Oct 30, 2011

Spelling City

If you like playing on the computer and you're interested in practicing your spelling sounds and High Frequency Words I've added all of them to our Spelling City site. Please visit. 

Learn spelling and vocabulary


If you are a teacher and interested in having the word lists you just need to copy them to your Spelling City site. Directions are given on the site. 
Have fun!!!

Oct 26, 2011

Witches Feet

With the change of our schedule we can't do art on Tuesday's any more. There were a lot disappointed students. Due to the power I have, I decided to postpone science until next week and do art. Here's what we ended up creating. Hope you enjoy the pictures.


Click play to view the slideshow.
The art idea comes from Art Projects for Kids

Oct 17, 2011

Movement, Magents and Imagination

The class is learning about Movement, Magnets and Imagination. This past week Science In Motion came to our school to teach them about Magnets. You'll see several pictures from the activities we did. 
This is so cool!!!
Magnets can be very strong.

Testing out what attracts and doesn't attract to a magnet.

Can you see the invisible magnet field?

This was really neat but I can't remember the name.

You can pass materials through our structure to test if the magnetic field passes through.

Look what I did!!!

Throughout the week in science they have been trying different science experiments about moving. Friday was a fun day because they got to see how Dominoes move. There are also some pictures and video of the Dominoes falling down. 
Take some time to talk about what they are learning at home and showing them different ways things can be moved. 

Oct 15, 2011

Moving Right Along

The class is well on it's way to building routines and understanding the classroom rules. We are just about in the middle of October which is crazy when you really think about it. Time goes so quickly when you are busy. 
Report cards are coming out at the beginning of November. Wow!!! So this means, I am thinking about reporting to parents how their child is doing.
Here is a brief overview of what we've been working on in each subject area: 
In Writer's Workshop we've built routines that allow us to write for 10 minutes independently, even I get a chance to write. We've worked on finding good ideas, adding some details to our writing, using punctuation properly, although some still do not use it consistently. Actually writing our ideas down. The students also get an opportunity to blog about their writing ideas. This month we're working on learning all of the different ways authors organize their writing. 
In Word Work we've again built routines, we're working on different sounds in words depending on our levels. The students are comparing no more than 2 or 3 sounds at a time which makes it quite manageable them. 
Math has been a lot of fun. In September we worked on measurement. We measured our own heights, tired to figure out how tall a giant was and compared the two. It was an opportunity to see who could problem solve and persevere. The students have worked with Cuisenaire rods. They've been building relationships and comparing the rods to get to know them. They are a manipulative used frequently to understand number, measurement, and other mathematical relationships.
They are still building stamina in Daily 5. They've worked on Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone. Next week I'll integrate Word Work and eventually Listen to Reading. I am meeting with individual students to set a reading goal (comprehension, accuracy, fluency or expand vocabulary). This has been time consuming but worth it to have student working independently to practice their reading skills.
We have finished a Healthy Eating Unit and they are moving into a new science unit. It's called Motion, Magnets and Imagination. They are learning how forces can move objects.
In art, they have worked with watercolors (blending colors), worked with creating texture with paint and worked with various materials like oil pastels and chalk pastels.
I hope this helps to keep you posted as to what we do all day what to expect on the report card.

Oct 7, 2011

He Was Almost Right!

Here is another silly story from the adventures of 2B. We were out of a short walk to our community park and back to the school on Thursday morning. We had just come from the park and the boys were dragging behind us. Yes, all 7 of them! You can see all of them behind us girls.
I stopped and asked them to please keep up. One boy wasn't paying attention so I asked him what I'd said. He paused for a short time and responed with, "You want us to be quiet because we are going up a hill!" "Nope! Please keep up with us." I asked again. We start walking again and out of the mouth of Teegan comes, "He almost got is right!!!!" in a voice only I heard. I think we've got a brilliant comedian on our hands. 
You made my day little lady. 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 
I'm thankful for the joy to laugh at such precious moments. 




Oct 5, 2011

World Teacher Day and an Oops!

Wishing all my fellow followers, subscribers and other teacher friends a fabulous day. Teaching has got to be the most rewarding job in the world. This year I am finding the joy in it again. Yesterday, I accidentally dropped the book, "Beautiful Oops!" on a boys forehead, yes it just slipped out of my hands and bonked him right in the forehead. I felt so bad and apologized. He was okay with it. We'll see if Connor sits up close again :-). 
http://www.workman.com/products/9780761157281/
Just before we continued talking about it again, I said, "I wanted to talk about the book Oops, but not that kind of Oops!" They all burst out laughing I mean all of them, and made me feel so much better. It's these little moments that make my day so wonderful. 
Thank you to all the parents who trust me with your children. They are wonderful little kids. To all the other teachers out there I hope you can find time to laugh with your students as well. 
Here's a fun joke Dredon told me: Why did 6 not like 7? Because 7, ate nine. He said he didn't get it but it gave me a giggle. 
Have a terrific day with your kids. 

Oct 3, 2011

New Design







As you can see from the pictures, I have made some changes to our room. I don't normally rearrange furniture during the year. But I had some concerns with safety and the flow of the room. The big blue table at the back was too much for the little space we had. I moved it up by my desk so that I am able to reach my teaching materials when I need them. It's also closer to the Smart Board so if I need to use the Smart Board for instruction I'm able to do so.
I found another table and took out the last 3 desk I had. I've slowly moved away from desks. Connor asked why I didn't like desks this morning and I replied with, I just prefer tables because they give you more room to work on the table and on the floor. It also gives us more space on the floor when we need to work there.
I think the changes are going to be good.
Ms. Brown