Friday, November 30, 2007

Today, we talked about Patricia Polacco. She is an outstanding author, illustrator, and storyteller. She is one of Ms. Stern’s most favorite children’s authors. Many of her books are memoirs, just like the ones we are writing. So far, we have read My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother and The Keeping Quilt. We watched some short video clips of Patricia explaining how and why she got so good at telling the stories about her life. Her grandmother, who she called bubbie, was the best storyteller in her family. We even looked on her website (http://www.patriciapolacco.com/) to find out more about her and learn from her to become better authors, ourselves. This afternoon, we got to continue working on our own memoirs.

After independent reading time, Ms. Stern recorded some children during their partnership time. The whole class watched the clips together and discussed what went well and how partnerships can be improved. We noticed that children were sitting hip to hip, asking appropriate questions about the books, and both partners were sharing materials and using good body language. Next week, we are going to concentrate on keeping voices down, asking questions and having both partners speaking, and not always having to look at the Smartboard for questions to ask. Also, we’re going to try to remember not to ask to use the bathroom during independent reading time.

Notes from Ms. Stern

·As you have probably heard, we will be celebrating our first Charlie Caps party of the year on Monday. This is a three-parter: a pizza party for lunch (therefore, you will only need to provide a drink and/or snack if your child plans to eat pizza), a special movie in the afternoon, and an opportunity for the kids to teach the teacher. If your child would like to “teach,” please make sure he or she prepares ahead of time. Please note that this is optional and children do not HAVE to present.

·We have begun a new unit in Writer’s Workshop: memoirs. The children are learning to tell and write stories about parts of their lives, as they remember them. After experiencing a few cases of writer’s block from the get go, we discussed how sometimes writers use photos or objects as inspiration and to help them remember important memories and events. I demonstrated this by sharing some of my own photographs to explain important or significant moments in my life. Please help your child think about some of his or her memorable experiences (that they are able to remember, not stories that are told to them). Remember, memorable events can be happy, silly, sad, frightening, or exciting. Next, collect 5 artifacts (photographs, postcards, dolls, awards, stuffed animals, blankets, etc.) connected to some of your child’s meaningful memories. Your child must be able to easily explain these artifacts. Place them in a shoebox or bag that can be carried to school and return them by Monday (12/3). You may choose to decorate these boxes or send them in plain. Make sure the box is labeled.

·Finally, if you are planning on participating in the Meals on Wheels Covered Cupboard event and are in need of a shoebox, please let me know.

Thanks so much!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

We are working on writing memoirs. A memoir is a piece of writing that is about something that happened in your life. This afternoon some children shared their memoirs that they wrote. Some people wrote about special trips that they’ve taken, some people wrote about important people and memories, and some wrote about objects that meant a lot to them. Today we earned a prize in art. We earned 5 stars by being good and listening carefully in the art room. Our prizes were erasers that we got to keep. We got to choose the ones we wanted. During Reader’s Workshop, Ms. Stern reminded us to chunk words together to help us read smoothly. She reminded us to think of “peanut butter and jelly.” Good readers sound like they are speaking so we really sound like we are saying “peanutbutterandjelly.” At the end of the day we earned 2 more marbles: one for being so good in art and the other for concentrating and using our time wisely during writing. We can’t wait to have our Charlie Caps party! On Monday, we are going to watch a G rated movie and have pizza. We’re also going to have “kids teach the teacher.”

Monday, November 26, 2007

This afternoon we just earned our 50th marble! That means that we’re going to have our first Charlie Caps party real soon. This morning we continued practicing smooth reading during Reader’s Workshop. We remembered to look at the punctuation and change our voices when we come to a question mark or an exclamation point. We read for 26 minutes. In music, we played freeze dance to one of the songs from Shrek 2. Then we sang Down by the Bay and we made up our own part. This morning we also had a bus assembly. We were reminded of the important rules we have to stay safe: never go behind the bus, wait until the driver gives the signal to cross the street, always wear your seatbelt, stay in your seat, use quiet voices to talk to friends on the bus, and never get off the bus if an adult isn’t waiting for you at your stop. Because it was rainy today, we had indoor recess this morning and again during lunch. At the end of the day, we had talking stick. Not too many people got to participate because lots of children took a long time finishing their journals. Next week, we hope to have more children finish their journals by the end of snack time.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Today we tasted all of the food that we made. We sampled cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, Stone Soup, cornbread, homemade butter, and lots of different types of bread. It wasn’t so easy making the butter. We had to pass a container with heavy cream and salt in it around the table. Each person took 10 turns shaking it until the milk turned into butter. We knew we were done when it looked like there was milk inside of the container. Mikey ended up finding the special stone in his soup while he was eating! We finished making our Most Thankful Things book. Everyone got to take a copy home. Ms. Stern read a few books over the past few days describing life long ago for children. They were: Sarah Morton’s Day, Samuel Eaton’s Day, and On the Mayflower. We learned that children long ago wore different clothing and more layers than we do. Boys had jobs working to harvest and hunt with the men, while the girls took care of chores around the house. They both had lessons that were taught at home. Children didn’t go to school back then. We also learned that children then had much harder chores than we do. We all agree that we’d rather live today than in the 1600s! Today was a great day. We realized that we all have LOTS to be thankful for. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are the recipes from our sampling:

