We had a New Year’s celebration today. There were 4 centers. Each one was 15 minutes long. We made gingerbread men, gingerbread houses, snowflakes, and suncatchers. Stephen thought it was fun making the gingerbread people because we got to eat them. Nancy liked making the gingerbread house because it was fun putting the candy decorations on. Lots of people were doing a lot of snacking as they worked! We got snacks and drinks. We all got champagne glasses filled with bubbly punch and also hot chocolate. Ms. Stern made a toast. Then cleaned up and counted down from 10. When we got to 1 we shouted “Happy New Year” because we pretended like it was midnight on January 1st, 2010. There were fireworks on the Smartboard. Ms. Stern was wearing bunny slippers. Almost everyone wore their pajamas, including Sarah and Arlo’s moms!
Adam’s mom came and she taught us about Hanukkah, the holiday that his family celebrates. She read us a book called Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah. It was about a spider who wanted to spin a dreidel but “Spiders don’t spin dreidels, they spin webs!” Then we learned how to play the dreidel game. You spin a dreidel. Each side means something: gimel-get everything, shin-put everything in the pot, hay-get half, and nun-nothing happens. Everyone got a dreidel to keep. Next, we ate a snack of latkes with applesauce and a jelly doughnut (munchkin). Anthony D. liked the doughnut the most. Emma, Sarah, and Lauria liked the latkes the most. Before we went to gym, Adam’s mom gave us chocolate coins called gelt.
At the end of the day, people had a choice to read from their book bags or write. Some people also shopped for new books. While we were working, Ms. Stern gave us New Year’s gifts to use in 2010.
Be on the lookout for the Flat Stanleys, time capsules, and special gifts to be sent home next week!
Here’s a note from our class parents:
Dear Parents,
Thank you all so much for your enormous help during the Holiday Party today and for all of the party/craft donations. You each pitched in to make our party a big hit with the kids! It was so helpful to have you take over the stations and keep things moving along. Your help with setting up, crafting, handing out food and clean up is greatly appreciated!
Happy Holidays,
Lenora and Evan
Class Coordinators
I second that! Thank you so much for your contributions of materials and time. A great time was had by all! Have a terrific weekend and enjoy the snow!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
December Wordle
Click on the image below to see our December Wordle, made by brainstorming different December words. The bigger the word, the more times it was written by children in our class! What can we infer (figure out) by looking at the Wordle? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
We read a few more Robert Munsch stories this morning. They are SO funny!
Next, we worked on another piece of writing for our time capsules. It was all about our favorites (places, people, movies, etc.). We can’t wait to decorate our time capsules tomorrow!
Stephen’s mom came in. She told us that every year her family makes ornaments to put on the tree and that we were going to make ornaments or necklaces using push pins. She brought Charlie Brown music with her. Everyone had a chance to dance like the characters.
After that, we started our craft. Stephen’s mom showed us different ornaments that Stephen and his brother and sister made. Next, we chose the type of decorations that we were going to use: snowflakes or Christmas objects. We had to take a straight pin and put it through the decoration and into a Styrofoam ball. 
The decorations were shiny and looked very pretty! Emma made a Christmas ornament. Lauria made a snowflake necklace. 
Drew chose a snowflake necklace. Sasha thought the activity was awesome!
When people finished with the craft, we read Robert Munsch books alone or with groups.
We had Library today. We talked about needs and wants. A need is something necessary to survive. Needs are things like a house, healthy food, clothes, and water. A want is something that you don’t need in order to survive. Junk food, video games, Barbie dolls, computers, and phones are all wants. We watched a short video on Brainpop Jr. and then sorted objects on the Smartboard.
Then we split into groups. One group went on the computer to practice more with needs and wants and the other group went for book exchange. Then we switched. 
We went to P.E. and we went to different centers. We moved counter-clockwise in a circle. Some people went to Cowabunga, the clown game, soccer, football, basketball, ping pong, the snowman, golf, and the ring toss. Anthony D.’s favorite was Cowabunga. Victoria’s favorite was soccer because her dad teaches soccer.
After specials, we came back to the classroom and talked about December traditions. Ms. Stern made a space for all of us to share our special events and activities that we do with our families. http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/sternwos Everyone is asked to continue adding other traditions. There is no need to register or sign in. All you have to do is double click on the background, type in the box, insert your name at the top of the box, and click the green ok button at the bottom. Leave as many as you'd like and then come back later to read others' responses!
We continued working on a surprise gift for our parents. It has to do with the seasons. Can you guess what it might be?
Next, we worked on another piece of writing for our time capsules. It was all about our favorites (places, people, movies, etc.). We can’t wait to decorate our time capsules tomorrow!
Stephen’s mom came in. She told us that every year her family makes ornaments to put on the tree and that we were going to make ornaments or necklaces using push pins. She brought Charlie Brown music with her. Everyone had a chance to dance like the characters.
After that, we started our craft. Stephen’s mom showed us different ornaments that Stephen and his brother and sister made. Next, we chose the type of decorations that we were going to use: snowflakes or Christmas objects. We had to take a straight pin and put it through the decoration and into a Styrofoam ball. The decorations were shiny and looked very pretty! Emma made a Christmas ornament. Lauria made a snowflake necklace. Drew chose a snowflake necklace. Sasha thought the activity was awesome!When people finished with the craft, we read Robert Munsch books alone or with groups.
We had Library today. We talked about needs and wants. A need is something necessary to survive. Needs are things like a house, healthy food, clothes, and water. A want is something that you don’t need in order to survive. Junk food, video games, Barbie dolls, computers, and phones are all wants. We watched a short video on Brainpop Jr. and then sorted objects on the Smartboard.
Then we split into groups. One group went on the computer to practice more with needs and wants and the other group went for book exchange. Then we switched. We went to P.E. and we went to different centers. We moved counter-clockwise in a circle. Some people went to Cowabunga, the clown game, soccer, football, basketball, ping pong, the snowman, golf, and the ring toss. Anthony D.’s favorite was Cowabunga. Victoria’s favorite was soccer because her dad teaches soccer.After specials, we came back to the classroom and talked about December traditions. Ms. Stern made a space for all of us to share our special events and activities that we do with our families. http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/sternwos Everyone is asked to continue adding other traditions. There is no need to register or sign in. All you have to do is double click on the background, type in the box, insert your name at the top of the box, and click the green ok button at the bottom. Leave as many as you'd like and then come back later to read others' responses!
We continued working on a surprise gift for our parents. It has to do with the seasons. Can you guess what it might be?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
We had a bus assembly and bus drill this morning. Ms. Carr and Mrs. Polansky talked to us about being safe on the bus. Charlie and Zelda were there too. We reviewed the Golden Bus rules. Some buses received the Golden Bus Award. These buses and children were awarded the Golden Bus Award in our class: Sasha and Emma (bats), Amanda (turkeys), Dylan M., Meaghan, and Adam (clovers) and Hunter (snowflakes). Sasha thought it felt really cool getting the award, especially since she got it last year too! Then the P.T.A. presented us with new indoor and outdoor recess equipment that was paid for with Box Tops for Education money. After the assembly we went on a bus. Anthony D.’s mom talked to us about bus safety and how to use the emergency exits. Everyone got to practice hopping off the back of the bus, including Ms. Stern!
We read two more Robert Munsch books. We discovered that his books have a problem that doesn’t get solved right away. We also figured out that the main characters are always kids. His books are so silly!
Miss Harding talked to us about the weather. We looked at pictures and asked us to guess the season. She read us a book called The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We thought about different activities that we enjoy having to do with snow. We wrote and drew about them on mitten paper. People wrote about snowball fights, sledding, building snowmen and igloos, and making snow angels.
Dr. Sarah came to our class to talk to us about teeth. She is a dentist and also Ms. Eyer’s daughter. She talked about the proper way to brush teeth. For example, you can brush in circles or up and down but not side to side because it can damage the gums between your teeth. Hunter learned not to use his floss like a saw because it could make your gums bleed. Drew learned that baby teeth fall out because adult teeth push them out from underneath. Nancy learned to protect your teeth with mouth guards if you play contact sports so that your teeth don’t get hurt.
In art we tried to finish up our tissue paper collages. When we are finished we are going to turn them into abstract art. Lauria added more tissue paper to her collage. Some people just started today and they were able to finish!
During Writer’s Workshop, we continued to look for extra “and”s and tried to make sure that we told enough “what”s in our stories. Eesha worked on adding a good ending and shared her story with the class before it was time for dismissal.
Lots of children brought in their time capsules today. If you haven’t sent it in yet, please make sure that all materials are in on Monday!
Have a fantastic weekend! Stay warm!
We read two more Robert Munsch books. We discovered that his books have a problem that doesn’t get solved right away. We also figured out that the main characters are always kids. His books are so silly!
Miss Harding talked to us about the weather. We looked at pictures and asked us to guess the season. She read us a book called The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We thought about different activities that we enjoy having to do with snow. We wrote and drew about them on mitten paper. People wrote about snowball fights, sledding, building snowmen and igloos, and making snow angels.
Dr. Sarah came to our class to talk to us about teeth. She is a dentist and also Ms. Eyer’s daughter. She talked about the proper way to brush teeth. For example, you can brush in circles or up and down but not side to side because it can damage the gums between your teeth. Hunter learned not to use his floss like a saw because it could make your gums bleed. Drew learned that baby teeth fall out because adult teeth push them out from underneath. Nancy learned to protect your teeth with mouth guards if you play contact sports so that your teeth don’t get hurt.
In art we tried to finish up our tissue paper collages. When we are finished we are going to turn them into abstract art. Lauria added more tissue paper to her collage. Some people just started today and they were able to finish!
During Writer’s Workshop, we continued to look for extra “and”s and tried to make sure that we told enough “what”s in our stories. Eesha worked on adding a good ending and shared her story with the class before it was time for dismissal.
Lots of children brought in their time capsules today. If you haven’t sent it in yet, please make sure that all materials are in on Monday!
Have a fantastic weekend! Stay warm!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
We had a 2 hour delay today! Sasha slept late. So did Dylan A. and Nancy. Emma was playing a Nick Jr. game on the computer. When we got to school, everyone wanted to know if we were having snack. (We didn’t.)
We read a few Robert Munsch stories today. We are practicing reading like storytellers. Good readers sound like they are talking and not reading. Great readers read with expression. Readers who read like storytellers use different voices. Some parts are softer and others are louder. They act out the book and sometimes pretend. The reader’s voice matches the words in the book and the events taking place.
Now that we’ve wrapped up our number sense math unit, we are talking about how numbers go together. Today we made number quilts. We had to make the number 5 using 2 colors. Before we started working, Ms. Stern asked us to think about how we learn best. We had choices about how we were going to work, what our papers looked like, and what type of materials we needed. Some people used color tiles and others didn’t. Some people had open space on their papers and others had boxes. We chose crayons or markers. Before we went to music, Ms. Stern asked us to think about our observations about the lesson:
· The room was quiet. –Jacob
· Everyone was working. –Nancy
· I could think of 6 ways to make 5. –Adam
· People came up with different amounts. –Lauria
· People had different papers. –Stephen
Then we thought about ourselves as math students:
I was paying attention and thinking as hard as I could. –Victoria
In math, you can add up numbers with other numbers. –Sarah
I draw very good. –Anthony D.
I could think of all different ways to make 5. -Adam
In Writer’s Workshop, we continued working on our personal narrative stories. Ms. Stern gave us a few reminders about our writing time:
No drinks or bathroom breaks
Use the materials at your own table
Throw away pens that don’t work anymore. No one else can use a dried out pen either!
Clean up your space when you are done
Everyone got started reviewing their work. We’re going to get ready to edit and fancy up our work again soon for publishing so Ms. Stern asked us to work on stories already in our folders instead of starting new ones. Adam reminded us that “When you’re done, you’ve just begun!” Some people continued to work on their words and others were helping tell their stories through their pictures. At the end of the period Jacob, Stephen, Emma, and Sasha shared their stories.
Speaking of writing…Ms. Stern got a surprise email yesterday! It was from someone she didn’t know and it said:
Dear Ms. Stern,
I just read your classroom blog. Very interesting! I was so happy to learn that you all read Punctuation Takes a Vacation! I hope your class's punctuation is behaving.
Say hello and happy holidays to everyone! (You can see I like exclamation points.)
Robin Pulver
www.robinpulver.com
The author of Punctuation Takes a Vacation emailed us! Can you believe it? Lucky for us, we’re doing LOTS of work these days to make sure that punctuation stays right where it belongs!
We read a few Robert Munsch stories today. We are practicing reading like storytellers. Good readers sound like they are talking and not reading. Great readers read with expression. Readers who read like storytellers use different voices. Some parts are softer and others are louder. They act out the book and sometimes pretend. The reader’s voice matches the words in the book and the events taking place.
Now that we’ve wrapped up our number sense math unit, we are talking about how numbers go together. Today we made number quilts. We had to make the number 5 using 2 colors. Before we started working, Ms. Stern asked us to think about how we learn best. We had choices about how we were going to work, what our papers looked like, and what type of materials we needed. Some people used color tiles and others didn’t. Some people had open space on their papers and others had boxes. We chose crayons or markers. Before we went to music, Ms. Stern asked us to think about our observations about the lesson:
· The room was quiet. –Jacob
· Everyone was working. –Nancy
· I could think of 6 ways to make 5. –Adam
· People came up with different amounts. –Lauria
· People had different papers. –Stephen
Then we thought about ourselves as math students:
I was paying attention and thinking as hard as I could. –Victoria
In math, you can add up numbers with other numbers. –Sarah
I draw very good. –Anthony D.
