Wednesday Wonders!

Gavin read about his favorite topic: SHARKS!!! Thanks, Gavin, we really enjoyed it!
Today was Hayden's Birthday and his mom surprised us as a Mystery Reader! Happy Birthday, Hayden!

We also heard Hayden read Where the Wild Things Are and we sang Happy Birthday, but I can't upload the video at school. I'll work on that later at home because I know you will enjoy it!

We learned more about determining importance and used our new Doc Camera (thank you PTO!) and our highlighters to highlight the important information in an article we read about Elk.

We also worked on our biographies, our word wall words, and spelling patterns.

In math 1st graders learned more about fact families and 2nd graders worked on number sense.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!

Tuesday Tales!

Haley was our child of the day and did an outstanding job of leading us through the classroom pledge and reading. We enjoyed listening to her read Henny Penny. Such fluency!



We learned about alliteration during our word work time. We also spent time learning strategies to remember how to spell our word wall words.

We read a realistic fiction book today, The Biggest Bear, and learned more about sorting important information from the unimportant information. We learned that we use the unimportant information to retell the story.

We had a district writing assessment we had to complete today followed by time to work on our biographies.

After lunch and recess, 2nd graders worked on number sense and 1st graders worked on fact families.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!

Monday Marvels!

Mallory welcomed us back from Spring Break by reading a wonderful book: Why Do Cats Meow? I learned a lot about my own cats! Thanks, Mallory!



We worked on our new word wall words: came, come, another, around, and work. We also learned our new vocabulary words: romp, fad, gather, household, entertain, creative. Take a look at our wiki for definitions. Try and use them whenever you can!

We continued to work on Determining Importance as we separated out interesting details from important facts. We learned that we need the interesting details to help us understand the important facts.

We continued writing our biographies in writing workshop.

After lunch and recess, we went to the library and then returned to the classroom for math. 1st graders worked on addition facts and 2nd graders learned more about number patterns.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ...READ....READ!!!!! READ!!!

Friday Fun!

As we move into spring break I want to remind everyone: READ!

Each student has a log in their Liberty Folder they can use to keep track of the amount of time they read. The more you read, the better reader you will be. Pure and Simple!!!! If you would prefer to post on the WIKI, that's fine. I'll respond back, in between my reading! But, if you are going out of town, I provided a log for you to record your reading. JUST READ!!!!

And here are some pictures of today's fun. Leighton was child of the day and Chris' Dad came in to read as mystery reader:











Have a GREAT spring break, and don't forget to READ!!!! READ!!!! READ!!!!

Thursday Thrills!

Jacob was very excited to read us a very funny book: The Diary of a Spider! Great reading, Jacob!



We had a very busy and exciting day. We celebrated two birthday's: Mia and Jason. Happy Birthday!

Jason's mom came in as our mystery reader, too:


Jason "helped" his mom read as well:


We watched a video on Helen Keller as we ate Jason's birthday cupcakes. We completed a social studies activity and biography activity as we compared Helen Keller and Susan B. Anthony and their impact on our country. We also practiced our biography readers' theater's.

In the afternoon we had ELL enrichment time and art.

Tomorrow we have P.E. and music. Be sure and wear appropriate shoes. Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!

Wednesday Wonders!

Isabella did a wonderful job reading Clever Penquins to the class. Thanks, Isabella!



We worked all morning on determining importance as we added to our Non Fiction conventions notebook. We than continued to collect research and write our first drafts of our biographies.

After lunch and recess, we watched a short video about St. Patrick's Day and read a book by Gail Gibbons as well. We then completed an on line project: A Lucky Chart Sort and Count.

We sorted and then counted the various charms in the cereal box. Here are our totals:
Horseshoes: 56
Clovers: 70
Moons: 45
Hearts: 40
Pots of Gold: 91
Stars: 47
Rainbows: 70
Balloons: 51
Total: 470

That was a lot of counting! We then posted our results on line and we will be able to compare our counts will schools across the country. As of Monday, March 15, 45, 341 Marshmallows have been counted. It will be fun to see how we compare and then the total for all schools. Here are a few fun pictures:







Tomorrow we have art and our ELL enrichment time. Have a great night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Tuesday Thrills!

Hayden did a wonderful job reading today as our Child of the Day. He chose this funny book because he said it was Just Right for him! Great reading, Hayden!



We worked this morning on spelling words with blends and the silent e. Then we continued learning about determining importance in non fiction. We added to our non fiction conventions notebook "index" and "types of print".

We practiced our readers theater performances and had a chance to listen to one about Harriet Tubman and one about Helen Keller.

In writing we continued to write our biographies.

After lunch and recess, 2nd graders learned about division stories with remainders. 1st graders learned how to use the addition/subtraction grid as a tool.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ...READ!!!!

Monday Marvels!

