Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Most of the students in our class remembered to unpack all of their belongings, take care of attendance and lunch count, and hand in their homework this morning!

We practiced our handwriting. We talked about the lines on the paper. The top line is called the headline. The dotted line is called the midline, and the bottom line is called the baseline. Ms. Stern showed us how to correctly write 3 lowercase letters on the Smartboard. They were: l, t, and i. Some people got to practice on the board. Everyone got to write in the air. We watched the Smartboard. It looked like the letters were writing themselves! Ms. Stern recorded the way to make them before the children came. It looked like magic. Everyone went to their seats to practice sitting properly (we call it “stacking your blocks” when we sit up tall with two feet on the floor, our chairs pushed in, and our hands anchoring our papers) and begin working.

We reviewed our short a word list from yesterday. Some children thought of new words to add. Then we learned a new poem called Alan’s Apples. We highlighted short a words and pasted it into our poetry journals. Ms. Stern asked us to read both of our poems 3 times to get better at them.

During Reader’s Workshop, Ms. Stern read us a story called Reading Makes You Feel Good. We love to read and we discovered that people like to read in different places for different reasons by drawing and writing.

Today was our first time going to the library. Mrs. Cornelius is our new librarian. She went over the library rules. The rules spelled “POLITE.” Next, she read us a book about animals. When we finished the book, we had a surprise. Everyone got to make their very own shelf marker! Adam decorated his with a giant eye. Dylan drew herself wearing a pretty dress. Amanda made an American flag. Dylan A. made a light saber. Star Wars was a popular theme. Mrs. Cornelius taught us a song about how to use the shelf markers. It is sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey.

In P.E., we went outside. Coach Hudson went over the rules for playing on the playground equipment. Coach Hudson pretended to be a fire alarm so we could practice what to do during a fire drill. After we finished, the class had free time to play.

After specials, we had a real fire drill. Everyone was quiet and stood nicely outside near the fence. We know to be quiet so that the teachers and students can listen for directions and know what to.

From Ms. Stern:
Please have your child decorate his/her journal with photos, stickers, etc. of things or people that are of interest or importance and return to school tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Thank you!