Ms. Stern's Class Connection

First Week in Photos

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2010-2011

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We Have Moved!

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Please check out our new home: http://staff.socsdblogs.org/rstern/

Thank you

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June 25, 2010
Dear Families,
I cannot believe that the end of the year is here. Ten months ago, June was nothing more than a far off dream. Now, in what seems like a blink of the eye, summer vacation is upon us and July is only one week away.
I always take time to reflect at the close of the school year. It has taken a lot of hard work on all of our parts (children, parents, and teachers) to arrive at this day. I have a tremendous amount of pride in the children for all that they have accomplished and for the blood, sweat, and tears that they have put into their learning. Twenty children arrived in September wanting and willing to learn. So much has happened between then and now. Lots of time spent learning, laughing, questioning, crying, etc. They have driven me crazy at times, made me sad at others, while also filling me with joy and gratitude (and all of those emotions could occur before snack time on any given day). They’ve tattled, lost teeth, grown new ones, and celebrated accomplishments and frustrations together. With all that the children and I have done, we’ve done it together.
The last day of school is always so bittersweet to me. I will miss these 20 very special girls and boys terribly but I know that they are ready to move on to new beginnings and new challenges. I am so proud of all their accomplishments and I know that I am passing them along to a school filled with very talented and capable teachers at T.Z.E.
Please accept my sincerest thanks for all of your help and support this year. The year’s success certainly couldn’t have happened without you. I truly appreciate your support, patience and understanding. Your encouragement and reinforcement are truly what make this experience so triumphant.
Have a fabulous summer vacation. Summer is a time for relaxation but it’s also a great opportunity for review and reinforcement and I encourage you to support your child by providing educational opportunities (not necessarily worksheets) for them to review and learn through games, conversations, and life. I never forget that you are your child’s first and most significant and influential teachers. Please keep in touch. Thanks again for sharing your children with me this year.
With great appreciation,
Randi Stern

Friday, June 11, 2010: Spelling Bee

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This morning we went outside to see the South Orangetown Ambulance Corp. There were four ambulances and lots of paramedics. A man talked to us calling 911 for help. We asked questions (and told LOTS of stories) about times where people needed help or went in an ambulance. Then each of the classes got to go into an actual ambulance. People sat on the seats and on the stretcher. The paramedics showed us some of the things that they have inside the ambulance and then answered some of our questions and listened to even MORE of our stories. Before we came back to the classroom, we got candy and information to become Smarties.

Ms. Stern passes along a folder with important information for our second grade teachers. Some of the things in that folder are our November conference report, our final report card, reading information, and a piece of writing. Today we worked on our writing piece. We had to introduce ourselves to our new teachers. First, we thought of things that our teachers will see when they look at our writing: spelling, spacing, capitalization, punctuation, and handwriting. After that, we brainstormed things that our teachers might want to know about us: our name, family, what we like about school (or what we don’t like), what we know a lot about, school activities that help us with our learning, favorite books, our birthdays, interests or hobbies, things that challenge us in school, and our behavior in school. We turned and talked to our partners to think about what we wanted to share before we started writing at our seats. Stephen had no problem thinking of things that he wants his second grade teacher to know about him!

Today was our celebration for Dylan’s birthday. Her real birthday is the day after school ends. Victoria helped Dylan pass out the plates and then Ms. Stern passed out the cupcakes. They were red velvet mini-cupcakes. Arlo thought they tasted awesome!

We looked at coins during math today. Yesterday we worked in groups to record what we know about pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Each table wrote what they knew about one coin and then passed it to the next table. Today we looked closely at pennies and nickels. We know that pennies are a brownish, copper color. They have Abraham Lincoln on them and are worth one cent. You would need 100 pennies to make $1.00. Next, we looked at a nickel. It is a silver color and is bigger than a penny. It is worth five cents. You would need 20 nickels to equal a dollar.

We went outside during P.E. We played a bunch of games like tennis, scoops, Frisbee, boxball, kickball, and foxtail. Sasha sang a song from Glee. While people were playing games, Meaghan, Sasha, and Emma came to the classroom window to say hello. Ms. Stern saw us and came over to say hi. She was eating lunch with her friends.

We had a spelling bee after specials. Everyone lined up around the rug. Ms. Stern gave every person a word. We had to spell the word correctly and if we didn’t, we had to sit down at our seat. In the first round everyone (except for one person) spelled the word correctly. The words got harder and harder after each round and more and more people spelled the words wrong. Dylan was a little scared before her turn because she was afraid she would spell the word wrong. Drew was also a little scared. Lauria wasn’t so scared because she’s been practicing using the words in her homework journal so she thought she was going to do really well. Adam had a feeling that Ms. Stern was going to start with easier words. He also practiced pretty much all of his words. Meaghan was thinking that she wasn’t so scared. Eesha practiced with her mom in the car. She even spelled the word encyclopedia on the third try! Her practice paid off because she ended up being the winner! Our final four contestants were: Dylan A., Emma, Eesha, and Drew. Eesha got a medal and Drew (our second place speller) a certificate. Once we finished the spelling bee, everyone wanted to do it again!

Please don’t forget about donations for next week’s tag sale. So far, we only have a few items that will be available for purchase. Unused/unwanted toys, books, movies, music, stuffed animals, crafts, etc. will gladly be accepted. Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

Trip to the DeWint House

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Photos Coming Soon!

Twin/Triplet Day

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Photos Coming Soon!

Monday, June 7, 2010: Crazy Hair Day

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Today we had Crazy Hair Day. It’s a day where everyone in the class gets to make crazy hair. Meaghan tried three different hair-do’s and didn’t like any of them. Adam didn’t have a lot of hair. Pretty much all of the girls in the class had lots of ponytails. A few boys had Mohawks. Stephen noticed that most of the boys had gel in their hair to make it spiky. Dylan M. had one ponytail on the top of his head, kind of like Stephanie from Stephanie’s Ponytail. Lots of kids had color in their hair. Sarah had glitter in her hair! There was lots of discussion about the different hairstyles. Dylan A’s reaction was, “WOW! They have freaky hair!” Ms. Stern couldn’t believe all of the crazy, colorful hairstyles! Tomorrow morning we will have a crazy hair contest.

Ms. Stern read us a story called Saying Goodbye to Lulu. It’s about a girl whose lifelong companion, her loveable dog named Lulu, who passes away. The girl was very sad and decided to honor her pet by planting a special tree called “Lulu’s tree.” Then she told us some very sad news. Jimmy, our class pet, died over the weekend. He was having some problems with one of his eyes for a little while. Unfortunately, Jimmy didn’t get better. Together, we shared happy memories and told about funny things that happened with him around. Lots of people were very sad. Some children cried. Sarah reminded us that when we get sad, we can remember the things about Jimmy that make us happy. We are making a book about or favorite Jimmy memories to remember him by. He was a great class pet and we will miss him. Here’s what we wrote:

My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he peed and pooped on my unfinished work folder. –Emma
My most favorite memory about Jimmy is when he tried to get out of his cage. –Sarah
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he took a bath. –Stephen
My favorite memory of Jimmy is hearing him chomping on his lettuce. I miss him so so so much already. –Victoria
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he crawled in my hands and went to sleep. –Dylan
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he was eating lettuce. –Dylan M.
My favorite memory of Jimmy is seeing his puke. I miss Jimmy already. He was a great class pet. –Drew
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he eats celery and when the sand came out. –Nancy
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he was trying to climb the cage. –Hunter
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he ate his food. –Arlo
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when me and my friends played with him. –Meaghan
My favorite memory of Jimmy is giving him a bath. One Monday, me and my sister gave Jimmy a bath. We watched him crawl around in the container. –Eesha
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he scared my friend away. –Anthony
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when we met him. –Dylan A.
My favorite memory about Jimmy is when he ate and munched loud. –Sasha
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when he peed on my brother’s face. –Jacob
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when Nicole (my older sister) got to take Jimmy home and we got to see Jimmy and play with Jimmy. –Amanda
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when I took him home and he looked so quiet. –Adam
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when Ms. Stern let him crawl on the rug. I think everyone was happy to meet Jimmy. Ms. Stern told us to hold him like a sandwich. –Lauria
My favorite memory of Jimmy is when we first saw Jimmy when he was crawling on the yellow rug. Jimmy crawled to me first. –Anthony D.

Ms. Stern had to go to a meeting. Mrs. McNamee came into our classroom for part of the day. Everyone read independently before lunch time.

After lunch, we did our 100 facts. Then we played place value Tic-Tac-Toe again. We got to choose our own partners.

Today everyone began writing and illustrating their ABC books using the graphic organizers to help us remember our ideas.

Our trip to the DeWint House is on Wednesday. Permission slips need to be returned by Wednesday morning in order to go on the walk. Please be sure to have your child wear sneakers and dress appropriately for the trip. We will be leaving WOS around 9:00 a.m. and are hoping to return by 11:30. Let Ms. Stern know if you are interested in chaperoning. Thanks!

Tomorrow is Twin/Triplet Day. Refer to the June activity calendar to be up to date on each day’s special event.

Friday, June 4, 2010: Field Day Favorites

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•The best part of Field Day was having the ice pops and seeing my mom and my friends. –Victoria
•I had so much fun when I had an ice pop and I saw Mrs. Polansky and Ms. Carr having the soccer race. –Anthony D.
•My favorite part was when we were having the football race. Also when Ms. Carr and Mrs. Polansky were racing after Field Day. –Hunter
•My favorite part about Field Day was when we had the chicken race because it was easier than all of the other races and it was funny because chickens are funny. –Sarah
•My favorite part was the chicken race and the football race. –Jacob
•I liked when we did the chicken race and the football race because I felt I was going to drop the ball (during the football race) but I held it a different way and I didn’t drop it. –Sasha
•My favorite part is when we had the ice pops. –Meaghan
•My favorite part was when I got to squirt people and when I got to see Ms. Carr and Mrs. Polansky race. –Adam
•My favorite part was when we got the prizes from Coach. –Nancy
•My favorite part was when we did the football race and when we did the football race and when we saw Principal Polansky race. –Stephen
•I thought it was awesome! –Arlo
•I liked the soccer race because we could just dribble it and I took soccer for two years so it made me know how to dribble really well. –Dylan A.
•My favorite part was when we got to see Mrs. Polansky and Ms. Carr race and we got to have ice pops. –Emma

We celebrated Lauria’s summer birthday today. Her real birthday is in August so we celebrated today instead. Lauria’s mom brought in vanilla and chocolate cake with ice cream in the middle. Jacob had an Italian ice instead. It was delicious!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010: Trip to TZE

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This morning we went to TZE to visit the school. Adam was happy to see his school next year. Meaghan also was excited to see the school. Today was Dylan A., Emma, Eesha, Jacob, Victoria, and Dylan M.’s first time being there. Sarah was a little afraid of getting lost. We rode on the bus with Mrs. Ochman’s class. All of the first grade classes went so we had to wait a few minutes to come inside. We all went into the cafeteria to meet Dr. Lee and Ms. Lipton. We saw photos of the people who work in the school. Ms. Lipton explained different things that we will learn about or participate in. After that, the expert panel of second graders answered questions from the first graders. Mrs. Fanning, one of the second grade teachers, came to greet us in the cafeteria. She gave us a tour of the school with her students. We saw the colored hallways. They are lemon, raspberry, watermelon, and blueberry. Our last stop was Mrs. Fanning’s class. The students in her class answered the questions that we posted on the blog. That was very helpful for us. While we were talking, Stephen’s sister and her friend came into the classroom. Madison, Stephen’s sister, had Ms. Stern AND Mrs. Fanning in first and second grade. Before the trip, Dylan A. was nervous about going to the new school. After the trip, he felt really great about TZE and is excited to go next year. Lauria thought the best part of the trip was when Mrs. Fanning’s students answered our questions. Jacob liked standing in the rotunda and looking at all of the different hallways. Hunter liked getting to see an actual second grade classroom and thought it was interesting that the classrooms have 5 walls and not 4, like us.

Before our trip, we did some careful thinking about our classmates in order to give Ms. Stern information about people that we think would be good and bad matches for us to move to second grade with. We thought of 3 people who are helpful and good for our learning. At least two of them had to be in our class. Then we had to explain why they are positive people for our learning. After that, we thought about 3 people that stop us from being the best learners. They could be our friends and tempt us to talk or not be our best listeners. Or they might be people that we don’t always get along well with. Sasha found it really easy to list the people she would like to be with. Whenever she works with them, she learns a lot and completes her work. Stephen also thought it was pretty easy thinking of people he works well with. Ms. Stern told us that she can’t make any promises that we will or will not be in a second grade class with the children that we named.

Yesterday we started reading our last chapter book of the year: The BFG, written by Roald Dahl. It’s about a big friendly giant that takes a girl named Sophie during the “witching hour” because she spotted him in the street. Today we continued reading two more chapters.

We continued working on place value during math. We are doing a lot of partner work. Today we played Building On. Each set of partners picked 1 tile out of a bag. We built that number out of linker cubes by making tens and ones. We had to keep adding one more and recording until we reach 100.

Tomorrow is Gum Day. The children are allowed to chew gum in the classroom only. There will be a bubble blowing contest in the afternoon.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

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Today was New Name Day in our classroom. Everyone picked a new name just for today. Ms. Stern gave us nametags to wear. These were our new names for today: Maggie, Adam, Taylor, Owen, Michael M., Madden, Mia, Posada, Jennifer, Steve, Bob, Jade, Jenna, Sam, Jake, Michael, Maddy, Megan, Nicholas, and Katie. It was confusing for some kids because some people chose names of kids in the class. So when Ms. Stern called Adam, Steve, or Megan, the kids with those names thought she was talking to them. We ended up having two Michaels. Some kids had trouble spelling their new names, especially when their nametags came off. Katie liked New Name Day because she didn’t have to get confused by all of the Dylans that we usually have. Sam was excited that she got to pick her name.

Sasha and Sarah’s moms came in to help us with our Field Day shirts. We learned two different ways to tie dye. The first way was by folding the shirt and the other way was twisting it. We used rubber bands to hold the shirts in place. They will make stripes or swirls on our shirts. Next, we had to dunk our shirts into water and then squeeze out the extra water. The last step for today was to put it in the red dye and then put the shirt into bags with our names on them. After they have had a chance to set, we are going to continue to decorate them. Once we finished with our shirts, everyone had snack and then had time to read in their book bags.

After lunch we went to the library for our last book exchange. We went into the computer lab and played Pigeon games that were on Mo Willems’ website. Half the class was in the lab while the other class picked out books. If we picked out our books and still had time, we could draw our own picture of the pigeon or work on another paper.

We had P.E. this afternoon. When we got to the gym, Coach Seeney couldn’t believe that our names were switched right after he finally learned our real ones! We played Crocodile. Then we played Clean Up Your Room. Coach Hudson sometimes jokes with us that he will take the winning team (with the least amount of stuff in their room) that he will take them to Toys R Us or for ice cream. Ms. Stern came in towards the end and started to play, too.

We finally got to do our 100 facts after we returned from specials and had time to pack up. Tomorrow is our trip to TZE. We will be learning about the school, second grade, and the people who work there. We’re also going to be going into Mrs. Fanning’s class to talk to the kids and find out what second grade is really like. Remember to leave your questions on the blog for the children to answer!

June Activities

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Dear Families and Students:

The end of the year is upon us and June is always a fun month of events for our class. Below, please find a listing of what we are planning and how you can help. Please let our class parents, Evan and Lenora, know ASAP what you can do to help.

Thank you in advance for making these special days possible!

Sincerely,
Randi Stern

Field Day Prep: (Tues. June 2)
We will be tye dyeing shirts on Tuesday and could use parents to come help. Time TBD.
-Volunteers 1 per table/4 in all - Lenora and Evan are 2, we need 2 more
-4 packages of assorted Sharpie colored markers to decorate the shirts

Field Day: (Fri. June 4)
-water bottles for the children labeled with their names-taken care of by Lisa Mapeli (thank you)
-a cooler with ice to keep water bottles in - Lenora is handling from class funds
-blankets for the children to sit on in our lane- Lenora has 2, we need 2 more

DeWint House: (Wed. June 9)
We will be WALKING to and from the DeWint house in enhance our history studies of the USA. In order to ensure safety for all, we need to have 6-7 parents join us for the walk and the trip. We will be leaving at either 9:00 or 9:30 (TBD).
Since it is likely to be hot, we need water and a snack. Gallons jugs of water, a cooler, and cups would be helpful in providing a cold drink after our walk. This would need to be dropped off at the DeWint House prior to our arrival.

