February 21st-24th

Hello!

Another short yet bust week.

Thematic Centers:

This week we continued our author's study of Helen Lester and started studying Ezra Keats. Our centers this week:
1. Torn Paper Penguin: Each child has been learning lots about penguins. We have been reading lots of non fiction literature about penguins because Helen as written so many Tacky books about penguins. Each child tore tiny pieces of paper (great fine motor exercise) and created a penguin and write a fact about penguins. These are hanging in the hall and look adorable.
2. Wrinkled Heart: We read Hurty Feelings and discussed how you can say sorry after you are unkind but it still leaves a wrinkle in your heart. Saying kind things to people is so important.
3. Collages: Ezra Keats has illustrations that are full of vibrant colors and lots of different art supplies. Each child chose a scene out of Peter's Chair to re-create using paint, foam, felt, paper, crayons and markers. We discussed how this art looked similar to Eric Carle's illustrations and required a lot of extra work compared to just coloring a picture.

Math Workshop:

We practiced playing make 10 (the game you can play at home with your child) and added two new games to our tubs.

1. Number combo: draw 2 cards and either add or subtract to get an answer. Cover up all the numbers as quickly as you can. We played this last week too.
2. Memory: Match the ten frame, the number spelled out and the actually numeral in order to get a match. This was hard because you had to remember where 3 cards were to get a match.

Writer's Workshop:

We discussed author's as mentors which perfectly ties into our unit. How can we be inspired by other author's around us? Can we use their ideas? Style of art?

We also went over details about the passion project and started brainstorming topics for children who had not picked yet. Don't forget to start gathering supplies!


Reader's Workshop:

Everyone received a leveled reader and we focused on comprehending the characters, main event and setting while we read. Even though we had another short week, we did get new spelling words this week. If the spell check does not go well tomorrow we can always repeat the words next week.

Science: No sci fri last week as we had conferences but we cannot wait to see what Ms. Rachel comes up with this week!

Auction: Thank you Heather for leading up the auction. I am so excited about the class book basket! Have your child start brainstorming which book they want to pick.

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Schultz

February 13th-15th

Hello parents!

So sorry it has been so long since I posted. It has been crazy around here! Thank you for coming to read poems with us yesterday. I told Ms. Pam that Valentine's Day here at CSD is one of my favorite days. I love reading all of the poems and spreading the love. :)

We have another short week this week. Optional parent/teacher conferences and teacher work days are tomorrow and Friday. President's Day is Monday. Enjoy the long weekend!

We have gotten back into somewhat of a normal routine this week. We did not do word study words this week as it was a short week but we did start thematic centers back up and learn a couple of new math games.

Math Workshop:

Cover it! Player 1 turns over two cards. You can either subtract or add your numbers together. Once you have your answer look for the answer on the game board. Then player 2 goes. The first person to cover the most numbers wins the game.

Make 10. There are cards with 2 numbers placed on them. You make 2 rows of 5. Each player takes turns finding a match to make 10. Example the card with 3 and 0 could be matched with 4 and 3. Because 7 and 3 make 10.

*Please continue to work on your 10 frame math cards at home each week. Remember if your child recognizes the dots, the next step is to work on the addition and subtraction facts to 10. We need your help with this! These just have to be memorized by lots of practice. Our math games here reinforce math facts to 10 but we need them practiced at home too.

Reader's Workshop:

Everyone received their leveled reader to go home and work on. We also reviewed all the word study words we have learned so far. Some of them have been tricky.

Science:

The past 2 weeks have been so fun! We made snow with Ms. Courtney and balancing robots with Ms. Rachel. Everyone loved it!

Thematic Centers:

We started our authors unit this week by studying Helen Lester. Her books are full of great lessons and cute characters! Many children recognized the Tacky the Penguin book right away. We read Listen Buddy, Tackylocks, Me First and several others. We only rotated through 2 centers this week and will rotate through 2 more next week.

1. After we read the book Listen Buddy we discussed the importance of using your listening ears. We talked about what it looks like to pay close attention to the sounds around you. Every child got to go on a sound walk all around the school (inside and out) and listen for what was happening. One little guy even said "wow I never knew how many planes flew over us!"

2. Because Helen Lester wrote so many books about Tack the Penguin we decided to study about penguins. We read several non fiction books about penguins and this week focused on blubber that keeps penguins warm. Blubber can also be found on polar bears and whales. Each child stuck their hand in ice water. They described what it felt like (it stung, it was freezing, it made my skin red etc). Then children got to place their hand in "blubber" (a bag full of Crisco). They immediately noticed the difference. There was a recording sheet to go with it. If you want to repeat this experiment at home, a quick google search will give you all the details of how to make the Crisco bag.


Have a great long weekend and safe travels to those of you who are traveling!
Mrs. Schultz

January 30th-February 3rd

What a great play! Thank you again for all of your support. Thank you for showing up yesterday, bringing in refreshments, practicing play lines and being so positive after the play. It means the world.

This blog will be short and sweet so that I can begin working on report cards and start thinking about what assessments I need to get started with. Thanks for understanding!

Math:

We are still working on telling time by the hour and half hour. Your child brought home a paper clock that they made this week during math tub time. Feel free to use this to practice!

Each child also worked in a small group with a teacher on how to tell time using the minute and hour hand.

We filled out the February calendar as well.

Reading:

Each child received their leveled reader this week and word study words. Word work was shaving cream letters this week. A class fave!

100's Day:

A huge milestone! We celebrated all day. We played Roll to 100, decorated crowns to wear all day, made structures out of 100 plastic cups, made gumball machines with 100 painted gum balls and made a class book about things we have heard 100 times. Look for this in your child's red folder. It is hilarious!

Writing:

There was not a formal writer's workshop this week due to the play but everyone wrote during reader's workshop and during morning journal time.

Centers:

There were no formal centers this week as we practiced the play every afternoon.

Announcements:

Next week (Tuesday) we have our big field trip to the children's theater. There are actually 4 parent slots (not 3, sorry about that). So sign up if you would like to go. Please allow parents who have not been before a chance to sign up first. Every child will need to be at school by 8:15 a.m Chaperones will need to arrive by 8. Chaperone tickets are $9. We do not want your child to be left behind so please do not be late that day!

Work on those valentines and send them in! We are working on decorating valentine bags here. You will not need to decorate a box or bag at home.

Book fair is next Thursday 2:00-2:30. Sign up to help the kids pick out books, pay etc. The kids are so excited about this.

Valentine Poem Party- February 14th at 1:00. All parents are invited to come in and help us read poems!

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Schultz