I could think of all different ways to make 5. -Adam
In Writer’s Workshop, we continued working on our personal narrative stories. Ms. Stern gave us a few reminders about our writing time:
No drinks or bathroom breaks
Use the materials at your own table
Throw away pens that don’t work anymore. No one else can use a dried out pen either!
Clean up your space when you are done
Everyone got started reviewing their work. We’re going to get ready to edit and fancy up our work again soon for publishing so Ms. Stern asked us to work on stories already in our folders instead of starting new ones. Adam reminded us that “When you’re done, you’ve just begun!” Some people continued to work on their words and others were helping tell their stories through their pictures. At the end of the period Jacob, Stephen, Emma, and Sasha shared their stories.
Speaking of writing…Ms. Stern got a surprise email yesterday! It was from someone she didn’t know and it said:
Dear Ms. Stern,
I just read your classroom blog. Very interesting! I was so happy to learn that you all read Punctuation Takes a Vacation! I hope your class's punctuation is behaving.
Say hello and happy holidays to everyone! (You can see I like exclamation points.)
Robin Pulver
www.robinpulver.com
The author of Punctuation Takes a Vacation emailed us! Can you believe it? Lucky for us, we’re doing LOTS of work these days to make sure that punctuation stays right where it belongs!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
We had a spelling pre-test. This week’s words have blends at the end. We discovered that some of them can be at the beginning of words too. Ms. Stern gave us clues. We had to spell the word that we thought it was on the person in front of us. Stephen thought it tickled so badly!
The children in the class helped Ms. Stern with her journal writing. She had lots of great ideas but only 1 period at the very end. Everyone helped her figure out where complete thoughts and ideas ended and marked them with a period at each spot. Then we made sure that each sentence began with an upper case letter.
In music, we made scarves dance to music from the Nutcracker. We made figure eights. They are also called sideways eights or infinity symbols. At the end of the song, we threw them up in the air and caught them. Arlo really liked when we shook the scarves. Lauria liked when we threw them up and caught them.
Ms. Stern read a book called Punctuation Takes a Vacation. It’s about a class where all different types of punctuation are sent away to Take a Break Lake. While they are gone, they write letters to the children in their class. The class discovers how important punctuation is. During Writer’s Workshop, we were trying really hard not to let punctuation escape our classroom! We looked our work over in search of spots where we forgot them.
The children in the class helped Ms. Stern with her journal writing. She had lots of great ideas but only 1 period at the very end. Everyone helped her figure out where complete thoughts and ideas ended and marked them with a period at each spot. Then we made sure that each sentence began with an upper case letter.
In music, we made scarves dance to music from the Nutcracker. We made figure eights. They are also called sideways eights or infinity symbols. At the end of the song, we threw them up in the air and caught them. Arlo really liked when we shook the scarves. Lauria liked when we threw them up and caught them.
Ms. Stern read a book called Punctuation Takes a Vacation. It’s about a class where all different types of punctuation are sent away to Take a Break Lake. While they are gone, they write letters to the children in their class. The class discovers how important punctuation is. During Writer’s Workshop, we were trying really hard not to let punctuation escape our classroom! We looked our work over in search of spots where we forgot them.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
This morning we played Guess My Word. Everyone sat on the blue rug so that they could face the word wall. Ms. Stern gave us 2 clues about a word. We made a first guess, finding a word on the word wall that fit the clues. Then she gave us another clue. We got a second chance to figure out the word. Sometimes people got the word correct on the first try! After that, we took our spelling test. Lauria, Eesha, Emma, Sasha, Dylan A., Hunter, and Dylan got the sentence correct this week.
Four children read with Ms. Stern today. All four children were ready to move to different book baskets. Drew felt really good. He thinks his mom is going to be really happy. Hunter was really excited because he moved two levels!
We played Detective. One person has to go over to Coach Steingasser. Coach Hudson calls someone else to be the leader. Everyone else copies the person that Coach called. If the Detective guesses correctly on the first try, that person gets to press the “Easy” button. Coach showed us a tree stump that was 28 year olds. They cut it down in an Enrichment group. The children in the group counted the rings and discovered that the tree was 28 years old.
Ms. Stern read us a book called Zelda and Ivy the Runaways. It was a chapter book that is about two foxes that wanted to run away because their parents kept giving them cucumber sandwiches but they didn’t like them at all. In one chapter it told about them running away (in their backyards). In the second chapter, they made time capsules. Ivy included her favorite doll. Zelda put in her lucky jewel. After a while, they couldn’t stand not having their prize possessions so they took them back and put in a story they wrote instead. In the third chapter, Zelda wanted to write a poem for her grandma. She had writer’s block so Ivy and her friend Eugene made a secret concoction to cure her writer’s block. It worked! The potion worked and Zelda decided to make a drawing for her grandma instead. We found out that we are going to make our own time capsules in school. Ms. Stern sent home a note today explaining what is needed for this project.
Ms. Eyer surprised us by showing up during Writer’s Workshop. Sasha thinks she stopped by to say hi because she misses us. Emma figures it was because she hasn’t seen us in a long time.
There are lots of projects and activities coming up. Be on the lookout for:
-time capsules: please send in the materials by next Friday (12/11). They will be sent home prior to vacation and should be put in a safe place until 2019!
-Flat Stanley: after finishing Jeff Brown’s book, the children are going to be creating their own flat selves to be mailed to friends or family members near or far. Please start thinking about who or where you’d like your flat person to visit. These will also be sent home before the break.
-New Year’s Celebration: our New Year’s themed party will take place on Friday 12/18 at 9:30 a.m. All parents are invited to attend.
-School photos: picture retakes will be on Tuesday for those that are interested. Please remember to return the photos that you received. I have replacement order forms for those that need them.
-Meals on Wheels: The covered cupboard letter and contents were posted on the blog earlier this week. They will be collected on Monday, December 21st.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Four children read with Ms. Stern today. All four children were ready to move to different book baskets. Drew felt really good. He thinks his mom is going to be really happy. Hunter was really excited because he moved two levels!
We played Detective. One person has to go over to Coach Steingasser. Coach Hudson calls someone else to be the leader. Everyone else copies the person that Coach called. If the Detective guesses correctly on the first try, that person gets to press the “Easy” button. Coach showed us a tree stump that was 28 year olds. They cut it down in an Enrichment group. The children in the group counted the rings and discovered that the tree was 28 years old.
Ms. Stern read us a book called Zelda and Ivy the Runaways. It was a chapter book that is about two foxes that wanted to run away because their parents kept giving them cucumber sandwiches but they didn’t like them at all. In one chapter it told about them running away (in their backyards). In the second chapter, they made time capsules. Ivy included her favorite doll. Zelda put in her lucky jewel. After a while, they couldn’t stand not having their prize possessions so they took them back and put in a story they wrote instead. In the third chapter, Zelda wanted to write a poem for her grandma. She had writer’s block so Ivy and her friend Eugene made a secret concoction to cure her writer’s block. It worked! The potion worked and Zelda decided to make a drawing for her grandma instead. We found out that we are going to make our own time capsules in school. Ms. Stern sent home a note today explaining what is needed for this project.
Ms. Eyer surprised us by showing up during Writer’s Workshop. Sasha thinks she stopped by to say hi because she misses us. Emma figures it was because she hasn’t seen us in a long time.
There are lots of projects and activities coming up. Be on the lookout for:
-time capsules: please send in the materials by next Friday (12/11). They will be sent home prior to vacation and should be put in a safe place until 2019!
-Flat Stanley: after finishing Jeff Brown’s book, the children are going to be creating their own flat selves to be mailed to friends or family members near or far. Please start thinking about who or where you’d like your flat person to visit. These will also be sent home before the break.
-New Year’s Celebration: our New Year’s themed party will take place on Friday 12/18 at 9:30 a.m. All parents are invited to attend.
-School photos: picture retakes will be on Tuesday for those that are interested. Please remember to return the photos that you received. I have replacement order forms for those that need them.
-Meals on Wheels: The covered cupboard letter and contents were posted on the blog earlier this week. They will be collected on Monday, December 21st.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December 1, 2009
Ms. Stern started reading Flat Stanley. Stanley became flat when a bulletin board fell on him as he slept. That’s how he got his name!
During Reader’s Workshop, we practiced reading smoothly and NOT like a robot! Good reading sounds like a person who is speaking. Robot reading is slow and sounds like there are lots of periods in between each of the words. To make robot reading sound better, we practice and rereading!
We played a few math games today. The first was a matching game that showed number words (one, two, three…). We had to match the word with the correct number of objects that went along with it. It was a piece of cake! We continued playing Toss and Make. We also played a game of Turkey Takeaway. Some people thought they discovered different strategies. Eesha realized that the last row was really important in figuring out who the winner was. Stephen played against Ms. Stern. Stephen won! Together, we realized which turkey is the one to get in order to win.
We played freeze dance and used the instruments. Everyone got different ones. We used them to go along with rhymes that Mrs. Fox recited. We also did the dances for Chihuahua and the Macarena from the Dance Festival last year.
During Writer’s Workshop we shared what good writing should include. Good writing includes:
·events or memories about things that have happened to us
·words and pictures that match
·dialogue (what people were saying)
·feelings and examples
·a good beginning (when, who, where)
·a strong ending
·at least 3 "what"s
·multiple pages
·a story and not a list
·spacing, legible handwriting, punctuation
·your best spelling
Everyone continued to work on their writing.
During Reader’s Workshop, we practiced reading smoothly and NOT like a robot! Good reading sounds like a person who is speaking. Robot reading is slow and sounds like there are lots of periods in between each of the words. To make robot reading sound better, we practice and rereading!
We played a few math games today. The first was a matching game that showed number words (one, two, three…). We had to match the word with the correct number of objects that went along with it. It was a piece of cake! We continued playing Toss and Make. We also played a game of Turkey Takeaway. Some people thought they discovered different strategies. Eesha realized that the last row was really important in figuring out who the winner was. Stephen played against Ms. Stern. Stephen won! Together, we realized which turkey is the one to get in order to win.
We played freeze dance and used the instruments. Everyone got different ones. We used them to go along with rhymes that Mrs. Fox recited. We also did the dances for Chihuahua and the Macarena from the Dance Festival last year.
During Writer’s Workshop we shared what good writing should include. Good writing includes:
·events or memories about things that have happened to us
·words and pictures that match
·dialogue (what people were saying)
·feelings and examples
·a good beginning (when, who, where)
·a strong ending
·at least 3 "what"s
·multiple pages
·a story and not a list
·spacing, legible handwriting, punctuation
·your best spelling
Everyone continued to work on their writing.
Meals on Wheels Covered Cupboards
Dear Parents,
We have enjoyed learning about the special families in our classroom through our reading and social studies activities in November. We have not only learned how families have fun together, but how they help each other to accomplish important jobs or work in their homes. In December, we would like to extend our discussion to include ways families can work together to help their community. There may be a problem in the community, but not enough money or people cooperating to solve the problem.
When we contacted Carissa Coslit, Supervisor of Volunteer Programs at Meals on Wheels, we learned of a problem in that important agency that we are inviting your family to volunteer and help solve. As you may know, the Meals on Wheels Program rely on many volunteers to cook and deliver meals to the elderly in our township. Early in winter, recipients are given a “Covered Cupboard” meal to use in an emergency situation, such as, when bad weather prohibits the delivery of a hot meal. The seniors are given a shoebox, or the cupboard, that contains nutritious ready to serve foods. The agency doesn’t have enough “Cupboards” for all the Meals on Wheels recipients. Ms. Coslit is thrilled that our class has volunteered to help solve this problem in our community.
If your family would like to donate to the “Covered Cupboard Program”, please refer to the attached list for the specific foods Meals on Wheels provides in the shoebox cupboards. Please note that the foods requested are low in sodium and sugar. After packing the shoebox, Ms. Coslit requests we wrap the whole box with paper (i.e. grocery bag paper is fine) and decorate with only markers or crayons please. As the boxes must be stacked in delivery vans, any decorations glued on will be ruined. You may send in the “Covered Cupboards” anytime before Monday, Dec.21. Ms. Coslit has volunteered to visit WOS to receive your wonderful gifts.
We hope your family enjoys participating in this meaningful community service project.
With sincere thanks,
WOS Teachers
We have enjoyed learning about the special families in our classroom through our reading and social studies activities in November. We have not only learned how families have fun together, but how they help each other to accomplish important jobs or work in their homes. In December, we would like to extend our discussion to include ways families can work together to help their community. There may be a problem in the community, but not enough money or people cooperating to solve the problem.
When we contacted Carissa Coslit, Supervisor of Volunteer Programs at Meals on Wheels, we learned of a problem in that important agency that we are inviting your family to volunteer and help solve. As you may know, the Meals on Wheels Program rely on many volunteers to cook and deliver meals to the elderly in our township. Early in winter, recipients are given a “Covered Cupboard” meal to use in an emergency situation, such as, when bad weather prohibits the delivery of a hot meal. The seniors are given a shoebox, or the cupboard, that contains nutritious ready to serve foods. The agency doesn’t have enough “Cupboards” for all the Meals on Wheels recipients. Ms. Coslit is thrilled that our class has volunteered to help solve this problem in our community.