Beach Day: (Thurs. June 17)
-filled water balloons (weather permitting-about 50 in all)
- any beach games and beach balls you have would be wecome

Father's Day Breakfast: (Fri. June 18)
-2 dozen assorted bagels cut in half
-2 dozen plain bagels cut in half
-cream cheese, butter
-optional: fruit, mini muffins, coffee, etc.
I have paper goods already and will take care of drinks.

Sundae on Monday: (Mon. June 21)
-2-3 kinds of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, and either cookie dough or cookies and cream are safe bets)
-whipped cream
-one of the following: hot fudge/chocolate syrup/hard shell
-sprinkles - NOTHING WITH NUTS
-bowls and spoons
-1-2 parents to help with serving
-optional: M&Ms, maraschino cherries, crushed Oreos, etc. - NOTHING WITH NUTS
I have one ice cream scoop. A second (or third) would be helpful.

Year In Review: (Wed. June 23)
Everyone is invited to attend the Year in Review. - We are looking for a tech savvy parent who can help with the production of cd labels and/or jewel case covers.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

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This morning was our music showcase. It started at 9:15. Adam and Lauria got to play the big instruments. Sasha, Nancy, Jacob, Victoria, Dylan M, Anthony, Drew, Sasha and Eesha played the metalophones and xylophones. Emma, Meaghan, Hunter, Amanda, Anthony D., Stephen, Sarah, Dylan A., and Arlo played the glockenspiels. Anthony thought the funniest part was when one of the kids called out the song that we were playing. Adam was happy that his mom, grandma, and grandpa could come. Eesha’s favorite part was singing the Stop Polluting song.

After the music showcase, we came back to the room. We stopped to get drinks first. Then we reviewed some of the big ideas that we learned about mealworms and life cycles. Ms. Stern told us that we’re going to be learning about another life cycle that didn’t include animals or insects: plants. We let our brains do a lot of talking by writing down all of the information that we know about plants. Some kids knew a lot and others knew a little bit. Next, we thought about questions that we had or things that we want to learn about plants.

Sarah shared some of her travel journal from her trip to Savannah, Georgia. She had the funnest time ever! During the long car ride, Sarah wrote in her journal just like Junie B. Jones did in Aloha-ha-ha.

After art, we came back to the classroom to pack up like we usually do. Ms. Stern warned us that kids who were talking would be very upset. We were going to have a surprise but she wouldn’t tell us what it was. Kids kept trying to figure out what it was. We ended up going to the staff lounge to sit in the air conditioning to cool down for a little bit. Ms. Stern told us that there was a second surprise somewhere in the room. After a few guesses, we finally figured out that it might be in the freezer…and it was! We ate ice pops while Ms. Stern read two more chapters of Junie B. Jones: Captain of Field Day. Lauria had fun eating the ice pop and reading more of the Junie B. book. Sasha was so happy. She thought she was going to eat it in two seconds!

Yesterday, Adam was sitting at Ms. Stern’s computer researching the weather in China. He saw a spider near the computer. Ms. Stern caught it and put it in a container. Everyone wanted to know what the spider looked like and what type it was. After doing some research, we think that we discovered that it is a jumping spider. At the end of the day, lots of kids wanted to take it home to keep. Unfortunately, Ms. Stern said no. The very active spider is our new addition!

Speaking of new additions…our beetle eggs have begun to emerge! We have teensy tiny mealworm larvae that continue our life cycle!

Stay cool!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

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Ms. Stern read us a story called Alfie the Apostrophe. We reviewed contractions and came up with examples. Next, we played Treasure Trove Contractions. Finally, we learned a new poem written by Jack Prelutsky.

Mrs. Costello and Mrs. Healey stopped by. They are second grade teachers who were here for a meeting with some of the first grade teachers. Some kids knew them already.

During math we played a game called Exactly 50. Everyone had to draw a shape on their paper that they thought would hold 50 of their treasures. We then made groups of ten, circled them, and recorded how many in all. Ms. Stern warned everyone to wait to see their treasure before drawing their shape. Most people drew shapes that had space for less than 50 treasures. Some of the treasures were: peas, buttons, eraser tops, creepy crawlers, pom poms, screws, paper clips, and dice. Then we played Shark Numbers.

In P.E., we practiced the races for Field Day. We did the junk race first. Everyone has to carry the jump rope, bean bag, block, bowling pin, and football to one hula hoop. The next person has to carry it all to a different hula hoop. After that, we did the football race. The trick to handing it off to the next person is how we hold our hands if we are waiting to get the football. Sarah’s favorite race was the chicken race. It was easy compared to the other races. Anthony D. liked the football race because it felt like he was in a real football game.

We continued to work on our ABC books. Some children finished brainstorming all of their words and facts today. Amanda likes being able to choose her own ideas in any order. She thinks X, Y, and Z are the hardest.

Monday, May 24, 2010

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We started our day with only 15 kids! Stephen and Eesha came late so we ended up having 17 kids in all. We wrote in our journals and got new jobs.

There wasn’t a pre-test this morning. We learned about contractions. Contractions are a shortened combination of two words. You make a contraction by taking out some letters and including an apostrophe in their place. We saw this video from Between the Lions before making a list of contractions together.

We did our 100 facts again today. Lots of people are working on subtraction. Many people think they beat their best score today. After that, we played a game called The Bigger the Better. We worked with our partner from last week. Each player got a set of cards numbered from 0-9. Each player puts down one card from their set and then another and records on their paper. Both people make the biggest number from the two digits they drew. The higher two digit number gets circled and you start again. After 10 times, we figured out how many times both people made the bigger number. Nancy and Drew both ended up drawing the same exact numbers. The same thing happened to Amanda and Ms. Stern! Arlo realized that you can’t always get the number you wanted. Hunter liked when he got 9, 8, or 7 because they are the highest numbers and you win a lot. Emma didn’t like getting the 0 because you can’t make any tens with it.

After math, we went to specials. We had music and practiced for the music showcase on Wednesday. Everyone sat with an instrument: xylophone, metalophone, or a glockenspiel. Mrs. Fox had people at each instrument play a different note. We played tas and ti tis. Then we tried playing songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb. When our regular specials time ended, we took a quick break and then Ms. Beglin’s class came for us to rehearse together. Stephen likes playing the metalophone the most because you can hear the notes better. Anthony D. also likes playing the metalophone because he makes different sounds. Nancy thinks it’s so fun playing the big xylophone because you get to stand up when you play it.

Please remember to send in t-shirts for Field Day. Our class is Stern’s Speedy Kids. Also, there is a new blog question up now about questions we have about second grade or going to TZE.

Blog Challenge: Questions about TZE

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On June 2nd, we will be going to TZE to get a tour of the school, meet some of the teachers, and spend some time with students in a second grade classroom. In the comments section below, please write at least 2 questions that you have about TZE or second grade. Feel free to write as many questions as you have. They might be about the building, teachers, homework, playground, work, or anything else that you're wondering, excited, or nervous about. As usual, please remember to use your first name or initials only!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

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Today is voting day. Adam wanted to know who gets to vote and what people vote for. Ms. Stern explained that people vote for the budget (how money is spent), the Board of Education (a group of people who make rules for all of the schools), and money saved for projects like fixing the roofs so they don’t leak. Remember to vote!

We reviewed our –ow vs. –ow/ou list from yesterday and added a few more words to each side. Then we played a spelling game on a website. After that, we learned a new poem called Howard the Hound. We highlighted ow and ou words and then started rereading the other poems in our poetry journals (starting at the back and working our way forward).

Sarah’s tooth came out! It was practically hanging out. She said she wanted to keep it in until she got home but, as Ms. Stern suspected, the tooth didn’t want to wait! It came out right away!

Last week we talked about the oil spill that took place in Louisiana. Ms. Stern finished reading us a book called Oil Spill by Melvin Berger. We learned about how and why oil spills take place and different ways to clean them up. We also learned about how to use less oil. We looked at photos online of the water, birds being cleaned, people who were sad or unhappy about the situation, and beaches that have oil and tar washing up on the shoreline. Eesha suggested that we write letters to our senators like the book suggested.

We had art today. Mrs. S. was our substitute. She read us a book called The Art Teacher from the Black Lagoon. Everyone drew a picture of the art teacher doing different things. Nancy’s picture was of her putting two kids in a poster. Meaghan drew the art teacher locking the kids in a picture frame.

In math, we first went over the homework. Then, everyone worked as number explorers! Partners could choose to use a 100 board or not. Everyone also got a bag of number tiles. We worked together to match the number tiles on the right spot on the 100 board. People found different ways to work.

At the end, we shared our thinking, noticings, and observations:
*If you count to 100 with tiles, the 10s will go to 100 and they all end with 0. All the 9s in the column end with a 9 and it keeps going. –Adam
*We looked for 7s at the end and we noticed they are all in a row. –Victoria and Dylan A.
*You can sort by the end numbers. –Sasha and Eesha
*The 100 board doesn’t have 0 but you can always put it next to the 1. –Jacob, Hunter, Emma
*You can turn a 6 into an 8 by adding a 0 to the top. -Lauria

We’ve been reading lots of different ABC books. They are about holidays, people, places, animals, and insects. We had a conversation to figure out whether or not they are non-fiction. Today we read more ABC books. We reviewed our thinking from yesterday about our school (A is for art. In art, we create things using different materials. Mrs. Piteo is our art teacher. We go to the art room in the front of the school. B is for bathroom. There are two bathrooms in first grade. Kids shouldn’t scream in there. Responsible kids use the bathroom, wash their hands, and walk nicely back to their classrooms. C is for Charlie CAPS. Charlie is a bear introduced to the kids by Mrs. O’Donnell. CAPS classes are kind and caring, asking lots of questions, positive, and smile often. They earn marbles by making good choices. When a class earns 50 marbles, they get a Charlie CAPS party!) We started making our own books working by ourselves or with a partner. Everyone is brainstorming words that start with each letter of the alphabet that have to do with William O. Schaefer School or our classroom. Sarah chose to work alone because she thought it would be easier and she wouldn’t be distracted. She didn’t go in alphabetical order and thought it was the easiest thing she could ever do in her life! Jacob worked with Dylan A. They thought it was really hard. They wanted to use different words for the letter E. After discussing their choices, Jacob agreed to go with Dylan’s word, expression, since there was more to explain. Hunter enjoyed working on the ABC book and is excited to work on it again.

Blog Challenge: Non-fiction Facts/Features

2010-05-17T17:27:00.002-04:00

We are continuing our study of non-fiction reading and writing. Remember this trick that we learned about telling the difference between fiction and non-fiction:
Rule: You can only say no once.

Fiction = not trueNonfiction = true
Non-fiction=not true can't be.

There are 2 "no"s!

In the comments section below, please:-Share the name of 1 non-fiction book that you read at home this week. Include 3 new facts that you learn. Identify 3 features that the book has. Remember, facts are the true statements that can be checked (the information that you learn). Features are the parts of the book that help you get the information (ex. table of contents, photographs, captions, labels, diagrams, maps, glossary, bold print, italics, index, etc.).

Please use your first name only or your initials! Happy reading!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010/Trip Reminders

2010-05-12T15:47:00.001-04:00

This morning we reread Listen to the Wind, the story about a man who helped a small town in Pakistan build a school. After that we read the responses from Mrs. McBride's questions that were posted as an earlier blog challenge. We discussed why Dr. Greg shared his story and believes that education is so important to help the world. We thought about ourselves and our school. Everyone made a quilt square that shows: our name (written as fancy as we’d like), our school, our favorite subject to learn about, someone special in our school, and a way that people help each other here. Even though our schools and kids here are different from children in Korphe, we want to learn and work hard to do so. We also have special people who make our school a great place to learn and grow.

During math, we reviewed using inch rulers. Everyone chose a partner and had to search around the room for objects that were 1 inch to 12 inches in size. Stephen thought that finding smaller stuff was harder than finding bigger stuff. Arlo kept on finding objects that were about 3 and 6 inches!

We had art today. We started making pictures of funny faces called caricatures. The way that you make one is by drawing a really big head and a really small body. Then, you choose a silly face. Nancy made an angry face on a body that was the size of a mouse! Sasha made a happy face with a very big mouth. Her background was outside. We think we will finish working on them next time.

We talked about tomorrow’s trip to the Museum of Natural History. We finished looking at all of the exhibits that we are going to see on the interactive map. Then saw a few minutes of a video that showed some of the dinosaur fossils there. We talked about the rules and expectations for our trip. Safety is SO important! Everyone understands and agrees that we need to be by our assigned adult’s side for the entire trip. We will only touch things that we are told we may touch, walk quietly and slowly to learn and observe the objects around us, and do some great thinking! After our discussion, we worked with partners to record some of our wonderings or questions about things at the museum.

Hunter/Eesha/Nancy: Why is it called the Museum of Natural History? Is there a section about monkeys?
Amanda/Adam/Sasha: How did they get the blue whale there? How big is it?
Jacob/Lauria: Where did they find the dinosaur bones? What are the animals stuffed with?
Stephen/Emma: What is the biggest dinosaur? How many dinosaurs have been discovered?
Victoria/Dylan M.: Why are dinosaurs extinct?
Meghan/Drew: How old are the dinosaurs?
Sarah/Dylan: How many bones are in the big blue whale?
Dylan A./Anthony: Where do the things in the museum come from?

**Please remember to have your child wear his/her SOCES t-shirt or a red shirt on the trip and pack a bagged, disposable lunch as well as a small, quick and easy snack. Additionally, in order to be fair to all of the children, no one is allowed to visit the gift shop during our time together at the museum.

Parents, I will be forming groups based on the response forms that I received last week. Please alert me of any changes. Chaperones may meet us at school and follow the buses or go directly there. Remember to ask about discounted parking and admission for accompanying school groups. We should be arriving at the Museum of Natural History around 10:00 a.m. Thanks!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

2010-05-11T18:10:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was our Mother’s Day celebration. We greeted our mothers at the door and showed them to their seats. Next, we got them food to eat and drinks. After our guests were served, we got to take food for ourselves. Ms. Stern called the kids to the rug. We recited a poem called I’m Trying So Hard. After that, we played our guessing game. Everyone took turns reading clues that the kids wrote. Moms had to think about the clues and look at the portraits. They had to guess whose mom it was. All of the moms correctly identified their kids’ work. Moms laughed at some of the funny clues. After the celebration, we learned that some of our clues that we wrote weren’t totally accurate. Eesha’s mom grew up in Bombay and worked in Germany. Emma’s mom was born in Amsterdam and not London (but she thought they were the same). Stephen’s mom really had 6 dogs and not 4. Sarah’s mom actually eats a lot and she had 8 cats and not 17. Dylan’s mom was born in Staten Island and not Italy. Emma thought the afternoon went pretty good and it was SO MUCH fun! Her favorite part was playing the game. Sarah really liked serving her mom. Hunter enjoyed the movie of our thank you letters. Everyone laughed because some people sounded louder than others.

Here are some photos of us and our special guests:

During math, we got timed ordering the days of the week and months of the year. Three people got to try each activity. Anthony was the fastest when sequencing the days of the week. He put them in the correct order in 12 seconds. Lauria ordered the months of the year in 33 seconds. Tomorrow, more children will have a chance to beat our current class records. We also reviewed measuring by comparing (longest, shortest, tallest, etc.), using linker cubes, paper clips, and rulers. Hunter realized that measuring two amounts and combining them was just like adding! We went to P.E. We played Rugrat Tag. Lauria, Nancy, and Amanda got to be Lil and Phil. That meant that they were baby rescuers. Meaghan liked when she got to blindfold her partner to give directions. We looked at an interactive map of the Museum of Natural History today. We located many of the exhibits that we will be seeing on Thursday and learned a little bit about them. The map can be seen here. We finished reading Junie B: Boss of Lunch. Amanda thinks that Junie B. is crazy and she doesn’t listen well. She needs better manners. Stephen thinks she tries to be good…it just doesn’t work out.

Monday, May 3, 2010

2010-05-03T15:09:00.006-04:00

We had an assembly called Gems Rock. We learned about special kinds of rocks and minerals. We learned lots of neat information. Objects all around our homes are made from rocks and minerals. For example, toothpaste has minerals in it that come from rocks in the earth. Windows, electronics, toilets, and roofs are also made from objects in the earth. We also learned that a purple gemstone (amethyst) will change colors and become orange-ish (citrine) if it is next to a heat source. Potassium is an important mineral that is helpful for our bodies. Some people were called up to try different experiments. One child got to go up and lick his finger, touch the rock, and lick his finger again. It tasted salty! It turns out that the rock in his hand was the same mineral used to make salt.
Another child from our class also got to participate in an experiment. She put her hand in a tub. When we saw her hand, it had something white on it. We got a clue that it was something you might put on a baby’s bottom. She thought it might be chalk. It ended up being talc (used to make baby powder).
At the end of the assembly all of the classes lined up by a bin and got to sort through lots and lots of stones. We each picked two to keep.

