Newsletter 12

2005-2006                               Room 302—Newsletter 12                http://room302.blogspot.com

Monday, December 05, 2005

Dear Families,

Wow!  What a week; what a show!  Thanks so much to all who worked so hard on learning parts and getting kids here last night.  It was great to see all the hard work have such a great pay-off.  I was reflecting on what a wonderful experience the whole thing was.  The students chose their parts, read and reread over and over, worked alone, worked together, spoke, listened, and had a lot of fun doing it.  I wasn’t able to video-tape the evening show, but I did tape our class performing the play in our room, and I taped the dress rehearsal we did for the school, so look for that on the circulating video tape.
Reading…
It’s amazing to hear students analyze the Gingerbread Boy now, in terms of who is the main character, what the main character wants, and what he or she does to get it.  Rereading and performing help them think deeply about the story, because they’ve become so familiar with it.  In our discussion today, possible main characters included the old man, the old woman, the fox, and the gingerbread boy.  The great thing was that students could make a case for each of these characters being the most central.  We’ll continue to have these conversations, both individually and as a group, as the year progresses.
Writing …
Our new special project is creating a class book based on The Twelve Days of Christmas.  The twist is that we’re thinking of things to give, rather than to get.  Also, I’m trying to get more kids’ writing on the blog, so you may want to check in from time to time.  The shared writing was difficult lately so you saw less news there, but I think we’re back into routine, now.
Party…
Our party will be Friday, December 16 at about 1:40.  The main activity will be building gingerbread houses.  Let me know if you did not get a note about this already, or if you can’t remember what I asked you to bring, or if you are unable to provide what I requested.  I just want to make sure we have what we need by Friday.  Another activity will be decorating their own cookies, and we’ll need extra frosting and decorations for that.  And, of course, the other “main” activity will be eating, so if you can donate fruit, vegetables, juice, or something else, just let us know.  Savannah’s mom has again kindly offered to help coordinate this, so please give her a call and let her know if you can help with the cookie decorating or snacks.  
Wish List …
One thing I don’t have is a big analog clock.  The one in the room is digital, but I’d also like one with hands so we can work on telling time.  And the bigger, the better.  So if you have an old one you’d like to donate, please let me know.
Another thing I use every day is a big desk calendar (22”x17”).  We write in important dates and keep track of our days and months.  Unfortunately, the one I have ends in December.  So if you have access to an inexpensive or free one, we’d love it.
Current Chapter Book Read Aloud…
Winnie the Pooh  by A. A. Milne
Calendar…
Friday, December 16—Holiday Party, 1:40 p.m.     Friday, January 13—Early Release
December 19 – January 2—No School, Winter Break     Monday, January 16—No School, M. L. King Day
Tuesday, January 3—School Resumes     


Sincerely,



Jeff

Camp Out by Cameron

Camp Out

Written and Illustrated
by
Cameron

© 2005

Today me and Abby are going to go camping.  We are going on her trampoline to camp.  
Off the side of the trampoline we will roast marshmallows in the campfire.  The campfire was about 3 inches away from the trampoline.  
We have a black tent on the trampoline.  It is in the middle of the trampoline.  It was fun.  Her dad came with us.  It was very EXCITING!  
We made smores and we ate them on the trampoline and it sticked!  We said, “Eeewwww!”  I was having a good time.  I want to do it again.  If we do it again, I will be happy.  
We had to clean the trampoline because I like to clean and her mom made us clean it.  It was fun.  Goodbye.  That is the end of my story.  The end.

Week of Monday, December 05

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Getting Ready
All month we’ve been planning for our holiday concert.  We’ve been practicing our play called The Gingerbread Boy.  Our whole class is doing it with the other first grade class.  Some of us have talking parts and some of us play instruments for sound effects.

We also decorated ornaments that look like gingerbread people.  Tomorrow is the big show.  We can hardly wait!

