Thursday Chills...Thrills!

Bela did a FANTASTIC job reading with fluency and expression today! GREAT READING, Bela!



Bradley shared one of the books he bought at the recent book fair. He is really enjoying his book about license plates. He showed us the ones that he has seen on the road.




After Bela read, we practiced our 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Readers' Theater. Then we added to our U.S. maps the locations of schools we received holiday cards from today. Next, we reviewed the names of the continents and then found Asia. We found China on our map and on google earth.

We read the book Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Tale from China. We compared and contrasted it to the original Cinderella, again, taking a close look at the characters. We supported our ides about the character traits with the text. We spent the rest of the morning finishing up some holiday projects and reading.

This afternoon they went to art and our ELL enrichment time. Tomorrow they have P.E. and music, so make sure they have gym shoes to wear.

I hope to see you all tonight at the 1st and 2nd grade musicals! STAY WARM!!!!

And don't forget to READ....READ.....READ!!!!

Wednesday Wonders!

We began the day listening to Elsa read Scare and Dare. She was our child of the day yesterday and we just ran out of time. She did a GREAT job! Mia was our child of the day today and read Pocket Money and also did a GREAT job!



We then practiced our readers' theater 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I video taped it and then in the afternoon we watched it, noting where we need improvement in fluency.

We also began our study of the continents. We learned a song to help us remember there are 7 continents and their names. We then found on Google Earth, North America. We labeled our maps for the 3 countries in North America and the two oceans on each side. We then used Google Earth to find the continent of Europe then zoomed in on Russia. We labeled our map with Russia, found Croatia, and the Atlantic Ocean.

We then read a Cinderella Book from Russia. We compared and contrasted the book with the original Cinderella. Then we looked at the characters and decided what adjectives described each character and how the author showed us with words to help us determine what the character was like.

And then...the BIG event of the day. Our field trip to the Elgin Museum for Touching on Traditions. Here are a few pictures. I will create a slide show that details all we learned later. Ask your child what they can remember about the different trees and traditions.

We finished the day writing personal narratives. Have a GREAT night....stay warm...and don't forget to READ...READ...READ!!!!

Tuesday Tales!

Today we had the honor of Miss Diana (a native of Croatia and a teacher in the school) share with us about her country. We found Croatia on the globe and on Google Earth. We zoomed in on Riej (the city she is from) and also looked at live pictures of various parts of the city. They are 7 hours ahead of us and today looked like a stormy, rainy day. It is a port city and we could see how the waves were crashing up on the dock.

We learned that Hum is the smallest city and is over 1000 years old. We also found out the the White House is built from stones that came from Croatia.

Here are some pictures to enjoy:







She also read to us Twas the Night Before Christmas in Croatian and we all enjoyed some Napolitanke. And they were good!

We read our first Cinderella Around the World book: Sumorella: A Hawaiian Cinderella Story.

We also practiced our readers' theater Twas the Night Before Christmas and finished up some projects from yesterday. We also began writing a personal narrative piece based on the book, The Gift of Nothing.

We received three more cards from around the country: California, Ohio, and New Jersey. We used Google Earth again to find the schools then labeled them on our google earth map and the maps we are each keeping as learn geography.

We were so busy all day, we didn't have a chance for Elsa to read. So tomorrow we will hear from both Mia and Elsa.

Click on the link, student writing,to the right and you can view our visualizing story of It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Enjoy!

Tomorrow is our field trip to the Elgin Museum for Touch on Traditions. Dress accordingly.

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

Monday Marvels

Gavin read about one of his favorite subjects: SHARKS!!! He did a FANTASTIC job bringing this non fiction book to life! Keep up the GREAT reading!



We also had a Mystery Reader: Klara's Mother! She read about one of Klara's (and the classes, I believe!) favorite characters: Sponge Bob! Klara was so surprised that she was too fast for me to get her surprised look on camera!




2nd graders took their reading MAP test today. (They did very well, by the way!) The rest of the day was spent working on some "hush-hush, secret activities!" It is that time of year!

Click on the link to the right for the video of our Holiday Card Project. We also looked at Google Earth for the location of 3 schools we received cards from today: Rocky Point, No. Carolina, Brooklyn, WI, and Suwanee, GA.

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

Friday Fun

Haley did a wonderful job as child of the day. We enjoyed listening to her read Rosie's Pool. She did a fantastic job with the calendar activities as well. Thanks, Haley!


As promised, here is a picture of yesterday's child of the day, Mallory. Sorry for the delay.


Her cousin was our mystery reader and here is a GREAT picture with her cousin and one with our class:




Today was very busy day as we finished up recording our voices for the holiday card project. We are also working on some class books using photo story. We also did a glyph that we will analyze the data next week when everyone finishes.

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

Thursday Thrills

We had an exciting day and of all days...I didn't have my camera! Mallory's cousin Lauren came in as a mystery reader! Mallory was so excited. She read Pinkalicious and it was a GREAT book. Mallory's parents were here as well, and she was our Child of the Day so Mallory got to read in front of her cousin and parents!!! She did such a great job that we were all mesmerized by her reading! Not only did I not have my camera, I didn't have my video camera either! Fortunately, Mallory's Dad took pictures so I hope to post some soon.

In reading we worked some more on visualizing. We drew our mental images as I read Harold at the North Pole. (Harold and the Purple Crayon) During writing, after working some more on how to break words into syllables for correct spelling, we read Moo Who? by Margie Palatini. We read as writers to see how she ended her story so that we could stand on her shoulders as we work on leads and endings in our stories.

In the afternoon we had art and ELL enrichment.

PLUS.....it was Joshua's birthday and we celebrated his special day with doughnuts.

AND...Klara has a new story up on the WIKI: At the Pool. Click on the link to the right for the wiki or student writing and take a look. Enjoy!

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

Wednesday Wonders!

Leighton read a wonderful book about one of my favorite subjects: CATS! He did a GREAT job reading this non fiction book, proving that CATS RULE....DOGS DROOL!!!



We celebrated Neha's birthday today. Happy Birthday!

We learned today that when we visualize as we read we use our imaginations to become part of the book...to be the character...to put ourselves in the place of the characters and stories. We learned that when we visualize as we read we can remember what we read.

In writing we learned about the BIG ENDING!!! We read The Great Fuzzy Frenzy and saw how the ending combined lessons learned and starting all over again.

Take a look at Joshua's story on our WIKI: I Was Brave! Click on the link to the right (either student writing or the WIKI).

2nd graders did a chapter 3 checking progress activity and 1st graders practiced skip counting using the calculator. We also talked about how the calculator is always right...it's what we put in that is wrong! I heard a lot of "it's not working right" but we talked about how no it's working right...it's doing exactly what you told it to do. We discussed how we don't use the calculator very much in 1st and 2nd grade except to practice things like skip counting, because when you look at an answer on the calculator you have to KNOW if it is right or wrong. And the only way to know that is to use pencil and paper and practice. The calculator is only as good as the person who puts in the information.

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