Everyone took a trip down to the nurse’s office this morning. We had to get our eyes and ears checked. Mrs. Spiro said that everyone’s eyes and ears are working just fine. Ms. Stern realized that this news means that sometimes people are choosing for them not to work when children aren’t listening carefully! We’re going to keep trying!
We used bean bags in music today. Not everyone got one. If someone got one they said, “This leg…that leg…toss it in the air. This leg…that leg…pass it over there.” We had movements to go along with it. At the end, everyone got a chance to have a beanbag. We also played freeze dance. Before that, we were using scarves and waving them up and down while we listened to the Russian music from the Nutcracker. At the end, we had to throw the scarves up in the air and catch them before they fall on the floor.
The class read for 24 minutes during Reader’s Workshop. Before we read, we talked about retelling. Sean said that we retell to know more about the book. Isabella said, “Our partners can help us with our reading by asking us questions about the book.” Mia said that retelling is, "When you think back into the story that you read, you think about the book." Joshua explained that to be a good reteller, "You tell about what happens at the start, in the middle, and at the end."
We made cards for people who are serving in the military. We are making the cards so people who are away from home and their families will have something to smile about. Together, we brainstormed ideas that we could write and draw about. We wrote a practice letter so that everyone knew what to do. Sammy wrote about himself and wished his reader a Happy Holiday. On the front, he drew a menorah and made lots of stars. Darren also wrote Happy Holidays . He wrote “Thank you for saving our country.” His card had a drawing of the Fourth of July on the front.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Today was Nolan’s birthday! He is the first child in the class to turn 7!
We worked on another piece of writing for our time capsules. Today we wrote about a friend we made in our class this year.
The focus during Reader’s Workshop today was on retelling using beginning, middle, and ending parts. Ms. Stern read The Gingerbread Man. She said the book was about a gingerbread man who ran fast. The class said that wasn’t okay. We turned and talked to each other to help retell the story in a way that other people would understand. Ms. Stern reminded us that good readers tell about the important parts in a book and good partners remind readers if they don’t include enough information during partner time.
In art we made snowflakes by drawing lines with a ruler on a piece of paper. We added shapes in a pattern to the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines so that the designs would be symmetrical. Then we got a special black marker to trace around the pencil lines, which we then erased. We painted the spaces with cool colors and then put salt on top (so it looks like dots or snowflakes).
During Writer’s Workshop we talked about the 3 parts of writing that we are thinking about with our “Quick Publish” pieces: prewriting, writing, and revising. Sammy revised his Braille writing by rereading and checking for his spacing in between words. Emily was writing about Halloween. Nolan was revising his election piece by adding details to his drawings and adding more words to his story.
Thanks for all of the time capsule containers, contents, and decorative supplies! If you haven’t sent yours in yet, please do so ASAP! Also, covered cupboards are still being collected…so far we only have 1!
Have a great weekend!
We worked on another piece of writing for our time capsules. Today we wrote about a friend we made in our class this year.
The focus during Reader’s Workshop today was on retelling using beginning, middle, and ending parts. Ms. Stern read The Gingerbread Man. She said the book was about a gingerbread man who ran fast. The class said that wasn’t okay. We turned and talked to each other to help retell the story in a way that other people would understand. Ms. Stern reminded us that good readers tell about the important parts in a book and good partners remind readers if they don’t include enough information during partner time.
In art we made snowflakes by drawing lines with a ruler on a piece of paper. We added shapes in a pattern to the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines so that the designs would be symmetrical. Then we got a special black marker to trace around the pencil lines, which we then erased. We painted the spaces with cool colors and then put salt on top (so it looks like dots or snowflakes).
During Writer’s Workshop we talked about the 3 parts of writing that we are thinking about with our “Quick Publish” pieces: prewriting, writing, and revising. Sammy revised his Braille writing by rereading and checking for his spacing in between words. Emily was writing about Halloween. Nolan was revising his election piece by adding details to his drawings and adding more words to his story.
Thanks for all of the time capsule containers, contents, and decorative supplies! If you haven’t sent yours in yet, please do so ASAP! Also, covered cupboards are still being collected…so far we only have 1!
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Last week, we started working on our time capsules. So far, we thought and wrote about a bunch of our favorites: our favorite book, indoor activity, restaurant, song, etc. We also wrote about what we want to be when we grow up. Then we wrote about our lives at 16, 26, 36, 56, 66, 86, 96, and 106. Ms. Stern laughed when she read some of our writing. So far, only 2 children have brought in their time capsules. Lots of children are still working on them at home.