When we came back to the classroom, Ms. Stern showed us the chart on the Dinosaurs Rock website to try to identify the stones that we picked.

We played Star Wars during P.E. Coach Hudson picked someone to be a Jedi. Hunter, Sasha, Dylan, Adam, and Dylan M. were picked to be Jedis. The Jedi goes on the orange dot (home base). When Coach Hudson says, “Never smoke!” the other people in the class run to pick up the balls on the floor and throw them to the other team across the gym. If the Jedi comes off of the orange dot, the other team can try to get him by hitting him with the soft ball. That earns the other team a point. Saying “Good luck” before the game or showing good sportsmanship will also earn a team points. Our class beat Mr. Gunther’s class 5-1. Sweepers are people who sweep the balls to either side of the gym. Dylan A., Lauria, Nancy, and Emma were sweepers for our class.

We began working a secret project that our moms will find out more about next week. Everyone is doing their best work, even though we can’t say what we’re doing our best work on!

Blog Challenge: RIF Books/Gems Rock

2010-05-03T10:35:00.002-04:00

This week you have a choice! You decide whether you blog about Gems Rock or RIF!

Choice 1: Today we had an assembly called Gems Rock. Everyone learned about gems and minerals. We even got to dig for 2 special ones to keep! Using the chart on the website, leave a comment below telling which gemstones, rocks, or minerals you think you chose. Explain why.

OR

Choice 2: On Wednesday we will be going to RIF. What are some titles of books, series, or authors that you hope are available for kindergarteners and first graders to take? What suggestions would you make to the PTA for next year?

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

2010-04-21T15:41:00.004-04:00

Today we had two special Earth Day performances to attend. The first one took place this morning. It was an assembly called The Magic of Recycling. It was all about recycling and magic tricks. A man named Bob Conrad had a puppet that he pretended was his nephew. The puppet was scared of pretty girls because he thought one would kiss him. One of his first tricks was to tear a paper that said RECYCLE on it. He tore it up into lots of pieces before making it one piece of paper again! He also took two sheets of tissue paper, tore them up, and put them back together again to make a pretty hat. Throughout the performance, he would talk about the drinking water we have, pour it into a bowl to empty it, say “That’s ALL the water we have!” and come back to it a little bit more and magically empty more water into the bowl again. He showed us how to make a puppet out of a paper plate and cups. At the end of the performance, Bob chose four kids to go on stage to be part of his Latin percussion band. The instruments were made out of coffee containers, clothing detergent containers, a Pringles container, and an empty tin can.

Ms. Stern read us the Touching the Past book that we made after our trip to Philipsburg Manor. We all worked together to write the captions that explain what we saw and did on our trip. Click on the book cover below to read a copy of our book. Click and drag to turn pages or zoom in for a closer look.

During Reader’s Workshop, Ms. Stern told us which groups we will be in for our non-fiction research. We’ve been learning about features of non-fiction. This week we will begin studying a topic of our choosing. Today we practiced reading text and putting the information that we learned into our own words. That’s important because it’s not right to copy information that other people wrote. The other reason we don’t copy is because we have to understand in order to put ideas into our own words. It’s the evidence that we understood what we read.

After lunch we worked on math. Ms. Stern asked us to complete math problems to show our learning. There were addition and subtraction problems and word problems. It was easy solving the problems. It was trickier to explain our thinking and tell how we use strategies.

In P.E. we played a game about recycling. There were a bunch of bean bags in the middle of the gym. 1 person at a time would grab a bean bag and put it in our hula hoops. There were three or four people in a team. After that, we played a game with a gigantic red inflatable ball that is bigger than either of the coaches. The game was kind of like soccer. Two people from each side worked together to try to move the ball into their goal at the end of the gym. It was hard to push because the people on the other team were pushing against us. The team that got the ball to their goal earned a point. After each round we had to shake hands with our opponents.

At the end of the day we went to our second Earth Day performance. It was put on by Ms. Berube, Ms. Ferzola, and Mrs. Goldstein’s classes. They sang songs like This Pretty Planet, Stop Polluting, and The 3Rs. The kids also recited poems. One of them was called Earth Day. We put the same poem in our poetry journals yesterday! Everyone did a great job. We decided to email the classes when we came back to the classroom to say thank you for inviting us rather than write on the chart paper to try to make less waste by saving resources.

Don’t forget: tomorrow is Earth Day! 40 beautifully decorated bags from our class (along with hundreds more from all of the other classes) are being brought to Shoprite in Northvale to give to customers for their groceries tomorrow.

Monday, April 12, 2010

2010-04-12T15:10:00.003-04:00

The morning got off to a bad start. Even when turned on, the Smartboard looked very dark. After we finished with our morning meeting, Ms. Stern was in the middle of reading us a book when we heard a loud POP. Next thing we knew, the Smartboard was off. The light bulb in the projector went out! Ms. Stern let Mrs. Cornelius know. We are hoping that a new one comes soon so that we can start using it again.

The book that we read was called Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea.It was a true story about a man from the United States who traveled to Pakistan to climb mountains. He got sick and lost and ended up in a town where people made clothes, food, and even toys for themselves. The kids could only go to school three days a week. Their lessons took place outside. The man, named Dr. Greg, made a promise that he would come back with supplies to build a school for the children to go to every day. He thought it was important that children be able to learn more and kept his promise by returning to the village one year later. After lots of hard work, time, and materials, the town had a brand new school for the children to learn. We realized that our lives in New York are very different from the children in but then we did more thinking and feeling (and reread Mem Fox’s book Whoever You Are) before we realized that we are also a lot like the children in Korphe and that education is very important to us all. Ms. Stern told us that Mrs. McBride, a teacher at Cottage Lane and SOMS, started a book club for kids and grown ups based on Dr. Greg’s story. She has a wiki for people to discuss the book and for other resources. This week’s blog challenge is to answer Mrs. McBride’s questions (on the blog…Ms. Stern will take care of putting them on the wiki) and to think about why building schools and providing an education will help people the most.

During Reader’s Workshop, we spent half the time reading from our non-fiction baskets. We worked on recording facts (pieces of information that we learned) and features (parts of the book that helped us to learn the facts). After 15 minutes, we switched to our book bags and continued to read independently.

In Music, we learned about the percussion family in the orchestra. Some of the instruments are: tambourine, piano, drum, and maracas. Percussion instruments have to be shaken or hit. We got to play the maracas and Mrs. Fox played the gong. Stephen thought it sounded like a karate show. Next time we will finish up the music lab.

Ms. Stern shared two stories that she wrote for Writer’s Workshop. They were both about the same topic but one was done and one was a work in progress. Most people guessed that the first story was finished and the second one was not. Most people (except for Dylan A.) were wrong! We reviewed the three parts that every good story should have: a beginning/introduction, a mighty middle, and an interesting ending. The beginning includes when, who, where, and why. The middle describes the events that happen through thoughts, words, and actions (showing, not telling!). The ending finishes the story with a thought, or feeling, and maybe a look to the future. Our job today was to go back and reread our work to make sure that our writing includes all of those things.

**From Ms. Stern: I have seen many Silly Bandz bracelets coming and going over the past few weeks. The children have been given numerous reminders to keep the bracelets on their wrists during the school day but the temptation is proving too great for many to keep from playing with them. Mrs. Fox has also experienced similar problems during specials. To minimize distractions and encourage the children to remain focused on their learning, any bracelets that are not kept on the children’s wrists (or are being played with) will be taken away. I’d rather not, but if necessary, the Silly Bandz will need to be banned. Thanks for your cooperation!

Blog Challenge: Listen to the Wind (Three Cups of Tea)

2010-04-12T11:04:00.005-04:00

We read the book Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea.
Mrs. McBride, a teacher at Cottage Lane and SOMS, started a book club for kids and adults of all ages in South Orangetown. On the Three Cups of Tea wiki, she asks:

Why is learning important?
What makes a school a school?
How would you feel if you didn't have a classroom, a teacher, or a school?

In the comments section below, give your response to Mrs. McBride's discussion question(s). Also, reflect on your classmates thoughts and ideas as well. Remember to only use your first name or initials.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

2010-04-06T17:05:00.002-04:00

After morning meeting, we went to Room 1 for an assembly called Making Friends. A woman came with different puppets to talk to us about people with disabilities. One of her dolls was blind and used a walking stick. Another was deaf and used hearing aides. The last one didn’t have strong legs and used a wheelchair to move around. We looked at photos of people who are disabled and also learned some sign language. Ms. Stern had to put a piece of wax paper over her eyes to find out what it is like to be blind. She thought everything looked very foggy and couldn’t see things clearly. Touching and hearing their voices helped Ms. Stern to identify Anthony and Dylan. When we came back to the classroom we talked more about people with disabilities. We will remember to smile, say hello, or invite people to play with us…with or without disabilities.

We counted each of the containers of mealworms again. Before vacation we separated them into 3 groups: mealworms, pupae, and beetles. We are charting our data by checking each container and recording our findings.

This afternoon we had to go outside. An announcement was made that we were having a silent fire drill. Everyone walked outside like we usually do. After a while, we started walking towards the field where we have Field Day and everyone sat in a line. Lauria, Adam, and Amanda found a worm on the ground. Ms. Stern asked us to get into groups. Each group began telling stories by adding one word or one sentence. Then we started thinking of different groups: things that are yellow, words that start with b (or other letters). After that, we played Detective. Meaghan, Sasha, Stephen, Hunter, Sarah, Amanda, Jacob, Eesha, Adam, and Ms. Stern all had a turn being the detective. After a really long time, we walked back to the school. At the end of the day, Mrs. Polansky made an announcement explaining why were outside for so long.

Lauria’s mom came to read a story to us. She read Old Turtle. We discussed the message of the story: no matter what your religion or your beliefs, everyone is correct. There is no right or wrong way to think. Stephen thought she was very good at reading. Sasha thought she sounded like a real storyteller.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

2010-03-24T18:56:00.001-04:00

This morning we learned a little bit about the country of Greece by sharing Flat Dylan’s journal. She went to visit her aunt. We learned about the Parthenon, a statue of Zeus, Mykonos, the Parliament, and the Olympic Games. After looking on Google Earth and sharing her journal, everyone wrote about Dylan’s trip.

Ms. Stern read with Victoria and Anthony D. during Reader’s Workshop. Everyone was working on asking questions before, during, and after reading. The Wednesday shoppers also got to shop for new books during the first five minutes.

We got to play games during math today. After we reviewed addition ideas, Ms. Stern explained the activities and choices that we had. Our choices were to play pig with 1 or 2 partners, Calculate and Color alone, Candy Count with a partner, or Adding With Doubles by ourselves. Everyone had fun reviewing addition strategies by choosing an activity that they preferred.

During Writer’s Workshop we thought about how we could add thoughts, words, and actions to our stories to make them more interesting to the reader. At the end, Stephen, Sasha, and Lauria shared their stories with the class and explained what they added today.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

2010-03-23T18:58:00.000-04:00

We started our day by attending the Jan Brett assembly to formally open Brett Boulevard, the back hallway where our classroom is. A parent helped Mrs. Piteo by using the artwork from the book The Umbrella to make a mural at the end of the main hallway. First, we watched a video of Jan talking about making the book. Then Mrs. Polansky read us the story while we looked at the pictures on a humongous screen. Afterwards, we headed to the hallway for the ribbon cutting. It was interesting to learn that it took Jan a year to write the book and Mrs. Malora and her husband over 2 months to do the artwork. It looks beautiful!

After the ribbon cutting ceremony we came back to the classroom and reviewed some of our phonics poems before learning a new one called Soaking My Toes. We used two highlighters today to find ow and oa words. Then we worked backwards in order to practice our newer poems first.

We celebrated Emma’s birthday today. She turned 7. There were vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. The icing was pink and yellow. We also had orange juice. Happy birthday Emma!

We observed the mealworms for the fourth time today. At table 1, Nancy did some really careful observing. Two of the fat things were on their plate. One was darker than the other. The children at that table noticed that the tail was moving. Nancy predicted that a baby mealworm would come out. Dylan A. thought it would get darker and darker. Lauria is predicting that it is in a chrysalis it will turn into a bug. We had a problem at table 3. After lunch, someone found a mealworm on the floor. Unfortunately, it died.

Ms. Stern shared the recording that people wrote in their mealworm journals. She noticed that the thinking taking place is different than the writing. We talked a lot about what we saw, we looked at photos on the Smartboard, we had time to observe, reviewed and made an example together. Everyone is going to work really hard to make their writing match their thinking the next time that we work and to use our time better.

Today was the first day of Gym City. The streets are named. They are Sitting Street, Tummy Turnpike, Hudson Highway, Seeney Street, and Backwards Drive. The classes split up into different stations. We use scooters to move around in different ways, depending on the streets that we are on. When we get to Station #9, we walk around and act as police to make sure that people are following the rules. One person gets to operate the traffic light. It was so much fun! Coach Hudson sprayed us with water on our way out. We are so excited to go back on Thursday!

Eesha shared her favorite website on the blog yesterday. Check out the comments section to find out what it is and to leave your own!

Blog Challenge #3: Your Favorites

2010-03-22T15:05:00.004-04:00

Last week I asked everyone to check out the Primary Games website to try some spring games. This week, I am asking YOU to share a website with your classmates and me. In the comments section, please share a link to the website along with an explanation about what you do there and why it is a favorite of yours. Remember to use your FIRST NAME ONLY and share a website appropriate for other first graders! Read your classmates' posts and try some of them out for yourself. Let's see if we can make a collection of at least 10 sites to try! I'll include a few to get us started:

Robot Calculator: Robot Calculator is a game to practice addition and subtraction facts. Start off on easy before trying out the medium level.

Long Vowel Drag n' Spell: Find the long vowel combination to complete the correct spelling of the word and picture

Word Drop: This is a fast paced word game where you need to make words from tiles that drop in columns. The challenge is to progress through six levels, each with increasing levels of difficulty without allowing a column to become filled with letters

St. Patrick's Day: Wednesday, March 17, 2010

2010-03-17T16:41:00.005-04:00

This morning we reviewed our adjective activity from yesterday. Everyone came up with words that described us and school. Ms. Stern took our words and put them on the Smartboard. We looked at them and found words that didn’t belong (like girl, glasses, and learnful). Then we looked again and found words that were tired and boring (words that get used ALL the time): cool, good, awesome, fun, and nice. Next, we looked for colorful, interesting words: challenging, helpful, hyper, friendly, creative, brave, and talented. These words make our writing more enjoyable for the reader. Thinking about colorful and tired words, we then had to stretch our minds and thinking to describe two new nouns: homework and the Tooth Fairy.

We revisited our mealworms again. Last week time, we noticed some white mealworms. Today, they were nowhere to be found…but we did see something else that changed. There were things that looked sort of like mealworms but they were lighter in color, curved, and they didn’t really move. Each table had conversations about what they observed, how things changed, and what might happen in the future. Everyone was expected to draw and write about the things that we saw (or noticed were different from other times), make a prediction, and ask a question.
Our work was interrupted by the sound of bagpipes. A parent in Mrs. Kuhn’s class came to play. Everyone was invited in the hall to listen and watch as he played and marched. Yesterday we also got to see and hear bagpipes being played. Miss Beglin’s brother-in-law came and talked to us about these beautiful musical instruments, answer questions, and play a few songs.

After lunch, we went to the library. Mrs. Cornelius wasn’t here today so we didn’t stay the whole time. Everyone who brought their books back got to have book exchange. Those who didn’t were allowed to browse, go to the listening center, or read with a friend. The next star reader is going to be Nancy.

At gym, we practiced on the scooters again. We need to make sure that everyone knows the rules and stays safe. We went forward and backward and used different muscles and body parts. Once, a girl with long hair got caught in the scooter and Coach Hudson had to cut her hair. Gym City is coming next week!

During Reader’s Workshop we practiced asking questions before, during, and after reading. We ask questions to get to know the book better. Before we read we think about our schema and make predictions. While we read, we ask questions to check for understanding and to make more predictions. After reading, we might have some unanswered questions about things that happened or about what happens after the story ends. Today we used a paper to record our thinking instead of using post-its so that Ms. Stern could see the proof as we practiced. Lots of great questions were asked!

Don’t forget about this week’s blog challenge! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Blog Challenge #2: Spring Games

2010-03-15T15:58:00.003-04:00

We have had a LONG and hard winter. The good news is that Spring is just around the corner! Try out one of the games on this website:

Primary Games Spring Games

Leave a comment telling which game(s) you played. Write a review for at least 1 game. Share 1-2 things that you liked about the activities and games or strategies that you discovered. What type of learner might also enjoy playing? What is the most challenging part?

