Today was Ms. Stern’s birthday. Even though she only asked for a class full of good listeners, lots of people brought her gifts that they made. Jackie gave her a Judy Blume book. Erin made a fortune teller. Julia made a card with her friends and she also cut flowers from her garden. They smelled delightful! Madison S. brought in a cookie cake that we shared during snack time. Madison S. also picked Ms. Stern to sit on the throne with her during story time. Conor finally came back after being sick for 2 days.
We continued to work on our special projects that we’re going to keep a secret for a little while. All we can tell you is that the project involves a lot of effort, love, and important details…
During Reader’s Workshop today, everyone read books from their non-fiction bins. We had to record 3 facts that we learned, putting the ideas in our own words. Then, we had to find 3 features in the book. Some examples of features are: glossary, index, table of contents, heading, bold print, photographs, captions, zoom ins, and diagrams. We’re going to become experts on our topics!
In art, we finished another surprise project. Our lips are sealed!
Ms. Stern read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. In the story, food falls from the sky instead of normal weather. Good and bad things happened but eventually the people of Chewandswallow had to leave. After we finished reading, we wrote about whether or not we’d want to live in Chewandswallow. Some people thought it would be a good idea and others preferred not to.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
We had another assembly today! Our class went to the pick up room with Mr. Gunther’s class to see a bunch of different animals from Animal Encounters. We were allowed to touch them using our pointer fingers. The first one we saw was a chinchilla. It was very soft. It was grayish with some white on its fur. Jackie was really excited because chinchillas are her favorite animals. 
The next animal we saw was a box turtle named Becky. 
Its shell is shaped like a box. Her shell had been injured after she got run over by a truck. 
Kelsey asked what the difference was between a turtle and a tortoise. She learned that all tortoises are turtles but all turtles aren’t tortoises. The third animal that we were shown was an alligator. It was a baby that someone kept as a pet in their bathtub. The police took Allie (the alligator) away because people can’t keep them as pets. Her skin felt hard and bumpy. Julia thought that it felt like scales from a dinosaur or a dragon. Most people wanted to touch it. Everyone in our class took a chance and gave her a pet. Next, we saw a hedgehog named Spike. We had to pet her gently and pushing back because of her spikes. Next, we saw a blue-tongued lizard named George. Sometimes he’s called George of the Jungle. He looked sort of like a snake because it face and pattern reminded us of a snake. It was a whitish color. It felt almost like an alligator. The last animal we saw was a milk snake. Her name was Hannah. Milk snakes get their name because they can be found in milk cow barns, looking for mice to eat and not because they drink the milk! We had a great time learning about lots of new animals.
We made report cards for Ms. Stern today. Since she made report cards for us, it was only fair that we got to write one for her too! Yesterday, we thought of ideas telling about things that teachers should do well. Ms. Stern asked us to be honest and fair, just as she tries to be. Overall, got positive comments and grades from her students. Phew!
In the afternoon, we worked on our writing. We were concentrating on finishing up old pieces and reviewing to make sure that we told internal stories, explaining our feelings. We are working on including phrases like: “I thought…” “I felt…” “I wondered…” “I wished…” “I wanted to say…” and “I remembered…”
Finally, Ms. Stern told us yesterday that we are going to be getting a new student in our class after vacation. His name is Christopher. We are looking forward to meeting him!
The next animal we saw was a box turtle named Becky. Its shell is shaped like a box. Her shell had been injured after she got run over by a truck. Kelsey asked what the difference was between a turtle and a tortoise. She learned that all tortoises are turtles but all turtles aren’t tortoises. The third animal that we were shown was an alligator. It was a baby that someone kept as a pet in their bathtub. The police took Allie (the alligator) away because people can’t keep them as pets. Her skin felt hard and bumpy. Julia thought that it felt like scales from a dinosaur or a dragon. Most people wanted to touch it. Everyone in our class took a chance and gave her a pet. Next, we saw a hedgehog named Spike. We had to pet her gently and pushing back because of her spikes. Next, we saw a blue-tongued lizard named George. Sometimes he’s called George of the Jungle. He looked sort of like a snake because it face and pattern reminded us of a snake. It was a whitish color. It felt almost like an alligator. The last animal we saw was a milk snake. Her name was Hannah. Milk snakes get their name because they can be found in milk cow barns, looking for mice to eat and not because they drink the milk! We had a great time learning about lots of new animals.We made report cards for Ms. Stern today. Since she made report cards for us, it was only fair that we got to write one for her too! Yesterday, we thought of ideas telling about things that teachers should do well. Ms. Stern asked us to be honest and fair, just as she tries to be. Overall, got positive comments and grades from her students. Phew!
