Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

In math we have been measuring objects in the room with unifix cubes. Looking at objects that are the same, shorter and longer than the cube stacks we make. We have also been practicing writing our numbers, counting by tens and working on doing finger flashes for the teens.
Dreidel dreidel dreidel... we played the dreidel game in math today. They really seemed to enjoy it a lot.


We have also been learning about different holiday traditions. We have learned a bit about the dreidel. We learned about mitzvah's, which is doing something nice or helpful for someone.  We made cute ornaments that we are giving to some community members for the holidays. We read the book Happy Hanukkah, Curious George.

In Language Arts we have been making deeper connections to stories we have read before.  Taking the time to talk with a partner and listen to each other while discussing parts of the book, similar to going to a "book club" with friends.   We are able to notice if kids are able to:
1.) Stay on topic
2.) Sit with partner according to the lesson
3.) Taking turns talking
4.) Use the language taught, "this reminds me of..." or "I have a connection to this part..."
5.) Talk to the whole class and retell what your partners connection to the book is.

Here is what some of the kids had to say...
Grady- "Reminds me of the time I read this when I was little. It reminds me of the time I tried to make something.
Earl- "This reminds me of when my dog bit the ear off my stuffed animal."
Ryan- "This reminds me of when I loss one of my stuffed animals a lot."
Eli-"I am reminded of when I lost my sunglasses.
West-"It reminds me of planting carrots with my family.
Kam-"It reminds me of when I lost my favorite toy dinosaur."
Mazie - "It reminds me of when I was walking to the Christmas store with my dad."
Max- "It reminds me of when I lost my dalmation dog."

 

Partner reading

REMINDERS....
Kids are excited to bring coins in for the "Elf Project."  For more information see the latest bulletin.


First graders, Acadia and Addison collecting coins. Thanks girls!






Please continue to send your child in with appropriate clothing for going outside.

WE ARE IN NEED OF GLASS JELLY JARS or similar size glass jars for a class project next week. If you have any you are willing to part with please feel free to send some in with your child.

Today's Royal Reader......

Today's ROYAL READER was Beth Peterson, our wonderful school principal!  She is a huge part of our school community. Thank you so much for all that you do. Thank you so much for taking the time to read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by A. Wolf.  We discussed the characters and the problem of the story. As well as how this story of the Three Little Pigs is different from another version of the Three Little Pigs. We did a writing activity about what they liked about the book.

In math we used our bodies to measure the room. Inching along, we made a big human ruler! That is after we read the book Inchworm and A Half by Elinor J Pinczes.   We have continued to work on length using unifix cubes to measure things around the room.  Find things longer than your 5 cube stick and find things shorter than your 5 cube stick.  We have also been practicing counting out loud by 10's to 100!  Wow!

 

We continued to work on our "true story" writing pieces. Today, they used their own "offices" to do their work. Such productive writers we have!

You can never get enough buddy time! Thanks Heidi Hill's class for joining us again this week and helping with our cutting and tracing skills. We made some pretty sweet looking wreaths to bring home to decorate our homes with. Thanks kids!

Knock Knock?

At morning meeting we did a cute "knock knock?" greeting and we played a number game. Ask the kids about these. I'm sure they will share with you.




In Math we are practicing finger flashes in the teens again. With a partner we built number stairs from 1-10 with unifix cubes. Then we made comparisons about the number of cubes and their length. For example, 5 cubes is shorter than 7 cubes. We also drew cubes on paper that were shorter and longer than what we had for pictures.

In Language Arts we looked again at The Mitten by, Alvin Tresselt and found comparisons to the other book The Mitten by, Jan Brett. Kids are using their background knowledge of what they already know. Some are able to make predictions. Some remember that they have read it in another class or at home. Some read the front cover and recognize the similarities. They are beginning to recognize what a setting of a story is or even noticing some similar characters. All of this is based off of looking at the cover of the books. Some comment to their personal life what they found similar, such as......

Eva: "It reminds me of when I took off my mitten and lost it. I had to go back to find it."
                                         Molly: "This reminds me of when I lost my hat at the store."


Today we began a new writing project. We are writing "true stories" about ourselves that have a beginning, middle and end, which are things we have learned in language arts. We are taking our time to do this. We are now writing mini books. Each of the kids received a three page book and started today with the first page/beginning of their short story.

Writing Wednesday

WE LOVE THE SNOW!!!!!

Making snowmen.

And snow chairs.

PLEASE make sure your kids come to school with appropriate outside clothing. Mittens, hats, snow pants, boots, jackets. 

We did some more partner reading in Language Arts today.  This time we took books that had the same titles or same author, etc. I took a few pictures of some of the books we used. Partners each had a book and they talked about what the "similarities" were between the two books.  

Mazie and Maddie, Molly and Ryder talking about what they see similar with the two books. Talking about characters, the setting of the story, etc. 

Writing Wednesday! We read the book Splat the Cat and the Snowy Day Surprise  by Rob Scotton. Its about a really cool cat named Splat who wakes up to learn he has a snow day. He is super excited about all the fun he can have with Seymour.
After we read the story, we worked on our own writing piece. Kids had to draw a picture that referenced a part of the book, then write about it. We are working on writing neatly, sounding out our words and adding details to our pictures.



Kids working very hard during our writing time........

We are in need of snacks to share with the class. If you can send some in that would be greatly appreciated.