Happy Birthday, Braden! Love, Mrs. K.Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Week of Nov. 15
Wow, so much to catch up on!
Last week, if you hadn't noticed, we worked on the letter Ii. We met Iggy Iguana.
Our new popcorn word for last week was go. In Math, we measured using non-standard measurements. We measured our paper penguins with cubes:
with tiles:
with links:
and other things we found around the classroom.
We also estimated the weight of our class pumpkin, then took it down to the clinic to find out the real weight. Some of our estimations were interesting! We also estimated the number of seeds in our pumpkin, then carved it and counted them. Our pumpkin had 419 seeds. It was great practice in counting by tens.
Now for this week! In Language Arts, we are reviewing this unit's letters, Tt and Ii (Tiggy Tiger and Iggy Iguana) and the popcorn words see and go. In Math, we are continuing to make patterns - watch for our pattern headbands to come home! In Science, we are investigating the properties of movement. We will be testing many different items to see if they roll, slide, swing, etc., and how we can apply force to cause them to move! We will also be making predictions, and testing our hypotheses to figure out how we can make something go faster, slower, farther, and not as far.
During our Daily Reading time, we have a new volunteer who has come to read to us. Her name is Miss Sharon, and she is really Mrs. K.'s mom! She loves everyone already, and she will be visiting us on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Together with Mrs. Ross on Tuesdays, Mrs. K. is very blessed to have someone to read to the students almost every day of the week!
Next week we will have our annual Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday morning. The students will arrive in their normal fashion, but breakfast will not be served that day, since Mrs. Ritter will be busy cooking for our feast! We will have some class time, feast on yummy foods, and then be dismissed for the day at 12:15 pm. Please watch your child's folder for alternate transportation bus/times for that day. If you will be helping at school that day (we need all the volunteers we can get!) or you plan to pick your child up instead of having them ride the bus, please send a note. There is no school on Wednesday, November 24, Thursday, November 25, or Friday, November 26!!!
This is just a reminder that if you need to change your child's transportation for a day, please do not call and leave a message on my voicemail, because I cannot check my messages during the school day. Please leave a message with our secretary, Mrs. Wilges, and she will be sure to convey the message to me. If you have any other concerns or questions, please feel free to call the school phone # (on the front of your child's folder) and dial extension 9312 to reach me.
Please have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
October Family Reading Awards
Congratulations go to the following students for meeting the Family Reading Goal for October:
Jayden read 39 books!
Marissa read 36 books!
Evelyn read 30 books!
Kaydence read 30 books!
Brieanna read 52 books!
Dustin read 30 books!
Braden read 45 books!
Cole read 59 books!
Halley read 61 books!
Kadin read 67 books!
Karli read 30 books!
Collin Sn. read 37 books!
Rylei read 36 books!
Way to go, friends! If your child's name is not on this list, please remember to write the name of each book you read together on the Family Reading Log, and keep the paper in your child's folder all month long so it doesn't get misplaced. If for some reason it should disappear (or you fill it up!), please feel free to use another sheet.
Every month at the awards assembly, the teachers demonstrate a social skill. Last month, we demonstrated raising your hand to get the teacher's attention appropriately. Throughout the month then, I watch for the students to practice this skill consistently, and at the next assembly, a "Star Student" is chosen. This month's "Star Student" from our class was Brieanna. She always remembers to raise her hand politely and wait for me to call on her. Way to go, Brieanna! This month's social skill will be saying "Please" and "Thank You." Be sure to use your manners, and you might be next month's "Star Student"!
Jayden read 39 books!
Marissa read 36 books!
Evelyn read 30 books!
Kaydence read 30 books!
Brieanna read 52 books!
Dustin read 30 books!
Braden read 45 books!
Cole read 59 books!
Halley read 61 books!
Kadin read 67 books!
Karli read 30 books!
Collin Sn. read 37 books!
Rylei read 36 books!