Remember to check with a grown up before using the computer first. Only first names or initials, please!

Friday, March 12, 2010

2010-03-12T15:30:00.002-05:00

Today we celebrated Hunter’s birthday. It was the 3rd birthday that we had this week! (Happy birthday to Sarah and Dylan A.!) His dad brought in munchkins. For Dylan’s birthday, his dad brought in beautiful blue cupcakes. Mrs. McCahill, our school reading teacher, had her baby that day! On Sarah’s birthday, her mom came in to read the class one of her favorite stories: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. She explained how Dr. Seuss is an important author in her family and shared some of her family’s special memories with us. Then everyone got to eat special dairy- and gluten-free birthday snacks!

During Reader’s Workshop, we learned that good readers ask questions before they read, while reading, and after reading. Ms. Stern showed us how. Then everyone went off to read and practice by themselves. At the end of Reader’s Workshop, we made a chart of our questions. Some children remembered to record their questions while they worked.

We observed our mealworms again for the second time today. Some really great observations and conversations took place at each of the tables. People noticed and compared differences between the mealworms. Based on our observations, we made predictions and asked questions. We love being scientists!

In art, we started working on our still lifes. Still life drawings are pictures of things that do not move. Ours are of different types of flowers. First we are drawing with pencil. Then we will paint them. Jacob worked on twelve flowers. Adam drew lots of flowers and started working on the stems.

During math, we reviewed the strategies that we have already learned. Sarah played one round of Sum Sense on the Smartboard. We learned another addition strategy today: counting on (start with the bigger number). We practiced by playing a game called Pig. The first person to get to 100 wins. You get points by rolling 2 dice. Each player can go as many times as they want (except if you roll one 1 you lose your turn). If you roll 2 ones your score goes back to zero. Ms. Stern played against the class first. She kept on rolling a 1! She ended up losing! Afterwards, everyone got to play in groups of 2 or 3.

Anthony D. played with Adam. Anthony kept rolling ones! Dylan A. thought the game went perfectly! He and his partner were going back and forth being in the lead. At the end, he won!

Thank you Dylan, Amanda, and Sarah (and her mom) for giving the Things That Are White blog challenge a try! It’s not too late to add more ideas. Look for another question of the week next week.

Have a terrific weekend. Stay dry!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

2010-03-09T17:06:00.003-05:00

We reviewed our spelling rule this morning. We learned that when there are two vowels together, the first one does the talking and the second one does the walking. It means that the first vowel says its name and the second one is silent. We watched a spelling rap video about it.

Then we played some games together on the Smartboard. The games can be played by anyone online by clicking here.

This morning we got to observe and handle mealworms!

They felt smooth but they tickled our hands a little bit when they moved around. Dylan was scared at first because she was afraid they might bite. By the end of science, she was sad to see them go. Eesha was also scared at first. She only picked up the smaller one because it didn’t look as determined to crawl on her as the others. She named him Speedy. It kept racing around the plate! Stephen noticed that the mealworms would stay near one another. Some of them looked like they were fighting. After we had a few minutes to get used to them, we had to stop thinking like kids and begin thinking like scientists. We made observations and predictions. We also drew a picture and asked a question. Most of us are very excited to observe the mealworms again soon.

We read another book by Mem Fox. It was called Harriet You’ll Drive Me Wild. Harriet reminded us of lots of different people that we know in our own lives (including our siblings and even ourselves)! We concluded that she doesn’t intend to get into trouble, much like Junie B. Jones or Amelia Bedelia.

When we went to the library we played Magic Mirror on Kids Keys. We practiced using the keyboard to type like grownups. It got a little confusing figuring out which finger to use. Dylan A. liked typing the same keys more than once. Everyone who returned their books also got to choose new ones.

We played Star Wars in P.E. The coaches pick a Jedi. The Jedi stands on a dot and saves people who get hit by a ball by touching them with their light saber. If the Jedi is off of the dot, and s/he gets hit with the ball, the other team gets a point. Everyone else is throwing one of the many balls at the other team. If you are hit with a ball you have to sit down until a Jedi saves you. Eesha and Adam were the Jedis for our class.

After P.E., we talked about Mem Fox. We are reading many of her books to get to know her better as readers and writers. She is from Australia. We looked at the city of Adelaide on Google Earth. It’s VERY far away! We learned a little bit about her and her family. Many of the ideas that Mem thinks about when writing are the same things that we concentrate on, too. So far we have read: Koala Lou, Harriet You’ll Drive Me Wild, Sleepy Bears, and Zoo Looking. We know that she writes about things that have happened to her, important people and events, and she writes with her audience in mind. Together, we started writing a story about the Rockland Read In, so that our readers would feel the peaceful, cozy feelings that we had on that special day. Tomorrow we will begin writing our own stories.

Please don’t forget to add to our Things That Are White blog entry. We are going to be having a competition with Mrs. Jacobs’ class to see who can come up with more white items. Remember to post your ideas in the comments section and to use only first names or initials. Get those brilliant minds thinking!

Blog Challenge: Things That are White

2010-03-08T15:00:00.003-05:00

We worked in partners to brainstorm as many objects as we could think of that are or could be white. Remember, if you think of more things that fit this category, leave them in the comments section. By Friday, everyone is asked to brainstorm other things that are white that have NOT been mentioned yet (either in class or by other children in the comments section). I can't wait to see what else you think of!

This is what we came up with so far:

Dylan A. and Stephen
paper, socks, cotton, clouds, snow, marshmallows, moon, crayons, wipes, diaper, milk, vanilla ice cream, snowflakes, underwear, shirt, shoes, Bakugan, clock, paint, sweater, mittens,eraser, makeup, gum, dots, book, words, tape, horns, horse, hair, box, fox, flags, rabbits, fur, plastic, teeth, cow, scissors, radiator, games, stars, seeds, seats, lima beans when they are not cooked, wall, marker, stuffed animal, penguin, icing, laces, pens, pencil

Sasha and Meaghan
socks, marshmallows, clocks, vanilla ice cream, table, basket, snowman, whipped cream, journal paper, refrigerator, shirt, shoes, books, scissors, cards, bathtub, bottle cap, shades, container, ceiling, lunch calendar

Adam and Anthony
paper, cloud, tissues, teeth, zebra, boxes, snakes, snow, ice, glasses, eggs, Smartboard, shirts, house, lights, my dog, shoes, books, car, paint, jacket, clock, refrigerator, crayons, watches, candles, candy, container, fish, sushi

Victoria and Sarah
swan, duck, snowman, shorts, flowers, shoes, calendar, eraser, clouds, polar bears, fish, clocks, laptop, stickers, ice cream, horses, snow, Elmer's glue, diamonds, paper, books, eyes, teeth, snowy owl, rabbits, buttons, tissues, stars, dots, frosting, sprinkles, sparkles, paper towels, gummy bears, gum

Dylan M. and Emma
diapers, paper, t-shirts, clouds, paper towels, cats, snow, glue, dogs, paper plates, plastic knives, tiles, crayons, lights, moon, zebra, polar bear, tissues, napkin, shoes, Snoopy, rabbits, kitchen, paint, eraser, stars, underwear, plastic bin, bone, notebook, rulers, milk, eggs, hair, cows, white chocolate chips, horses, hens, cream cheesse, wires, baseball, pencil, eyes, marker parts, scissors, binder, teeth, cheese, ice cream, vanilla, white chocolate, birds, butter, salt, sugar, fan, bag, jacket, ball, book, blinds, shirt stripes, seeds, refrigerator, toilet, wall paper, box, clock, microwave, sink, tub, snowman, card

Drew and Hunter
skeleton, paint, snowball, refrigerator, cards, calendar, cat, bins, shell, crayon, Yankee sign, plastic, karate belt, shades, clouds, eraser, paper, shirt, tissues, book, eyes, snowman, snow fort, glue, hair, cup, mail, cream, salt, egg, ice cream, ring, flashcards, toilet, light, binder, butter, tub, panda

Nancy and Amanda
polar bear, inside of a fish, duck, shell, cat, snow, snow bunny, bathtub, mouse, wheel, egg, snowman, snowflake, salt, tooth, cheese, lightbulb, vanilla ice cream, ice, panda bear

Jacob and Lauria
zebra, tissues, shirts, crayon, mugs, name tags, snowflakes, snow, folders, mail boxes, paper, snowman, magnets, balls, balloons, refrigerators, soap bottles, paper towels, walls, cash register, tap shoes, sneakers, goats, sheep, boats, bat, cows, words, socks, shorts, post its, stripes, markers, clouds, wrapping paper, toilet paper, car

Eesha and Dylan
erasers, glue sticks, crayons, cloud, paper, rulers, diamonds, mashed potatoes, stickers, labels, eyes, teeth, pencils, tigers, buttons, wipes, tank tops, snow, owls, rabbits, fish, dogs, cats, birds, ceilings, folders, journals, signs, hangers, bottle caps, shoes, refrigerator, swan, magic markers, book covers, freezer, heater, ducks, hermit crab shells, penguins, stars, clocks, timers, skin

Friday, March 5, 2010

2010-03-05T15:05:00.002-05:00

Last night was the dance festival at Tappan Zee High School. We went into the back gym. Each class walked out into the big gym and then sat down in a line. We alternated the way we faced so that parents on both sides could see us. Victoria was really tired before it began. She ended up having lots of fun and making it through. Eesha was tired at the end from all of that dancing. She felt happy when her mom and little sister danced with her during the Cha Cha Slide. Drew had stage fright! At first, Emma had stage fright too. It went away after a few dances. Stephen was sweaty from all of that exercise. Lauria thought the best part was the Cha Cha Slide because she got to help her dad learn the dance.

Today we had gym. We played Wheel of Torture. Victoria was the winner! She won against Richard in Mr. Gunther’s class. People were shouting Anthony D.’s name. He won last time so everyone wanted him to win again. Once he got out, everyone starting cheering for Victoria.

We got exciting news today. Just like we got to study living things in kindergarten, we are going to learn about the life cycle of mealworms in first grade. Today we went over the rules. Then we had to think about all of the things that we know or think we know about them. It was sort of challenging because a lot of us didn’t know much and Ms. Stern wouldn’t give any information away! Here is some of our thinking:
Mealworms do not read. –Jacob
They live underground. –Anthony D.
Mealworms help flowers grow. –Sarah
They eat the soil and then they poop it out. –Victoria
They have a head. –Arlo
Mealworms are worms. –Adam

Next, we had to think of questions we have or things that we want to learn about mealworms.
How long do they live? –Lauria
What do they eat? –Stephen
Do they go to the bathroom a lot? –Emma
Why are they called mealworms? –Dylan A.
Are mealworms similar to earthworms? –Eesha
Do mealworms have legs or no legs? –Nancy

Next week we will get to begin observing (and handling!) the mealworms as they grow and change.

We read The Cat’s Quizzer. It is a Dr. Seuss book that asks lots of interesting and silly questions. Lauria brought it in to share with the class. Thanks, Lauria!

The Animal Encounters Blog Challenge is up on the website. Everyone is encouraged to research one (or more) of the animals that we saw during our assembly earlier this week. Give it a try! http://sternwos.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-encounters-research-challenge.html

We have MANY children who have given the Over and Above All Stars a try! Congratulations to Dylan A., Eesha, Anthony D., Victoria, Sasha, Jacob, Arlo, Lauria, Hunter, Sarah, and Dylan. A special congratulations to Lauria for being the first person to inducted into the Hall of Fame. So far, she has completed 54 activities and is a silver medalist! Eesha is a bronze medalist, with 32 completed activities. Keep it up!

Have a great weekend!

Animal Encounters Research Challenge

2010-03-03T15:59:00.007-05:00

Today we got to see (and touch!) a variety of reptiles from the Animal Encounters program. The animals that we saw were:

Box Turtle

Snapping Turtle
Blue Tongued Skink

American Alligator
South American Tegu

Milk Snake

Russian Legless Lizard
Albino Burmese Python

In the comments section, share what you learn about the animal’s habitat (where it lives), diet (what it eats), and 2 other interesting NEW facts about that animal. Use your first name or initials only. Please do NOT include your last name. I can't wait to see what you learn!

Tuesday, March 3, 2010

2010-03-03T15:13:00.002-05:00

This morning we went to an assembly called Animal Encounters with Ms. Beglin’s class. We sat in a circle and talked about the rules for handling and looking at the animals. All of the animals that we saw were reptiles. Reptiles are animals that have scales and backbones and breathe with lungs instead of gills. Reptiles are cold-blooded. They get warm from the sun or heat. They cannot warm themselves like people do. We saw lots of different animals. Some were: a blue-tongued skink, an alligator, a milk snake, an albino python, a snapping turtle, and a box turtle. We were allowed to touch some of the animals with our pointer fingers. Hunter thought some felt kind of smooth. Anthony D. thought the skink felt soft. Lauria said the box turtle was hard. We didn’t touch the snapping turtle because it has really strong jaws! Bruce, the handler, even saw a snapping turtle break a broomstick in half once! Nancy thought the milk snake felt kind of bumpy. Emma liked touching Hannah, the milk snake, because she felt squishy and cold. Sarah thought it was kind of frightening seeing all of the snakes because she hates snakes. At the end, she felt much better! After the assembly ended, we came back to the classroom and made sure to wash our hands very well with soap and water! Amanda brought in a Dr. Seuss book called Horton Hear’s a Who! Ms. Stern read it to us. We discussed what we thought Dr. Seuss’ message(s) may have been that he wanted his readers to learn.

We learned a new poem this morning. It is called Hide-and-Seek Sheep. We highlighted “ee” words. We also read lots of our other poems together. The more we practice, the better they sound! We also worked on a cloze activity sheet. That’s when we have to figure out a word that fits into a sentence.

We practiced again for the dance festival. Tomorrow is our dress rehearsal and our last practice before the real thing. Mrs. Fox thinks we are in good shape. Coach Hudson and Coach Seeney’s mothers are both going to be at the dance festival!

During Reader’s Workshop, we continued trying to infer to figure out words or events that the author wants us to understand but doesn’t tell. Ms. Stern read Koala Lou by Mem Fox. We had to infer to figure out words like emu, platypus, preparations, and gum tree. We were able to figure them out by using words, pictures, and our schema!

At the end of the day, we split into groups again. The first group went to the library to use the computer lab for World Maths Day. The other half of the class stayed in the classroom and read. The groups switched halfway through the period. Lots of kids did even better today than they did yesterday!

Please look for the Animal Encounters blog post on the website: http://sternwos.blogspot.com/ Everyone is invited to research one (or more) of the animals that we saw today. (More information is available on the blog.)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

2010-03-02T18:26:00.000-05:00

Ms. Stern gave us our 100 facts back from yesterday. Almost everyone in the class beat their score from last week! It was a great feeling to improve and complete more problems. Everyone is going to aim to do even better next week. A few children graduated and are ready for subtraction. One math smartie is moving on to addition-5 minutes!

Today is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. We read a whole bunch of his books. So far this week, we have read 10 Dr. Seuss stories. He has an incredible imagination! After we read “Oh the Thinks You Can Think,” we had to try to figure out what “schlopp” and “snuvs” mean. We had to infer to get an idea. Lots of people had different thinking. Later on, during Reader’s Workshop, we tried our best to infer as we read to figure out the meaning through the words and pictures.

We made a special trip to the library to use the computer lab. The class split into two. One group read Dr. Seuss books while the other group was on the computer. We were on the World Maths Day website. Everyone has a special username and password. After we entered our private information, we played the game. We play against other children all around the world that are our age. Some students were in Egypt, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Korea, and the United States. Some children even ended up playing against other children in our own class! The way you play is by answering addition problems. You have 1 minute to answer as many problems as you can. You can get up to 3 problems wrong in each round. After the time is up, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place is given out and you can start again with new kids. Ms. Stern gave us our login information in case we want to play at home.

During specials this week, all 4 classes are going to the gym to practice for the dance festival at the same time. We are practicing with Mrs. Kuhn, Mr. Gunther, and Mrs. Yelin’s classes. We were practicing most of the dances for the dance festival on Thursday.

Another tooth was lost today! Amanda was eating her Oreo during lunch time when she discovered that her very first tooth came out!

Flat Drew came back from Florida. We looked on Google Earth to see the area that he went to visit. There were lots of features on the map that we were able to see: houses, palm trees, lakes, houses, pools, roads, tennis courts, and baseball fields. We learned about his trip and the many things that he did. After we shared his journal and photos, we turned and talked to a partner to review where he went and what he did. Everyone had to write about his trip when we were done. A bunch of children thought it was a challenging activity. We talked together about why that happened. If we didn’t listen carefully, writing about Drew’s trip was difficult. Children gave themselves 3s or 4s for listening had a much easier time completing this task.