In the afternoon, we worked on our writing. We were concentrating on finishing up old pieces and reviewing to make sure that we told internal stories, explaining our feelings. We are working on including phrases like: “I thought…” “I felt…” “I wondered…” “I wished…” “I wanted to say…” and “I remembered…”
Finally, Ms. Stern told us yesterday that we are going to be getting a new student in our class after vacation. His name is Christopher. We are looking forward to meeting him!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 (Going Green!)
Today we did a lot of talking about different ways that we are working to care for our environment. First, we went outside to clean up different areas around our school. Lots of people have thrown garbage on the ground. We chose groups of three to work together to collect trash in bins that can be reused. Our first stop was to the playground by the gazebo. 
Next, we went behind the school. 
Finally, we went to the small playground near the baseball fields. 
We found all sorts of items: a shoe, cigarettes, soda and beer cans, water bottles, glass, food wrappers, magnets, yarn, and many other items that didn’t belong outside on the ground. 
Once we collected all of the trash, we took turns sorting the items. 
We made bins for glass, plastic, cans, paper, and other. Now we can recycle the items that are recyclable. The items in “other” will get put in the garbage.
After we collected the trash, we came inside to attend an assembly. A man from Shoprite came to talk to us about the different ways that Shoprite recycles and also the different ways that we can help to recycle there. 
Our families can either bring back the paper or plastic bags that we use and get 2 cents (per bag) off of the total amount OR we can bring tote bags or other sturdy bags to reuse each time we go. He also thanked us for decorating the paper bags to distribute at the store in Northvale. Everyone did careful work with detailed drawings and messages. There were almost 300 bags that were decorated by first graders at William O. Schaefer. 
During lunchtime, Jonathan, Mikey, Conor, Erin, and Madison B. helped during the Waste Free lunch. Parents were there to help, too. The purpose was to separate trash from the school’s lunches and to measure how much garbage each class threw out. 
Ms. Eyer is helping keep track of the amount of garbage each class made. Today the school made much less garbage than on Monday because many people brought in waste free, reusable products. Many of the children in our class took part during snack as well as lunchtime. We realized that we should try to do this every day, not just today. 
Ms. Stern was so proud of us for doing so much to help others and for all of our hard work and smart thinking, especially since we weren’t expecting anything in return, that she surprised us with munchkins at the end of the day! 
Next, we went behind the school. Finally, we went to the small playground near the baseball fields. We found all sorts of items: a shoe, cigarettes, soda and beer cans, water bottles, glass, food wrappers, magnets, yarn, and many other items that didn’t belong outside on the ground. Once we collected all of the trash, we took turns sorting the items. We made bins for glass, plastic, cans, paper, and other. Now we can recycle the items that are recyclable. The items in “other” will get put in the garbage.After we collected the trash, we came inside to attend an assembly. A man from Shoprite came to talk to us about the different ways that Shoprite recycles and also the different ways that we can help to recycle there. Our families can either bring back the paper or plastic bags that we use and get 2 cents (per bag) off of the total amount OR we can bring tote bags or other sturdy bags to reuse each time we go. He also thanked us for decorating the paper bags to distribute at the store in Northvale. Everyone did careful work with detailed drawings and messages. There were almost 300 bags that were decorated by first graders at William O. Schaefer. During lunchtime, Jonathan, Mikey, Conor, Erin, and Madison B. helped during the Waste Free lunch. Parents were there to help, too. The purpose was to separate trash from the school’s lunches and to measure how much garbage each class threw out. Ms. Eyer is helping keep track of the amount of garbage each class made. Today the school made much less garbage than on Monday because many people brought in waste free, reusable products. Many of the children in our class took part during snack as well as lunchtime. We realized that we should try to do this every day, not just today. Ms. Stern was so proud of us for doing so much to help others and for all of our hard work and smart thinking, especially since we weren’t expecting anything in return, that she surprised us with munchkins at the end of the day!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
This morning we decorated brown paper bags from Shoprite. We drew pictures and wrote important phrases having to do with the Earth. 
