.  Make them colorful.  I will use them to decorate the hallway.  Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Happy 2015

     Happy New Year everyone one.   I hope your winter break was full of fun and you're ready to start a wonderful 2015!!! 

     We wrote our resolutions for the New Year.  Let's hope we all try our best to make ourselves or our world better.  We also wrote about our vacations and winter.

     We are off and running this week.  We are reading all different things.  Some students are reading about Buddy and some about a Principal from the Black Lagoon.  We are all reading about The Littles.  They are heading out on an adventure to find Grandpa.

   In math, we have been working on some geometry and measurement.  We found the perimeter of squares and rectangles today.  Did you know that all squares are rectangles?  As your child to explain to you why this is so. 

     Our field trip to the theater is on January 29.  There may have been an incorrect date on a previous notice so please mark you calendar accordingly.

     This Friday is Patriot's Day.  Wear red, white and blue to help cheer our beloved football team to victory.  I'm pretty sure that Derek and Jason will have football jerseys on but for different teams.  For some crazy reason they never root, root, root for the home team.