2005-2006 Room 302—Newsletter 15 http://room302.blogspot.com
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Dear Families,
I play two songs every day. When I play The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Simon and Gafunkel, it means it’s time to clean up and gather together on the carpet to officially begin our day. When it’s time to clean up and do our jobs at the end of the day, I play Samba Pa Ti from the Abraxas album by Carlos Santana. Since we hear those two songs every day, I thought the students would enjoy seeing the faces behind the music. I was able to find DVD’s from the library that had these songs done in concert, so I brought them in and we watched them.
In reading….
The idea of visual images continues to pervade our work. We talked about how authors make pictures in our heads—including telling what shape, what size, and what color—and now we’re trying to notice those as we read. We also noticed this week how some of the writers in our classroom use verbs like sailing, burning, and crunched to create pictures in our minds. This was a great opportunity to talk about verbs and nouns, and I chose Kites Sail High: A Book About Verbs by Ruth Heller as my read aloud.
In writing….
This will be our second round of writing book reviews for special project. I also continue to encourage students to be deliberate about using descriptive language in their stories, and we try to share some of their examples every day. This might be something you could ask about at home, too.
In math….
Our newest game is called Ten Turns. One die is rolled ten times in a row, and a running total is kept. It seems a fairly simple game on the surface, but as the total increases it can be tricky to keep track. We use counters to help with that. We also continue to practice word problems.
Valentine’s Day…
We’ll use our writing time in the first part of February to write Valentine cards for each other. Then we’ll exchange them on the 14th. If each family will use the time and money they usually spend on pre-printed cards to get some sort of decoration and send it in, we should have plenty to go around. Ideas for things you can contribute include lace, stickers, tissue paper, heart doilies, stamps, pre-cut paper hearts of different sizes and colors, or anything else you think would make a nice addition to a card. We’d also love some treats to enjoy while reading the cards we wrote for each other, if anyone would like to contribute. That will be about the extent of our Valentine’s Day party.
Current Chapter Book Read Aloud…
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (what a wonderful source of examples for writing that creates visual images!) We also took a few minutes to go back and discuss A. A. Milne, since it was his birthday this week.
Calendar…
Monday, January 23—Book Orders Due February 20-24 –Mid-Winter Break
Friday, February 3—Jesse’s Birthday Wednesday, February 22—Aubree’s Birthday
Tuesday, February 7—Levy Vote Friday, February 24—Kayla’s Birthday
Tuesday, February 14—Valentine’s Day Sunday, February 26—Lukas’s Birthday
Sincerely,
Jeff
Friday, January 20, 2006
Monday, January 16, 2006
Newsletter 14
2005-2006 Room 302—Newsletter 14 http://room302.blogspot.com
Friday, January 06, 2006
Dear Families,
These two weeks have been a good time to review and strengthen procedures and expectations. It seems to be something that is always worth the time, especially in the long run.
In reading….
We read some books about Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. The concepts are a bit simplified, but the ideas of fairness and justice seem relevant to kids this age. The books do discuss his death, and I hope this is not proving too traumatic. It’s handled tastefully in the books, but you may want to follow up at home.
In writing….
We’ve been reading and writing book reviews. You may have seen some of them on the blog, and others will appear there as we complete them. They’re currently taking the place of our daily news. Our purpose is to tell about books we like, and our audience is people who like to read.
In math….
We continue to work on solving problems and number combinations. Many of the pages we do in the math book ask them to use picture, numbers or words. It’s fascinating to have them explain how they got the answer. Usually, even errors have a certain logic to them. We’ll also be talking more and more about telling time. This can be a tricky concept, and it would be helpful if there are things you can to at home. Maybe they learn to tell what time a favorite show is on, or how what the clock says at bed time. It’s best if there are a few times that are predictable and personally relevant.
Current Chapter Book Read Aloud…
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (Finally, a new one.)
Calendar…
Friday, January 13—Early Release for School Planning
Monday, January 16—No school
Friday, February 3—Jesse’s Birthday
Tuesday, February 7—Levy Vote
February 20-24 –Mid-Winter Break
Wednesday, February 22—Aubree’s Birthday
Friday, February 24—Kayla’s Birthday
Sunday, February 26—Lukas’s Birthday
Sincerely,
Jeff
Friday, January 06, 2006
Dear Families,
These two weeks have been a good time to review and strengthen procedures and expectations. It seems to be something that is always worth the time, especially in the long run.
In reading….
We read some books about Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. The concepts are a bit simplified, but the ideas of fairness and justice seem relevant to kids this age. The books do discuss his death, and I hope this is not proving too traumatic. It’s handled tastefully in the books, but you may want to follow up at home.
In writing….
We’ve been reading and writing book reviews. You may have seen some of them on the blog, and others will appear there as we complete them. They’re currently taking the place of our daily news. Our purpose is to tell about books we like, and our audience is people who like to read.
In math….
We continue to work on solving problems and number combinations. Many of the pages we do in the math book ask them to use picture, numbers or words. It’s fascinating to have them explain how they got the answer. Usually, even errors have a certain logic to them. We’ll also be talking more and more about telling time. This can be a tricky concept, and it would be helpful if there are things you can to at home. Maybe they learn to tell what time a favorite show is on, or how what the clock says at bed time. It’s best if there are a few times that are predictable and personally relevant.
Current Chapter Book Read Aloud…
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (Finally, a new one.)
Calendar…
Friday, January 13—Early Release for School Planning
Monday, January 16—No school
Friday, February 3—Jesse’s Birthday
Tuesday, February 7—Levy Vote
February 20-24 –Mid-Winter Break
Wednesday, February 22—Aubree’s Birthday
Friday, February 24—Kayla’s Birthday
Sunday, February 26—Lukas’s Birthday
Sincerely,
Jeff
Book Review--Yum! Yuck!
Book Review
Yum! Yuck!
written by Michaela Morgan
illustrated by Dee Shulman
Reviewed by Room 302
In this story there is a mother grizzle and a baby grizzle. The mother is trying to figure out what he wants on his pizza. The baby grizzle doesn’t want anything like a slimy slug, or a slimy snail, or a fishy tail, or some spiders on its crunchy pizza. And then finally she finds out.
A good part is when the baby grizzle always says, “Yuck! That’s what I want, that’s what I want, that’s what I want up there!”
We recommend this book because we think it’s good. You should read this book if you like discovering animal and bugs.
Yum! Yuck!
written by Michaela Morgan
illustrated by Dee Shulman
Reviewed by Room 302
In this story there is a mother grizzle and a baby grizzle. The mother is trying to figure out what he wants on his pizza. The baby grizzle doesn’t want anything like a slimy slug, or a slimy snail, or a fishy tail, or some spiders on its crunchy pizza. And then finally she finds out.
A good part is when the baby grizzle always says, “Yuck! That’s what I want, that’s what I want, that’s what I want up there!”
We recommend this book because we think it’s good. You should read this book if you like discovering animal and bugs.