So...I think I might have the SWEETEST class ever!! :)

I've been under the weather for the last couple of weeks with a cold. The kids have been really patient with me and have been my helpers. I thought I might be finally starting to feel better, but I came to school today with a hoarse throat. The kids noticed right away and were encouraging each other to be good listeners.

At recess, I noticed two boys coloring very quietly (this does not happen often! ha!). At the end of recess, they each gave me a get well soon note. So sweet!!

Math In Focus Videos for Parents

I was sent a link for parents to access information about Math In Focus. This website includes videos for all grade levels, and shows parents ways they can help their children with homework. This information is VERY valuable (especially for number bonds!!!), so I thought I would pass it along. :)

http://www.hmheducation.com/singaporemathk5/helping-your-child.php

Banana Split Challenge!!!

We recently began a "banana split challenge" as a class. :) I'm sure you are wondering what this is all about!! Here are the rules...

Everyday, my students have one minute to complete as many addition or subtraction as they can. Every child starts with addition and then moves to subtraction. They begin with 0's, 1's, 2's, etc. until they have mastered addition to 10. They are allowed to work on their addition/subtraction sheet as many days in a row as needed until they are able to finish the sheet. One the page is complete, I grade it and they must score a 45/50 to move to the next number. They have a picture of a banana split in their folder and they are allowed to color the numbers that they have passed. Once every child has passed addition AND subtraction to 10, we will have a banana split party!!!!! :)

The great thing about this challenge is that it is ongoing. Even though they have a time limit each day, they can work on the same number as long as they need to until they are able to finish it. Also, they problems they get incorrect are allowed to be fixed so they can move on. My students are working at their own pace and do not feel the time crunch because they are allowed to keep trying until they pass that number. :)  I also keep track of their progress on individual banana split cards on the back of our door.

Please continue to encourage them at home with addition and subtraction. We are all looking forward to the banana split party!! :)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

We have been learning about the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. this week because of the holiday. My students learned the important work he did and also why we celebrate his birthday. To help them fully understand his belief that all people should be treated the same, we did a little experiment!

We began the experiment with 2 eggs. One egg was brown and the other egg was white. The kids looked at the eggs and told me how they were the same and how they were different.

Then I asked them to think about what they might find on the inside of the egg.  I was very surprised to find that the majority of my class thought that the two eggs would look different on the inside. To test their predictions, we cracked them!! They were very surprised to learn that both eggs look the same on the inside!

We discussed that the eggs that we saw were very similar to people. The shell of the egg is similar to our skin. We discussed how we all look different from each other because we have different skin colors. Then we talked about the inside of the egg. The kids were very sweet and made the connection that all people are the same on the inside, just like the two different eggs. :)

Just a Friendly Reminder!!

I just wanted to remind everyone that we cannot have any peanuts or peanut products in our classroom. If you are sending in a treat from home, please make sure it does not contain any peanuts. Thanks so much for your help with this matter!

Thanksgiving Activities

Wow! We had such a great "week" before Thanksgiving! Instead of flexibly grouping for reading, we decided to keep our homeroom classes so they could participate in some fun Thanksgiving activities. Here are a few things we did:

1. Learned about the meaning of Thanksgiving!

We watched a brainpop video and read some Thanksgiving books to learn the true meaning of the holiday.  We also created "The First Thanksgiving" diorama where students showed how the pilgrims and Native Americans ate the first harvest feast. We also wrote the meaning of Thanksgiving on the back of the diorama so they could share it with their relatives over the holiday. My students were so excited to share their dioramas with their family members!

If you look really close, you will notice with "corn field" in front of the house. So creative and thoughtful!

2. Run, Turkey, Run!!

We read a story called, "Run, Turkey, Run!" where the story of Thanksgiving was told through the perspective of the turkey. My students pretended that they were turkeys and had to persuade people not to eat them for Thanksgiving. They wrote reasons that they should not be eaten (i.e. "I taste bad", "I am disguised as another animal", "I might claw your belly after you eat me"). They were very creative and didn't even realize they were writing a persuasive piece! So fun!!

3. Wrote "I'm Thankful For Letters"

Part of the goal for Thanksgiving is to teach students to be thankful.  As a class, we generated a list of things they are thankful for and wrote them down on paper. They are helping and encouraging each other to come up with all sorts of things to be thankful for. Then, we wrote letters to each other/family members telling them what they were thankful for. It is amazing to see how grateful they were for all of their "blessings"!

