First in Math

I know it is unusual to see a mid-week blog post, but I wanted to remind everyone to keep playing First in Math.  As the year has progressed, not only can our lovely learners work in the PRACTICE mode of K2World, but their new found skills have opened more doors.  If you haven't done so already, please have your child work in the GYMS section for addition practice.  They may also like to work in MEASUREMENT WORLD in the area of Equal Time.  Note-as the children earn more points, other sections will open (money, etc.).  

Here is the link if you need it:

http://www.firstinmath.com/

*REMEMBER there is no school Friday or Monday.  Enjoy the long weekend!  

A Month of Excitement!

Reflecting on the learning this month has been absolutely exciting.  It is wonderful to scroll through the pictures we’ve taken and see all that we have done together!  I thought for this blog I would tell our story through pictures with a simple description explaining each.  Are you ready for a tour? J

We enjoyed reading two versions of The Mitten. At the end of the exploration, we compared the two books.  The kids did a fantastic job!

Our students have been continuing to show their number values in a variety of ways.  Here a student is matching the group, number and number word.

We also started our measurement unit with money and time.

After reading Snowflake Bentley a few times (boy, do we enjoy his story!), Mrs. Snyder’s class decided to grow their own crystals. Amazing results!

Lily and Hope (black bears in Ely, Minnesota) have been “adopted” as our class pets.   We follow them each day on bear.org.  With the help of a den cam, we are able to see what the mommy bear is up to and now her THREE cubs! 

This past week we had an outstanding celebration for our Chinese New Year.  The children made cards, decorations, food and performances.  The day was truly magical!

Winter has been a lot of fun, but we are also remembering that spring is around the corner.  Our Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and our friend the groundhog shared this great news this week.

Welcome 2011!

Welcome back!

It was wonderful to get back to learning and exploring this week.  We could tell from the many stories that the children had fantastic vacations.  Not only were they filled with stories, they were more than eager to get back to work.  We even heard one child who had a countdown at her home until vacation was over and she could get back to school.  Awesome!

This week our time was spent by getting back into our routines, lots of reading and writing, addition concepts and time were introduced and a study of snow (how it forms, and the unique qualities of each flake).   Also, Ms. Beers and Mrs. BW came by to assess each of our students on their sight words. By the end of the year we would like them to know at least 40 words.  We are excited to share your child’s progress with you!

A big thank you to everyone who returned their Holiday Homework Packet.  The collages were awesome and the kids have had a great time sharing them. *If you have not yet had an opportunity to complete the activities, please send it in when you do.  We are still accepting them.  We understand vacations are not always a quite time J.

Upcoming events:

1-Field Trip Thursday to Playhouse Square

2-Picture Retake Day-information was sent home Friday

3=Kindergarten Waiver Day 1/21/11

Good Morning!

We are having such a good time delving into our Unit of Inquiry.  We are continuing to look at our similarities.  This week we are writing a Who I am book and we created our own Me Puppets. 

As we look into our similarities and differences, we are looking into the various cultures around.  Learning about different cultures, helps us to reflect upon our own.  On Friday, we enjoyed turning our cafeteria into a Chinese restaurant.  We used chopsticks, sipped green tea and enjoyed some Chinese cuisine.

Please continue to practice the sight words, letters, sounds, blending and numbers 1-50. 

Picture Day

Mark your calendars...November 30, 2010 is PICTURE DAY!


We are sending home our Picture Day packet today.  Please fill it out and return it to school on Tuesday, November 30, 2010.

Conferences, Harvest, Mooncakes...oh my!

We must first begin by saying a giant THANK YOU to all of our amazing families for attending our conferences.  We had 100% of our families come and that is outstanding!  The children were thrilled to share their information with you, and we were thrilled to have an opportunity to visit with everyone. 

During the conferences, we introduced the First in Math program to everyone.   We check the students’ progress every day and are so excited be able to celebrate their accomplishments.  Keep up the great work.

Here is the First in Math link in case you need it:

http://www.firstinmath.com

We are sure enjoying our first Unit of Inquiry (Who We Are).  We have begun to take a close look at what makes each of us special and unique.  It is so interesting to hear the children realize and verbalize their unique qualities.  With Thanksgiving upon us, one aspect we have touched upon is our family traditions.  Please continue to discuss your family traditions at home.  The children were very interested to learn that what they may do/eat to celebrate is not what everyone else may do.  J

 Mooncakes

As we have been reading about Thanksgiving and looking more closely into the origin, we discovered that China celebrates their harvest with a Moon Festival in mid-autumn. Although that time has passed, Mrs. Snyder’s class wanted to obtain the traditional Mooncakes to sample at school.  Koko’s Bakery (Payne Ave) had a few boxes left and the class was able to enjoy a small sample on Friday.  What fun!! 

Remember there is no school on November 24-26.  Have a wonderful vacation!

Who Am I?

This week we discovered our first Transdisciplinary Theme-Who We Are.  It was a great deal of fun to see all the pictures that were sent in.  Thank you!  What was even more fun was uncovering all our similarities.  

We have three questions that are driving our theme:

1-    What makes us unique and different?

2-   What can I learn from my friends about the world?

3-   What are my strengths and how do they allow me to lead, or help, others?

We have begun our work by introducing our Know It Notebooks.  These notebooks are reflection pieces that allow the students to share what they know.  They also encourage critical thinking surrounding the question, “How do I know what I know?”  This can be a tough concept.  We would love it if you would encourage this at home through your family conversations. 

This week we also started our All About Me books.  Students are looking critically about themselves and at what makes them so unique and wonderful.  Observing, describing, reflecting and sharing are such empowering skills! J 

CONFERENCE DAY

Conference Day is scheduled for Wednesday.  Our conferences will be student led and will provide another opportunity for you to celebrate with your child.  Thank you for returning the letter with your available times.  Look for a letter on Monday that shares your scheduled time.

KINDERGARTEN WAIVER DAY

No school for Kindergarten (ONLY) on Friday, November 12, 2010.

Applesauce Artifacts

During a conversation filled snack time last week, Mrs. Snyder's group decided they should make applesauce.  What a fun lesson!