We had our first Golden Bus Award assembly this morning. Mrs. Polansky congratulated us for the good behavior taking place on the buses. 14 buses got the Golden Bus honor. Charlie and Zelda were there too. They did the victory dance to celebrate. Darren, Michael, Sean, Kaitlyn, Zoe, Rebecca, Kevin, Isabella, Mia, Daniel, Gianluca, Sammy, Carly, and Anthony were all on Golden Buses!
During Reader’s Workshop, we reread Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Christmas. Ms. Stern read it yesterday too. Isabella thought she read it with more expression today. We are concentrating on reading with expression during independent reading. We’re also thinking about being prepared for partner time. That means that we’re replaying what happened when we finish reading, marking pages with post-its, and reminding ourselves of the events of the story. We should be able to tell what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story after we finish reading.
Today we played a new game in math. We played Bears in a Cave. First, we played on the Smartboard. Ms. Stern hid some bears in a cave and kept some bears out. We had to guess how many were hiding. Some of the kids got a turn. Then, everyone worked with a partner to play together using different numbers. After a while, Ms. Stern asked us to keep the same partner and switch bears and caves.
In music, we practiced playing the song “Typewriter” again today. Mrs. Fox passed out drums. Everyone got a chance to play them. We curved our fingers as if we were holding a ball and pretended to type on them. One of the students in another class asked Mrs. Fox to turn the drum upside down. It worked! In fact, it sounded even more like a typewriter that way! We also got to use scarves while listening to the Nutcracker music. Boys got red and girls got green.
We had 3 choices during Writer’s Workshop today. We could continue writing stories on our unfinished work side, read a story with a partner and get feedback to make it better, or read a story alone and make revisions. The children who worked with partners were allowed to choose the person they worked with today. Most children chose to read and revise with a partner.
We had our first Golden Bus Award assembly this morning. Mrs. Polansky congratulated us for the good behavior taking place on the buses. 14 buses got the Golden Bus honor. Charlie and Zelda were there too. They did the victory dance to celebrate. Darren, Michael, Sean, Kaitlyn, Zoe, Rebecca, Kevin, Isabella, Mia, Daniel, Gianluca, Sammy, Carly, and Anthony were all on Golden Buses!
During Reader’s Workshop, we reread Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Christmas. Ms. Stern read it yesterday too. Isabella thought she read it with more expression today. We are concentrating on reading with expression during independent reading. We’re also thinking about being prepared for partner time. That means that we’re replaying what happened when we finish reading, marking pages with post-its, and reminding ourselves of the events of the story. We should be able to tell what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story after we finish reading.
Today we played a new game in math. We played Bears in a Cave. First, we played on the Smartboard. Ms. Stern hid some bears in a cave and kept some bears out. We had to guess how many were hiding. Some of the kids got a turn. Then, everyone worked with a partner to play together using different numbers. After a while, Ms. Stern asked us to keep the same partner and switch bears and caves.
In music, we practiced playing the song “Typewriter” again today. Mrs. Fox passed out drums. Everyone got a chance to play them. We curved our fingers as if we were holding a ball and pretended to type on them. One of the students in another class asked Mrs. Fox to turn the drum upside down. It worked! In fact, it sounded even more like a typewriter that way! We also got to use scarves while listening to the Nutcracker music. Boys got red and girls got green.
We had 3 choices during Writer’s Workshop today. We could continue writing stories on our unfinished work side, read a story with a partner and get feedback to make it better, or read a story alone and make revisions. The children who worked with partners were allowed to choose the person they worked with today. Most children chose to read and revise with a partner.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Today we learned that good readers change their voices to read with expression. Our voices should match the feelings in the story. Kevin, Mia, Joshua, and Isabella thought it was easy to read with expression. Some children thought it was challenging. We all practiced during independent reading time.
We read Time for Kids. It’s a magazine just like the one grown ups read, but it’s just for kids.
It was all about Kevin Henkes. He is an author and illustrator. We learned a lot about how books are written and made just by looking at the photographs and reading the captions. 
After we read the magazine together, we answered questions on the back and then practiced using punctuation marks just like other authors do.
Sean and Anthony both lost a tooth this morning! It was Sean’s first one and Anthony’s sixth. They were both very busy wiggling their teeth to get them to come out!