We had a talk about listening and being respectful today. Lots of times during the day, a whole bunch of children talk at the same time without listening to their classmates. We are trying to remember how it feels when people do it to us so that we won’t make other people feel badly. When we don’t listen, it can make it harder to do our work, to learn, or know what to do. When people call out, it is very difficult to understand what others are saying. It also keeps us from listening to what others have to say, ask, or share. Tomorrow is a new day and a fresh start. Let’s all try our very best to take turns, listen carefully, and make good choices!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010: 100th Day of School

2010-02-23T15:36:00.003-05:00

Today was the 100th day of school! We did lots of activities having to do with 100. One activity was to write 100 words that we know. We discussed strategies to use. Word association was one idea. If we think of a flag that might make us think of stars or stripes or red, white, or blue. Another strategy was to think of words in groups like names, family members, or colors. Thinking of spelling or sight words was another idea. Some people finished. Other children are still working on writing 100 words.

We discovered that 100 seconds is the same as 1 minute and 40 seconds. We had a name writing contest to see who could write their name the most times in 100 seconds and then we graphed our results. More children wrote their name 16-20 times than any other group. Dylan wrote her name more times (32) than anyone else!
Ms. Stern read us a story called 100th Day Worries. It was about a girl named Jessica who worries about everything. She has to bring in a 100 collection. On the day that it was due, her family helped her to find groups of 10 objects. In all, she had 9 groups which meant only 90 objects. But during lunch time, Jessica reads a note from her mom that was signed with 10 kisses (x’s). Finally, 10 groups of 10…100 in all!

Next, we started working on writing 100 things that we have learned in first grade so far. We came up with 10 different groups. Together, we created a list of 10 things that we learned in P.E. Then each table chose another group from the list and everyone at the four tables needed to come up with 10 different things that they’ve learned for that group. So far, we have 50 things that we’ve learned! Another way that we used 100 was to work with a partner to find the date 100 days from now. We also had to figure out what we think the temperature will be like then and draw a picture of ourselves doing something that might happen then. Lots and lots of people came really close and came up with June 6th as the date. Actually, June 4th will be the date in 100 days.

We got a really great math challenge…100 addition problems to try to complete in 10 minutes. Everyone was free to do it in the best way for them: some skipped around on the page, some people went across the rows, and some children worked best in columns. Ms. Stern told us that she wanted us to try our best, use all of our time, be positive, and focus only on your own work. Doing your best is better than doing more problems carelessly! Everyone worked really hard and really well during the 10 minutes…in fact, everyone was so positive about it that we earned a marble! We are going to be working on this same task every week for the rest of the year. Ms. Stern is looking to see that everyone works to improve their personal best score, no matter what it is. When children get a 95 or higher on addition they move to subtraction. If someone gets 95 or higher on subtraction, they will try addition (and then subtraction) in 5 minutes. Two children blew Ms. Stern out of the water by completing 95 or more on the very first try!

We had to do some creative thinking. Ms. Stern gave each of us a 1 and two 0’s (100). We had to use those numbers to make a picture. There were lots of neat and unusual ideas. Some of our ideas were: snowmen, headphones, butterflies, cars, angels, ice cream cones, and even a ring toss! Dylan A. thought that was the best 100th day project ever!
During gym today we played Wheel of Torture. Anthony D. was the winner. He paid careful attention and didn’t get hit by the rope! Then we did the chicken dance. Next we did the limbo. We are getting ready for the dance festival (which will be on March 4th).

Some children worked on a coloring and counting activity at the end of the day. We had to color the objects and then count how many there were of each. Meaghan thought the easy part was coloring but the challenging part was counting how many!

Our final 100th day challenge was to see who could stand on 1 foot for 100 seconds. Putting your foot down, falling or talking meant that you had to sit down. At the end of 100 seconds, 6 students were still standing! Way to go Amanda, Meaghan, Nancy, Sarah, Hunter, and Adam!
100 days have now passed. 80 more to go!

Friday, February 12, 2010: Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T16:46:00.002-05:00

Today was the Rockland Read In. Everyone in our class read from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. We took a quick break a little after 10:00 for a special snack. We had strawberries and special chocolate covered pretzels that EVERYONE in the class could enjoy! Everyone read different things. Some parents came to read as well. At times, people read in groups. There were lots of books to enjoy! Many children brought books in from home, read from their book bags, and read some others from our classroom library. Some parents brought in reading materials for themselves. Ms. Stern was reading a magazine for part of the time. She also read with other children. Emma thought the best part of the Read In was the snack. Adam enjoyed having his pillow and his mom here. Eesha liked when she, Sarah, and Lauria were taking turns reading together. In all, we spent about 1 hour and 52 minutes reading today!

After the Read In, we had our Valentine’s Day party. Lots of children passed out valentines. Our decorated mailboxes were filled with lots of goodies and special treats. Sasha enjoyed reading Eesha’s card because she was wondering what was in it. Dylan A. really liked the lollipops and poems.
We went to the gym. We played with Sammy Snake again. We had to jump a lot of times in a row. When someone missed a step, everyone had to start again. Coach Spitz was there for Coach Hudson, who was absent today.

Ms. Stern read us a few books: Heartprints (that’s how we start each day in the month of February), Today is Valentine’s Day, Knuffle Bunny Too, and That Yucky Love Stuff.

Thanks to everyone who stopped in to read with/to us today: Dylan’s mom, Jacob’s mom, Sarah’s mom, Eesha’s mom, Adam’s mom, Sasha’s mom, Victoria’s mom, Emma’s mom, Drew’s dad, step-mom, and grandparents, Anthony’s mom, and Amanda’s mom. Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy your vacation and remember to keep those heartprints coming!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

2010-02-09T17:26:00.001-05:00

This week is a review week in spelling. We worked on a long vowel word sort. We had to cut out words and paste them in the correct long vowel box. Then we had to write two words of our own that fit the spelling rule. It was kind of hard coming up with our own words. Lots of words have long vowel sounds but don’t match the vcv spelling rules!

This morning we made valentine mailboxes. Everyone got a white bag. We wrote our names nice and big so that everyone can see it clearly. Each table was given hearts and valentine confetti to decorate the bags. Almost everyone in the class wanted a red heart doilly to include. We used glue and markers to make designs. Some people drew peace signs, rainbows, smiley faces, and stars. Amanda included a cupid on hers! The last step was to add silver glitter at the very end. Once we finished decorating our bags, we got our reading book bags. Tuesday shoppers shopped for new books.

After lunch we went to the library. We played a game called Kid Keys. It was about typing. We had to press the letters when we heard a sound and saw a picture. When we typed the letters properly, the program would play a song at the end. While half the class was in the lab the other half of the class was looking for books. Dylan A. is going to be the next star reader.

We played Sammy Snake. Kids have to jump over Sammy (the jump rope). When he wakes up he starts sliding side to side. Then he gets stuck around a tree and spins around. We have to avoid touching Sammy. Sarah thinks the hardest part is going under the jump rope. Dylan thinks the most fun part is when Sammy is swinging around.

We read another P.K. Hallinan book called How Do I Love You? Everyone turned and talked to their partner to share what they think love is. Just like each of us has different thumbprints, our thinking reflects who we are. Ms. Stern loves when we share our thoughts and ideas. That makes life and learning much more fun than “cookie cutter” ideas that are all exactly the same. Come back later this week to find out what love means to us!

It looks like lots of snow is ahead! Many children know lots of ways to ensure that we have a snow day tomorrow: wear pajamas inside out, put a spoon under your pillow, and flush an ice cube down the toilet! Stay warm and enjoy the snow!

Friday, February 5, 2010

2010-02-05T18:09:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Adam’s birthday today. He is turning 7! During snack time, we ate special cookie cupcakes with chocolate chips in the middle. They were really yummy! We went to gym. Coach talked to us about our hearts and timed us to see how quickly we can name the muscles and bones in the human body. Coach Hudson uses a stopwatch. He calls on someone to give it a try. Eesha had the world record for girls. Today Sasha beat the record of 9 seconds. Sasha was able to name the bones and muscles in 7 seconds! Hunter has the world record for boys. He was able to name the bones and muscles in 6.5 seconds. We need to name: flanges, abdominals, pelvis, gluteus maximus, quadriceps, hamstrings, femur, gastroc nemius, patella, biceps, triceps, and heart.

During math, we played Bears on the Bus. First, children acted out getting on the bus in two groups. We recorded the combinations and used a plus and equals sign to show how many. Then we practiced with bears and a partner. Everyone came together to share and arrange the number combinations. We even counted how many we found!

In the first week of our Over and Above All Stars, 38 questions were answered by 7 children! Congratulations Hunter, Sarah, Lauria, Eesha, Arlo, Dylan, and Dylan A. for giving it a try!

In just 4 days, we have already left 46 heartprints! Lots of children are recognizing when they or others do kind things. Please remember to send in examples of heartprints left at home so that we can continue to work towards our goal of 100 heartprints by the 100th day of school (now taking place AFTER vacation!).
Tonight is movie night at Cottage Lane. The PTA will be showing Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

PS-Sorry for the shortage of and abbreviated updates lately! All first grade teachers have been on “door duty” during dismissal time to make sure that the children are not walking too fast or slow, with nothing in their hands, and zipped up coats. It is during this time that we typically work on the blog.

Heartprint Project (Updated)

2010-02-02T18:55:00.006-05:00

"A heartprint is formed when you do something kind. Your love touches others, leaving heartprints behind."

As the 100th day of school approaches (on February 12th), our class is trying to leave at least 100 heartprints. Heartprints are gestures of kindness and love towards others, without expecting anything in return. The idea stems from the book, Heartprints, by P.K. Hallinan. (Hello Mr. Hallinan, if you are reading this!) It is a beautiful story that demonstrates consideration of others and portrays children performing caring deeds for others.

We are working to recognize the kind acts and gestures done for one another in our classroom.

1. When Dylan kept giving me hugs, she made me feel very happy. –Sasha
2. I fell and Sasha took me to the nurse and I felt a lot better. –Victoria
3. One time I did not have anyone to play with but then Sarah offered to play with me. With love, Lauria
4. Stephen and Dlyan A. always help to clean up the room at dismissal time. –Ms. Stern
5. Lauria always gives me hugs at some point during each day. –Ms. Stern
6. When none of the boys let me play, Vicky made them play with me. –Dylan A.
7. When I got hurt outside, Victoria helped me up and took me to the nurse. –Nancy
8. Today I knocked into a table. Drew asked if I’m okay. –Adam
9. Lauria helped me clean up the journals. She’s the best helper ever. –Sasha
10. Anthony helped me push in the chairs. –Nancy
11. In camp I had no one to swim with and Adam came. –Drew
12. When I feel bad Meaghan helps me feel better by giving me hugs. –Emma
13. Meaghan taught me how to jump rope. –Emma
14. I fell on my knee and Eesha asked if I was okay. –Victoria
15. Lauria said, “Here’s your lunch box.” –Dylan A.
16. When I was alone and no one was playing with me, Dylan A. said, “I will play with you.” –Jacob
17. Sasha gives me lots of hugs. –Emma
18. Anthony threw my scraps away for me. –Emma
19. One day when I fell, Lauria said, “Are you okay?” I went, “No.” Lauria went to tell Mrs. Graff about it. Then Emma took me to the nurse. –Eesha
20. Jacob kindly reminded Hunter to look at our rule chart. –Ms. Stern
21. Sasha helped me clean up the journals. –With love, Lauria
22. When I had something in my hair Meg took it out. –Sarah
23. Anthony offered to have a playdate with me when no one would play with me so I said yes. –Adam
24. Victoria offered to take Sasha to the nurse when she fell. –Ms. Stern
25. Eesha gave a light blue marker when we needed one. –Arlo
26. When I was cleaning up, Drew helped me. –Anthony
27. Adam offered me some of his homemade brownie during snack. Ms. Stern
28. I fell in the grass and twisted my ankle and Amanda helped me. –Nancy
29. I bumped my arm on a table and Adam asked if I was okay. –Drew
30. Sometimes Sasha hugs me. –With love, Lauria
31. I fell down. Drew came over and said, “Are you okay?” –Jacob
32. Jacob said he liked my shirt. –Dylan M.
33. Drew nicely asked if he could have a playdate with me. –Adam
34. Hunter went around cleaning up the classroom and pushing chairs in. –Ms. Stern
35. Victoria brought in a special treat for me that she made at home. –Ms. Stern
36. Lauria got my backpack when it fell. –Drew
37. On Monday at Gym, I fell down and Dylan A. asked if I was okay. –Jacob
38. Meaghan helped Nancy take her coat off this morning. –Ms. Stern
39. Lauria has been saying a prayer every night for two very ill children at P.S. 105. Every afternoon she asks how they are feeling. –Lauria’s mom
40. Victoria let me use her jump rope. –Sarah
41. Lauria helped me feel better at lunch time. –Dylan
42. I wanted the gel glue stick and Jacob gave it to me. –Dylan A.
43. Jacob used really kind words when asking his classmate to make room for him at his spot on the rug. –Ms. Stern
44. When I was sad
45. I was cleaning the tables and Sasha helped me. –Victoria
46. Meg said that she would give me a present since I was in the hospital. –Sarah
47. Lauria cleaned the table for my table. –Anthony D.
48. Meaghan wrote a thank you note to her cheerleading coach for a great season. –Meaghan’s dad
49. This morning I wanted the clear scissors and Stephen gave them to me. –Lauria
50. Meg told me I was a good mom. –Meaghan’s mom
51. Meaghan allowed my friends and me to play with a lot of her toys. –Maggie (Meaghan’s sister)
52. Dylan M. helped me choose something from the Bucket of Prizes. –Lauria
53. Before morning meeting, Victoria said that I have good handwriting. –Sasha
54. Eesha asked me if I was okay when I slipped. –Drew
55. Eesha said she likes me. –Dylan M.
56. Meg made me laugh a lot. –Meaghan’s mom
57. Eesha donated two braids of her hair to Locks of Love. Eesha has loved her long hair but happily agreed to cut it off for their cause. –Eesha’s mom
58. Anthony was kind to his dad when he was sick. –Anthony’s mom
59. Anthony gently kissed and pet the dog. –Anthony’s mom
60. Amanda made me a beautiful valentine picture over the weekend. –Ms. Stern
61. Jacob helped me open my jacket when the zipper was stuck. –Dylan A.
62. Amanda used words of kindness and support. –Amanda’s mom
63. When I needed an eraser, Dylan M. gave me one. –Hunter
64. Meg picked up her room when it got messy. –Meaghan’s mom
65. Anthony made me laugh about the whole week. –His cool bro, Joey
66. Each morning, Stephen unpacks very quickly and shows that he is excited about learning! –Ms. Stern
67. Amanda took care of a baby without being asked. –Amanda’s mom
68. Meaghan helped me clean the kitchen. –Meaghan’s mom
69. Eesha helped her papa and me move stuff to our new home. She chose to carry and unpack and help in whatever way she could. –Eesha’s mom
70. Dear Eesha, Thank you for helping me! –Love, Sarah
71. Anthony made cookies for his family. –Anthony’s mom
72. Meaghan and Sarah tried to help Emma unzip her coat when the zipper got stuck. –Ms. Stern
73. In the YMCA, Dylan M. helped me find a lot of light blue beads. I thought that was kind. –Eesha
74. Victoria gave up a pair of cards she won in a matching game because the other player didn’t have any. –Victoria’s mom
75. Dylan M. picked up a bunch of papers that had fallen on the floor. –Ms. Stern
76. Hunter gave me a hug today, just to say I love you. –Hunter’s dad
77. Meaghan helped her sister make her bed. –Meaghan’s dad
78. Eesha helped her baby sister to wear her sleep sac before she went to bed. Eesha is always a BIG, LOVING help as an older sister. –Eesha’s mom
79. Drew helped me clean up the blocks. –Victoria
80. Meaghan handed me my coat. –Lauria
81. Eesha helped me when I fell. –Meaghan
82. Amanda was very helpful in finding a triangle block for Dylan A. during recess. –Mrs. Graff
83. Anthony D. helped me sort my money. –Gina (Anthony’s sister)
84. When my jacket fell Emma picked it up. –Amanda
85. Mrs. Spiro let me know how patiently Anthony D. waited in her office. –Ms. Stern
86. Sasha gave her little cousin Lily her baby toys. –Sasha’s mom
87. Drew moved out of my spot when I asked him to. –Sasha
88. Sasha behaved very well while her big sister was babysitting. –Sasha’s mom
89. Lauria helped me make Valentine projects for my students in religion class. –Lauria’s mom
90. Dylan A. did all of his valentines, extra credit work, and homework while home on a snow day (and I was at work!). –Dylan’s mom
91. In the hall, when I was doing the attendance with Sarah, she said nice things about me like I sit nicely. –Eesha
92. Hunter cheered me up today by telling me jokes. –Hunter’s mom
93. Sasha behaved well for the 2nd night in a row when her big sister was babysitting! –Sasha’s mom
94. Stephen carried 2 cases of water upstairs for me! –Stephen’s mom
95. Dylan A. shared his cookies with me. –Dylan’s mom
96. Victoria offered to help me fold the clothes. She was a very big help! Thank you. –Victoria’s mom
97. When I needed a pair of scissors, Hunter and Lauria rushed to give me a pair. –Ms. Stern
98. Victoria helped me with my Time for Kids. –Dylan A.
99. Anthony D. helped me pick up my valentines. –Dylan A.
100. Meaghan invited me to her house. –Lauria
101. Stephen played nicely with his brother Chris for an hour! –Stephen’s mom
102. Dylan got me my coat for me. –Meaghan
103. Hunter made a special drawing and wrote a nice birthday card for his brother. –Hunter’s mom
104. We discussed chores over dinner. Eesha’s chore is to set the table. Eesha said she’d like to add folding laundry to her list of chores. Eesha is a responsible and important team player of the family. –A delighted mother of Eesha!
105. Victoria and Emma and Jacob helped me clean my spill. –Dylan A.
106. Jacob offered to help his brother Noah write his valentine cards for his class because it was taking him a long time. –Jacob’s mom
107. Victoria said she would get my jacket. –Sasha
108. When my jacket was stuck, Victoria helped me. –Drew
109. When I fell on my knee Jacob came to help me. –Nancy
110. When I needed a blanket Drew shared with me. –Hunter
111. Lauria brought my lunch box to me. –Victoria
112. Eesha’s Tae Kwan Do teacher gave her a lollipop after class. She went to ask her teacher for a lollipop for her little sister Roma and also picked Roma’s favorite flavor-banana. –Eesha’s mom
113. Emma is very thoughtful and generous. When I bring her to my office she brings everyone a cup of fresh water without them even asking! She also makes them laugh with her bright sense of humor! –Emma’s mom
114. Amanda took care of her great grandma! –Amanda’s mom
115. Eesha gave up her stool in the bathroom and kitchen for her younger sister. She does so very good naturedly. There are times when I have to make sure that Roma is out of the bathroom in my arms so Eesha doesn’t feel like she has to give up every time! –Eesha’s mom
116. When I fell Lauria said, “Are you okay?” –Meaghan
117. Nancy helped me cook. –Nancy’s mom
118. Drew said, “Nice timing.” –Dylan A.
119. Victoria said in sign language that she loves me. –Sasha
120. Eesha accompanied me and Roma to the doctor because she wanted to make sure we were alright. Additionally, she felt she could cheer Roma up if she was scared of the doctor or if she got shots. Caring and loving Eesha is a blessing. –Roma (Eesha’s sister)
121. Nancy helped her friend clean up. –Nancy’s mom
122. Victoria volunteered to go through all her toys and donate ones that she doesn’t use. –Victoria’s mom
123. During the Rockland Read-In Dylan and Lauria shared their blankets with me without me asking! –Eesha
124. Meaghan said I have good handwriting. –Dylan A.
125. When I was unwell and using tissues for my cold, Eesha brought a waste paper bin to keep by my side so I could conveniently dispose of used tissues. This was so very thoughtful of her. Feeling cared for, Eesha’s mom
126. Nancy shared a few laughs with her classmates. –Nancy’s mom
127. Amanda bought presents for her sisters when with her grandma! –Amanda’s mom
128. When Emma’s step-dad was sick she brought him a bowl of fruit, a can of seltzer, and a big hug and kiss! –Emma’s mom
129. When I fell, Victoria, Sasha, and Emma took me to the nurse. –Meaghan
130. At snack I tripped over Hunter’s chair and he helped me up. –Lauria
131. Jacob winked at me. –Dylan A.
132. Arlo’s little sister, Tessa, cut her hair very short by herself this week. Arlo quickly reassured her that she still looks very cute in her new hairdo! –Arlo’s mom
133. Sasha offered to help me carry my bag in. –Lauria
134. Jacob gave our friend Barbara one of his favorite Bakugon balls as a gift because she liked them. –Jacob’s mom
135. Nancy helps her dad around the house. –Nancy’s mom
136. Eesha folded the laundry beautifully without my asking her to. -A very thankful mother of Eesha!
137. Victoria handed me a pencil when I needed one. –Meaghan
138. One day I got out of the shower and noticed Emma had a whole outfit picked out for me with a note that said, “XOXO Love, Emma.” –Jase (Emma’s step-dad)
139. When we were outside Victoria taught me how to jump rope backwards. –Meaghan
140. Yesterday, at my playdate, I wanted to play hangman and Eesha let me. –Lauria
141. Eesha helped me fold my Time for Kids. –Sasha
142. Dylan shares her Nintendo DS with her little brother. –Dylan’s mom
143. Dylan reads to her little brother. –Dylan’s mom
144. Victoria surprised her dad by writing a nice note and putting a little treat in his lunch. Nice job! –Victoria’s mom
145. Drew helped me by cleaning his room. Thank you! –Drew’s mom
146. Eesha and Lauria greeted me on the first day after February break with a beautiful bookmark that the made me! –Ms. Stern
147. Dylan shared all of her toys with her cousins. –Dylan’s mom
148. Drew helped me by cleaning off the kitchen table (and washing it down, too)! –Drew’s mom
149. Eesha gave me a piece of paper. Thank you! –Jacob
150. Drew helped me carry the laundry down the stairs! –Drew’s mom
151. Eesha helped her dad set up the new house. She helped measure the walls, she unwrapped the mats, and placed them at the entrances. –Eesha’s dad
152. Meaghan said I did really well. –Dylan A.
153. Eesha took excellent care of her little sister Roma. She put on her shoes and jacket; combed her hair; played with her and kept her happy! -Very thankful little Roma and Eesha’s mom
154. When Eesha asked me how she could help with Roma, I told her the best way is if she takes care of herself and is responsible. Lately, Eesha has been very responsible and obedient. –Eesha’s mom
155. Drew helped me mop the floor…what a great job! –Drew’s mom
156. Drew gave me the marker when I wanted it. –Anthony D.