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

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!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Some people’s moms and dads came in to help us cook in groups. Madison B.’s dad worked with a group to make pumpkin pie. Aidan’s mom helped make cranberry sauce. Joseph B.’s mom had the whole class write about what they are thankful for. We are very thankful to have such kind, helpful parents! Ms. Eyer also came in to teach us a new kind of code called Braille. We learned that people who are blind can read using Braille. We felt examples of Braille writing and then decoded Ms. Eyer’s secret message. It said, “Keep smiling.” Then, we made our own secret message for her to figure out.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Today, Madison B., Conor, and Kelsey had their pictures taken. We had technology. Everyone brought their library books back today so the entire class had their pictures taken by Mrs. Edler. We wore a hat, bandana, and a black moustache. Mr. Tanenbaum taught us how to use the rest of the programs on Kid Pix. We drew pictures using different tools. This morning we had a substitute. We had independent reading where we focused on reading smoothly and not reading like a robot. We are going to practice reading smoothly at home, too! The class also read a new poem called A Thanksgiving Dinner. Ms. Stern read us a story called On the Mayflower. It was about a girl named Ellen who was a passenger on the voyage as well as Will, who was an apprentice. Many children decided that they would not want to be passengers on the voyage because it was a hard life during those 65 days!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Our friends in Miss Owen’s class came over to watch a video about Veteran’s Day. Before they joined us, we read a book about the holiday and talked about why we celebrate this special day. We learned that veterans are people who served in the armed forces and the holiday is a way for us to show respect and honor to them for protecting others. Today was our spelling test. The bonus word was November. It was on the Smartboard during the test. Many children were observant and took notice. That was a good thing! Our class photos came back. Everyone looked handsome and pretty. This morning, we went to RIF. RIF is when you get to choose one book for free. We were so excited to browse through our new selections.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

We discussed upcoming activities during the month of November. We found out that we are going to be making food and we are going to sample the dishes before our Thanksgiving break. Most of us finished fancying up our writing and are now published! We added a new poem to our poetry journal. First, we practiced reading all of the old poems together. We noticed that it’s getting easier to read them because we keep doing it over and over. Today was P.E. We were practicing our aim by playing a game called “Chicken in the Basket.” We had to try to get the chickens in the baskets. We also had to try and get the hockey pucks in the clown’s frown. Mrs. McCahill finally had her baby. She had a baby boy named John. We wrote about it during interactive writing. After a little break, we got back to independent reading. Cassie and Conor acted as our fish during a “fishbowl.” That meant that all of the students sit around the rug and listen and watch carefully to the people talking. Cassie and Conor showed us what a good partnership looks and sounds like. Joseph V. is famous. We saw his family’s pictures on the Journal News website. He spent the last few days in New York City doing lots of special activities with Mark Messier and the New York Giants.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween! We had a party and a parade this morning. Moms and dads came to help out. The party was kicked off with a mummy wrap. Children worked in groups of 4 or 5. Some children had to wrap and some had to be wrapped (using toilet paper). After, we made our own snack by decorating cupcakes using frosting, sprinkles, and candy corn. We also made witches’ hands using popcorn for the hands and candy corn for the nails. There was a “Guess How Many Candy Corns?” contest. All of the children and parents got to make one guess. Madison B.’s dad came the closest. He guessed 262 and the actual number was 297. Then, we had a parade outside in front of the school. Everyone walked around two times. Lots of parents and family members were watching, waving, and taking pictures. Some people even took videos! Zee, Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger were here to celebrate. At the end of the day, Miss Owen’s friends came in to watch a Halloween video. Today was a fun, fantastic, hectic day!