If your family would like to donate to the “Covered Cupboard Program”, please refer to the attached list for the specific foods Meals on Wheels provides in the shoebox cupboards. Please note that the foods requested are low in sodium and sugar. After packing the shoebox, Ms. Coslit requests we wrap the whole box with paper (i.e. grocery bag paper is fine) and decorate with only markers or crayons please. As the boxes must be stacked in delivery vans, any decorations glued on will be ruined. You may send in the “Covered Cupboards” anytime before Monday, Dec.21. Ms. Coslit has volunteered to visit WOS to receive your wonderful gifts.
We hope your family enjoys participating in this meaningful community service project.
With sincere thanks,
WOS Teachers
MEALS ON WHEELS OF ROCKLAND COUNTY, INC. COVERED CUPBOARD PROGRAM SUGGESTED FOOD LIST:
Each shoe box, or “Covered Cupboard” should contain the following suggested LOW
SODIUM AND LOW SUGAR food items:
1 item from each food group listed below: 1 Protein, 1 Vegetable, 1 Fruit, 1 Soup and 1 Starch
Welcome, but not necessary items: 1 Condiment, 1 Beverage and 1 Dessert
FOOD GROUP CHOICES
PROTEIN
low sodium canned fish (tuna, salmon, sardines)
low sodium canned meat (chicken, no canned beef)
peanut butter
canned beans low sodium canned chili
Peanut butter sandwich crackers
low sodium ravioli
STARCH
Individual packets of oatmeal
Small boxes unsweetened cereal
Unsalted crackers (whole grain)
Peanut butter sandwich crackers
Cheese sandwich crackers
Rice
Small packages of pasta or noodles
Low sugar cereal bars or granola bars
VEGETABLES
Any canned vegetables (low sodium preferred)
Small cans of tomato sauce or tomato paste
FRUITS
Any canned fruit packed in own juice or water
Raisins or other dried fruits
Small portion packed applesauce
SOUP
Low sodium chunky soups
Low sodium beef stew
Low sodium vegetable soup (tomato, ministrone)
Low sodium broths
BEVERAGE
Juices (no sugar added)
Boxed milk
Instant packets of decaf coffee
Individually wrapped decaf tea bags
Unsweetened cocoa mixes
Small containers of tomato juice
CONDIMENTS
Jam/jelly (no sugar added)
Small containers of mustard, mayonnaise or honey
Small containers of light salad dressing
DESSERTS
Prepackaged low sugar, low fat pudding snacks
Low sugar jellow
(Please avoid candy!)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving Recipes
We've been cooking up a storm this week. Here are the recipes and directions for the various food items made in school.
Pumpkin Pie
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
In a medium bowl, combine pudding, pumpkin, milk, and cinnamon. Mix slowly for about 1 minute. Fold whipped topping into the mixture then spoon entire mixture into pie shell. Freeze until firm (about 4 hours). Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Cranberry Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 package cranberries
Before cooking, rinse cranberries in cold water and remove stems or bruised fruit. Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan. Heat to boiling. Stir in cranberries, returning to boiling. Reduce heat; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature; cover and refrigerate until serving time.
Cornbread
Follow recipe on box.
Butter
Pour heavy cream in a container with a sealable lid. Shake vigorously until the butter solidifies and liquid is extracted. Drain the liquid. Add salt to taste.
Stone Soup
Beef bones
Stone (washed)
Yellow onion, chopped
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Pot filled with water
Carrots
Barley
Soup vegetable pack (found in the produce department)
1 can of stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
2 red potatoes
Butter
Brown the meat in the pot. Add the onions and allow to cook until tender. Add water to the pot. Include the rest of the ingredients. Allow to simmer over medium heat for 3-5 hours. Serve and enjoy!
Pumpkin Pie
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
In a medium bowl, combine pudding, pumpkin, milk, and cinnamon. Mix slowly for about 1 minute. Fold whipped topping into the mixture then spoon entire mixture into pie shell. Freeze until firm (about 4 hours). Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Cranberry Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 package cranberries
Before cooking, rinse cranberries in cold water and remove stems or bruised fruit. Combine water and sugar in medium saucepan. Heat to boiling. Stir in cranberries, returning to boiling. Reduce heat; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature; cover and refrigerate until serving time.
Cornbread
Follow recipe on box.
Butter
Pour heavy cream in a container with a sealable lid. Shake vigorously until the butter solidifies and liquid is extracted. Drain the liquid. Add salt to taste.
Stone Soup
Beef bones
Stone (washed)
Yellow onion, chopped
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Pot filled with water
Carrots
Barley
Soup vegetable pack (found in the produce department)
1 can of stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
2 red potatoes
Butter
Brown the meat in the pot. Add the onions and allow to cook until tender. Add water to the pot. Include the rest of the ingredients. Allow to simmer over medium heat for 3-5 hours. Serve and enjoy!
November 25, 2009: Happy Thanksgiving!
Dear Parents,
Recently, we have been discussing families, holidays, and life long ago as part of our Social Studies curriculum. During this time, we have reflected on the variety of things for which we are thankful. I am very thankful for the unique and special class that I have. I would like to thank you for sharing your children with me each day.
Additionally, I am thankful for all of the help and support that you have shown and the time that you have dedicated to making our first grade community a success. It is a pleasure to work with such phenomenal families.
I wish you and your family a season of health, happiness, and joy. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and an extra long weekend)!
Sincerely,
Randi Stern
Recently, we have been discussing families, holidays, and life long ago as part of our Social Studies curriculum. During this time, we have reflected on the variety of things for which we are thankful. I am very thankful for the unique and special class that I have. I would like to thank you for sharing your children with me each day.
Additionally, I am thankful for all of the help and support that you have shown and the time that you have dedicated to making our first grade community a success. It is a pleasure to work with such phenomenal families.
I wish you and your family a season of health, happiness, and joy. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and an extra long weekend)!
Sincerely,
Randi Stern
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
According to Jacob, “Today was awesome! We got to do a lot of cool stuff.” A few groups of children got to cook in our classroom. Emma, Amanda, and Dylan A. got to make cranberry sauce with Amanda’s mom. They used cranberries, sugar, and water. Two groups made pumpkin pie. Lauria, Victoria, Adam, and Dylan M. worked with Adam’s dad. Jacob, Drew, Dylan, and Eesha also made a pumpkin pie with Jacob’s mom. Most of the ingredients were the same. A few ingredients were different. One of the groups put a smiley face on the top.
Ms. Stern read us a book called Stone Soup. It was about a hungry young man who tricked an old woman. He asked for food but she wouldn’t give him any. He asked her for a stone and told her that he was going to make soup from a stone. Slowly, she gave him onions, carrots, beef bones, salt, pepper, and barley to add to the boiling water. In the end, they ended up with a meal fit for a king! Lots of people thought the woman was greedy. The young man was smart to be able to trick her. On Wednesday, we will be making Stone Soup with our own stone. Mrs. Polansky asked us whether the soup would end up tasting good even if we didn’t include the stone. Some people thought yes and others thought no. We will have to wait and see when we try it on Wednesday!
During Reader’s Workshop we reviewed the latest strategy that we learned: looking for chunks. A chunk is a little word or a part of a word that we already know that helps us figure out another word that we don’t know. We DON’T need to look for chunks when we already know the word. We learned that sometimes a chunk that we find doesn’t help us figure out the word. If that happens, we need to use other strategies like looking at the picture, getting your mouth ready, or thinking about what makes sense.
Ms. Harding read us a book called Sarah Morton’s Day. It was about a girl who lived at Plymouth Plantation. We made a Venn diagram comparing children today with Pilgrim children. Children long ago had chores like milking goats and feeding chickens. They also played marbles and wrote on chalkboards. Children today watch TV, use air conditioning, and have running water. Children long ago and today do chores, play with toys, and fold clothes. After we talked about the book, we worked on turkey booklets at our seats.
In art, we worked on tissue paper collages. The colors were overlapping and some made new colors. Sasha placed yellow and red together to make orange. Sarah used blue and yellow to make green. Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors. Orange, green, and purple are called secondary colors.
Ms. Stern read us a book called Stone Soup. It was about a hungry young man who tricked an old woman. He asked for food but she wouldn’t give him any. He asked her for a stone and told her that he was going to make soup from a stone. Slowly, she gave him onions, carrots, beef bones, salt, pepper, and barley to add to the boiling water. In the end, they ended up with a meal fit for a king! Lots of people thought the woman was greedy. The young man was smart to be able to trick her. On Wednesday, we will be making Stone Soup with our own stone. Mrs. Polansky asked us whether the soup would end up tasting good even if we didn’t include the stone. Some people thought yes and others thought no. We will have to wait and see when we try it on Wednesday!
During Reader’s Workshop we reviewed the latest strategy that we learned: looking for chunks. A chunk is a little word or a part of a word that we already know that helps us figure out another word that we don’t know. We DON’T need to look for chunks when we already know the word. We learned that sometimes a chunk that we find doesn’t help us figure out the word. If that happens, we need to use other strategies like looking at the picture, getting your mouth ready, or thinking about what makes sense.
Ms. Harding read us a book called Sarah Morton’s Day. It was about a girl who lived at Plymouth Plantation. We made a Venn diagram comparing children today with Pilgrim children. Children long ago had chores like milking goats and feeding chickens. They also played marbles and wrote on chalkboards. Children today watch TV, use air conditioning, and have running water. Children long ago and today do chores, play with toys, and fold clothes. After we talked about the book, we worked on turkey booklets at our seats.
In art, we worked on tissue paper collages. The colors were overlapping and some made new colors. Sasha placed yellow and red together to make orange. Sarah used blue and yellow to make green. Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors. Orange, green, and purple are called secondary colors.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Meeting the Author: Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Today we got to meet the author of the Biscuit books. We found out lots of facts about being a writer and also how the Biscuit series was created. Before we met, we read a bunch of Biscuit books. We also looked on her website and even worked on a Biscuit word search together. We knew a little bit about her before we actually met.
Here is the author, Alyssa Satin Capucilli, explaining how she was inspired to write the very first Biscuit book.
We got to see one of the author’s very own writing notebooks. She calls them her “Treasure Keeper” because all of her ideas are treasures, even though they might not all become books one day.
These are the big ideas that she talked to us about:
-Encouraging children to read all kinds of books
-How books are written
-How books are made
-Being INSPIRED
-INSPIRATION
-Using IMAGINATION
-How she writes: recording ideas, starting stories, writes every day, favorite spot is on her blue couch with her dog by her side, on the train, on a plane…, she never erases because the idea that is gone forever and can never be used, crossing out is okay
-Biscuit facts: Biscuit was based on a much bigger dog and was shrunk down by using her imagination; when he gets something, he wants more; Biscuit is a boy; he never gets older or bigger; he is the only character that says “woof, woof;” in Spain Biscuit says “wow, wow;” Biscuit and the little girl are in every book in the series; the little girl doesn’t have a name because she could be anyone
-Authors and illustrators don’t always know each other…sometimes they even live in different parts of the world!
-Previewing a new story called: Biscuit Meets the Class Pet
We were able to leave our Biscuit books behind for Alyssa to autograph. It was so cool getting to meet the real author of one of our favorite series of books!
Here is the author, Alyssa Satin Capucilli, explaining how she was inspired to write the very first Biscuit book.
We got to see one of the author’s very own writing notebooks. She calls them her “Treasure Keeper” because all of her ideas are treasures, even though they might not all become books one day.
These are the big ideas that she talked to us about:
-Encouraging children to read all kinds of books
-How books are written
-How books are made
-Being INSPIRED
-INSPIRATION
-Using IMAGINATION
-How she writes: recording ideas, starting stories, writes every day, favorite spot is on her blue couch with her dog by her side, on the train, on a plane…, she never erases because the idea that is gone forever and can never be used, crossing out is okay
-Biscuit facts: Biscuit was based on a much bigger dog and was shrunk down by using her imagination; when he gets something, he wants more; Biscuit is a boy; he never gets older or bigger; he is the only character that says “woof, woof;” in Spain Biscuit says “wow, wow;” Biscuit and the little girl are in every book in the series; the little girl doesn’t have a name because she could be anyone
-Authors and illustrators don’t always know each other…sometimes they even live in different parts of the world!
-Previewing a new story called: Biscuit Meets the Class Pet
We were able to leave our Biscuit books behind for Alyssa to autograph. It was so cool getting to meet the real author of one of our favorite series of books!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Ms. Stern shared the great finds that she got at the book drive yesterday. Some children said that they went and got some books too. Ms. Stern was thrilled with her box filled with priceless jewels! One of the books that she got was a Biscuit book. We read 2 more stories together. The kids do a fantastic job speaking just like Biscuit! Everyone got with their reading partners and read 1 or 2 Biscuit books together. We shared noticings about the series: Biscuit only says “woof,” Biscuit is always a puppy, lots of people like Biscuit, the books can be silly and fun, and Biscuit is playful. Tomorrow we will get to meet the author, Alyssa Capucilli!