4. Pumpkin Pie!!

To end our Thanksgiving unit, we concluded the day with pumpkin pie in a bag. We read the directions on the recipe and made the pumpkin pie in groups of four. Each group was given a Ziploc bag with vanilla pudding mix. We added milk, pumpkin pie filling, and some spices to make our treat. Each student got a turn squeezing the bag to mix all of the ingredients together. Then, each student was given a cup with crushed graham crackers. Each student was squeezed some pumpkin pie in their cup and topped it off with whipped cream. So yummy!!!! The kids loved it so much that they asked for seconds! I printed the recipe and sent it home with the kids to make at home! :)

Thank you to all of the parents who donated items for our pumpkin pie treat! I am so thankful for such amazing parents who are willing to donate time/resources to make special memories for my students. I appreciate you very much!

I love the look on their faces! It was definitely a little squishy!!!

So yummy! :)

I think Cameran and Logan enjoyed their treat!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Owl Pellets!!!

After learning about many types of habitats and life cycles of animals, our class focused on food chains last week. They learned about how energy transfers and how animals need each other and plants to survive. They even briefly learned fancy terms like herbivore and carnivore (these terms aren't perfected yet though!). On Thursday, the kids made their own food chains where they started with either the sun or a plant and finished with a larger animal. On Friday, they learned how life cycles really work with a hands-on experiment. We actually dissected owl pellets!! For those of you that do not know about owl pellets...here is brief description:
1. The owl eats an animal whole (mouse, snake, etc.).
2. After 3-6 hours, all of the "meat" from the animal has been digested.
3. The owl "coughs up" a small pellet of fur and bones.

Groups of three or four were given an owl pellet and some popsicle sticks to use for the dissection process. They separated the bones from the fur, and made predictions about what type of animal they think the bones came from. It was an awesome experiment because they actually got to see many different types of animal bones! Check out our pictures!

Look how engaged they are with dissecting! So much fun!

This group separated all of the bones and fur.

Here is an up close and personal shot of the dissection process!



THANK YOU to Mr. Lynn and Mrs. Mendez for volunteering to help me for the dissection.  The kids did a wonderful job, but I definitely couldn't have done it without volunteers!

Character Day!!

Wow!! We had an AWESOME day!! We started our day off with a Halloween inspired read aloud, and then the kids enjoyed sharing their "character costumes" with the whole school. Each primary class took turns walking in the hallways for other students to see their book and character outfit. We really enjoyed all of the creative costumes! At the end of the day, each child in my class shared their favorite book and explained their costume. We had some very imaginative costumes!! They also shared the plot of their book and some character traits (of course we had to sneak some language arts in there too!!). Here are a few pictures....

We stared the day with a "Halloween" read aloud. The character in the story was a 50 foot teacher! Yikes!!

Look how sweet these girls are!! Of course they are dressed as princesses and Junie B.!

Aren't they so cute?

We had a REAL mummy in our class today!!!

"I Love You Stinky Face", "Three Musketeers", "Spiderman", and "Ladybug Girl".

These are two of my favorites! Logan even looks like Waldo! So cute!

We ended the day with a class picture. And, yes, I dressed up too (I was the grouchy ladybug)!! We had so much fun!

Math: Shapes and Patterns

This week we have been working on plane shapes (2D) and solid shapes (3D). My students have learned the names of many plane and solid shapes. We have been identifying plane and solid shapes in our classroom and world around us. For example, our clock is a cirlce and our pencil sharpener is a rectangular prism. Quiz your child to see what plane and solid shapes they can find in your house!!!

 

They even made models with solid figures! Look at this creative castle!

We played a review game yesterday called, "Hullabaloo". I put many types of plane shapes and solid figures on the floor. The kids walked in a line around the shapes while the music was playing. When the music stopped, I gave them a direction and they had to find the shape with those characteristics.

Example: Find a shape with no corners or edges...They stood on a circle or sphere. We had a blast!

         

"Find a shape with four sides and four corners."

Our test on shapes and patterns is tomorrow!!! :)







Parent Teacher Conferences

Please do not forget to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences. I am using a new website to schedule conferences this year. You can view all of the available times and sign up for an appointment. I am very excited to meet with all of you and discuss your child's progress!

http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/9723456347209980125

**If these times do not work for you, please email me and I will try to accommodate your schedule. Thanks!