Room 302 Valentines List

Room 302 Valentines List
We created this list so that it would be easier to personalize the valentines we’re making for each other.  Use it at home to help as needed.

1. Lukas--box hockey, chase, freeze tag


2. Justyn--football, the beach, skiing


3. Noah--snowboarding, cars, cats


4. Jamie--farm animals, sharks, God & Jesus


5. Jordan C. --blue, video games, the park


6. Kayla--purple, drawing, red


7. Travis--green, bikes, video games


8. Donna--ice cream, hearts, cheerleading clothes


9. Jesse--skate boarding, dirt bikes, Ferris wheels


10. Kaelyn--basketball, parents, friends


11. Rien--motorcycles, cool cars, black


12. Cameron--rainbows, dresses, macaroni and cheese


13. Jasen     


14. Jordan L. --pumpkin pie, video games, monsters


15. Taylor M. --basketball, Spiderman™, parents


16. Aubree--polar bears, rabbits, drawing, parents


17. Savannah--animals, purple, David Shannon


18. Abigail--ballerinas, cheetahs, The Cheetah Girls


19. Mckayla--purple, doges, books


20. Kevin--the fair, sharks, bikes


21. Ashley--pink, friends, pets


22. Taylor T. --bunnies, rain forest, mac & cheese


23. Shelby--mac & cheese, yogurt, horses

Week of Monday, January 30

Monday, January 30, 2006
Watercolorful Day

On Friday we had a substitute teacher.  He was funny.  He made funny noises when he read.  Whenever he read a book and he saw a poem, he sang a song.  He liked singing.  When he read Superdog and he saw the word “Superdog” he sang it sometimes.  

Our teacher is back today.  We’re making calendars for February.  Mckayla’s mom came to help us.  We painted our watercolor pictures for the top and we put the numbers on our February calendars for the bottom.   Watercolor painting is fun.

Week of Monday, January 23

Friday, January 27, 2006
A Good Day

Today is Friday, January 27th, 2006.  Today we played 5-in-a-row. for math.  We did writers’ workshop.  We had Mr. Schmitt as our guest teacher.  We also did readers’ workshop.  Mrs. Brown taught us about using colorful words in our writing.

Newsletter 16

2005-2006                          Room 302—Newsletter 16                        http://room302.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Dear Families,

One thing I find myself noticing again and again is how kind and polite your children are.  They take turns, they listen to each other, they help each other.  That’s not to say there are never problems, but even the way they work out problems is nice.  It’s a great place to be every day.
In reading….
This was the week they announced the new awards from the American Library Association.  We have been reading past and current winners.  It’s a great way to help readers find some great books, and to start to learn the names of quality authors and illustrators that might also have other books worth reading.  We mainly focus on the Caldecott books, which are honored for their illustrations.  You can find the link on our blog.
In writing….
It’s been very interesting to see what the kids have been doing on the second round of book reviews.  Mrs. Brown noticed how now that they all are familiar with the structure, they can pay more attention to the content.  It’s been a nice reminder that just because they’ve heard or done something once doesn’t mean they’ve gone as far as they can with it.
In math….
I’ve started working with small groups while the rest of the class works independently.  We’re lucky enough to have parents that are willing to help out on many math days, which makes that so much easier.  We also started messing around with clocks.  We talked about how long a minute is and we used the small clocks to make times on the hour.  Again, this can be tricky, so mention it at home from time to time, if you can.
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.  Supplies have already started arriving, and we will start officially making the cards in about a week, right after we finish Jesse’s birthday cards.
Current Chapter Book Read Aloud…
Charlotte’s Web  by E. B. White
Calendar…
Friday, February 3—Jesse’s Birthday     February 20-24 –Mid-Winter Break
Tuesday, February 7—Levy Vote     Wednesday, February 22—Aubree’s Birthday
Tuesday, February 14—Valentine’s Day     Friday, February 24—Kayla’s Birthday
     Sunday, February 26—Lukas’s Birthday
     
     


Sincerely,


Jeff

Week of Monday, January 30

Monday, January 30, 2006
Watercolorful Day

On Friday we had a substitute teacher.  He was funny.  He made funny noises when he read.  Whenever he read a book and he saw a poem, he sang a song.  He liked singing.  When he read Superdog and he saw the word “Superdog” he sang it sometimes.  

Our teacher is back today.  We’re making calendars for February.  Mckayla’s mom came to help us.  We painted our watercolor pictures for the top and we put the numbers on our February calendars for the bottom.   Watercolor painting is fun.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Friendship

Jasen moved all the way back to Georgia.  We think he’s staying there forever.  He took all his stuff in the classroom, except his chair pack and his chair.  He took his lunch pocket, his name, his writing folder, everything in his chair pack, and his poetry binder.  We don’t get to see him any more.  We will really miss him because he’s our friend and he’s really nice.  He always wrote about “Super Jasen” and we’ll miss hearing those stories.  Maybe he will come back to visit us some time, or send us a postcard or an email.    

Newsletter 15

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

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

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.

Book Review--My House is Your House

Book Review
My House is Your House
written by Carmen Tafolla
illustrated by Gilles Eduar
Reviewed by Room 302

This book was about being nice to people who were hungry, tired, and lost.  It’s about letting strangers and animals  in the house, which we normally don’t do.  They let a little girl in a red dress with blond hair in, and a tired guy with ten tired kids, too.   On almost every page, they said “Mi casa es su casa.” which means “My house is your house.” in Spanish.

Jasen’s favorite part was when the tired guy with ten tired kids came up to the door.  Noah’s favorite part was when the crickets came up to the door.  Justyn liked when the ten thousand termites came up to the door.

Kindergarteners and library people might like this book because it’s a really good book. People who like animals would like this book.  So would people who like meeting or helping others.

Book Review--The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Book Review
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
written by Eric Carle
illustrated by Eric Carle
Reviewed by Room 302

There was a little egg laying on a leaf at the beginning.  And then the caterpillar cracked out of the egg in the morning.  He was very hungry.  He ate through one apple on Monday.  He ate different foods every day of the week.  On almost every page he kind of got a little bigger.  

The illustrations are really good because they look so cool.  There is a pattern on the sun.  We think you should read this book because it has good illustrations and a good ending.  When we read this book, it made us feel hungry.