This morning we got to go on a word search. Ms. Stern asked us to go on a hunt through our reading book bags to find words with beginning blends from our spelling list this week. We found words like: tree, trunk, try, fluffy, flew, flowers, flying, flashed, flat, friend, front, frog, friends, snow, sneezed, sniffed, and snorted. Later on, during Reader’s Workshop, we learned our third reading strategy: Good readers think about what makes sense when they get to a word they don’t know!
Victoria lost her very first tooth! She raised her hand and announced that it came out…only she couldn’t find it! Luckily, the tooth was found inside her mouth! Anthony D. was the paramedic. He took her to the nurse. Mrs. Spiro called Ms. Stern in the classroom to report what great students she had and how nicely they behaved while in the busy office. The class earned 2 marbles for their great choices!
Yesterday we began our trial of Rosetta Stone. A few classes at WOS are giving it a try for a few days. Yesterday, we had only just begun when the website froze so we tried again today. We learned a bunch of words in Spanish. We listened, spoke, and matched words and phrases with photographs. People took turns coming up to the Smartboard.
We continued our discussion of “Long Ago.” Ms. Stern asked us what long ago means. How long is long? Here are some of our thoughts about when long ago is:
Anthony-100,000 years ago
Drew-1 century (6,000 years) ago
Amanda-55 years ago
Sarah-150,000 years ago
Stephen-200 years ago
Dylan A.-67 years ago
Nancy-180 years ago
Sasha-190,000 years ago
Dylan M.-40 years ago
Eesha-204 years ago
Arlo-5,063 years ago
Ms. Stern explained that long ago could mean lots of different things and that all of our ideas can be right and that it depends on what events or people we are comparing. Ms. Stern was born long ago to first graders but in comparison to the Pilgrims or even the time of the dinosaurs, she wasn’t born so long ago.
Mrs. Fox gave us rhythm sticks during music. We copied what she did. Then we went around the rug, counter clockwise, making up our own patterns.
During Writer’s Workshop, we continued working on our personal narrative stories. We filled out graphic organizers first. Then we got 5 page packets of writing paper. The first page told “when, who, and where” from our graphic organizers. The next three pages were for each of the “what”s that we came up with. The last page is for our ending. We learned that the ending is a great place to include what we were feeling when our story event took place. Some people finished their first personal narrative story and began new ones. Other people continued writing and sketching.
At the end of the day, Ms. Stern gave out prizes from last week’s spelling dictation. 12 children got the whole entire sentence correct!
This morning we got to go on a word search. Ms. Stern asked us to go on a hunt through our reading book bags to find words with beginning blends from our spelling list this week. We found words like: tree, trunk, try, fluffy, flew, flowers, flying, flashed, flat, friend, front, frog, friends, snow, sneezed, sniffed, and snorted. Later on, during Reader’s Workshop, we learned our third reading strategy: Good readers think about what makes sense when they get to a word they don’t know!
Victoria lost her very first tooth! She raised her hand and announced that it came out…only she couldn’t find it! Luckily, the tooth was found inside her mouth! Anthony D. was the paramedic. He took her to the nurse. Mrs. Spiro called Ms. Stern in the classroom to report what great students she had and how nicely they behaved while in the busy office. The class earned 2 marbles for their great choices!
Yesterday we began our trial of Rosetta Stone. A few classes at WOS are giving it a try for a few days. Yesterday, we had only just begun when the website froze so we tried again today. We learned a bunch of words in Spanish. We listened, spoke, and matched words and phrases with photographs. People took turns coming up to the Smartboard.
We continued our discussion of “Long Ago.” Ms. Stern asked us what long ago means. How long is long? Here are some of our thoughts about when long ago is:
Anthony-100,000 years ago
Drew-1 century (6,000 years) ago
Amanda-55 years ago
Sarah-150,000 years ago
Stephen-200 years ago
Dylan A.-67 years ago
Nancy-180 years ago
Sasha-190,000 years ago
Dylan M.-40 years ago
Eesha-204 years ago
Arlo-5,063 years ago
Ms. Stern explained that long ago could mean lots of different things and that all of our ideas can be right and that it depends on what events or people we are comparing. Ms. Stern was born long ago to first graders but in comparison to the Pilgrims or even the time of the dinosaurs, she wasn’t born so long ago.
Mrs. Fox gave us rhythm sticks during music. We copied what she did. Then we went around the rug, counter clockwise, making up our own patterns.
During Writer’s Workshop, we continued working on our personal narrative stories. We filled out graphic organizers first. Then we got 5 page packets of writing paper. The first page told “when, who, and where” from our graphic organizers. The next three pages were for each of the “what”s that we came up with. The last page is for our ending. We learned that the ending is a great place to include what we were feeling when our story event took place. Some people finished their first personal narrative story and began new ones. Other people continued writing and sketching.
At the end of the day, Ms. Stern gave out prizes from last week’s spelling dictation. 12 children got the whole entire sentence correct!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Yesterday was Election Day, the book fair, and Parent-Teacher Conferences. Dylan A. gave his Nona a tour around the school while his mom and dad met with Ms. Stern. Sasha was at the book fair. She helped set it up and was also delivering books. Stephen was coloring in the hall with his brothers and sister in the hall. Ms. Stern was SO lucky. Lots of students were very generous to donate books from her wish list to the class. We even read one, Too Many Toys, by David Shannon today.
Today is Anthony's birthday! He turned 6. We had mini-cupcakes to celebrate.
We learned 2 new poems today: Zack and Jack and Backpack. There were LOTS of ck words in them! We found them together and then practiced at our seats. Everyone had to read all of their poems 3 times once they were done.
During Reader’s Workshop, we learned that good readers carefully study the picture when we get stuck on a word. We practiced together by reading a book called What Will You Pack? We were able to figure out words like bear, map, cap, game, and book. When we were having our private reading time, we marked a page with a post-it and drew an eye with the word that we figured out. That meant that we looked at the picture to figure out the word. Anthony figured out the word “sailboat” by studying the picture.
We went to RIF. Everyone got to choose a book to keep. Someone stamped it so we could write our name inside. Then we went out into the hall to look through our books while everyone else made their selections.
Today we went to art and worked a little on our leaf collages. Adam had to start his because he was absent last time. Arlo traced leaf stencils on his paper. Then he cut them out and placed them in an envelope. They are going to get glued on to cool colored papers next time. The leaves were traced on warm colored papers.
At the very end of art, we had a fire drill. We had to line up outside near the kindergarten classes. Nancy, Stephen, Sasha, Hunter, and lots of other children saw their old teachers. The fire drill took a long time!
Part of our homework this week was to bring in a wrapper from our favorite candy that we got trick-or-treating. We are using them to make a book. Today, we glued our wrappers on the paper and wrote a sentence telling about what kind of candy we like the most. We also drew a picture of ourselves in our Halloween costumes to go along with it.
Today is Anthony's birthday! He turned 6. We had mini-cupcakes to celebrate.
We learned 2 new poems today: Zack and Jack and Backpack. There were LOTS of ck words in them! We found them together and then practiced at our seats. Everyone had to read all of their poems 3 times once they were done.
During Reader’s Workshop, we learned that good readers carefully study the picture when we get stuck on a word. We practiced together by reading a book called What Will You Pack? We were able to figure out words like bear, map, cap, game, and book. When we were having our private reading time, we marked a page with a post-it and drew an eye with the word that we figured out. That meant that we looked at the picture to figure out the word. Anthony figured out the word “sailboat” by studying the picture.
We went to RIF. Everyone got to choose a book to keep. Someone stamped it so we could write our name inside. Then we went out into the hall to look through our books while everyone else made their selections.
Today we went to art and worked a little on our leaf collages. Adam had to start his because he was absent last time. Arlo traced leaf stencils on his paper. Then he cut them out and placed them in an envelope. They are going to get glued on to cool colored papers next time. The leaves were traced on warm colored papers.
At the very end of art, we had a fire drill. We had to line up outside near the kindergarten classes. Nancy, Stephen, Sasha, Hunter, and lots of other children saw their old teachers. The fire drill took a long time!
Part of our homework this week was to bring in a wrapper from our favorite candy that we got trick-or-treating. We are using them to make a book. Today, we glued our wrappers on the paper and wrote a sentence telling about what kind of candy we like the most. We also drew a picture of ourselves in our Halloween costumes to go along with it.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Mrs. Mesibov came in to teach us how to be “germ smart.” She read us a story. Some children used glitter to show how germs can spread, even though they’re so tiny that we can’t see them with our eyes. We also did 2 experiments. One used water, pepper, and soap. The soap made the pepper go away. It showed that germs don’t like soap because it helps to wash them off of us. The second experiment used vegetable oil and soap. It helped make the oil go away when they were mixed together in water. We learned songs about germs, found out the proper way to wash our hands, and got a chance to practice. At the end, we signed our Germ Smart pledge and tried working on a really challenging maze! Stephen liked doing the experiments. Anthony liked putting the pepper into the bowl. Dylan M. learned to get a paper towel before he washes his hands. Victoria learned that soap helps to kill the germs on your hands.
During Reader’s Workshop, we talked about readers having tools in their toolbox. Readers use tools to help us read just like builders use tools to help them build! Ms. Stern noticed children who used pictures as tools. She also noticed that Hunter found a pattern in his book that helped him read better. Adam was excited to shop for new books today and to be on a new level because his mom will be so proud!
We went to the library today. Mrs. Cornelius read us two stories. One was called The Scarecrow’s Hat. The other was The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything. In that book, there was a part that repeated on almost all of the pages. Dylan A., Jacob, Lauria, and Eesha liked the first book more. Drew, Dylan, Amanda, Hunter, Anthony, Anthony D., Sarah, Sasha, Victoria, Adam, and Meaghan liked the second one more.
In P.E. we played Turtle Tag. Everyone runs around. If you get tagged by a red Frisbee, you need to get on the ground and act like a turtle on its shell. We also played Clean Up Your Room.
Today was School Spirit Day. 8 children (and Ms. Stern) wore their SOCES t-shirts. 8 children were wearing red shirts. Towards the end of the day, all of the classes went into the main hallway. There was a REALLY long piece of white paper there for everyone to sign and draw on. Eesha drew her name with curves at the end. Dylan made a rainbow, flower, a sun, and stars. Jacob made a monster just like Arlo’s. Sasha drew a heart and wrote “Charlie and Zelda Rock.”
Tomorrow is Jacob’s birthday and our Halloween party and parade! Everyone is supposed to wear their costumes to school and leave any weapons at home! After the parade, we are going to be taking our costumes off (so please make sure to send in a change of clothes).
During Reader’s Workshop, we talked about readers having tools in their toolbox. Readers use tools to help us read just like builders use tools to help them build! Ms. Stern noticed children who used pictures as tools. She also noticed that Hunter found a pattern in his book that helped him read better. Adam was excited to shop for new books today and to be on a new level because his mom will be so proud!
We went to the library today. Mrs. Cornelius read us two stories. One was called The Scarecrow’s Hat. The other was The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything. In that book, there was a part that repeated on almost all of the pages. Dylan A., Jacob, Lauria, and Eesha liked the first book more. Drew, Dylan, Amanda, Hunter, Anthony, Anthony D., Sarah, Sasha, Victoria, Adam, and Meaghan liked the second one more.
In P.E. we played Turtle Tag. Everyone runs around. If you get tagged by a red Frisbee, you need to get on the ground and act like a turtle on its shell. We also played Clean Up Your Room.
Today was School Spirit Day. 8 children (and Ms. Stern) wore their SOCES t-shirts. 8 children were wearing red shirts. Towards the end of the day, all of the classes went into the main hallway. There was a REALLY long piece of white paper there for everyone to sign and draw on. Eesha drew her name with curves at the end. Dylan made a rainbow, flower, a sun, and stars. Jacob made a monster just like Arlo’s. Sasha drew a heart and wrote “Charlie and Zelda Rock.”
Tomorrow is Jacob’s birthday and our Halloween party and parade! Everyone is supposed to wear their costumes to school and leave any weapons at home! After the parade, we are going to be taking our costumes off (so please make sure to send in a change of clothes).
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
This morning, we worked on a listening activity. Ms. Stern gave us directions to color squares on a piece of paper. There were 7 rows and each row had 9 squares. Everyone needed 4 colors: orange, yellow, blue, and green. 
When we were all done, we had made a picture of a jack-o-lantern. Emma thought it was going to be an earth. After everyone was done, we looked at all of the work. They all should have looked the same since everyone heard the same directions. We talked about what we saw: white spaces, diagonal lines across the whole paper, neatly colored boxes, messy boxes, and pumpkins. We also did some wondering: why some papers look different from others, why there are empty spaces, why there are big lines, if everyone knows the left from the right, if the activity was easy or hard?
We went to music. We watched the video of the typewriter skit. It was funny because the man was making funny faces. His name is Jerry Lewis. Dylan A. has a video of him in his dad’s car of when he was with Dean Martin! We also did a zombie dance. We moved our arms and legs and also made funny faces. Mrs. Fox taught us a new song about a pumpkin saying different things to act out for Halloween.
During math, we practiced skip counting by 10s and 5s as a group, with a partner, and by ourselves. We talked about the different places and times that we can practice (on the bus, in the shower, at the bus stop, in bed, etc.). Ms. Stern showed us a game on the Smartboard that used colored dots.
We took turns continuing the patterns using the correct colors. Then we worked on our pattern books. We made patterns with pattern blocks first and then the stickers next. After that, we had to label our patterns and write a sentence telling about it.
