Happy Birthday, Gabe! Love, Mrs. K. 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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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:
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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!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Apple Fun!
On Friday, we tasted red, green, and yellow apples!
First we made our predictions of which apples we would like best based on our prior experiences. We made a bar graph to see which color we thought we liked best:
Green: 6 Red: 5 Yellow: 7 We predicted more of us would like yellow best!Then we tasted all the apples:
(a yellow one)
(a green one)
(a red one)
(can you tell which one?)Finally, we made an "apple-pie graph" to see if our predictions were correct! Can you tell which apple most of us liked best?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
September Family Reading Awards
Today we held our Family Reading Awards Assembly for September. Each family is asked to read at least 30 books each month. Each student who achieves this goal receives a certificate, and their name is put into a jar for a drawing to win a Nicklin t-shirt.
Congratulations to these students who met their goal for September!
Collin Sn. read 36 books!
Karli read 30 books!
Kadin read 63 books!
Halley read 42 books!
Cole read 33 books!
Braden read 32 books!
Dustin read 31 books!
Kaydence read 46 books!
Evelyn read 35 books!
Marissa read 38 books!
Jayden read 36 books!
If your child's name is not on this list, please make sure to read 30 or more books (you can read the same book more than once) to your child before Oct. 31. You must write the name of each book on the Family Reading log which is in your child's Parent Pack for it to count. Many parents tell me "I read them, I just didn't write them down." Obviously, I cannot verify this, so we require a list to be kept in the folder. If you lose this paper, you may use a blank piece of paper. Also, if the Family Reading log is not turned in at the end of the month, a zero will be marked for your child for that month.
The Family Reading Program is part of the requirements for our Title I funding, and is mandatory for all parents. We appreciate your help and participation!
Congratulations to these students who met their goal for September!
Collin Sn. read 36 books!
Karli read 30 books!
Kadin read 63 books!
Halley read 42 books!
Cole read 33 books!
Braden read 32 books!
Dustin read 31 books!
Kaydence read 46 books!
Evelyn read 35 books!
Marissa read 38 books!
Jayden read 36 books!
If your child's name is not on this list, please make sure to read 30 or more books (you can read the same book more than once) to your child before Oct. 31. You must write the name of each book on the Family Reading log which is in your child's Parent Pack for it to count. Many parents tell me "I read them, I just didn't write them down." Obviously, I cannot verify this, so we require a list to be kept in the folder. If you lose this paper, you may use a blank piece of paper. Also, if the Family Reading log is not turned in at the end of the month, a zero will be marked for your child for that month.
The Family Reading Program is part of the requirements for our Title I funding, and is mandatory for all parents. We appreciate your help and participation!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Week of Oct. 4
This week in Language Arts, we will review the letters, sounds, and popcorn words we have learned so far: Mm (Mimi Mouse / march), Aa (Andy Apple / angry), I, can, we, and the. In Handwriting, we will be learning the correct way to write capital E and capital D. I will also begin assessing your child's letter name, letter sound, and popcorn word skills, among others in preparation for grade cards.
In Math, we will wrap up our unit with our stuffed animals by acting out story problems (addition and subtraction) with them. We will also create a class book of story problems at the end of the week.
In Science, we continue to observe and learn about the plants in our room. Last week, we saw what happened when we forgot to water one of our plants. It looked really sad!
In Social Studies, we will talk about why we must have and follow rules.
Have a great week!
In Math, we will wrap up our unit with our stuffed animals by acting out story problems (addition and subtraction) with them. We will also create a class book of story problems at the end of the week.
In Science, we continue to observe and learn about the plants in our room. Last week, we saw what happened when we forgot to water one of our plants. It looked really sad!
In Social Studies, we will talk about why we must have and follow rules.
Have a great week!
Monday, October 4, 2010
More Stuffed Animal Math
We continued learning some math concepts with the stuffed animals in Mrs. K.'s classroom last week. We practiced describing the animals using our feely box and only our sense of touch...
We put them in order by size ...
We compared their weights ...
We even weighed them with cubes!
This week we will use them to create our own story problems. We are sure having fun with our stuffed animals!
We put them in order by size ...
We compared their weights ...
We even weighed them with cubes!
This week we will use them to create our own story problems. We are sure having fun with our stuffed animals!
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