Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Little Researchers!

The kids are getting their first taste of an important skill. . . researching.  We headed to the library to learn about either grasshoppers, dragonflies, ladybugs or bees.  The kids (no exaggeration) were awesome!  Thank you to Ms. VomOrde, Mrs. Grenier, Mrs. Fisher, and Mrs. P. for their assistance.  We could not have been so successful without you.

The kids will be sharing their findings with you on Tuesday, June 11th.  We hope you can join us for our Family Event.  You can even stay for lunch bunch in the room if you would like to do so.

Here are some pictures of the kids searching through sources and taking notes.








Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The kids loved this song!

Quick post this week.  

     We're beginning to learn about insects this week.  The kids will start researching 1 of 4 insects tomorrow in the library.  They will become experts about bees, ladybugs, grasshoppers or dragonflies.

       Our caterpillars arrived today.  They are teeny tiny right now, but I told the kids, they will grow very fast.

     Here is a Youtube video we watched today to learn about insect exoskeletons and the three main body parts:  the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.  It will be fun to watch our little entomologists learn about these fascinating creatures.

As always, be sure to supervise your child's Youtube time.  Enjoy!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Busy Friday!

     Most of these pictures were taken on Friday.  We did literacy and math centers in the morning.  We then planted our pumpkin seeds.  The kids participated in team-wide challenge activities.  Mine was marshmallow launching (catapults).   After lunch, the kids read from their book baggies.  We are practicing gaining stamina with reading.  The kids spread out around the room and read until the timer went off.  They decided to set a goal of 10 minutes of uninterrupted reading by the end of school.  I'm confident they will reach that goal.  We also said goodbye to another college helper, Mr.  Kim.  He is heading back to California for the summer.  We'll miss seeing him during math center time. 

Pumpkin Planting







Thank you, MHS volunteers.  We enjoyed having you!


 Marshmallow Catapults







Time to build reading stamina. . . .












Goodbye, Mr. Kim!




Gecko!

Thanks to J's mom for bringing in their new pet gecko.  
The kids were very interested in him.








Earlier in the week,  a few kids brought in books from home to share.  The rest of the kiddos were a good audience for them.








Whoa! These two girls were so proud of themselves for completing this 100 piece puzzle.  Good brain work, ladies!


Sunday, May 12, 2013

Recent Events: Dinosaur Guy, Acrostic Poetry, Show and Tell, and Catapults

So much has been happening lately.  Here are pictures from the last week (ish).


Acrostic poetry
We tried a new writing style.  The kids wrote spring acrostic poems.  They did a really great job with these.  They are currently on display in the classroom.  Thank you, Mrs. G. for helping with this writing project.










We were treated to an exciting dinosaur event.  The kids got to see actual dinosaur fossils, including the baby t-rex skull shown in the picture.  We then climbed inside the inflatable dome to watch a very cool and informative slideshow.  The kids were very well behaved and engaged.

Thank you to Mrs. Fisher for organizing a fun conclusion to our study of dinosaurs.  The kids got to create dinosaur eggs with little toy dinosaurs inside.  Mrs. Fisher took the eggs home and baked them and brought them back the next day for the kids to crack open.




 Catapults

We had another team-wide Challenge Friday event.  The kids got to choose from 7 activities.  My session was Marshmallow Launching.  The kids got materials and created catapults.  Marshmallows were flying everywhere.  A few Camp Kinderponders were in my session.






Here are a few picts from the tally celebration.  The kids earned 10 ten tally marks for good behavior as a class.  They voted to bring toys to school and have show and tell. 







Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cute ABC sounds Youtube clip

Alphablocks  (click here)

Many of the kids love this clip.  We watched it twice this week.  It's a cute way to reinforce letter sounds.  The kids especially like the silent e ninja.  Check it out with your kiddo.