We got our new reading and writing partners today! The first thing we had to do was turn and talk. Everyone read our work from yesterday.
Then our partners helped us make a plan for today: add on to yesterday’s writing or start a new piece. Emma, Dylan A., Eesha, Arlo, and Lauria started new pieces. Sasha, Amanda, Victoria, and Nancy added on.
Tonight is the Art Show at 6:00 in the gym. Tomorrow is School Spirit Day. Remember to wear your SOCES or a red t-shirt!
When we were all done, we had made a picture of a jack-o-lantern. Emma thought it was going to be an earth. After everyone was done, we looked at all of the work. They all should have looked the same since everyone heard the same directions. We talked about what we saw: white spaces, diagonal lines across the whole paper, neatly colored boxes, messy boxes, and pumpkins. We also did some wondering: why some papers look different from others, why there are empty spaces, why there are big lines, if everyone knows the left from the right, if the activity was easy or hard?We went to music. We watched the video of the typewriter skit. It was funny because the man was making funny faces. His name is Jerry Lewis. Dylan A. has a video of him in his dad’s car of when he was with Dean Martin! We also did a zombie dance. We moved our arms and legs and also made funny faces. Mrs. Fox taught us a new song about a pumpkin saying different things to act out for Halloween.
During math, we practiced skip counting by 10s and 5s as a group, with a partner, and by ourselves. We talked about the different places and times that we can practice (on the bus, in the shower, at the bus stop, in bed, etc.). Ms. Stern showed us a game on the Smartboard that used colored dots.
We took turns continuing the patterns using the correct colors. Then we worked on our pattern books. We made patterns with pattern blocks first and then the stickers next. After that, we had to label our patterns and write a sentence telling about it.We got our new reading and writing partners today! The first thing we had to do was turn and talk. Everyone read our work from yesterday.
Then our partners helped us make a plan for today: add on to yesterday’s writing or start a new piece. Emma, Dylan A., Eesha, Arlo, and Lauria started new pieces. Sasha, Amanda, Victoria, and Nancy added on.Tonight is the Art Show at 6:00 in the gym. Tomorrow is School Spirit Day. Remember to wear your SOCES or a red t-shirt!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Yesterday morning we had our Writer’s Celebration because we completed our first Writer’s Workshop unit. We started the day by practicing reading our story 3 times to ourselves to make sure that we could read them for others. We walked to the cafeteria, where all of the first grade classes were, and saw decorations on the stage curtains. The words “Congratulations Writers” were colorfully displayed and there were also red and white balloons. 
On the wall there were lots of pictures of children writing. There were even pictures of some of the kids in our class! Mrs. Polansky said she was so excited, she thought she might fall down! She (and Ms. Carr) were both so happy about the great writing and number of writers that were present. Next, they called the names of kindergarten teachers. When you heard your teacher’s name, you followed a first grade teacher to their classroom. Ms. Stern had the students from Ms. Graham’s class, including Stephen and Adam! Anthony also stayed in this class since he didn’t go to Schaefer last year. All of the first grade classes had two grown ups to listen to the stories. Our kindergarten teachers even made a special appearance to see us and listen to our stories! 
Amanda’s favorite part was when the kindergarten teachers’ names were called. Arlo liked the whole thing. Eesha liked when Mrs. Polansky said she was going to fall down. Sasha enjoyed meeting Mrs. Goldstein.
Today we started Monster Clues. Ms. Stern read us two books: Mompsters are Aminals and GO AWAY Big Scary Monster! Then we learned that we would be drawing a monster using clues that Ms. Stern’s class made last year. Some parts were tricky to follow and others were easy. At the end, we took a “Museum Walk” around each table to look at one another’s work. We talked about things that looked similar and parts that didn’t. After that, Ms. Stern showed us what last year’s class made School Queen (that’s the monster’s name) look like. We also saw other teachers’ drawings of the same thing. Later on, we started making our own monster. We’re almost done drawing what she will look like.
We had picture day. We waited in line in the cafeteria to have our pictures taken. Some people got their hair combed before they went. Ms. Stern was the last person to go. When she was done, we lined up by size and walked out to the gazebo to take our class picture. It was a little cold outside. Lots of kids wanted to stay outside and play.
During math, our observer, Ms. Harding, reviewed patterns with us. We learned that patterns are arranged in a special order and repeat themselves. Everyone got yarn and beads to make any kind of pattern, using 10 beads or less. People could share their necklace patterns when they were done.
Next week we have lots of events:
Tuesdsay-Caps for Kids
Wednesday-Art Fair (6:00 p.m.)
Thursday-School Spirit Day/Library
Friday-Halloween party
Have a great weekend!
On the wall there were lots of pictures of children writing. There were even pictures of some of the kids in our class! Mrs. Polansky said she was so excited, she thought she might fall down! She (and Ms. Carr) were both so happy about the great writing and number of writers that were present. Next, they called the names of kindergarten teachers. When you heard your teacher’s name, you followed a first grade teacher to their classroom. Ms. Stern had the students from Ms. Graham’s class, including Stephen and Adam! Anthony also stayed in this class since he didn’t go to Schaefer last year. All of the first grade classes had two grown ups to listen to the stories. Our kindergarten teachers even made a special appearance to see us and listen to our stories! Amanda’s favorite part was when the kindergarten teachers’ names were called. Arlo liked the whole thing. Eesha liked when Mrs. Polansky said she was going to fall down. Sasha enjoyed meeting Mrs. Goldstein.Today we started Monster Clues. Ms. Stern read us two books: Mompsters are Aminals and GO AWAY Big Scary Monster! Then we learned that we would be drawing a monster using clues that Ms. Stern’s class made last year. Some parts were tricky to follow and others were easy. At the end, we took a “Museum Walk” around each table to look at one another’s work. We talked about things that looked similar and parts that didn’t. After that, Ms. Stern showed us what last year’s class made School Queen (that’s the monster’s name) look like. We also saw other teachers’ drawings of the same thing. Later on, we started making our own monster. We’re almost done drawing what she will look like.
We had picture day. We waited in line in the cafeteria to have our pictures taken. Some people got their hair combed before they went. Ms. Stern was the last person to go. When she was done, we lined up by size and walked out to the gazebo to take our class picture. It was a little cold outside. Lots of kids wanted to stay outside and play.
During math, our observer, Ms. Harding, reviewed patterns with us. We learned that patterns are arranged in a special order and repeat themselves. Everyone got yarn and beads to make any kind of pattern, using 10 beads or less. People could share their necklace patterns when they were done.
Next week we have lots of events:
Tuesdsay-Caps for Kids
Wednesday-Art Fair (6:00 p.m.)
Thursday-School Spirit Day/Library
Friday-Halloween party
Have a great weekend!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
We started our morning by writing in our journals, just like we do every Monday.
Today we thought about how we have changed as readers. We discussed how we have grown as readers and what our goals are for reading this year. Everyone wrote about one of their ideas. We celebrated our good habits and tomorrow, we will begin using book bags to read “just right books.” Congratulations, Readers!
We saw a performance about monarch butterflies. At the beginning, a butterfly laid an egg. The egg opened and there was a caterpillar inside. There was talk of something “spectacular” that was going to happen and the caterpillar wanted to know what it was. It ate lots and lots of leaves. The caterpillar felt weird. A ladybug gave her advice to keep eating. Then she felt like being upside down so she climbed on a leaf and formed a chrysalis. It was like magic. After a little while, the caterpillar became a butterfly! The butterfly came out and all of the other animals told her to fly. Finally, the monarch took off for Mexico, where she met other butterflies just like her. The performance ended when the butterfly landed on a leaf and laid another egg. Stephen thought the performance was long.
In P.E., Coach sent us to the classroom to get our coats because we were going on the nature trail. The nature trail was fun. We had to cross two bridges to go over water. The water looked like ice. Coach Hudson poked the water with a stick to see if it was ice. On our way back to school, we saw a broken chimney. Some people saw earthworms and chipmunks. Meaghan saw a frog. Jacob thought the best part was when the class jumped over the logs. Hunter liked when we walked across the bridge. Victoria liked when we came back because she was sooo tired! Nancy liked high fiving Coach at the end.
We continued working on our Writer’s Workshop pieces. Today, everyone was supposed to continue fixing up their spelling and add details to our drawings. Some people even started coloring their work!
Today we thought about how we have changed as readers. We discussed how we have grown as readers and what our goals are for reading this year. Everyone wrote about one of their ideas. We celebrated our good habits and tomorrow, we will begin using book bags to read “just right books.” Congratulations, Readers!
We saw a performance about monarch butterflies. At the beginning, a butterfly laid an egg. The egg opened and there was a caterpillar inside. There was talk of something “spectacular” that was going to happen and the caterpillar wanted to know what it was. It ate lots and lots of leaves. The caterpillar felt weird. A ladybug gave her advice to keep eating. Then she felt like being upside down so she climbed on a leaf and formed a chrysalis. It was like magic. After a little while, the caterpillar became a butterfly! The butterfly came out and all of the other animals told her to fly. Finally, the monarch took off for Mexico, where she met other butterflies just like her. The performance ended when the butterfly landed on a leaf and laid another egg. Stephen thought the performance was long.
In P.E., Coach sent us to the classroom to get our coats because we were going on the nature trail. The nature trail was fun. We had to cross two bridges to go over water. The water looked like ice. Coach Hudson poked the water with a stick to see if it was ice. On our way back to school, we saw a broken chimney. Some people saw earthworms and chipmunks. Meaghan saw a frog. Jacob thought the best part was when the class jumped over the logs. Hunter liked when we walked across the bridge. Victoria liked when we came back because she was sooo tired! Nancy liked high fiving Coach at the end.
We continued working on our Writer’s Workshop pieces. Today, everyone was supposed to continue fixing up their spelling and add details to our drawings. Some people even started coloring their work!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Mrs. O’Donnell came back to our class this morning to discuss the Little Book of Rules that we all received. She brought two friends with her: Shy and Why. Shy is a raccoon and Why is a bird. Ms. Stern helped Mrs. O’Donnell by reading the rules. Shy asked Charlie Caps lots of questions. The children in the class were able to answer them for Shy. Why liked to ask LOTS of questions. Mrs. Polansky said he was inquisitive. Again, the children in the class helped to answer and explain the rules to him. We all agreed to follow the school rules, especially now that we understand them better.
We are finishing up our first Reader’s Workshop unit: Readers Build Good Habits. Everyone is focusing on using all of their time to read privately and have accountable talk during partner time. Ms. Stern has been reading with children to find their “just-right books.”
We started working on a booklet all about our families. We know that families sometimes share a name. We discovered that many families in our class have two different names. On one page in our book, we drew our family names in fancy ways. Dylan A. and Lauria used bubble letters. Some people wrote in script. Amanda used bubble letters with stars on the bottom. Some people used dots and flowers. We also drew a portrait of our families. Stephen and Anthony D. had 7 people. Nancy and Jacob had 4. Adam had 5 people.
Today we went to art. We had Mrs. G. Mrs. Piteo wasn’t here. We worked on still life drawings, using crayons or pencils. The still life was a basket with flowers and decorations like pumpkins, pine cones, gourds, flowers, grapes, and leaves. Sarah thought the pumpkins weren’t hard to draw but the baskets were tricky. Drew loved the different colors and also the grapes. Emma liked getting to do free drawing after she was done.
We are finishing up our first Writer’s Workshop unit. We are getting our pieces of writing ready to be published. It’s called “fancying up.” Yesterday, we checked to make sure our writing included: where, who, when, and what happened. Today we worked on our spelling. We used special purple pens to edit our work. Everyone had to find at least 3 words to fix. We circled them and then corrected words that were found around the room or were spelling/word wall words. If we thought a word wasn’t spelled right, we tried it 3 ways and thought, “Which one looks right?” People who finished editing began writing an “About the Author” page. Next week, the whole first grade is going to have a writer’s celebration together. Then we are going to share our first published pieces with the children from our kindergarten classes!
We are reading our third Junie B. Jones book called Junie B. First Grader: BOO and I Mean It! We think it's funny. Emma brought in two books to share with the class this week. One was about monkeys jumping on the bed. She thought Amanda would enjoy it. It turned out that the whole class did! Today we read a Charlie and Lola story called I'm NOT Sleepy and I Will NOT Go to Bed.
We are finishing up our first Reader’s Workshop unit: Readers Build Good Habits. Everyone is focusing on using all of their time to read privately and have accountable talk during partner time. Ms. Stern has been reading with children to find their “just-right books.”
We started working on a booklet all about our families. We know that families sometimes share a name. We discovered that many families in our class have two different names. On one page in our book, we drew our family names in fancy ways. Dylan A. and Lauria used bubble letters. Some people wrote in script. Amanda used bubble letters with stars on the bottom. Some people used dots and flowers. We also drew a portrait of our families. Stephen and Anthony D. had 7 people. Nancy and Jacob had 4. Adam had 5 people.
Today we went to art. We had Mrs. G. Mrs. Piteo wasn’t here. We worked on still life drawings, using crayons or pencils. The still life was a basket with flowers and decorations like pumpkins, pine cones, gourds, flowers, grapes, and leaves. Sarah thought the pumpkins weren’t hard to draw but the baskets were tricky. Drew loved the different colors and also the grapes. Emma liked getting to do free drawing after she was done.