Here is a picture of Shivam from March 12 as our child of the day. Bradley was our child of the day today.





We continued working on our readers' theater plays and our research on our biographies.

After library, 2nd graders learned more about arrays and 1st graders began a new unit on math facts.

Have a great night and don't forget to READ!

Thursday Thrills

Neha did a WONDERFUL job as our Child of the Day. She read an Eric Carle book...one that she had enjoyed the night before as her mother read it to her. What a GREAT memory for Neha!



We went to the library today as a makeup from missing on Monday. Be sure and return all books Monday as we will have our regular scheduled time then. They have 2 books at home and one at school.

We learned today about headings in Non Fiction and how they help the reader. Yesterday we began our Non Fiction Conventions Notebook by learning about captions.

We continued with our biography research this morning as well.

We had ELL enrichment and art this afternoon. Tomorrow we have P.E. and Music. Be sure and wear appropriate shoes.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!

Tuesday Tales

Chris read us the biography of John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed. Thanks, Chris!



We practiced writing our new word wall words: also, think, same, right, look. Be sure and go to spelling city to practice.

We continued our study of Determining Importance as we compared the features of fiction and non fiction. We used a VENN diagram to help us.

We also began reading and practicing our biography readers' theaters. More about this later.

In writing, we chose our biography topics and began doing our research. We will be working on biographies for quite awhile.

After lunch and recess, 1st graders completed a checking progress for unit 5. 2nd graders learned more about multiplication arrays. We all worked on problem solving and math facts.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!!

Monday Marvels

What a busy and fun filled day! Jefferson started us off right by reading a Dr. Seuss favorite, Green Eggs and Ham. Thanks, Jefferson!



We spent the morning at Hemmens Auditorium for Theatre Works production of If You Give a Pig a Pancake and Other Favorite Stories. We saw Diary of a Worm, Lily's Big Day, How I Became a Pirate and more. Ask you student which was their favorite.

We had a late lunch and recess and then returned to the room for math. 1st graders worked some more on the function machine and 2nd graders worked on multiplication.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Thursday Thrills!

Here are students finding the JOY in READING! This is all before school even begins for the day:





Matthew did a WONDERFUL job reading to our class today and leading us through the classroom promise. Thanks, Matthew!



We worked on the long vowel sounds this morning and then began our reading lesson. We continue to work on determining importance and learned more about how writers weave important ideas into their books.

In writing, we began learning how writers do research. This is in preparation for writing our biographies beginning next week.

After lunch and recess, students went to art and their ELL enrichment time.

There will not be a blog post on Friday, March 5.

Have a GREAT night....GREAT weekend...and don't forget to READ....READ...READ!!!

Find the JOY in READING a GREAT book!

Wednesday Wonders

Great job reading today Branden. We really enjoyed How to be a Practically Perfect Pig.


We began the day reading the book The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. We learned that authors weave important messages inside their stories.

We also looked at leads in various biographies and then looked at our own writing for revision. We hope to finish writing our biographies of our friends tomorrow.

After lunch and recess, 1st graders learned more about applying rules. 2nd graders learned more about the trade first algorithm for subtraction.

Tomorrow we have art. Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Tales from Tuesday!

Here are a few pictures of students finding the Joy in Reading as they wait for school to begin:





As promised....here is Klara as our child of the day from yesterday:


Joshua led us through the classroom promise and read The Fox and the Crow. Thanks, Joshua!




We even had a Mystery Reader: Bradley's mother!!!! We LOVED the Books: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! I can't wait to read more! These are fun reads and I wasn't familiar with this series of books. Check them out!




In addition to reading we began writing our biographies of our classmates. After lunch and recess, 1st graders learned more about turnaround facts and worked on fact fluency. 2nd graders learned about the subtraction algorithm.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ...READ....READ!!!

Monday Marvels!

There are no pictures today because I left my camera at home! Sorry about that. Klara was our child of the day and she did a WONDERFUL job reading Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I'll take her picture tomorrow. Thanks, Klara!

We had an assembly today to support our students taking ISAT today. I know they will all do GREAT!

I enjoyed hearing about the books students read over the long weekend! I'm challenging students and parents to continue to turn off the TV...the video games...and READ!!!! Students checked out 3 books from the library today to help them in this wonderful opportunity to read MORE! They were allowed to take 2 books home, but one stayed here in their cubbies as their cubby book. When they arrive to school each morning, as they wait for the bell to ring, they now have a GREAT book to read! Students are very excited about this so let's keep finding ways for them discover the JOY in READING!

Because of the assembly we didn't have a reading lesson, but students were able to enjoy 45 minutes of uninterrupted reading in the classroom. In writers' workshop, they finished interviewing their biography buddy and will begin writing tomorrow.

After recess and lunch, 1st grade students learn some more about turn around facts and 2nd graders worked on subtraction stories.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!!!