Wednesday, January 19

In the morning, we wrote in our journals.  We had to use the word come in one of our sentences.  We also made a little book about the story The Mitten to put into our book bin drawers.  We met with Mrs. Skeels and our reading groups for a guided reading lesson while the rest of the class visited different literacy centers to practice sight words, reading, and making sentences.  In the afternoon, we went to Life Skills and Gym.  In math, we learned about symmetry and used mirrors to try and find the lines of symmetry for letters and pictures.  We also painted shaving cream for a project we will be working on tomorrow!

Tuesday, January 18

We have been very busy since last week!  On Friday, we began discussing 3D shapes: cylinder, sphere, cone, cube.  We began by searching our classroom to find the different shapes and sorting them into groups.  Then, we tried rolling and sliding each of the shapes down a ramp.  We finished our exploration by completing a Venn Diagram, comparing how each shape moves.  We had a lot of fun doing this!

 

cones



spheres



cylinders



cubes





This is the ramp that we used to try to slide and roll the objects.

   

Our Venn Diagram

On Monday, we read another Jan Brett story called The Mitten.  We used flannel board pieces to retell the story.  Our new words this week are come and in.   We practiced making these words in our word work and then at letter stations around the room.

The Mitten flannel board pieces for a retelling of the story

Monday was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  We read a book about Dr. King and watched part of his famous "I have a dream" speech.  We also wrote about what our dreams are!  Below is an example.  It says, "Kyle has a dream that everyone will have enough food."

We read another book by Jan Brett called The Umbrella.  This was a fun book that reminded us a lot of her book The Mitten.  We responded to the story in our journal and wrote about the setting, characters, and a part that we enjoyed.

We did a fun new writing activity this week.  We have lots of picture cards in our room with the word spelled on the back.  Each student chose a card and then had to write a sentence using that word.  They also illustrated the sentence.  This was a creative writing activity!





"Pumpkins can turn in to jack-o-lanterns."

  
The last pictures on this post are from some centers in the classroom. 



Shane and Ali making ABCDE patterns



Students play in the house area during choice time!

 

Thursday, January 13

Today we did two fun art projects.  We traced a hat, mittens, a face, and a jacket to make a picture of a person in a snowsuit.  We also learned about symmetry and painted mittens with watercolors to make a matching pair. 

We finished chapter 4 in math today, so we will soon be starting chapter 5.  We will be learning about 3D figures like spheres, cones, cylinders, and cubes.  Two other fun math activities included a dot-to-dot using numbers 1-25, and putting a snowman story in chronological order. 

Tomorrow we will be reading a second story by Jan Brett and responding in our journals again.  This story is called Hedgie's Surprise.  We will also visit the library and computer lab.  In the computer lab, we will be taking a literacy assessment for the second time this year.  I hope everyone has a fun weekend!



All of our snow people hanging in the hallway!

 

Add caption

Mitten Symmetry





"Shane made a snowball one fine day, but it fell from his hand and rolled away!  It rolled to the store."



January 12, 2011

Monday, January 10:  Today we read nonfiction stories about polar bears and then wrote facts about them.  We began practicing the word do.  Our high school helper, Ashley, taught a math lesson where we put bears into our mittens to see how many could fit!  We also practiced graphing and writing.

Tuesday, January 11:  We made a little book for our book bin drawer with our new sight word in it.  We read the Jan Brett story, The Hat and responded in a journal.  In math, we reviewed different types of patterns and practiced writing numbers to 20.  I will be assessing number writing next week.  This is a skill you can practice at home! 

Wednesday, January 12: This morning we talked about animals that migrate, hibernate, and stay active.  Students visited several different literacy centers in order to practice sight words and initial consonant sounds.  In the afternoon, students went to Life Skills where they talked about the difference between a "tell" and a "tattle."  In gym, our class has been playing floor hockey! 

We have also been practicing letter formation since returning from winter break.  I am very impressed with how well everyone is writing!  This is something that you can continue to practice at home with your child!

   


Words for January

 

Polar Bear Facts



Making a Sentence with Sight Word Magnets

Little Book with our New Sight Word



Story Response to Jan Brett's book The Hat

    


Number writing to 20



January 7, 2011

 Today we read a book called The Jacket I Wear in the Snow.  We made a snowperson that will help us retell the story at home!  We went to different literacy centers today to practice all the sight words that we have learned this year.  We did an experiment in the afternoon that you can also try at home!  I froze a small ice cube colored with food coloring.  We put the cube into a cup of vegetable oil and observed what happened.  It was very interesting!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ice Cube and oil experiment

Sight Word Game - I will be sending a copy home next week!

Making sentences with sight word cards

Die roll with sight words

Stamp the missing letter for each sight word

Wednesday, January 5th



Today we read books about different types of penguins.  We made a penguin journal and wrote facts about penguins in them.  In the afternoon, we rolled dice to make a snowman.  During guidance with Mrs. Fjelstad we talked about goals and learned that she will be having a baby this summer!

A book about Penguins

Penguin Fact - Interactive Writing



Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all!  I was happy to get back to school and see everyone again!  On Monday, we spent some time in an assembly talking about hallway expectations and then we revisited our classroom rules together.  We decided that the rules for our classroom will be: 1. Be Safe  2. Be Kind  3. Do our best.

On Tuesday, we made snowboys and snowgirls and wrote about the things we like to do with our snow friends.  Through the rest of the week, we will continue to read stories about snow and snowpeople, write in our January journals, review our sight words at several literacy centers, and continue to work in our math book.  In chapter four, we have been practicing numbers 6-10, graphing, and problem solving.  In science, we will be learning about polar animals. 

Thank you for returning our Winter Break Journals!  We have enjoyed reading about everyone's vacation.  If you did not get a chance to complete your journal, continue working on it and bring it in later in the week!

Below are some pictures of our Pajama Day!  The kids are posed with gifts that I bought for the classroom (bowling, books, twister, and a new puzzle!)  Their favorite is bowling!