We are finishing up our first Writer’s Workshop unit. We are getting our pieces of writing ready to be published. It’s called “fancying up.” Yesterday, we checked to make sure our writing included: where, who, when, and what happened. Today we worked on our spelling. We used special purple pens to edit our work. Everyone had to find at least 3 words to fix. We circled them and then corrected words that were found around the room or were spelling/word wall words. If we thought a word wasn’t spelled right, we tried it 3 ways and thought, “Which one looks right?” People who finished editing began writing an “About the Author” page. Next week, the whole first grade is going to have a writer’s celebration together. Then we are going to share our first published pieces with the children from our kindergarten classes!
We are reading our third Junie B. Jones book called Junie B. First Grader: BOO and I Mean It! We think it's funny. Emma brought in two books to share with the class this week. One was about monkeys jumping on the bed. She thought Amanda would enjoy it. It turned out that the whole class did! Today we read a Charlie and Lola story called I'm NOT Sleepy and I Will NOT Go to Bed.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Lots of firefighters were at our school today! It was Fire Safety Day. We went outside and went to a few different spots to learn. 
One of the stations was a doll house. It had different fire hazards like a boy who was playing with matches, a radio near the bathtub, smoke detectors going off, and a pot on left on the stove. 
At another station we got to see firefighters dressed in their safety gear. 
Nancy learned not to hide from them, even though they might look and sound scary. She also learned to make a lot of noise so that the firefighter would know that she is there.
Sasha learned to leave her favorite belongings behind because the firefighters will try to go back and save things like stuffed animals or pets after the people are safe. At another fire truck, we got to see equipment and tools that firefighters use to cut through wood, concrete, or metal to help save people.
The last fire truck, we got to see a firefighter standing on an airbag. As it filled up, she rose up off the ground. We also talked about having a family meeting spot in case of an emergency.
We stayed inside during P.E. We played freeze tag. You get a green or red Frisbee and walk, run, or skip away. If you are touched by a red Frisbee, you’re frozen. If a person with a green Frisbee touches you, you’re back in the game. Victoria, Emma, and Nancy had green Frisbees. Adam, Meaghan, Anthony D., and Hunter had red ones. Everyone else didn’t have Frisbees and tried to stay unfrozen!
Today we read the next chapter in Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder called “The Fairy.” Junie B. wanted to bring in her lost tooth for show and tell. Paulie Allen Puffer told Junie B. that the tooth fairy isn’t a fairy but she’s a witch instead. The tooth witch eats teeth like apples! We agreed that the tooth witch isn’t real!
Speaking of teeth, Anthony D. was the first person in our class to lose a tooth in school! It fell out when we were on the rug. Lauria, our paramedic, took him to the nurse. Mrs. Spiro placed his tooth in an envelope and gave Anthony a little tiny treasure chest to put the tooth in for the tooth fairy.
We used M&Ms for math today! First, we sorted them by color and predicted how many we had in our pack. Then we completed our bar graphs and thought about what they showed us. We found which color had the most and which had the fewest. The last thing we had to do was tell 3 facts about our graph. The thinking about the graphs is what helps us get real smart! Anthony D. and Emma’s favorite part of the activity was eating! Dylan A. liked coloring the boxes. Meaghan liked writing about it the most. Sasha liked making her prediction.
One of the stations was a doll house. It had different fire hazards like a boy who was playing with matches, a radio near the bathtub, smoke detectors going off, and a pot on left on the stove. At another station we got to see firefighters dressed in their safety gear. Nancy learned not to hide from them, even though they might look and sound scary. She also learned to make a lot of noise so that the firefighter would know that she is there.Sasha learned to leave her favorite belongings behind because the firefighters will try to go back and save things like stuffed animals or pets after the people are safe. At another fire truck, we got to see equipment and tools that firefighters use to cut through wood, concrete, or metal to help save people.
The last fire truck, we got to see a firefighter standing on an airbag. As it filled up, she rose up off the ground. We also talked about having a family meeting spot in case of an emergency. We stayed inside during P.E. We played freeze tag. You get a green or red Frisbee and walk, run, or skip away. If you are touched by a red Frisbee, you’re frozen. If a person with a green Frisbee touches you, you’re back in the game. Victoria, Emma, and Nancy had green Frisbees. Adam, Meaghan, Anthony D., and Hunter had red ones. Everyone else didn’t have Frisbees and tried to stay unfrozen!Today we read the next chapter in Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder called “The Fairy.” Junie B. wanted to bring in her lost tooth for show and tell. Paulie Allen Puffer told Junie B. that the tooth fairy isn’t a fairy but she’s a witch instead. The tooth witch eats teeth like apples! We agreed that the tooth witch isn’t real!
Speaking of teeth, Anthony D. was the first person in our class to lose a tooth in school! It fell out when we were on the rug. Lauria, our paramedic, took him to the nurse. Mrs. Spiro placed his tooth in an envelope and gave Anthony a little tiny treasure chest to put the tooth in for the tooth fairy.
We used M&Ms for math today! First, we sorted them by color and predicted how many we had in our pack. Then we completed our bar graphs and thought about what they showed us. We found which color had the most and which had the fewest. The last thing we had to do was tell 3 facts about our graph. The thinking about the graphs is what helps us get real smart! Anthony D. and Emma’s favorite part of the activity was eating! Dylan A. liked coloring the boxes. Meaghan liked writing about it the most. Sasha liked making her prediction.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
We had our spelling test. The bonus word was “rules.” No one realized that the word was on the board. Ms. Stern told us that sometimes she chooses words that are found in our room to see if children are paying attention to the signs and words all around us. Many children got the sentence dictation correct. In order to get it correct, the sentence needs to start with an upper case letter, have correct spelling, spacing, and punctuation. The people who got the sentence correct got to choose a prize from the bucket of prizes. Spelling books need to be signed and returned to school on Monday. (Reading logs are also due, completed, on Monday).
Next, we practiced many of our poems from our poetry journal. We read some together and then some tables read together. Ms. Stern let some people read all by themselves! Then we learned a new poem called Tub Time. We added it to our poetry journal and practiced reading ALL of the poems 3 times each to become better readers.
During Reader’s Workshop, we reviewed using post-its to mark interesting or favorite parts of our books. At the end of our private reading time, we got to share our marked pages with a partner at our table.
We went to the library after lunch. Half the class went on the computer and half of the class did book exchange. Then we switched. When we were in the computer room we played a game that had lots of levels. We stayed on the level that Mrs. Cornelius picked. After we went to different rooms, we got a certificate. We looked at it on the screen instead of printing. During book exchange, a few children chose books about the military. Some people got chapter books like Junie B. Jones or Magic Tree House. Some boys chose books about dragons and knights.
We went to gym and played Crocodile, Crocodile. Eesha, Stephen, and Sarah got to be crocodiles. Afterwards, we had a little bit of time to play games like hopscotch or “Coach Says” or draw with the chalk.
Ms. Stern read us the first chapter of Junie B. First Grader: Toothless Wonder. Eesha thought it was cool. Anthony thought it was awesome because Junie B. had an upper loose tooth. No one in her class had a loose upper tooth yet. In our class, Jacob, Nancy, Adam, Meaghan, Anthony D., Dylan A., and Arlo have all lost a top tooth already. Stephen, Emma, Victoria, Amanda, Eesha, Anthony, and Dylan M. are still waiting for their very first loose tooth!
Lauria, Dylan A., Jacob, Amanda, and Arlo got to share their Writer’s Workshop writing with the class.
Adam is taking Buddy the Bucket Filler home for the weekend! Have a great time!
Next, we practiced many of our poems from our poetry journal. We read some together and then some tables read together. Ms. Stern let some people read all by themselves! Then we learned a new poem called Tub Time. We added it to our poetry journal and practiced reading ALL of the poems 3 times each to become better readers.
During Reader’s Workshop, we reviewed using post-its to mark interesting or favorite parts of our books. At the end of our private reading time, we got to share our marked pages with a partner at our table.
We went to the library after lunch. Half the class went on the computer and half of the class did book exchange. Then we switched. When we were in the computer room we played a game that had lots of levels. We stayed on the level that Mrs. Cornelius picked. After we went to different rooms, we got a certificate. We looked at it on the screen instead of printing. During book exchange, a few children chose books about the military. Some people got chapter books like Junie B. Jones or Magic Tree House. Some boys chose books about dragons and knights.
We went to gym and played Crocodile, Crocodile. Eesha, Stephen, and Sarah got to be crocodiles. Afterwards, we had a little bit of time to play games like hopscotch or “Coach Says” or draw with the chalk.
Ms. Stern read us the first chapter of Junie B. First Grader: Toothless Wonder. Eesha thought it was cool. Anthony thought it was awesome because Junie B. had an upper loose tooth. No one in her class had a loose upper tooth yet. In our class, Jacob, Nancy, Adam, Meaghan, Anthony D., Dylan A., and Arlo have all lost a top tooth already. Stephen, Emma, Victoria, Amanda, Eesha, Anthony, and Dylan M. are still waiting for their very first loose tooth!
Lauria, Dylan A., Jacob, Amanda, and Arlo got to share their Writer’s Workshop writing with the class.
Adam is taking Buddy the Bucket Filler home for the weekend! Have a great time!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
This morning Ms. Stern read us another book by Nancy Carlson called Smile A Lot! The other books that we read by the same author are: I Don’t Like to Read!, How to Lose All Your Friends, and I Like Me! We discovered that Charlie Caps would probably like Smile A Lot because he tells us to do the same thing. The pictures in her books are so colorful and they are also really helpful in telling the story!
We used post-its again during Reader’s Workshop. We were marking our favorite parts or interesting parts while we read. After our private time was over, we got to turn and talk to our partners and explain why we marked our pages. Drew marked a favorite part. Sasha marked an interesting part.
In P.E., we learned how to play blacktop games on the playground that we use during snack recess. Sarah’s favorite game was the animal game. Hunter’s favorite game was Crocodile, Crocodile because Coach Hudson ate him with the little crocodile. Lauria’s favorite was also Crocodile, Crocodile. The crocodiles’ names were Shirley, Jake, and Buster.
Just before lunch, we met Miss Harding. She is going to be coming to our classroom sometimes to learn about first grade. She is in college to become a teacher. Nancy thought she was really nice.
We sorted again during math today. We sorted with two attributes again today using a Venn Diagram. Everyone had a turn showing brothers and sisters. We learned that most people have brothers AND sisters in our class (8 in all). We also learned that 6 people have sisters only and 4 people have brothers only. More people have sisters than brothers. We also did some sharp thinking and discovered that we couldn’t tell the names of the siblings, how old they are, or how many we have just by looking at our chart.
During Writer’s Workshop, we learned how to try our best to spell words and then move on. Anthony D. and lots of other children were able to get a lot of writing done. Victoria, Eesha, and lots of others added details to their drawings to help tell the story to the reader. At the end of the workshop, Ms. Stern showed us Amanda’s and Eesha’s work. They used their time well and remembered to practice what we had talked about! Just about everyone remembered to stay focused and use every minute to write. Ms. Stern’s bucket was overflowing!
We used post-its again during Reader’s Workshop. We were marking our favorite parts or interesting parts while we read. After our private time was over, we got to turn and talk to our partners and explain why we marked our pages. Drew marked a favorite part. Sasha marked an interesting part.
In P.E., we learned how to play blacktop games on the playground that we use during snack recess. Sarah’s favorite game was the animal game. Hunter’s favorite game was Crocodile, Crocodile because Coach Hudson ate him with the little crocodile. Lauria’s favorite was also Crocodile, Crocodile. The crocodiles’ names were Shirley, Jake, and Buster.
Just before lunch, we met Miss Harding. She is going to be coming to our classroom sometimes to learn about first grade. She is in college to become a teacher. Nancy thought she was really nice.
We sorted again during math today. We sorted with two attributes again today using a Venn Diagram. Everyone had a turn showing brothers and sisters. We learned that most people have brothers AND sisters in our class (8 in all). We also learned that 6 people have sisters only and 4 people have brothers only. More people have sisters than brothers. We also did some sharp thinking and discovered that we couldn’t tell the names of the siblings, how old they are, or how many we have just by looking at our chart.
During Writer’s Workshop, we learned how to try our best to spell words and then move on. Anthony D. and lots of other children were able to get a lot of writing done. Victoria, Eesha, and lots of others added details to their drawings to help tell the story to the reader. At the end of the workshop, Ms. Stern showed us Amanda’s and Eesha’s work. They used their time well and remembered to practice what we had talked about! Just about everyone remembered to stay focused and use every minute to write. Ms. Stern’s bucket was overflowing!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
After morning meeting, we reviewed short i words on a website. Some of the words were easy. Others were hard to find. Then we had our spelling test. This week was a little tricky because it was the first time we had 2 spelling lists going on at the same time! Children who got the sentence correct were able to choose something from the bucket of prizes. Children who didn’t get the sentence correct were still positive and thought to themselves, “Next week I’ll try again.”
While we were outside during snack recess, the fire alarm went off. We had to line up and wait quietly outside on the opposite side of the building.
During Reader’s Workshop, we made a list of Reader’s Workshop Do’s and Don’ts. Here are the things to do: keep your books out and in front of you, choose interesting books, read quietly, think about your book, reread, use EVERY minute to read, take care of your books, stay at your seat, and enjoy your books.