Way to go, friends! If your child's name is not on this list, please remember to write the name of each book you read together on the Family Reading Log, and keep the paper in your child's folder all month long so it doesn't get misplaced. If for some reason it should disappear (or you fill it up!), please feel free to use another sheet.
Every month at the awards assembly, the teachers demonstrate a social skill. Last month, we demonstrated raising your hand to get the teacher's attention appropriately. Throughout the month then, I watch for the students to practice this skill consistently, and at the next assembly, a "Star Student" is chosen. This month's "Star Student" from our class was Brieanna. She always remembers to raise her hand politely and wait for me to call on her. Way to go, Brieanna! This month's social skill will be saying "Please" and "Thank You." Be sure to use your manners, and you might be next month's "Star Student"!
Halloween Happenings!
Last week we celebrated Halloween with some fun candy activities and a party.
We sorted individual bags of M&M's and then graphed them. First, we sorted each color, then we placed them onto our graphs:
Then, as we ate each M&M, we colored its box to match:
Lastly, we circled the colors that were the most and the least:
This activity also reinforced recognition of the letter M, which we've been working on for a while now!
Please enjoy some more photos from our M&M activity!
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| Photo album customized with Smilebox |
Then on Friday, we had our Fall Harvest Party. We thank Mrs. Middleton and Mrs. Powers for coming in, and all the parents who sent goodies for us to enjoy! We had a great time using our own feet to paint ghosts!
And here are more photos from the party ...
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Week of Oct. 18
This has definitely been and interesting and busy week!
On Monday, our Morning Message included counting the number of words and letters in the sentence; finding all the letters we've learned (m, a, s, p); and finding all the popcorn words we know (I, can, we, the, like, a). Here is a picture of the finished product:
On Wednesday, we had our very first RIF (Reading Is Fun-damental) book distribution. The organization provides money for a free paperback book for every child at Nicklin, and Mrs. Hopkins puts on a blast of a party to celebrate! Enjoy a slideshow of some pictures of the event below!
Also on Wednesday, we had our second "Mystery Food Tasting Day". This is where we are served a fruit or a vegetable, many of which are new to us. Everyone tastes the food, and then writes about their experience in their journal. Today's food was broccoli. Some liked it:
And some didn't:
Our newest popcorn word is a. We are also learning to write P and R in handwriting. We read a funny story called The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, by Steven Kroll. It's all about a house mouse and a field mouse who discover and unknowingly take care of the same pumpkin. Be sure to ask your child about how they work things out when they find out about each other!
After we read the story, we compared the two mice, Clayton and Desmond, on a Venn Diagram:
Then Mrs. K. brought in the biggest pumpkin she could find, and we estimated its circumference by cutting our own lengths of string. This is how it came out:
8 guesses were too long, 8 guesses were too short, and 2 guesses were just right (OK, I cheated - I measured and cut mine before the kids came that day!). But Marissa was the only student to guess the length of her string perfectly! Way to go, Marissa!
In Math, of course we are working on patterns and estimating. I have also been assessing your child in the areas of number sense (counting, reading, and writing the numbers), colors and shapes, and sorting and graphing.
With all of the assessments and other activities going on, we haven't had much time for Science this week - we'll pick it back up after assessments are over.
Have a great week!
On Monday, our Morning Message included counting the number of words and letters in the sentence; finding all the letters we've learned (m, a, s, p); and finding all the popcorn words we know (I, can, we, the, like, a). Here is a picture of the finished product:
On Wednesday, we had our very first RIF (Reading Is Fun-damental) book distribution. The organization provides money for a free paperback book for every child at Nicklin, and Mrs. Hopkins puts on a blast of a party to celebrate! Enjoy a slideshow of some pictures of the event below!