Please help us reach our goal by looking out for heartprints left behind by your child outside of school. Each time your child shows a gesture of love or kindness, please record a quick description telling what your child did on a heartprint (though siblings, grandparents, and others can fill one out as well) and have your child bring the heartprint back to school.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to recognize and record your child's thoughtful ways. Hopefully, we will surpass our goal of 100 heartprints well before we reach the 100th day of school!

Over and Above All Stars

2010-01-29T16:37:00.004-05:00

This is a club set up for students who are interested in achieving "above and beyond" the normal classroom expectations. All you have to do is learn about the topics on your own. You can go to the library or do some research at home. You may earn a star by learning about a topic of your choice and then copying down the information in your "All Star" notebook—a notebook of your choosing. You will earn 1 point for each topic. You can become a 1 star member all the way up to a 100 star member. Once you show me your notebook with the information, you will receive a sticker for your notebook and one to put on our "All Star" chart in the classroom. Please record the activity number that you chose on the upper right hand corner of you paper and include the date on your paper as well. Notebooks will be checked on Fridays.

You will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at 25 stars.

25-49 stars: Bronze
50-75: Silver
76-100: Gold

Challenge yourself to learn something new today!!

Social Studies
1. Name 5 cities and 5 towns in New York.
2. Name 10 famous New Yorkers.
3. Research 5 popular tourist destinations in New York City.
4. Research 5 tourist destinations in the Hudson Valley.
5. Name the 7 continents and 5 oceans. Give 1 fact about each.
6. Name 10 states that border the Atlantic Ocean.
7. Name the states that border New York.
8. Name 10 rivers in the United States.
9. Name the 50 states.
10. Name 10 countries in the world.
11. Name the first 5 and most recent 5 presidents in order.
12. Write 5 facts about President Obama.
13. Write 5 facts about the DeWint House.
14. Write 5 sentences about any past U.S. president.
15. Write 5 sentences about Martin Luther King Jr.
16. Research New York's state bird, flower, tree, song and capital.
17. Write 5 facts about Native American tribes found in New York State.
18. Write 5 sentences about what makes a good citizen.
19. Look through a food circular. Create a shopping list of food that are needs and a list of food items that are wants. Which is longer? Why?
20. Create a family tree that includes at least 4 generations.
21. Use a map to find 2 different ways to get from your house to William O. Schaefer School.
22. Look at a map. Write the directions (including street names) to go from Schaefer to Tappan Zee Elementary School.
23. Find out about your family’s heritage. Write 5 facts about your family’s ethnic or cultural background.

Math
24. Write the Roman Numerals up to 25.
25. Draw lines of symmetry for all capital letters in the alphabet.
26. Write 20 addition problems with answers.
27. Write 20 subtraction problems with answers.
28. Write 10 fact families.
29. Count by 2's from 0-100 and record your numbers on paper.
30. Find 3 items to “purchase” in a grocery circular, spending no more than $5. What will you buy? How much will it cost? How much money will you have left over?
31. Draw 10 different shapes neatly and label them.
32. Make a ABBC pattern and a ABCBA using objects that you have in your house.
33. Write the months of the year in order.
34. Write 5 word problems with answers.
35. Complete the 100 facts (addition) test in 5 minutes. (In class)
36. Complete the 100 facts (subtraction) test in 5 minutes. (In class)
37. Find the total age of your family.
38. Name 10 places where you see numbers in your life.

Language Arts
39. Name 10 common and 10 proper nouns.
40. Name 15 verbs.
41. Name 15 adjectives.
42. Name 10 famous authors.
43. Give 10 facts about a famous children’s author.
44. List 10 contractions.
45. List 5 pairs of synonyms and 5 pairs of antonyms.
46. Name 10 compound words and draw a picture of each.
47. Write 5 sentences about your favorite animal.
48. Write 5 sentences about a trip you went on.
49. Write an acrostic poem using the letters in your name.
50. Write a book teaching a kindergarten aged student something.
51. Name 10 children’s book series.
52. Write every word on the Word Wall. (In class)
53. Write a letter to the Journal News or Our Town.
54. Create a game to practice reading or writing long vowels.
55. Read and record the titles of 5 books of differing genres.
56. Find a newspaper or magazine article. Highlight words that match the current spelling pattern (not just the 6 words on the list) and sight words.
57. Name 10 books written by Mem Fox.
58. Write 10 questions to interview someone in your family.

Science
59. Name 15 kinds of fish.
60. Name 15 marine creatures.
61. Name 15 types of birds.
62. Name 10 reptiles.
63. Name 10 dinosaurs.
64. Name 5 facts about magnets.
65. Name 10 organs in the human body.
66. Name 15 mammals.
67. Name the planets in order from the sun.
68. Draw and label a picture of the water cycle. Explain how it works.
69. Name and illustrate (drawings or photographs) 5 different types of clouds.
70. Name 10 omnivores.
71. Name 10 carnivores.
72. Name 10 herbivores.
73. Watch the moon for a week and draw what it looks like each night.
74. Write down the high and low temperature everyday for a week.
75. Write 5 facts about Russian tortoises.
76. Draw and label the life cycle of a butterfly.
77. Draw a tree in all 4 seasons.
78. Write 10 things that come from plants.
79. Name 5 books to teach kids about Earth Day.

Miscellaneous
80. Name the birthstones for each month.
81. Name 10 breeds of cats.
82. Name 10 breeds of dogs.
83. Name 15 summer or winter Olympic events.
84. Name 10 instruments in a marching band.
85. Name 10 football teams and their cities.
86. Name 10 baseball teams and their cities.
87. Name 10 basketball teams and their cities.
88. Name 10 hockey teams and their cities.
89. Name the town and high school that Ms. Eyer grew up in and attended.
90. Name 10 Universities or Colleges and where they are located.
91. Name 10 famous artists.
92. Name all of the current second grade classroom teachers at TZE
93. Name the 7 wonders of the world and where they are located.
94. Find 5 helpful websites that you think every first grade teacher should know about. Explain how or why they would be used.
95. Find 5 facts about William O. Schaefer School.
96. Find 5 people who share the same birthday as you and 5 events in history that took place on that day.
97. Suggest a new item to be added to the lunch menu that is healthy and affordable. Explain why it would be an appropriate choice.
98. Invent a new holiday. Give it a name, tell when it will be observed, and explain why it should be a holiday.
99. Name the principals and assistant principals of all of the South Orangetown schools.
100. Come up with your own activity (but make sure to get approval from Ms. Stern first)!

Happy researching!

This idea comes from Mrs. Renz. You may visit and check out her Mastery Club by clicking on the link:
http://www.mrsrenz.net/masteryclub.htm

Friday, January 29, 2010 (Thursday too!)

2010-01-29T16:30:00.003-05:00

This week we voted on a new chapter book to read. The winner was Junie B. Jones: Shipwrecked. It was a really silly book! We compared Junie B. to Stanley from Flat Stanley. They are pretty different. We came up with lots of positive character traits that describe him: helpful, patient, serious, forgiving, and calm. We said that Junie B. is silly, hyper, immature, a chatterbox, impatient, inappropriate at times, impulsive, and someone with good intentions. Then we started reading Stanley and the Magic Lamp. In that book, Stanley isn’t flat anymore. This time, he found an old pot. When he rubbed it to shine it for his mom, a genie named Prince Haraz came out. So far, his wishes have granted him a “askit basket” to do homework for him, a liophant (part lion, part elephant), and his mother has become a celebrity. We can’t wait to find out what happens next!

Today we had R.I.F. That’s when we get to choose a book to keep from the PTA. Hunter chose a Scooby Doo book because he really likes that series. Chapter books and series were very popular choices. Some children picked books that we’ve been talking about in class. When we came back to the room, Ms. Stern gave us 5 minutes to read our new treasures.

Then, during Reader’s Workshop, Dylan A. marked a page with a post it to describe a character in his book. Sasha took Ms. Stern’s challenge today and compared a character from the book she read today (Mrs. Piggle Wiggle) with a character from a book that we read yesterday (I Know a Lady). Way to go Sasha!

After lunch we went to the library. Mrs. Cornelius taught us about fairy tales. We talked about what fairy tales are and where they come from. A fairy tale is a story that usually starts with “Once upon a time…” and ends with “They lived happily ever after.” Sarah said that they come from Pixieland. Dylan A. said that they are made up stories from someone’s head. Next, we watched a Red Riding Hood video and we read a different book called Pretty Salma. Then we filled out a Venn diagram comparing how they were alike and different. There were lots of parts that were the same.

Yesterday, in music, we played a pumpkin that was like a maraca. We also used a squash and an apple and an orange and a tomato and pear. We shook them to the beat of the rhyme 1, 2, Buckle my Shoe and Once I Saw a Little Bird. Today in P.E. we played Gator Ball and then Pin Guard. Coach Steingasser was out because she felt the baby moving so she went to doctor. She is going to have her baby any day! We are putting the finishing touches on a book that we made for her. It’s full of advice for her about how to take care of a baby.

At the end of the day, lots of people finished their number combinations paper from yesterday. Instead of writing today, we had a catch up period to complete things that have been in our unfinished work folders. People who had nothing left were allowed to do free writing.

Yesterday we read a book called I Know a Lady, by Charlotte Zolotow. It’s about a really nice old lady who treats a girl very kindly. She gives children flowers all year. During Christmas, she invites them in to see her tree and to treat them to cookies with red and green dots on them. She bakes them little cakes with yellow frosting on top for Easter. We thought about Charlotte’s inspiration for writing the story. We think that she knew someone like that lady when she was little. We had to think of people that we know in our neighborhoods that remind us of the lady in the book. After reading Knuffle Bunny, Roller Coaster, and I Know a Lady, we’re getting pretty good at figuring out the author’s inspiration. Next week, we’re going to get back to more writing while keeping our readers in mind!

We also read Silent Letters Loud and Clear by Robin Pulver since we're continuing to practice silent e spelling. The book is all about silent letters and the problems that kids in Mr. Wright's class have when the silent letters disappear. It's written by the same author as Punctuation Takes a Vacation. We noticed that some of the illustrations from the first book ended up on this one!

Don’t forget to send in PTA field trip donations!