The don’ts: talk during private time, interrupt!, distract others, rip the books, go to the bathroom, take water breaks, get up out of your seat, play with books, take books that aren’t for you, and waste time. Everyone turned and talked to their partner to share the do and don’t that they were going to focus on before starting to read independently at their seats.
During gym, we went outside to play on the equipment. Nancy, Meaghan, Sarah, Adam, and Sasha played with the animal figurines. Hunter played on the monkey bars with his friends. Lauria and Drew played on the monkey bars too. The class also played a game called Surprise Animals. Coach Hudson calls an animal. Everyone has to act like that animal.
We learned about sorting today. Drew reminded us of a fancy math word called “attribute” that he learned from Bakugan. The word sort means a group of things or people that have something in common. The attribute is what they have in common. We used the Smartboard to sort objects in different ways. First, Dylan A. sorted the objects by color and shape. Then Sasha sorted them by size. After that, everyone took off a shoe and made a pile. We took turns sorting by 1 attribute. Anthony sorted them by black and not-black. Meaghan did laces and no laces. Eesha did shoes that tie and shoes that don’t tie. Jacob sorted them by shoes with letters and shoes without letters. Finally, Ms. Stern let us choose partners to work with “treasures.” The partners worked to sort the objects by 1 attribute.
Dylan A. got to hold Buddy the Bucket Filler for the second time today! He even earned a marble for the whole class during P.E. As a result, he is the very first person to take Buddy home for the weekend. Happy bucket filling at home, Dylan and Buddy!
While we were outside during snack recess, the fire alarm went off. We had to line up and wait quietly outside on the opposite side of the building.
During Reader’s Workshop, we made a list of Reader’s Workshop Do’s and Don’ts. Here are the things to do: keep your books out and in front of you, choose interesting books, read quietly, think about your book, reread, use EVERY minute to read, take care of your books, stay at your seat, and enjoy your books.
The don’ts: talk during private time, interrupt!, distract others, rip the books, go to the bathroom, take water breaks, get up out of your seat, play with books, take books that aren’t for you, and waste time. Everyone turned and talked to their partner to share the do and don’t that they were going to focus on before starting to read independently at their seats.
During gym, we went outside to play on the equipment. Nancy, Meaghan, Sarah, Adam, and Sasha played with the animal figurines. Hunter played on the monkey bars with his friends. Lauria and Drew played on the monkey bars too. The class also played a game called Surprise Animals. Coach Hudson calls an animal. Everyone has to act like that animal.
We learned about sorting today. Drew reminded us of a fancy math word called “attribute” that he learned from Bakugan. The word sort means a group of things or people that have something in common. The attribute is what they have in common. We used the Smartboard to sort objects in different ways. First, Dylan A. sorted the objects by color and shape. Then Sasha sorted them by size. After that, everyone took off a shoe and made a pile. We took turns sorting by 1 attribute. Anthony sorted them by black and not-black. Meaghan did laces and no laces. Eesha did shoes that tie and shoes that don’t tie. Jacob sorted them by shoes with letters and shoes without letters. Finally, Ms. Stern let us choose partners to work with “treasures.” The partners worked to sort the objects by 1 attribute.
Dylan A. got to hold Buddy the Bucket Filler for the second time today! He even earned a marble for the whole class during P.E. As a result, he is the very first person to take Buddy home for the weekend. Happy bucket filling at home, Dylan and Buddy!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Today we continued to practice the short i sound. Yesterday we practiced singing along to a video about a girl named Silly Jill. Today we read The Big Hit on Starfall.com. We practiced making words in the –ig family. Then we learned how to use magic squares to make words on the Smartboard. Everyone got to try it on their own at their seats. When we were done, we shared and sorted our words together and made a chart.
We had first grade assembly. Junie B. Jones and Mr. Wu, the bus driver, came to our school. Junie B. had a special chest filled with lots of interesting things. Some of them were: a pointer to talk about school rules and grades you get, a purple fluffy scarf, a clown wig, her elephant named Phil who tried to fly, an elf costume, a toilet plunger (that she kissed!!!), and lots of dirty clothes with stains on them from the cafeteria. Junie B. used cymbals to make loud noises. At the end, Junie B. was moving around and we were able to see her underwear! Dylan, Stephen, Nancy, Lauria and Jacob’s favorite part was the cymbals. Sasha’s favorite part was when she came into the cafeteria jumping and skipping. Dylan A.’s favorite part was when she tried to make her stuffed elephant fly. After the performance, everyone got a Junie B. Jones paper doll and a stamp from Junie B. Jones, herself! The class went outside to look at her “stupid, smelly bus” before returning to the classroom.
We continued to work on our All About Us book. Jacob, Arlo, Victoria had a turn today.
In music, we played instruments first. We also practiced the typewriter song that we learned in kindergarten. Everyone got to use the finger drums. Then we played freeze dance. Amanda thought Meaghan was really good at it. Arlo thought everyone did a good job, especially Lauria.
Before math, Ms. Stern hung up our self-portraits. We made a list of questions that we could ask (and answer) using the pictures that we drew. Some of the questions were:
-How many people are there?
-How many girls are there?
-How many boys are there?
-How many pictures have suns?
-How many people are playing sports?
-How many houses are there?
-How many fingers?
Tomorrow we will be working on answering our questions.
During Writer’s Workshop, we reviewed what we need to be good writers. We came up with the following: quiet space, materials (pens, papers, etc.), practice, spelling help, ideas and experiences to write about, and details in our work. Then Ms. Stern introduced date stampers. We learned to hold the stamper with the flat part against our thumb. We also learned not to change the date, to stamp our papers only one time on the date line at the top of the page.
Today we finished reading our first chapter book, Junie B.: First Grader At Last! We thought the book was really good because it was funny. In the beginning, Junie B. didn’t like first grade. She discovered that she needed glasses to see better. Her friends weren’t nice to her. At the end, Junie B. ended up really liking first grade!
We had first grade assembly. Junie B. Jones and Mr. Wu, the bus driver, came to our school. Junie B. had a special chest filled with lots of interesting things. Some of them were: a pointer to talk about school rules and grades you get, a purple fluffy scarf, a clown wig, her elephant named Phil who tried to fly, an elf costume, a toilet plunger (that she kissed!!!), and lots of dirty clothes with stains on them from the cafeteria. Junie B. used cymbals to make loud noises. At the end, Junie B. was moving around and we were able to see her underwear! Dylan, Stephen, Nancy, Lauria and Jacob’s favorite part was the cymbals. Sasha’s favorite part was when she came into the cafeteria jumping and skipping. Dylan A.’s favorite part was when she tried to make her stuffed elephant fly. After the performance, everyone got a Junie B. Jones paper doll and a stamp from Junie B. Jones, herself! The class went outside to look at her “stupid, smelly bus” before returning to the classroom.
We continued to work on our All About Us book. Jacob, Arlo, Victoria had a turn today.
In music, we played instruments first. We also practiced the typewriter song that we learned in kindergarten. Everyone got to use the finger drums. Then we played freeze dance. Amanda thought Meaghan was really good at it. Arlo thought everyone did a good job, especially Lauria.
Before math, Ms. Stern hung up our self-portraits. We made a list of questions that we could ask (and answer) using the pictures that we drew. Some of the questions were:
-How many people are there?
-How many girls are there?
-How many boys are there?
-How many pictures have suns?
-How many people are playing sports?
-How many houses are there?
-How many fingers?
Tomorrow we will be working on answering our questions.
During Writer’s Workshop, we reviewed what we need to be good writers. We came up with the following: quiet space, materials (pens, papers, etc.), practice, spelling help, ideas and experiences to write about, and details in our work. Then Ms. Stern introduced date stampers. We learned to hold the stamper with the flat part against our thumb. We also learned not to change the date, to stamp our papers only one time on the date line at the top of the page.
Today we finished reading our first chapter book, Junie B.: First Grader At Last! We thought the book was really good because it was funny. In the beginning, Junie B. didn’t like first grade. She discovered that she needed glasses to see better. Her friends weren’t nice to her. At the end, Junie B. ended up really liking first grade!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
We had a small class today! 5 children were absent. Hopefully, everyone who is sick will rest up and be back to school on Monday.
Charlie Caps, Zelda, and Mrs. O’Donnell came to visit and put on a puppet show for us. Dylan A. thinks that they came to help us learn to be kind and caring. Ms. Stern helped the visitors by reading a BIG book all about being a good friend. We earned 4 marbles in our first day!
Today we took our first spelling practice test. Nancy thought it was easy. Some people thought it was hard to figure out which way the letters go…especially the b’s and d’s! Ms. Stern reminded us to look above the Smartboard at the alphabet chart to check and make sure. She also reminded us to use lowercase letters. The bonus word was “gym.” Lots of children wrote all of the words correctly but many forgot to start their sentences with uppercase letters and to end them with a period. Luckily, most people corrected their work before handing in their papers.
We had our second fire drill this morning. Stephen thought it took forever! We had to wait a long time outside because the alarm wasn’t going off. Finally, we were able to return to the classroom and get back to work.
We continued getting to know each other by getting to know Anthony D. We have 8 more children to go and then we will have learned about everyone in our class.
Ms. Stern read us a story called I Don’t Like to Read! In the story, Henry didn’t like reading at first because it was hard for him. After he practiced for a while, Henry was able to read! Sasha remembered that one of the illustrations was of the book I Like to Read! because it is written and illustrated by the same author.
During Reader’s Workshop, we made a chart to help us not to interrupt and to use EVERY SECOND to read. The chart had different problems that might happen and the solutions that we came up with. When it was time to read, some of those problems happened. Some children worked to solve them and others needed some reminders.
In Art, everyone worked on their “masterpiece” that will be on display for the art show in October. Some people painted, others used Q-tips, and some people used oil pastels to make self-portraits or movement pictures. Mrs. Piteo was very proud and gave us a compliment about our behavior!
We got our writing folders during Writer’s Workshop. One side has a green sticker and the other side has a red one. The red side is for stories that we have finished. The green side is for pieces that we are still working on. Today we continued to focus on adding on to our pieces. We know that “When you’re done, you’ve just begun.” That means that once we think we are done, we need to go back and see if we can add words or pictures to tell more. Then we can begin a new piece of writing.
Lots of our invisible buckets have been filling up this week. Here are some examples of bucket-filling acts that make our days better:
*Stephen let me have a book during Reader's Workshop. -Sarah
*Mrs. Piteo said my self portrait looked good. -Drew
*Eesha sat next to me at lunch. -Dylan M.
*Adam got me the paint. -Anthony
*Everybody liked my picture a lot. -Anthony D.
*Eesha and Nancy helped me when I dropped the books. -Dylan
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Meet the Teacher Night
Dear Parents,
Thank you so much for attending Meet the Teacher night last night. I enjoyed meeting you and putting names with faces. There is always so much that I want to communicate to you and never enough time! I truly believe that education needs to be a partnership. Your kind words and warm smiles set the tone for a great evening. Together, we can work to make this year a real success.
If you did not get a copy of the presentation or any of the other handouts and you would like one please let me know. If you were unable to attend, I will contact you to set up a time to meet on our November conference day on Nov. 3rd. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year. I will always do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.
I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with your children and you this year. I look forward to an outstanding year together.
Sincerely,
Randi Stern
PS-The "Shift Happens" video that I showed at the end of the presentation can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-8DRPCJ86U
The full length version can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuV_rmf5Mg
Thank you so much for attending Meet the Teacher night last night. I enjoyed meeting you and putting names with faces. There is always so much that I want to communicate to you and never enough time! I truly believe that education needs to be a partnership. Your kind words and warm smiles set the tone for a great evening. Together, we can work to make this year a real success.
If you did not get a copy of the presentation or any of the other handouts and you would like one please let me know. If you were unable to attend, I will contact you to set up a time to meet on our November conference day on Nov. 3rd. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year. I will always do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.
I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with your children and you this year. I look forward to an outstanding year together.
Sincerely,
Randi Stern
PS-The "Shift Happens" video that I showed at the end of the presentation can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-8DRPCJ86U
The full length version can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhuV_rmf5Mg
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Our Class Rules
We agree that our classroom needs to be a place where EVERYONE feels safe and is comfortable learning. Here are the rules that we all agree to follow:
1. Be kind to everyone!
2. Listen carefully and respectfully
3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself
4. Share and be fair
5. Be responsible (for yourself, the classroom, and the materials)
6. Raise a quiet hand and wait to be called on
7. Be positive and always try your best!
Please review these rules and the importance of adhering to them on a regular basis. As we are in the early stages of the new school year, we are working particularly hard on rule #2 as we aim to listen and follow the directions the first time they are given.
Thanks for your continued support,
Randi Stern
1. Be kind to everyone!
2. Listen carefully and respectfully
3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself
4. Share and be fair
5. Be responsible (for yourself, the classroom, and the materials)
6. Raise a quiet hand and wait to be called on
7. Be positive and always try your best!
Please review these rules and the importance of adhering to them on a regular basis. As we are in the early stages of the new school year, we are working particularly hard on rule #2 as we aim to listen and follow the directions the first time they are given.
Thanks for your continued support,
Randi Stern
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Most of the students in our class remembered to unpack all of their belongings, take care of attendance and lunch count, and hand in their homework this morning!