Newsletter 11

2005-2006 Room 302—Newsletter 11 http://room302.blogspot.com Monday, December 05, 2005 Dear Families, It was great to see everyone at conferences. I enjoyed all the feedback and questions and conversations. It was nice to be able to convey information face to face for a change, instead of like this. I hope you all left with a sense of how much I appreciate and enjoy your children. We don’t have another scheduled conference time, but if you need me, please don’t hesitate to write, or call, or visit. I have a list of stuff to cover this time, so here it is: Holiday Concert… We perform for families at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 8. Everyone in the class has a part, so we hope to see everyone there. Please let me know if you don’t think you’ll make it so we can reassign the part. Plan on dropping the students off in our classroom with me around 6:45 p.m. Then our whole class will walk down together. Following the concert, all children will return with their teachers to the classrooms. You may then collect your children from their classrooms. Reading… Our big push right now is learning the Gingerbread Boy play for the concert, so much of our time is spent doing that. I hope you saw the copy I sent home and are able to help your child learn the assigned part. Some kids have speaking parts; some have sound effect parts; all need to know it without scripts by next Thursday, but sooner would be better. I’d like them to not only know their lines, but their cues as well, and one way to do this would be for someone to read the play aloud and have the student come in at the appropriate time. Please encourage them to speak clearly and loudly. The “loudly” part seems to be the most challenging for many, and it’s rather important, since it can be difficult to hear in a gym full of people. The second part of our show will be performing a set of songs. The lyrics to those were sent home as well, and that is another thing where I encourage you to help as needed. In math…. We made our new calendars on Thursday. We did weaving and talked about pattern, repetition, contrast, horizontal, and vertical. As an experiment, ask your child what those words mean, and if he or she can demonstrate those things on the weavings. Weather Fun… Last week was a strange one. I was glad to be able to send an email to those of you on my list the other day as soon as we knew school would be released early. It made me feel like we’d have a better chance of everyone getting where they need to be safely. I doubt that will happen again, but if so I will try to keep you in the loop. Video… I’ve started circulating a video “in progress” of some things I’ve filmed, including our field trip, parties, and kids reading. It’s highly motivating for those who volunteer to be filmed performing, and I hope it gives you a chance to see a bit of what goes on here. If you haven’t had it at your house yet, it will be coming some time. I’ve asked the students to bring the video back on the next school day whether they got to watch it or not. This is so the next person does not miss a turn, and so I can add new footage. When everyone has had a turn, we’ll send it around again. Wish List … One thing I don’t have is a big analog clock. The one in the room is digital, but I’d also like one with hands so we can work on telling time. And the bigger, the better. So if you have an old one you’d like to donate, please let me know. Another thing I use every day is a big desk calendar (22”x17”). We write in important dates and keep track of our days and months. Unfortunately, the one I have ends in December. So if you have access to an inexpensive or free one, we’d love it. Current Chapter Book Read Aloud… Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne Calendar… Thursday, December 8—K-2 Holiday Concert, 7:00 p.m. Friday, December 16—Holiday Party, 1:40 p.m. December 19 – January 2—No School, Winter Break Tuesday, January 3—School Resumes Friday, January 13—Early Release Monday, January 16—No School, M. L. King Day Sincerely, Jeff

Week of Monday, November 28

Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Yesterday was Noah’s birthday.  We didn’t get the donuts yesterday because we had to go home at 2:30.  We went home at 2:30 because it was snowy outside.  It was snowing a lot and the busses had get us home before it was too snowy, and icy, and slippery on the roads.  And maybe they wanted us to get enough time to play in the snow before it melted.  Or maybe our parents were worried about us.  

But we got the treats today.  Noah’s mom brought donuts from Safeway and milk from a cow.  The treats were super delicious and terrific.  Thank you to Noah and his mom.  Happy belated birthday, Noah!

I See Snow

I see snow on the tree.
I see snow on the ground.
I see snow on my nose.
I see snow onto my brother.
I wonder?
How many snowflakes are in this world?


--by Taylor

What are we thankful for, and why?