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

2010-01-26T16:35:00.002-05:00

This morning was the Reflections Ceremony. The participants were called down to the library at 9:10. Hunter, Sarah, Eesha, and Emma went. Sarah’s mom took attendance when the participants arrived. The winners got called up and got gift certificates for the Scholastic book fairs. There were awards for first, second, and third places plus honorable mention. Everyone who participated got a certificate and a really cool pen with different colored crayon tips. Hunter thought it was awesome getting recognized. Emma felt really happy and excited.

While those kids were at the awards ceremony everyone else in the class was working on spelling. First, we played a sorting game. There were long and short o words. Ms. Stern timed us taking turns and working together. Our class beat last year’s time by almost a minute! Then we tried the same activity with one person sorting all the words. That way ended up being much faster because we didn’t have to take time figuring out who to pass the pointer to or coming up to the board. Dylan A. got the fastest time. He sorted all of the words in 38 seconds! After that, we went on a word hunt for “magic e” words spelled a_e, i_e, and o_e. Some of the kids worked with Ms. Stern on the rug if they had a hard time finding words on their own. Sasha thought the activity wasn’t too easy and wasn’t too hard. Stephen had a hard time finding i_e words. Amanda found lots of a_e words!

During Reader’s Workshop we reviewed how we can be prepared. Before reading, we preview the book by reading the title, take a picture walk, and make predictions. While we read, we mark pages when we use strategies, make connections that help us understand the story, look for funny, sad, surprising, or interesting parts, and we think about the main characters and words that describe their actions. After reading, when we are with our partners, we are responsible for retelling the events in the story by using words like: first, next, then, after that, and finally. Partners are sort of like teachers who check to make sure that readers understand what they read.

We continued working on number combinations. Some children chose to work on their “Mouse in the House problems. Other children began writing number stories. Both include two sentences giving information, one question, and a complete sentence that answers the question.
-Dylan M.’s story went like this: Nancy’s mom made 10 cupcakes. Nancy’s dad made 10 more. How many cupcakes does Nancy have now? Nancy has 20 cupcakes now.
-Adam wrote: My mom gave me 10 Bakugans. I got 5 more because I did good on my report card. How many do I have in all? I have 15 in all.
-Victoria made a story about chalk: My friend got me 3 pieces of chalk. She got me 3 more pieces of chalk. How many does Victoria have? Victoria has 6 pieces of chalk.

In Writer’s Workshop we read a book called Knuffle Bunny. We read, instead of wrote, because we are learning how to be better writers so that our audience (the readers) will be interested in our work and understand it and want to read more. By reading the book, we were able to figure out a little bit about Mo Willems, the author, and inferred what his inspiration might be. We think it’s possible that he has a family and experienced something similar to what Trixie and her family did. We also think that his neighborhood in Brooklyn might have inspired him. Finally, many of us related to how Trixie felt about Knuffle Bunny so maybe he chose a topic that lots of kids would be interested in. Writing for Readers is about writing with an audience in mind.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

2010-01-19T17:37:00.004-05:00

This morning we saw an assembly about Chinese dancing in the gym. There were kindergarten and first grade classes in the audience. The dancers used lots of different props like a spear, fans, ribbons, and paddles. One of the dancers did a warrior dance with a large spear. He spun it above his head and around his body. Hunter thought it looked like he was going to hurt himself! Another dance was called the fan dance. When the three dancers got together and held their arms and fans up and spun around, it looked like a flower. The dancers taught us how to do some dances. We learned how to make a tiger mouth and also an orchid with our hands. Towards the end of the performance, the dancers chose children to participate. Lauria and Eesha were chosen! They learned how to use ribbons to make waves, waterfalls, and rainbows. At the end, they had to make waves real fast and spin around quickly. That made Lauria dizzy. Both children had lots of fun!

Today was the day for red book bag shoppers to shop. Many children continue to move to new baskets and discover interesting new books!

Speaking of books…we went to the library after lunch. Mrs. Cornelius taught us a new game on the computer that helped us get to know the letters on the keyboard. There are different doors to go through. Each level got harder and harder. Some kids were on the computer while other kids were exchanging their books.

In P.E. we were practicing the different parts of the obstacle course. We had to do the George Washington Bridge two times and then we could do whatever we wanted. On Thursday we will start doing the whole thing!

From the PTA:
The SOCES PTA RIF Committee is sponsoring the following motivational activity in conjuction with our end of January distribution:

Over the Rainbow Poster Contest
The classic children’s book The Wizard of Oz inspires us to think about our dreams. In honor of the 70th anniversary of the movie based on the classic book, we invite you to share your ideas of what might lie "Over the Rainbow." Is it a land of cotton candy clouds and streets paved with glitter? Is it a world of peace and kindness? Is it you in your dream career as a doctor or President of the United States? Create a poster illustrating your ideas.

The entry forms and guidelines can be found on the SOCES PTA Website. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, January 19th.

Monday, January 19, 2010

2010-01-19T17:37:00.002-05:00

We wrote in our journals this morning. Everyone was supposed to start their writing with when, who, and where just like in our writing. Ms. Stern wrote about visiting her niece. The sentences gave the reader(s) a lot of information about her topic and ALL of the sentences began with uppercase letters and ended with punctuation marks.

We had a spelling pre-test. Some people figured out that the words have a long i just like last week’s words had long a. We predicted that we will have other long vowels in the coming weeks.

Ms. Stern read Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. As she read, we thought of words (like enthusiastic, creative, impatient, and remorseful) that described Lilly and marked the pages with post-its. After we finished the book, people gave evidence from the story that showed that the traits were true.

Today we talked about the earthquake in Haiti. A lot of people died, a lot of people got hurt, and a lot of people survived. We thought about ways that we might be able to help the people there so that they can be healthy and have better lives. We wrote an email to Mrs. Polansky and Dr. Mitchell to explain our ideas. We looked on Google Earth to see where Haiti is and what the country looks like. We got to see photos of some places in the country such as the presidential palace. Stephen recognized that picture from the news and learned that the building was damaged in the earthquake. Ms. Stern told us that an email was sent out to parents telling about a school bus that people in the schools are going to try to fill with needed supplies.

We continued our discussion about Martin Luther King Jr. and read two books about him. One was called Martin’s Big Words and the other was a biography called Let’s Read About…Martin Luther King, Jr. We looked at photos having to do with his life and then watched a short part of his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here is our thinking about the things that we learned about his message:
*It doesn’t matter the color of your skin. It matters what’s inside. –Adam
*We are free…it’s not like whites only signs are allowed anymore. –Victoria
*Even if there were places before, that we should try and help with words and not with fighting back. –Eesha
*He wanted to make the world a better place. –Stephen
*I never knew that he died by getting shot. His house had been bombed before that. –Sasha

Tomorrow we will be seeing a performance about Martin Luther King by Mrs. Yelin and Mrs. Luke’s classes.

In P.E., we did the obstacle course for the second and last time. There were lots of parts and activities. Some of them were: the climber, bouncing balls, the river, balance beam, hopscotch, and the “George Washington Bridge,” crawling, and a balance beam.

It was an important day filled with lots of grown-up discussions!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

2010-01-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

We are 4 marbles away from having our first Charlie Caps party! We’ve earned 46 already. Ms. Stern let us brainstorm what kind of party we want to have. There were lots of ideas. We voted using tally marks and decided to have a cozy day by wearing our pajamas and watching a movie with snacks like popcorn and hot chocolate. We can’t wait to earn those marbles!!!

Ms. Stern read us a book called Strega Nona. Strega Nona means grandma witch. She gets a helper named Big Anthony. She tells him not to touch her magic pasta pot. Once she went away, he thought it was his chance to use it. He tried saying her magic spell. It worked! Lots and lots of pasta came out of the pasta pot. Big Anthony tried to say the spell to make it stop. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen Strega Nona blow 3 kisses after saying the spell so the pasta kept coming. The people in the town got very angry. Strega Nona came back just in time. Everyone wanted to punish Big Anthony by tying him up. Strega Nona thought the punishment should fit the crime so Big Anthony had to eat up all of the spaghetti by himself. After we read the story we thought of words that described the main characters. Some of the words that we came up with were: magical, smart, calm, and fair. Big Anthony was a poor listener, rude, impulsive, and disrespectful. When it was time to read in our book bags we paid close attention to the characters in our stories and wrote words to describe their actions on post its.

Ms. Stern had lunch with Eesha and Victoria today. They brought in their coupons and had a lovely time together. They took turns asking each other questions to get to know one another better. Charlie Caps would be SO proud!

In P.E. we used the parachute. We played popcorn. A lot of balls were put on top of the parachute. We held the parachute in our hands with our thumbs on the bottom. Coach would say, “up, up, up…down!” Everyone would slam the parachute down. Some of the balls would go flying and a few even touched the ceiling before coming back down. Amanda thought it was hard to do because the balls kept reaching the parachute and the goal was to get them off. At the end of P.E. we had to collect the balls by crawling on the floor. Everyone was supposed to collect the color ball that matched the color that they were holding on the parachute.

We are finishing up our pieces of writing to be published in Writer’s Workshop. Ms. Stern is working with children one at a time because she is our editor, just like the one that Alyssa Capucilli has. Everyone is working on finishing their stories and then checking to make sure that they have a beginning, middle, and end and also that the writing includes thinking, feelings, dialogue, best spelling, and capitalization and punctuation. That’s a lot of stuff!

Our New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-05T18:17:00.001-05:00

My New Year’s resolution is to…
-Help my mom and dad was the dishes. –Meaghan
-Read more books. –Nancy
-Stop playing my video games and start playing outside more. –Hunter
-Try to stop sucking my thumb. –Lauria
-Stop playing Star Wars and play outside more. –Anthony D.
-Help my mom set the table. –Dylan M.
-Be more helpful to the kids in my class. –Sasha
-Help my mom get ready for dinner. –Dylan
-Exercise more and play the Wii less. –Stephen
-Help teach my brother to tie his shoes. –Adam
-Go outside more and stop playing my Wii. –Drew
-Help my mom wash the dishes after school. –Amanda
-Do more kind things for others. –Emma
-Help my mom get dinner ready every night. –Victoria
-Help my mom with my little sister. –Eesha
-Play with my mom more than playing outside. -Sarah

What are YOUR New Year's resolutions?

Friday, December 18, 2009: New Year's Celebration!

2009-12-18T16:22:00.000-05:00

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!

December Wordle

2009-12-17T12:25:00.005-05:00

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

2009-12-16T15:58:00.003-05:00

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?

Friday, December 11, 2009

2009-12-11T15:53:00.001-05:00

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!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

2009-12-09T16:31:00.000-05:00

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!

Monday, December 7, 2009

2009-12-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

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.

Friday, December 4, 2009

2009-12-04T15:49:00.001-05:00

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!

December 1, 2009

2009-12-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

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.

Meals on Wheels Covered Cupboards

2009-12-01T16:46:00.003-05:00

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

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!)

Thanksgiving Recipes

2009-11-25T16:22:00.001-05:00

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!

November 25, 2009: Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T16:19:00.003-05:00

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

Monday, November 23, 2009

2009-11-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

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.

Meeting the Author: Alyssa Satin Capucilli

2009-11-18T16:31:00.003-05:00

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!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

2009-11-17T18:21:00.001-05:00

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!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

2009-11-04T17:16:00.000-05:00

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.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

2009-10-29T18:00:00.003-04:00

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).

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

2009-10-28T15:17:00.004-04:00

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!

Friday, October 23, 2009

2009-10-23T15:48:00.001-04:00

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!

Monday, October 19, 2009

2009-10-19T15:11:00.001-04:00

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!

Friday, October 16, 2009

2009-10-16T15:15:00.001-04:00

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.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

2009-10-06T16:05:00.006-04:00

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.

Friday, October 2, 2009

2009-10-02T16:07:00.001-04:00

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!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

2009-09-30T15:02:00.001-04:00

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!

Friday, September 25, 2009

2009-09-25T15:24:00.001-04:00

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!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

2009-09-22T16:00:00.000-04:00

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!

Friday, September 18, 2009

2009-09-18T15:53:00.001-04:00

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!

Meet the Teacher Night

2009-09-17T16:44:00.000-04:00

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

Our Class Rules

2009-09-15T19:00:00.002-04:00

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

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

2009-09-15T15:19:00.003-04:00

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!

Reader's Workshop: Favorite Books

2009-09-11T18:55:00.001-04:00

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

Friday, September 11, 2009

2009-09-11T15:23:00.000-04:00

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!

Our First Grade Goals

2009-09-10T16:14:00.002-04:00

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.

Our First Day!

2009-09-08T14:50:00.003-04:00

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.

Welcome!

2009-09-05T08:22:00.004-04:00

Dear Boys and Girls,

I hope you are enjoying your final days of summer vacation! I have been working hard to get our classroom ready for all of the learning and fun that we are going to have this year. I can't wait to meet you on Tuesday, September 8th. Please remember to bring the following supplies:

. 1 box of #2 pencils with erasers (preferably Ticonderoga), sharpened
. 1 highlighter
. 1 Sharpie permanent marker
. 1 box of Crayola broad tip markers
. 2 black Flair pens
. 4 Elmers glue sticks
. 2 black and white composition notebooks (labeled)
. 2 two-pocket folders (labeled)
. 2 post-it pads
. Clip board (labeled)
. 1 box of tissues
. 1 box of Ziploc bags: boys-gallon; girls-snack/sandwich/quart
. 1 package baby/cleaning wipes OR hand sanitizer
. a healthy snack each day

We share supplies so you only need to label your clipboard, notebooks, and folders. Pre-paying for school lunch or snack is preferred by the cafeteria. Please practice or have your pin number if you plan to buy. Also, please bring your favorite book to share for the first day.

I am so excited to finally meet you! We're going to have a great year together in first grade.

Love,
Ms. Stern

Summer Reading "Book Nook"

2009-06-25T18:00:00.003-04:00

I love summer. I love reading. Summer reading is one of the pleasures of having a long vacation. Please share any exciting, silly, scary, or informative books that you are or have been reading. Here's your chance to be a critic. Tell us what you liked, loved, or disliked. Make suggestions or recommendations for your classmates (and me)! I'll be sure to check in and let you know what I'm reading as well.

Happy reading!

Thank You

2009-06-25T17:04:00.003-04:00

Dear Parents,

As I look back and reflect on the 2008-2009 school year, I wonder how the time has gone by so quickly. The children have all come so far and grown so much in body, mind, and spirit. They frequently made me laugh (which makes me cry as I’m sure some of you may have heard). They have driven me crazy at times, made me sad at others, while also filling me with joy and gratitude (and that could occur before snack time on any given day). They’ve tattled, lost teeth, grown new ones, and celebrated accomplishments and frustrations together. With all that the children and I have done, we’ve done it together.

I will miss these 20 very special girls and boys but I know that they are ready to move on to new beginnings and new challenges. I am so proud of all their accomplishments and I know that I am passing them along to a school filled with very talented and capable teachers at T.Z.E.

Please accept my sincerest thanks for all of your help and support this year. The year’s success certainly couldn’t have happened without you. I truly appreciate your support, patience and understanding. Your encouragement and reinforcement are truly what make this experience so triumphant.

Have a fabulous summer vacation. Please keep in touch. Thanks again for sharing your children with me this year.

With great appreciation,
Randi Stern

PS-I am going to try very hard to have the Year in Review CDs finished and mailed to you by next week. Also, I will be sure to pass along the Scholastic books that were out of stock as soon as I receive them. The free coupons are yours to use for a future order.

Friday, June 19, 2009

2009-06-19T16:53:00.001-04:00

This week we had lots of fun! We continued celebrating the success of First Grade with our June activities and also celebrated lots of summer birthdays!

Earlier this week we had Beach Day. In the classroom, Ms. Stern had different pictures of the beach on the Smartboard. We listened to beach music. Everyone got to read on their towels on different rugs in the classroom. Some people were embarrassed to be in their bathing suits in school. Other people couldn’t wait to take off their clothes and walk around with their flip flops and bathing suits only. After recess, we had a water balloon toss. Each time the balloon was caught, the person holding had to step back. Daniel and Darren were really good at it. They won a few times. After that, we moved to the grass and played Duck, Duck, Squeeze. It’s just like Duck, Duck, Goose except you use a wet sponge to pat on people’s heads during the “duck”s and then it gets squeezed on the person’s head when they say “goose.” Everyone got wet!

When we had the tag sale, Ms. Stern gave us a container with 50 cents in it. There were yellow signs at each table that told how much the items cost. The prices were: 50, 40, 30, 25, 15, and 10 cents. Ms. Stern called tables to shop one at a time. While the tables were shopping, the rest of the class was watching the cartoon version of The BFG. Kaitlyn had SO much fun because she got to shop for things that she wanted after browsing first. She bought a play dough set, a doll, 3 books, a calendar, a pencil, and something else (all for 50 cents!). Joshua go a yo-yo, bubbles, and 3 cars. Michael bought 3 books, a tiny baseball, a saw, a Hess airplane, bubbles, and a ruler. Emily thought the most fun part was shopping. Mia enjoyed everything because she liked watching the movie and choosing so many great things!

