Happy Thanksgiving!

We are not entirely certain where November has gone, and how it could possibly be Thanksgiving, but when we take these opportunities to reflect we see just how much we have accomplished!

We sure enjoyed making our Thanksgiving cards in Mandarin and have even taken virtual field trips to Plymouth, Massachusetts to learn about the journey the Pilgrims embarked on coming to this new land.  If you would like to take a virtual trip to Massachusetts with your family just click on the link below:

Thanksgiving Virtual Field Trip

Our study of homes and journeys has lead us to learn so much about the shelters the Pilgrims needed and how they constructed them with such little resources.

 
To help us with our inquiry on how/why homes and shelters are created Mr. Taylor came to share his journeys with us as a soldier with the Air National Guard.  We learned so much about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the work that is being done on the East Coast and elsewhere around the world.  The shelters they have constructed are fascinating!  Thanks for coming Mr. Taylor!

Reading/Writing

We have really taken off with our reading!  Knowing that we CAN read is a wonderful thing. We read stories as classes and in our small groups.  We work on sounding out words, fluency with our sight words and of course using clues to figure out unfamiliar words.

As our reading skills are growing so are our writing.  Using our sounds to build words is so powerful!  

 As authors and illustrators we are able to communicate an entire story, with a beginning, middle and ending.  Can you believe it?! We have been in school 62 days and have grown in so very many ways.  The best part about writing our books is of course sharing them with others in the classroom.  

Celia is reading her story New Fish to the class.

Math

In Math we are deep thinkers and figuring out all kids of ways to solve problems.  It is good to know that often there are many ways to arrive at an answer.









Thank you Mystery Readers!  You are such a gift to our students and school.  Thank you for taking the time to share a story (or two) with us.


Things to Remember:

**Home Exhibition Projects are due on Thursday, November, 29.  The Exhibition will take place on 11/30 in the 1st floor lobby.  Since there are 80 Kindergarten students, please remember that we are asking that the house not be any bigger than a shoe or cereal box.  We are very excited to share these with our school and community.  We have such creative Explorers!

**Hope Totes for The City Mission- Each Kindergarten class has been assigned a different item needed to fill a tote.  *We have set a goal to fill 28 totes.  Please send donations with your child on Friday, November 30.  We are anxious to see just how many totes we can fill.  

Reminder-

Mrs. Humphrey's class: bar soap

Mrs. Snyder's class: toothpaste

Mrs. Taylor's class: toothbrush

Mrs. Wightman's class: shampoo

**Ms. Lipka is asking that everyone save lids for her.  All sizes!  Just send them into your son/daughter's class and we will be certain to get them to her.  

Thank you for all you do each and every day!  

Where We Are in Place and Time

To kick off our new unit, students reflected on what they felt a
home was and what a journey might be.  

Need and Wants Pre-Assessment-Studnts were asked to order the objects
as to what they needed most to survive.  So fun to hear the
Explorers explain their reasoning for the order they chose!

We have begun our second Unit of Inquiry, Where We are in Place and Time.  It is an inquiry into homes and journeys.  In this IB unit we will discuss homes, shelters, journeys and transportation.  We will explore how the environment impacts the type of shelter we live in as well as the materials needed to build a home.  Through this unit of study, our Explorers will begin to understand the items they "need" to survive and what items are "wants."  Studying the effects of Hurricane Sandy has opened our eyes tremendously about what we, and others, really need to survive. 

 Here the students had to sort a variety of items as they helped, Ms. Vogias "pack" for a trip.  They had to work in teams and think critically about what she needed to bring as space was limited.  Oh the discussions that were propelled from this activity were fantastic!

After reading about houses and homes across the world, two Expolers designed a house with stilts and had scissions on how it could live in an environment with water.  Such Thinkers!



We took part in our own elections as we geared up for the nation's elections.  It was a lot of fun to vote as classes and compare our results with other grades and classrooms throughout the school.

Reflecting and Communicating are important aspects of the Learner Profile.  As the Explorers journal and work in their Problem Solving Notebooks, sharing is so very important.  

Word families are so much fun!  

In math we are working hard on the concept "How many more," as well and the cardinality of numbers 11-20.  

Here two students are playing Get the Moon math game and working on "How many more."


Thank you to our Mystery Readers!  We love, love, love having you come.  

Things to Remember:
November 16-Mr. Taylor will be coming to discuss the National Guard's efforts to help others after Hurricane Sandy
November 21-23-Thanksgiving Vacation
November 29-Home Projects are due (information was given at conferences)
November 30-Home Exhibition