Lukas I am thankful for my sister because she gives me love. She gives me kisses and hugs before I go to school. When I come back from school she hugs me tight. Justyn I am thankful for my X-Box because I can beat my brother, Kevn, and my X-Box games, but sometimes he beats me. And I am thankful for my dogs because they give me company, because they love me. Noah I am thankful for my mom because she plays with me and she does the dishes for me. She loves me so much and I love her too. I love her because she helps me with stuff. Jamie I am thankful for my brother, even if he’s a cat. I love my cat because my cat lets me pet him. My cat lets me pet him on his neck. It makes me happy. Jordan I am thankful for my cat. She lets me hold her. I am happy to love her. Her name is Kitty. Travis I am thankful for my cat named Jessie. She keeps me company. She lays with me on my bed. I feed my cat. It makes her happy, and me, too. I love my cat. My cat is in my bed. Donna I am thankful for my mom and dad because they love me, and help me spell, and kiss me before I go to bed. And I also love them, too. I don’t get to see my mom in the morning because she goes to work at five o’clock in the morning. I wish she didn’t have to do that, but she does, anyway. But my dad is there in the morning, and he watches me until the clock says 8:25. Then I have to go to the bus stop with all my friends and play Simon Says with the parent who’s there. Then when the school bus comes we have to line up and get on the bus. I usually have to go to the back of the bus and finally we get there and I get to get off that smelly bus. Just joking. Anyway, I’m thankful for my mom and dad. I love them so much, and they love me, too, but I love them more. Jesse I am thankful for my Thanksgiving because you get to have a fiesta. I feel good. I love the food, and I have my friends over. Kaelyn I am thankful for my family because they gave me lots of presents like Brats, a Brat Cat, and Pinball Alley. I felt happy, and it was my birthday. I love them, and they love me, too. Rien I am thankful for my mom, my dad, and my brother. They are helping us move into Aubree’s neighborhood. It makes me happy. Cameron I am thankful for my mom and dad for getting me a new bike. It is cool that they spent money for me on my birthday. It is blue. It has a pink and white basket on it. It has a kickstand that is really hard to put up and down. Jordan I am thankful for my birthday because I get lots of presents and I am thankful for Christmas because I get lots of presents and I can’t wait until Christmas. Christmas is next month! Aubree I am thankful for the people who help to serve Thanksgiving. I love to eat cranberries because they are good. Savannah I am thankful for Pilgrims because they thought of Thanksgiving. I always get cranberries only on Thanksgiving. I get them that day. I get them at my grandma and grandpa’s house. The cranberries are so yummy! I am so happy to eat them! Abby I am thankful for my daddy because he is coming home on Saturday or Sunday. I am very, very, very happy. My mommy told me that. I met him at Disneyland when I was meeting Eeyore. When I saw Charlie, I said in my head, “Who is that baby?” But when my mommy said, “Abby…” I knew it was mommy and Charlie. But I did not know that my daddy was with them. But when my daddy said, “Abby…” I ran up to him. I was super, super, super happy to see him. We are going to Whistler. It is going to be fun. I will be happy. We are going to eat turkey and cranberries. They are YUMMY! Turkey is yummy, and cranberries are yummy, too. I like cranberries. The end. Mckayla I am thankful for the turkey and pie I have on Thanksgiving because one Thanksgiving the Pilgrims had their first Thanksgiving with the Indians. And I also am thankful for the cranberries I have on Thanksgiving. Kevin I am thankful for my puppy, Willy, because he keeps me company when my dad goes to work at night. Taylor Being Thankful I am thankful for the turkey and my mom, and dad, and my brother. I am thankful for my family because they are really nice to me. I like turkey because it is good. I am thankful for my cat, my other cat, my one dog, and my hamster because she keeps me company when I am sad. And that’s all I am thankful for at Thanksgiving. I am thankful for animals I love. Shelby I am thankful for my cat. When my cat bonks me in the head, she wants me to pet her. It makes me confused. I love my cat! Jasen I am thankful for my mom because she protects me. She looks out for me, too, because she loves me. She lets me have whatever I want for lunch. I like peanut butter sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. Happy Thanksgiving!

Week of Monday, November 14

Monday, November 14, 2005
Busy Day, Lots of Stuff
We didn’t get Writer’s Workshop today.  We wished we could have writing because it’s fun to learn to spell words, and to work on our journal because we have a lot of things in our heads to write about in our journals, and sometimes our stories are published.  

But we didn’t because of music and P.E.  P.E. was really special because we got to go on the climbing wall, and we never, ever get to go on the climbing wall.  We did in Kindergarten, but that’s it.  Not in first grade.  

Math was fun, too.  We built stuff out of cubes with a partner, and the partner had to copy it.   First we tried it with 10 cubes, then with 15, and then with 20.  We did Daily Equation, too.  We had to write an equation that matches the date.  Today is November 14, so our equations had to equal 14.  We had to think of a way to make 14, like 13+1=14.  

Also, we finally got treats today, since the Packers won.


Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Crossing Over
We got to go on the climbing wall again today!  It was so fantastic!  It was awesome!  We got two tries to go all the way across.  It wasn’t easy to do.    It was hard to get up, and in the middle of the climbing wall there weren’t too many handholds, and when you don’t grab the handholds and just slide your hands on the rough wall, it could give you a scrape.  Jesse’s arms felt like they were stretching out; after Jordan was done, it felt like he was still holding on to the handles on the wall, even after he let go; Abby’s hands hurt from doing it.  Some people have gone across many times, but some people are still working on it.


Thursday, November 17, 2005
Book Fair
We got to visit the book fair today.  The book fair is like a bookstore that comes to your school library.  They have cases and cases of books.  A book fair is a chance for people to buy books for families, friends, themselves, and teachers.  Mrs. Yonkers and Mrs. Sullivan got all these shelves and tables and they filled them with books.  Everyone got to choose some books that they want.  We looked for the books we liked.   We wrote the titles on our wish lists, along with the prices.  We had to find the prices that said U.S.  We will take our lists home and show them to our moms and dads and we’ll hope they will buy one for us.  Part of the money for the books goes to our school library so they can buy new books.

Week of Monday, November 7

Monday, November 07, 2005
Substitute P.E. Teacher
Today in P.E. we had a new substitute teacher.  Her name was a German name, but she taught us how to count to 10 in Spanish.  It goes like this:  uno (1), dos (2), tres (3), cuatro (4), cinco (5), seis (6), siete (7), ocho (8), nueve (9), diez (10).  She  taught us a game: The boys stand in a line facing a line of girls.  We found out there is one more girl than boy in our class:  11 boys and 12 girls.  The boys get a ball and they throw the ball to the girl across from them.  Kayla got to play with the teacher.  They toss the ball back and forth and count the number of catches.  That was one of our best physical education classes ever, but we still missed Mrs. Smith.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Veteran’s Day
Our day ended with an assembly.  It was about Veteran’s Day.  Veteran’s Day is on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at 11:00 in the morning.  That’s when they agreed to stop fighting.  We sang The Star Spangled Banner and This Land is Your Land.    Mr. Stocker taught us about the military, which is the Army, the Coast Guard, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines.   Then he read us a book about Veteran’s Day.  On Veteran’s Day, bells might ring, and many people are quiet for two minutes.

Newsletter 10

2005-2006                          Room 302—Newsletter 10                     http://room302.blogspot.com
     

November 4, 2005

Dear Families,

What a great party.  Thanks so much to everyone for helping out.  If you didn’t get a chance to be here, you can get a feel for some of it on the blog site.  I still have a scale and some knives here, so if you’re missing either, please let me know.  The next big thing is conferences.  I’m hoping to hear from you about what you’ve noticed, and what you’re wondering, because you know your child best.  
Here’s what’s going on…..
In reading….
I’m currently assessing the students, and I’ll share my findings at conferences.  I’d like you to do the same thing at home, in a different way.  I’m assessing for reading strategies and appropriate levels.  I’d like you to assess for reading behaviors and attitudes:  How often does he or she choose to read, and what types of things?  Does he see himself as a reader.  Does she have favorite authors, or stories that she rereads?  I can get some idea of these things here, but I want to know what happens away from school.  
In writing….
If you could see the huge variety of writing that happens every day, you would know why I dislike saying some kids are “meeting standards” and some kids are above or below.  Some, but not all, of the things we’ve discussed this last week include rereading, a date on every page, “period-space-upper case” to end a sentence and start a new one, beginning-middle-end, showing and telling details, mixing capital and lower case letters, and using spaces between words.  That is a lot to keep in mind, but we’re practicing; and we’re having fun doing it.  
In math….
We started the next workbook in the series, which is Building Number Sense.  My teacher’s guide says our emphasis will be “Counting quantities up to about 20, developing strategies for counting and comparing the number of dots in dot patterns and strategies for organizing collections of objects so that they are easy to count and combine, and using numerals to record how many.”
Conferences…
Please return the yellow slips as soon as possible, so I know the time I picked is good for you.  If not, please let me know so we can plan another time.
Current Chapter Book Read Aloud…
Winnie the Pooh  by A. A. Milne
Calendar…
Friday, November 4—Science Fair, Western Dance
Thursday, November 10—No school
Friday, November 11—No school
November 17-November 22—Early release days; conferences
Wednesday, November 23—Early release day
November 24 & 25—No school
November 29—Noah’s birthday


Sincerely,


Jeff