We practiced our handwriting. We talked about the lines on the paper. The top line is called the headline. The dotted line is called the midline, and the bottom line is called the baseline. Ms. Stern showed us how to correctly write 3 lowercase letters on the Smartboard. They were: l, t, and i. Some people got to practice on the board. Everyone got to write in the air. We watched the Smartboard. It looked like the letters were writing themselves! Ms. Stern recorded the way to make them before the children came. It looked like magic. Everyone went to their seats to practice sitting properly (we call it “stacking your blocks” when we sit up tall with two feet on the floor, our chairs pushed in, and our hands anchoring our papers) and begin working.
We reviewed our short a word list from yesterday. Some children thought of new words to add. Then we learned a new poem called Alan’s Apples. We highlighted short a words and pasted it into our poetry journals. Ms. Stern asked us to read both of our poems 3 times to get better at them.
During Reader’s Workshop, Ms. Stern read us a story called Reading Makes You Feel Good. We love to read and we discovered that people like to read in different places for different reasons by drawing and writing.
Today was our first time going to the library. Mrs. Cornelius is our new librarian. She went over the library rules. The rules spelled “POLITE.” Next, she read us a book about animals. When we finished the book, we had a surprise. Everyone got to make their very own shelf marker! Adam decorated his with a giant eye. Dylan drew herself wearing a pretty dress. Amanda made an American flag. Dylan A. made a light saber. Star Wars was a popular theme. Mrs. Cornelius taught us a song about how to use the shelf markers. It is sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey.
In P.E., we went outside. Coach Hudson went over the rules for playing on the playground equipment. Coach Hudson pretended to be a fire alarm so we could practice what to do during a fire drill. After we finished, the class had free time to play.
After specials, we had a real fire drill. Everyone was quiet and stood nicely outside near the fence. We know to be quiet so that the teachers and students can listen for directions and know what to.
From Ms. Stern:
Please have your child decorate his/her journal with photos, stickers, etc. of things or people that are of interest or importance and return to school tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Thank you!
We practiced our handwriting. We talked about the lines on the paper. The top line is called the headline. The dotted line is called the midline, and the bottom line is called the baseline. Ms. Stern showed us how to correctly write 3 lowercase letters on the Smartboard. They were: l, t, and i. Some people got to practice on the board. Everyone got to write in the air. We watched the Smartboard. It looked like the letters were writing themselves! Ms. Stern recorded the way to make them before the children came. It looked like magic. Everyone went to their seats to practice sitting properly (we call it “stacking your blocks” when we sit up tall with two feet on the floor, our chairs pushed in, and our hands anchoring our papers) and begin working.
We reviewed our short a word list from yesterday. Some children thought of new words to add. Then we learned a new poem called Alan’s Apples. We highlighted short a words and pasted it into our poetry journals. Ms. Stern asked us to read both of our poems 3 times to get better at them.
During Reader’s Workshop, Ms. Stern read us a story called Reading Makes You Feel Good. We love to read and we discovered that people like to read in different places for different reasons by drawing and writing.
Today was our first time going to the library. Mrs. Cornelius is our new librarian. She went over the library rules. The rules spelled “POLITE.” Next, she read us a book about animals. When we finished the book, we had a surprise. Everyone got to make their very own shelf marker! Adam decorated his with a giant eye. Dylan drew herself wearing a pretty dress. Amanda made an American flag. Dylan A. made a light saber. Star Wars was a popular theme. Mrs. Cornelius taught us a song about how to use the shelf markers. It is sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey.
In P.E., we went outside. Coach Hudson went over the rules for playing on the playground equipment. Coach Hudson pretended to be a fire alarm so we could practice what to do during a fire drill. After we finished, the class had free time to play.
After specials, we had a real fire drill. Everyone was quiet and stood nicely outside near the fence. We know to be quiet so that the teachers and students can listen for directions and know what to.
From Ms. Stern:
Please have your child decorate his/her journal with photos, stickers, etc. of things or people that are of interest or importance and return to school tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Thank you!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Reader's Workshop: Favorite Books
Dear Parents,
We are off to a wonderful school year together! We are continuing to get to know each other and I can see some great friendships forming. We have a very sweet class who are eager to learn new things.
We are about to begin our Reader’s Workshop. Our goals over the next few weeks are to make the children feel like readers and classroom management during Reader’s Workshop time. We will be learning how to handle books, where the books belong in our classroom, and what good readers look and sound like. This will take some time, but it is so important to establish these things from the beginning of the year.
We are asking that each child bring in one of their favorite books from home to keep at school for the month of September (please write your child’s name inside the book). This is a great way for all of us to see the different types of books we enjoy reading at home. The books will be kept in a safe basket in the classroom. Please have your child bring his/her favorite book to school by Tuesday. Those children that brought a book for the first day of school will use it for this purpose.
Thank you for your support! Have a terrific weekend.
Sincerely,
Randi Stern
We are off to a wonderful school year together! We are continuing to get to know each other and I can see some great friendships forming. We have a very sweet class who are eager to learn new things.
We are about to begin our Reader’s Workshop. Our goals over the next few weeks are to make the children feel like readers and classroom management during Reader’s Workshop time. We will be learning how to handle books, where the books belong in our classroom, and what good readers look and sound like. This will take some time, but it is so important to establish these things from the beginning of the year.
We are asking that each child bring in one of their favorite books from home to keep at school for the month of September (please write your child’s name inside the book). This is a great way for all of us to see the different types of books we enjoy reading at home. The books will be kept in a safe basket in the classroom. Please have your child bring his/her favorite book to school by Tuesday. Those children that brought a book for the first day of school will use it for this purpose.
Thank you for your support! Have a terrific weekend.
Sincerely,
Randi Stern
Friday, September 11, 2009
This morning we went into the gym after we got off of our buses. It was raining out. All of the first graders sat in a line for each class. Mrs. Polansky spoke to us about Patriot Day. A patriot is a person who supports their country. We are all patriots. Everyone stood up and said the Pledge of Allegiance. Next, we listened to a song called Proud to Be an American and then sang This Land is Your Land. After we sang, Mrs. Polansky asked us to have a moment of silence to remember the people who died while trying to save one another many years ago.
We had indoor recess because of the rainy weather. We could use Legos, the computers, blocks, stuffed animals, or paper to draw. Meaghan played with the blocks with Eesha. Amanda played on the computer. Stephen used the Legos with Adam and Drew.
Ms. Stern read us a few stories. One was called Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books. We found out that Gilbert, the character in the story, will be coming back to the classroom later this year. We also read A Giraffe and a Half, which is written by Shel Silverstein. We noticed that it was a rhyming book! It was kind of like a tongue twister, too. The last book that we read was called I Like Me! Dylan A. remembered that the message in that story was that we should all like ourselves.
In P.E., we played Skeletons and Mice. Some people are picked to be skeletons. They have to tap the mice who become skeletons then. Sasha was a skeleton the whole time. Nancy started as a mouse and became a skeleton.
This afternoon we had catch-up time (not ketchup!). People got to finish their self-portraits, “Today I feel…” faces, and Leo the Late Bloomer activities.
Please make sure to send in any missing supplies by Monday. All children need to have 2 composition notebooks, 2 folders, and a clipboard. Thank you for your assistance.
Have a terrific weekend!
We had indoor recess because of the rainy weather. We could use Legos, the computers, blocks, stuffed animals, or paper to draw. Meaghan played with the blocks with Eesha. Amanda played on the computer. Stephen used the Legos with Adam and Drew.
Ms. Stern read us a few stories. One was called Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books. We found out that Gilbert, the character in the story, will be coming back to the classroom later this year. We also read A Giraffe and a Half, which is written by Shel Silverstein. We noticed that it was a rhyming book! It was kind of like a tongue twister, too. The last book that we read was called I Like Me! Dylan A. remembered that the message in that story was that we should all like ourselves.
In P.E., we played Skeletons and Mice. Some people are picked to be skeletons. They have to tap the mice who become skeletons then. Sasha was a skeleton the whole time. Nancy started as a mouse and became a skeleton.
This afternoon we had catch-up time (not ketchup!). People got to finish their self-portraits, “Today I feel…” faces, and Leo the Late Bloomer activities.
Please make sure to send in any missing supplies by Monday. All children need to have 2 composition notebooks, 2 folders, and a clipboard. Thank you for your assistance.
Have a terrific weekend!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Our First Grade Goals
My first grade goal is to learn how to tell time. -Lauria
My first grade goal is to learn how to keep sorting stuff. -Meaghan
My first grade goal is to learn how to read Pinkalicious. -Dylan M.
My first grade goal is to put numbers together. -Anthony D.
My first grade goal is to get better at adding numbers. -Stephen
My first grade goal is to be smart in school. -Arlo
My first grade goal is to learn how to tie a bow. -Jacob
My first grade goal is to learn math. -Dylan A.
My first grade goal is to learn how to tie my shoe. -Drew
My first grade goal is to draw people better. -Eesha
My first grade goal is to learn how to draw. -Dylan
My first grade goal is -Nancy
My first grade goal is to learn technology. -Victoria
My first grade goal is to learn putting numbers together. -Sasha
My first grade goal is to get better at writing. -Amanda
My first grade goal is telling time. -Adam
My first grade goal is to draw better. -Hunter
My first grade goal is to learn how to dread and draw. -Sarah
My first grade goal is to -Anthony D.
My first grade goal is to learn how to keep sorting stuff. -Meaghan
My first grade goal is to learn how to read Pinkalicious. -Dylan M.
My first grade goal is to put numbers together. -Anthony D.
My first grade goal is to get better at adding numbers. -Stephen
My first grade goal is to be smart in school. -Arlo
My first grade goal is to learn how to tie a bow. -Jacob
My first grade goal is to learn math. -Dylan A.
My first grade goal is to learn how to tie my shoe. -Drew
My first grade goal is to draw people better. -Eesha
My first grade goal is to learn how to draw. -Dylan
My first grade goal is -Nancy
My first grade goal is to learn technology. -Victoria
My first grade goal is to learn putting numbers together. -Sasha
My first grade goal is to get better at writing. -Amanda
My first grade goal is telling time. -Adam
My first grade goal is to draw better. -Hunter
My first grade goal is to learn how to dread and draw. -Sarah
My first grade goal is to -Anthony D.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Our First Day!
Today was our first day as first graders! We in the hall and waited patiently for everyone to arrive. Ms. Stern greeted us at the door and said, "Good morning." We looked at her and said, "Good morning" back. Next, Ms. Stern read us a story. Then we began to unpack our supplies. They were HEAVY! After that, we talked about good choices for behavior while eating. We ate our snacks and went outside for a few minutes. It was a beautiful day. When we came back inside, we read another story called Chrysanthemum. It's about a girl (mouse) who is named after a flower. At first, she really liked her name. Then the other students at school made fun of her and pointed out that her name was so long and was the same as a flower. That made Chrysanthemum sad. Finally, the other students became envious of her because their music teacher, Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle, also had a long name and was named after a flower. We talked about our names. A few children shared the stories behind their names and so did Ms. Stern.
Before we knew it, it was lunchtime already! We met Mrs. Graff. She is our lunch aide during recess and lunch. When everyone came back to the classroom, we filled out Name Bingo cards for each other and began to play. First, we played having to get rows. Lots of people got Bingo! Then we played using the corners. Everyone was a good sport in playing. That made Ms. Stern so happy and proud! Sasha and Dylan A. both had great luck with their Bingo boards!
Today was our first day of music with Mrs. Fox. We learned about different instruments that she JUST got this morning! Some of the instruments were finger drums, metalaphones, lollipop drum, thunder drums, and a rainstick.
Here are some highlights/noticings from our first day:
*Dylan A. liked when Ms. Stern read us a book called My First Day of School. His favorite part was the last part because he is excited to learn a lot this year.
*Drew noticed that his friends James and Robert have the same lunchbox as him!
*Victoria saw lots of her friends passing her in the hall. She was excited to meet Ms. Stern.
*Hunter liked when we unpacked our bags. They were so heavy when we came to school. During recess, Stephen and Adam went on the swings and monkey bars. Drew was able to go across all of them for the first time!
*Meaghan thought we had a great day and we had lots of fun! She liked playing outside.
Before we knew it, it was lunchtime already! We met Mrs. Graff. She is our lunch aide during recess and lunch. When everyone came back to the classroom, we filled out Name Bingo cards for each other and began to play. First, we played having to get rows. Lots of people got Bingo! Then we played using the corners. Everyone was a good sport in playing. That made Ms. Stern so happy and proud! Sasha and Dylan A. both had great luck with their Bingo boards!
Today was our first day of music with Mrs. Fox. We learned about different instruments that she JUST got this morning! Some of the instruments were finger drums, metalaphones, lollipop drum, thunder drums, and a rainstick.
Here are some highlights/noticings from our first day:
*Dylan A. liked when Ms. Stern read us a book called My First Day of School. His favorite part was the last part because he is excited to learn a lot this year.
*Drew noticed that his friends James and Robert have the same lunchbox as him!
*Victoria saw lots of her friends passing her in the hall. She was excited to meet Ms. Stern.
*Hunter liked when we unpacked our bags. They were so heavy when we came to school. During recess, Stephen and Adam went on the swings and monkey bars. Drew was able to go across all of them for the first time!
*Meaghan thought we had a great day and we had lots of fun! She liked playing outside.
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