We want people to learn and change their actions in order for our environment to be clean and healthy. The bags are going to get sent back to Shoprite and customers will use them to bag their groceries, as Earth Day gets closer. First, we drew and wrote with pencils first. Since everyone only got one bag, we had to make sure we were careful about our work before we started. Then, we colored our designs. 
Some of the phrases we wrote were: “Don’t litter, Bring your own bag, Don’t hurt the Earth, Save the Earth, and We only have 1 Earth.” 
The finished products looked great! 
Today was our last day of Gym City. We got to use a bubble machine and the car wash was open. Not everyone gets to go to every station. Most people in the class got to be a cop. We’re disappointed that today is our last day. Nevin reminded us to be excited, since we’re going to get to have it again in second grade.
We continued to read Robert Munsch books. Ms. Stern started reading them to us a few weeks ago. So far, we’ve read 15 of them. We’ve made some observations about Robert Munsch as an author: they’re usually silly, there’s always a problem that never gets solved on the first few tries, the main characters are kids, the writing shows all capital letters and stretched out words to show shouting, repeating words and parts, and the stories are usually circular stories that end similarly to how they begin. The three stories that Ms. Stern read today were Stephanie’s Ponytail, The Sandcastle Contest, and Good Families Don’t. Before reading Good Families Don’t, Ms. Stern asked us to predict what it is that good families don’t. Lots of children made predictions…but no one was correct. You might not know what good families don’t…
We want people to learn and change their actions in order for our environment to be clean and healthy. The bags are going to get sent back to Shoprite and customers will use them to bag their groceries, as Earth Day gets closer. First, we drew and wrote with pencils first. Since everyone only got one bag, we had to make sure we were careful about our work before we started. Then, we colored our designs. Some of the phrases we wrote were: “Don’t litter, Bring your own bag, Don’t hurt the Earth, Save the Earth, and We only have 1 Earth.” The finished products looked great! Today was our last day of Gym City. We got to use a bubble machine and the car wash was open. Not everyone gets to go to every station. Most people in the class got to be a cop. We’re disappointed that today is our last day. Nevin reminded us to be excited, since we’re going to get to have it again in second grade.We continued to read Robert Munsch books. Ms. Stern started reading them to us a few weeks ago. So far, we’ve read 15 of them. We’ve made some observations about Robert Munsch as an author: they’re usually silly, there’s always a problem that never gets solved on the first few tries, the main characters are kids, the writing shows all capital letters and stretched out words to show shouting, repeating words and parts, and the stories are usually circular stories that end similarly to how they begin. The three stories that Ms. Stern read today were Stephanie’s Ponytail, The Sandcastle Contest, and Good Families Don’t. Before reading Good Families Don’t, Ms. Stern asked us to predict what it is that good families don’t. Lots of children made predictions…but no one was correct. You might not know what good families don’t…
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
We are finishing up writing pieces to publish in the Publishing Center. A few kids go with a parent at one time. The parent and child read the story together and make corrections. Together, they create a title, an about the author page, and a dedication. They add page numbers, too. Then, the grown ups will type up the story and give it back to the kids to illustrate. In the classroom, we are concentrating on adding details, characters’ names, setting, and our feelings (internal story) to our work.
Today we had independent reading twice. The first time, everyone read from his or her book bags. The second time, people read non-fiction books at different tables. We are going to become experts on different topics that we chose. Some of the topics people are learning more about are: sea life, birds, plants, long ago, penguins, food, and dinosaurs.