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| Customize your own free digital scrapbooking design |
Also on Wednesday, we had our second "Mystery Food Tasting Day". This is where we are served a fruit or a vegetable, many of which are new to us. Everyone tastes the food, and then writes about their experience in their journal. Today's food was broccoli. Some liked it:
And some didn't:
"Mrs. K., this is me puking!"
On Thursday, we practiced making patterns with our math manipulatives. This is a great thing for you to practice at home with your child. Make patterns with coins, crayons, or anything you can find around the house. Look for patterns while you are out shopping or at the park.
This week's focus in Language Arts is on the letter Pp. We have met Pippa Pig:
| A free digital slideshow by Smilebox |
This week's focus in Language Arts is on the letter Pp. We have met Pippa Pig:
Our newest popcorn word is a. We are also learning to write P and R in handwriting. We read a funny story called The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, by Steven Kroll. It's all about a house mouse and a field mouse who discover and unknowingly take care of the same pumpkin. Be sure to ask your child about how they work things out when they find out about each other!After we read the story, we compared the two mice, Clayton and Desmond, on a Venn Diagram:
Then Mrs. K. brought in the biggest pumpkin she could find, and we estimated its circumference by cutting our own lengths of string. This is how it came out:
8 guesses were too long, 8 guesses were too short, and 2 guesses were just right (OK, I cheated - I measured and cut mine before the kids came that day!). But Marissa was the only student to guess the length of her string perfectly! Way to go, Marissa!In Math, of course we are working on patterns and estimating. I have also been assessing your child in the areas of number sense (counting, reading, and writing the numbers), colors and shapes, and sorting and graphing.
With all of the assessments and other activities going on, we haven't had much time for Science this week - we'll pick it back up after assessments are over.
Have a great week!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Week of Oct. 11
On Monday, we were very blessed to enjoy a visit from Christopher and Jeanette Canyon, illustrators of some wonderful children's books! In preparation for their visit, we read their book Sunshine On My Shoulders, which is an adaptation of the song written and performed by John Denver. After reading the book, we wrote our own version:
Sunshine
We are reading a non-fiction book about Pumpkins this week. Ask your child to tell you what is special about this book (what's on the back of the book?)
SunshineSunshine on my feet makes me jump.
Sunshine on my legs makes me wiggle.
Sunshine on my hair makes me turn in circles.
Sunshine on my nose makes me sneeze.
Sunshine on my ears makes me happy.
Sunshine on my head makes me run.
Sunshine on my cheeks makes me cry.
Sunshine on my back makes me lay down.
Sunshine on my eyes makes me happy.
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me play with my cat.
Sunshine on my forehead makes me thirsty.
Sunshine on my belly makes me hungry.
Sunshine on my eyebrows makes me fly up high.
Sunshine on my fingernails makes me dance.
Sunshine on my bones makes me laugh.
Sunshine on my whole body makes me silly!
written by Mrs. Krouskop-Smith's Class
illustrated by Mrs. Zimpfer's Class
To "illustrate" (pun intended!) the fact that many authors do not illustrate their own books, but rather "send them off" to an illustrator, we "sent" our story over to Mrs. Zimpfer's class to have it illustrated - we think they did a wonderful job!
This week in Language Arts, our new focus letter is Ss. We have met Sammy Seal. Our new popcorn word is like. Please allow your child to find popcorn words (I, can, we, the, like) and letters during your Family Reading time!
We are reading a non-fiction book about Pumpkins this week. Ask your child to tell you what is special about this book (what's on the back of the book?)
In Math, we will make Halloween Color Pattern Headbands, we will make up addition and subtraction Halloween story problems, and we'll estimate, measure, and graph both the circumference and the weight of a real pumpkin!
In Science, we will use that pumpkin to investigate the characteristics of the inside of a pumpkin as we carve it! We have also talked about how a pumpkin grows from a seed, into a vine, a flower, and finally a pumpkin. We learned that the pumpkin bud starts out yellow, turns green, then ripens into a bright orange.
Have an awesome week!
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