We recorded different number combinations in math. We learned to organize the numbers to help us think. First we worked together on the Smartboard.
Then we worked independently at our seats. We discovered that there are 7 ways to make the number 6! 
In P.E., we had our second try on the obstacle course. Mia got to demonstrate how to do the course. People were chosen to press the “easy” button if they were brave or if they helped put things back.
During Writer’s Workshop we concentrated on including feelings in our writing. We came up with a list of lots of words to choose from. Everyone tried their best to use interesting words instead of always using happy or sad.
We read Time for Kids. It’s a magazine just like the one grown ups read, but it’s just for kids.
It was all about Kevin Henkes. He is an author and illustrator. We learned a lot about how books are written and made just by looking at the photographs and reading the captions. After we read the magazine together, we answered questions on the back and then practiced using punctuation marks just like other authors do.Sean and Anthony both lost a tooth this morning! It was Sean’s first one and Anthony’s sixth. They were both very busy wiggling their teeth to get them to come out!
We recorded different number combinations in math. We learned to organize the numbers to help us think. First we worked together on the Smartboard.
Then we worked independently at our seats. We discovered that there are 7 ways to make the number 6! In P.E., we had our second try on the obstacle course. Mia got to demonstrate how to do the course. People were chosen to press the “easy” button if they were brave or if they helped put things back.During Writer’s Workshop we concentrated on including feelings in our writing. We came up with a list of lots of words to choose from. Everyone tried their best to use interesting words instead of always using happy or sad.
Here are some examples of children who used their feelings in their writing today:
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
We worked on our number quilts today. First, each table was assigned a number. Everyone had to think of as many ways to make that number as they could. Then each person got a white piece of paper and colored squares to make the different combinations. Darren thought the most challenging part was figuring out how to make the numbers. Carly thought it was easy gluing the squares on the paper.
During Reader’s Workshop, we read for 23 minutes! In September, we started by reading for only 5 minutes a day. Lots of children feel like the time goes by really quickly. Some students are moving into new book bins. Ms. Stern has us change levels when we read smoothly, stay on task, and are able to understand and discuss the books that we read.
In music, we talked about typewriters from long ago. We did the hand motions pretending to be typing along with music. When we heard a bell, we “cut” the paper. Next time, we’re going to use drums to make the typing sounds.
During technology, we used the program called Buggles to help us with our reading. We got to learn a few more games. Mia liked the game where she could make cookies and also sweaters. Nolan also liked the game where he made cookies by matching words with the pictures.
We did Writer’s Workshop earlier in the day because of technology. We continued working on stories that we picked from our journals and planted like seeds on our writing paper. Everyone used their writing plan to help the story to grow. The writing plan keeps our minds on track and helps us tell stories by writing a strong lead (by telling when, who, and where). Next, we include the “what”s and give details to help the reader understand what happened. Finally, we think about where we included our feelings and explain “why.” Isabella said her hand was sweating because it was so excited to write!
During Reader’s Workshop, we read for 23 minutes! In September, we started by reading for only 5 minutes a day. Lots of children feel like the time goes by really quickly. Some students are moving into new book bins. Ms. Stern has us change levels when we read smoothly, stay on task, and are able to understand and discuss the books that we read.
In music, we talked about typewriters from long ago. We did the hand motions pretending to be typing along with music. When we heard a bell, we “cut” the paper. Next time, we’re going to use drums to make the typing sounds.
During technology, we used the program called Buggles to help us with our reading. We got to learn a few more games. Mia liked the game where she could make cookies and also sweaters. Nolan also liked the game where he made cookies by matching words with the pictures.
We did Writer’s Workshop earlier in the day because of technology. We continued working on stories that we picked from our journals and planted like seeds on our writing paper. Everyone used their writing plan to help the story to grow. The writing plan keeps our minds on track and helps us tell stories by writing a strong lead (by telling when, who, and where). Next, we include the “what”s and give details to help the reader understand what happened. Finally, we think about where we included our feelings and explain “why.” Isabella said her hand was sweating because it was so excited to write!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thanksgiving Cooking
Here are some photos from our recent cooking activities (with help from our parent volunteers!)
Making Stone Soup with Ms. Stern:
Making cornbread with Sean's mom:
Making pumpkin pie with Kaitlyn's mom:
Making Stone Soup with Ms. Stern:
Making cornbread with Sean's mom:
Making pumpkin pie with Kaitlyn's mom:
Making cranberry sauce with Kevin's mom:
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