There are two things that we notice when we read non-fiction. The first is that the books have features (things like page headings, table of contents, page numbers, and drawings). The features help us be able to learn the information. The second is that we learn facts and get knowledge from these books. We learned that non-fiction books don’t have to be read like fiction books. We can skip around or even choose certain parts to read or leave out. Ms. Stern taught us that copying information from books is a bad idea. It’s important that we have good habits now so that when we get older, we do the same and don’t get in trouble for copying.
This was our first chance to go to Gym City this year.
Everyone drives around on scooters. We have to sit, kneel, or go backwards on the scooters. 
There are 8 parking lots. When you get to the 9th, you get to be a police officer. They control the traffic lights and walking around making sure that people are following the rules. The police officers can even give out tickets! We love going down Coach Steingasser Road and Coach Hudson Highway because we can go anyway we want (on our gluteus maximus, abdominals, or patellas). When we leave, Coach Steingasser sprays us with water. 
We’re very busy these days!
Today we had independent reading twice. The first time, everyone read from his or her book bags. The second time, people read non-fiction books at different tables. We are going to become experts on different topics that we chose. Some of the topics people are learning more about are: sea life, birds, plants, long ago, penguins, food, and dinosaurs.
There are two things that we notice when we read non-fiction. The first is that the books have features (things like page headings, table of contents, page numbers, and drawings). The features help us be able to learn the information. The second is that we learn facts and get knowledge from these books. We learned that non-fiction books don’t have to be read like fiction books. We can skip around or even choose certain parts to read or leave out. Ms. Stern taught us that copying information from books is a bad idea. It’s important that we have good habits now so that when we get older, we do the same and don’t get in trouble for copying.This was our first chance to go to Gym City this year.
Everyone drives around on scooters. We have to sit, kneel, or go backwards on the scooters. There are 8 parking lots. When you get to the 9th, you get to be a police officer. They control the traffic lights and walking around making sure that people are following the rules. The police officers can even give out tickets! We love going down Coach Steingasser Road and Coach Hudson Highway because we can go anyway we want (on our gluteus maximus, abdominals, or patellas). When we leave, Coach Steingasser sprays us with water. We’re very busy these days!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
We had an important conversation about taking care of the Earth. We know that we have to change our actions and habits in order keep our planet clean and healthy. People used to do bad things because they didn’t know better. Now, people are much smarter and make better choices. In Room 66, we recycle paper and plastic bottles. We also reuse materials like books, clothes, and toys by donating them to the others, sharing with family, friends, or organizations like schools. Yesterday, we saw an assembly about Earth Day performed by Mrs. Yelin and Miss Owen's classes. It was phenomenal!
Some of our clothing designs were completed in art today. Lots of people are still working. We began choosing fabric to cut out and glue onto our designs. Mrs. Piteo gave us a compliment about our hard work today!
During math, Ms. Stern gave us work to do to see how much we knew about the new unit we are working on (place value). She didn’t expect everyone to get everything correct and wanted to find out what we did know. There were some things that everyone already knew and understood. Ms. Stern then gave some children problem solving exercises. They are word problems that get solved using complete sentences. She wants us to practice thinking, math skills, and writing all at the same time. On April Fool’s Day, Ms. Stern gave us fourth grade work to do. Almost everyone came up to her and asked for help. We thought she was crazy when she told us it was a joke! Aidan was the only person in the class who wanted to solve all of the problems. He came REALLY close to getting most of them correct!
Some of our clothing designs were completed in art today. Lots of people are still working. We began choosing fabric to cut out and glue onto our designs. Mrs. Piteo gave us a compliment about our hard work today!
During math, Ms. Stern gave us work to do to see how much we knew about the new unit we are working on (place value). She didn’t expect everyone to get everything correct and wanted to find out what we did know. There were some things that everyone already knew and understood. Ms. Stern then gave some children problem solving exercises. They are word problems that get solved using complete sentences. She wants us to practice thinking, math skills, and writing all at the same time. On April Fool’s Day, Ms. Stern gave us fourth grade work to do. Almost everyone came up to her and asked for help. We thought she was crazy when she told us it was a joke! Aidan was the only person in the class who wanted to solve all of the problems. He came REALLY close to getting most of them correct!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