Today the dads came to school for the Father’s Day celebration. There was a table full of food by the window. The dads got served first (by the kids). Then the kids got to serve themselves, just like at Mother’s Day. After everyone ate, the kids came to the rug to read a poem for the dads. Then we started the clues. Isabella thought the dads did pretty good guessing even though some kids wrote the wrong information (oops)! A few dads needed some clues repeated but they eventually got it! Nolan thought the whole thing went perfectly!

Monday is our Sundae on Monday party. Don’t forget about our Year in Review on Tuesday! Parents are invited to come in for our look back at 2008-2009.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, June 12, 2009 IMAX: Under the Sea

2009-06-12T15:13:00.001-04:00

All About Our Trip to the IMAX Theatre: Under the Sea
*A lot of fish were eating other fish. -Anthony
*The movie was in 3-D. There was this fish that had a white thing that popped out and ate another fish. –Carly
*It was very exciting. –Kevin
*I thought it was cool and I learned that sometimes sharks avoid stingrays, but not always. –Axl
*It felt like I was under water and I was seeing what the cuttlefish was doing to the other fish when it ate it. It was like I was right in front of it. –Isabella
*I was a little scared when the white part came out and ate the fish. –Gianluca
*When a school of black and yellow fish came on, I put my hand out and it felt like my palm was getting bitten. On the screen it looked like it was like a wave. –Sammy
*The great white sharks like to eat seals. –Nolan
*I liked when the squid was hiding by the rock and was trying to eat a little crab. He went toward it and the squid ate it really fast. It was kind of weird because it didn’t fit in his mouth. -Bartosz
*The whole movie was fun. At one part, it felt like part of my neck was above water and part of my body was under water. The photographs were graceful and beautiful. -Mia

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

2009-06-09T18:43:00.001-04:00

Today was Book Character Day. When we came in this morning, we discovered that we had a substitute in our classroom, which said Room 207. It was Miss Viola Swamp, from the book Miss Nelson is Missing. Gianluca thought she was very mean when she said, “You don’t have recess for a month!” Anthony thought she was really strict and mean. Carly thought she was more strict than Ms. Stern. Rebecca was kind of scared when she saw her. Miss Swamp had a black dress on. She had black moles on her face and blue-green eye shadow on her eyes. Her lips were black and her hair was puffy on each side. After morning meeting, Miss Swamp had the book characters introduce themselves. Kevin wore a squid shirt and brought in I’m the Best Artist in the Ocean. Kaitlyn was dressed as the Littlest Princess. Carly was Diana White, a ballerina in the book Ballerina Dreams. Sean was Scooby Doo. Sammy was the cowboy from The Adventures of the Brave Cowboy. Zoe was a cheerleader from High School Musical 3. Anthony was dressed as Big Anthony. Sophia dressed up as Daphne Grimm from The Sisters Grimm. Nolan was Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Since we didn’t do our 100 facts yesterday, we did them today instead. Ms. Stern was hoping that more children would have improved their scores. So far, of the papers that got corrected, only two children beat their best scores. Next week, we are all going to try to do our best and stay focused to do our personal bests! We also continued to talk about money. We learned about the penny today. Carly learned that Abraham Lincoln is on the head. Bartosz learned that a penny is worth one cent. Joshua discovered that it says In God We Trust on the head. Sammy wanted to know how many pennies it would take to equal $1,000. We figured out that it would take 100,000 pennies to equal $1,000.

We had Writer’s Workshop before lunch today since Mrs. Barsanti had to go to a meeting this afternoon. Everyone continued to work on their non-fiction books. People continued to write, draw, search for features, and create glossaries for their books.

At gym, we played catch with our partners. We used different shaped balls. Then we played Star Wars. Isabella was a Jedi because she didn’t have a partner. Jedis can tag people who were out. Children who didn’t get to play because they didn’t have sneakers were the sweepers and the people who put the dots out.

We read 2 more chapters of the BFG, Journey to London and The Palace. The BFG and Sophie passed the nine giants coming back from finding their dinners. They traveled all the way to London from Giant Country. The BFG was able to blend into shadows so he wouldn’t be discovered. He and Sophie made it safely through Hyde Park Corner and arrived at the Queen’s palace, where the BFG left Sophie to rest on the window sill while the Queen had her dream.

During Reader’s Workshop, we only had time to read for 26 minutes. It was time to get ready to go home so we couldn’t read for as long as we normally do.

Tomorrow is Gum Day. Remember to bring in gum to chew in the classroom only. Gum may not be shared or be brought out of the room. We will have a bubble blowing contest in the afternoon.

Friday, June 5, 2009

2009-06-05T14:59:00.002-04:00

We had Crazy Hair Day today. Some people had unusually colored hair. Other people put gel in their hair. Daniel, Carly, and Anthony put things on their heads. During snack, Ms. Stern picked 2 people to do her hair. She thought of numbers between 1 and 15. Sophia and Bartosz were chosen to give her crazy hair. Bartosz changed his mind and decided to let Sammy do Ms. Stern’s hair instead. They used clips, bobby pins, and elastic bands to give her a fancy ‘do. At the end of the day we had a contest to see who had the craziest hair. Daniel got six votes, which meant that he had the craziest hair in the class.

This morning we had a year-end spelling bee! Sean came in first place. Sophia was second, Nolan came in third, and Sammy was fourth. When it was your turn, each contestant had to say the word, spell it, and say it again. If the word was spelled correctly, we went to the end of the line. If it was wrong, Ms. Stern asked us to sit. Joshua thought the spelling bee was easy because he practiced the words at home. Michael thought it would be harder than it really was. Kevin thought it was a little bit hard. The words got harder each time he had a turn.

Today was our last day to do book exchange in the library. All books have to be returned to school by next Friday!

During Writer’s Workshop, we continued to work on our non-fiction books. Sammy went to the library to get the photographs for people to include as features in their work. Others were still writing and drawing.

Dads, please remember to RSVP for our Father’s Day Celebration. Monday is Stuffed Animal Day. Have a great weekend!

Field Day Photos

2009-06-05T14:59:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

2009-06-02T15:09:00.003-04:00

This morning we went to TZE. That’s where we’re going next year. We rode on a bus with Ms. Ferzola’s class. Axl and Nolan were surprised to be on the bus with their bus driver! When we got to the school we went to the cafeteria. We met Mr. Soss and Ms. Lipton before we watched a slide show that showed us the teachers in the school. It also had a map of the building. Isabella learned that our school has lots of rectangular halls and TZE has circular ones. Next, the audience got to ask questions to second graders who took turns answering them. Sean, Mia, Axl, and Sammy all got to ask the second graders questions. After that, we headed to Ms. Galvin’s class. She wasn’t there but Ms. Hastings and Miss S. were there. Ms. Hastings had the children stand and recite an acrostic poem that spelled Tappan Zee Elementary School. Each letter told us something about the school. Then we went on a tour of the school. We saw the art room, speech, reading, the library, some third grade and second grade rooms. We learned that Mrs. Stern’s class is going to move so that the music teacher can move into that room. The trip helped Darren learn a lot. He learned that lots of things were similar in Ms. Galvin’s room as in our own. Isabella was a little confused at first. She thought the building seemed like a maze but it got easier because the halls are all different colors. Everyone is ready to go to TZE now!

When w came back to school, Ms. Stern read the next two chapters in the BFG. The first was Journey to Dream Country. On his way to Dream Country, the other giants were playing a game tossing the BFG around, while Sophie hid in his waistcoat pocket. When Sophie and the BFG finally got to Dream Country it was all gray, misty, and cold there. The BFG caught a golden phizzwizard. It’s the best kind of dream to have. He also caught a trogglehumper. That is a really terrible nightmare. When the BFG catches the dreams, he puts them in glass jars, listens to what they’re about, and then puts them in his suitcase to put in the rooms of children at night. The BFG saves the bad dreams and explodes the trogglehumpers so that “chiddlers” don’t have them. Mia is wondering how the BFG explodes them. Darren is wondering if Dream Country has mostly good dreams or bad ones. Ms. Stern is curious why there is no color in Dream Country.

After art we went to Technology since we didn't get to have it on Friday. This Friday is going to be our last opportunity for book exchange. Remember to return your books so that everyone can take them out for one last time at the end of this week!

Tomorrow is Favorite Photo Day. Remember to bring in a favorite photo to share with the class!

Homework: Questions about TZE

2009-06-01T13:04:00.002-04:00

In the comments section below, please write at least 2 questions that you have about TZE or second grade. Feel free to write as many questions as you have. They might be about the school, teachers, homework, playground, work, or anything else that you're wondering about. Are you ready for our trip tomorrow?

Friday, May 29, 2009

2009-05-30T08:55:00.000-04:00

Today we tie dyed our Field Day shirts. The first step was to put rubber bands on our white t-shirts. Then, when we were finished, we put the shirts into the red dye. Nolan thought it was pretty hard putting the rubber bands on. The last “x” was the hardest! Some of us had sore fingers after we were done. After they soaked for a while, Ms. Stern took them out and removed the rubber bands. Everyone kept wanting to see their shirts when they were done. There were white circles left on the shirts! Zoe thought they looked really cool because the middle of the circles were red and then white and then red again. Ms. Stern brought the shirts outside to dry while the class was having snack recess.

We had music in the morning today. Ms. Cassetta’s class went on a trip so they went at our regular time.

We read 2 more chapters in The BFG. The first was called The Marvelous Ears and the second was called Snozzcumbers. Snozzcumbers taste horrible! They are as big as a kid and they look like cucumbers, except they are black with white stripes. The Big Friendly Giant (BFG) has very large ears. They work so well that he can hear animals and even insects talking from very far away. He is even able hear dreams that fly around in the air like bubbles.

During Reader’s Workshop, we read the fiction books in our book bags for 35 minutes. We are alternating days. Mia noticed it’s a pattern: non-fiction, fiction. During Writer’s Workshop, people are working on their non-fiction books. Most people have created their headings and chapters and gathered their facts. Now, lots of kids are combining their facts with their features.

Towards the end of the day, groups of children got to go to the library to exchange their books. Rebecca, Kevin, Sophia, Zoe, Mia, and Carly chose Robert Munsch stories!

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

2009-05-20T15:16:00.000-04:00

This morning we worked on telling right from left. We had to figure out the direction of different objects and see if they were to the right or left of one another. Then we worked on ordinal numbers. Some people thought it was easy. Others found it to be a little challenging. Zoe reminded us that our left hand makes an “L” with our thumb and pointer fingers. We also talked about our pledge hand (right) and the hand we use to write with.

Ms. Stern read Purple, Green, and Yellow, written by Robert Munsch. It is about a girl named Brigid who likes to color with markers. She promised her mom not to color on the walls, floor, or herself. Brigid decided to color on herself with markers that don’t come off until “you’re dead or later.” She decides to color herself back to normal. Earlier, Mrs. Caton (the reading teacher) read The Paperbag Princess while Ms. Stern was at a meeting. Everyone thought about their favorite character. Anthony, Darren, and Bartosz’s favorite character was the dragon. Carly’s was Princess Elizabeth. Nolan was going to write about Prince Ronald. He made a text-to-self connection because the prince reminded him of his brother!

We started to talk about a name for Field Day. We agreed that our name should be fun, go along with the theme of Field Day (so we don’t want to be slow!), be appropriate for school, and maybe have alliteration. When we were thinking of names, we had some trouble sticking to those ideas. We had to stop our discussion and revisit it again tomorrow.

Today in music, we listened to the book Dooby, Dooby, Moo and then we played instruments whenever we heard parts of the book. When the cows said “Dooby, dooby, moo” the drums would be played. When the sheep said “Fala la la la” the metalaphones and xylophones were played. The glockenspiels were played when the duck said “Quack, quack, quack.”

During Writer’s Workshop, we started to write our non-fiction facts in an order that would make sense to our readers. Some people already came up with headings for their ideas and others are still working on collecting facts. Sammy and Zoe shared their work at the end of the period.

Homework: Time

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Last week we talked about telling time. Share what time you usually wake up in the morning and what time you go to sleep at night.

Also, our school day begins at 8:30 and ends at just before 3:00. Would you prefer to start school earlier or later than we currently do? (Remember, if we start earlier we would leave earlier and if we start later, we would leave later.) If you were in charge, what time would you start school? Explain your thinking behind your answers.

Friday, May 15, 2009

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We read a few more Robert Munsch stories. I Have to Go! was a favorite for lots of us. Gianluca thought it was funny when Andrew wet his bed. Nolan liked the part where it took a half an hour to put on his snowsuit…and then Andrew had to go to the bathroom! Rebecca liked We Share Everything. She thought it was silly when they started fighting. Robert Munsch is Rebecca’s favorite author. He wants the reader to use lots of expression. He uses lots of bold print, exaggerated words, capital letters, italics, exclamation points, sound words, and word placement to tell the reader to say things in funny or angry ways. We listened to Robert Munsch reading some of the stories afterwards. He is a great storyteller. Many of his stories are available to listen to for free on his website.

We played Pig against Ms. Stern today. Ms. Stern won! The last two times that we played, we beat Mr. H. He said he’s going to win next time. Darren thinks he’s predictable because “he guesses that he’s going to win but he went down to the ground!”

In gym, we did centers. The centers all had to do with throwing, catching, or kicking: Cowabunga, balloons, soccer, jump rope/hula hoop, basketball, sit ups (Sean broke the school record…46 sit ups in 1 minute!), beach balls, playground balls, ball catchers, grab balls, basketball, dominoes, and numbered balls.

We worked on our non-fiction reading and writing. Lots of people now have enough facts and they are working on grouping them according to their topics. Next week we will continue to focus on making our research booklets.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

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We started our day with 14 kids. That was the smallest group Ms. Stern ever had! Two children came in late. We ended up having 16 children in school today.

Zoe and Daniel shared their books that they got at Debbie Dadey’s book signing yesterday. They both got two books. One was the same for both of them: Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots.

Ms. Stern read a few books written by one of her favorite authors, Robert Munsch. We read Good Families Don’t, Smelly Socks, Stephanie’s Ponytail, and Get Out of Bed! Rebecca thought his books were hilarious. They are all about silly ideas. Before we read Good Families Don’t, we tried to figure out what it might be. After sharing many predictions, it turned out that we were all wrong!

In math, we used clocks to practice making the time. If the minute hand is on the 12, the time is ___ o’clock. The hour hand is short. The minute hand is longer. Ms. Stern asked us to figure out the where the hands belong after a certain amount of hours passed.

There was a book fair. The books were for sale on the stage in the cafeteria. Lots of children bought books, while others chose toys and erasers. The book sale is going on until 4:30 today.

Today we talked about mealworms. We saw that the eggs had emerged as tiny little larvae. They look just like the other mealworms but much smaller. They have segments but we can’t see them. We wrote our last observations, predictions, and questions. Then we had to do a zoom in diagram of the parts of the mealworm. Last, we worked on the L part of the KWL chart. Emily learned that beetles live for 5-10 days. Carly learned that beetles lay lots of eggs. Nolan learned that beetles get darker as they grow. Bartosz learned that mealworms have six legs. Sammy discovered that mealworms turn black when they die.

Homework: Authors and Book Series

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Last week we got to meet author Debbie Dadey via videoconference. We spent some time discussing what a book series is. Together, we discovered that the author (and sometimes the illustrator) is the same, as are the characters and setting. The Bailey School Kids, Junie B. Jones, Arthur, Poppleton, Biscuit, and Cam Jansen are all examples of series of books.

Ms. Stern's favorite series was The Babysitter's Club when she was younger. She used to read them all and couldn't wait for new books to be released! Please share any series of books that you have read or are currently reading. Is there a series that you'd like to try reading? Do you have any favorites or recommendations for your classmates? Make sure to read the other responses and comment if you agree.

Remember, you can meet Debbie Dadey tomorrow (May 12th) at Books and Greetings in Northvale! Let me know if you get to meet her in person!

Mother's Day Celebration

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Happy Mother's Day to all of our great moms. Our Mother's Day Celebration was a great success. Either the children's clues were exceptional or the moms are incredibly smart (though it just might be a combination of the two) since every single mom correctly guessed portrait and set of clues was them! We hope you enjoyed yourselves. The children worked very hard to make it a special day. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to spend it with us.

Here is our video explaining some of the many reasons why we love our moms: