Week Ending 5/26/17

Hello families!  19 days after today...4 more weeks of school!  Can you believe it?  It has gone by so quickly and we still have so much to do!  The China projects are going great!  We all enjoy seeing and hearing the work from the students...very impressive!

Important Information:

• Tuesday, June 6, is Color Day and more info will be sent home next week.
• Wednesday, June 7, is our field trip to the Children's Museum with Ms. Patteson's class.  More info will be sent home next week.  
• Save the Date!  Friday, June 9, at 8:45-9:30 will be an end of the year celebration!  Come see some of our finished writing pieces and more!  

3, 2, 1 things that have been happening in our room...

3 math activities we've been working on are to continue developing our sense of place value by building houses/buildings with a team and determining how much it is worth, practicing making numbers and writing using place 10 blocks, and drawing tens and ones to add to find the total. 

2 reading activities we've started is understanding the different between poetry and prose and finding poetry lines that speak to them.  

1 presentation we had was from Joe and Vida from Ghana last Friday.  They do a fabulous presentation and the students loved it!

Here's a few pics of letting our butterflies, Base 10 building and the Ghana presentation...

Flying to Ghana

 Checking out some Ghana products

 Learning  a dance

Praising the King

How much is the house worth?

Bye, bye butterflies

Week ending 5/12/17

Hello families!
I see next week is really going to look and feel like May and I can't wait!  Have you seen the new blue table on the playground?  It's fantastic!

Important information:

• China projects are due on THURSDAY, May 18th.  Please be sure that both the project and the written information is here on that day.  We will start sharing them to teach each other what we learned while researching.  

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week...

3 pourquoi stories we heard were How Zebras Got Their Stripes, How Grandmother Spider Got the Sun, and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears.  

* Ask your child to tell you why we hear mosquitoes buzzing in our ears!  

2 math activities we worked on were solving measurement story problems and solving the problem, How many skittles were in the light bulb?  It was a good activity!  We had lots of information to solve it but it was a good time to really focus on the details of our addition strategies and practice sharing out thinking and solving skills.  They each solved it a little bit different so it was really informative for them to hear other ways.  

1 writing activity we began was writing book awards!  The students love this!  They choose a book they enjoy and write an award for it.  The awards are varied and I don't think many are the same so it'll be very interesting!  

* Ask you child which book and award they are writing about.  

Week Ending 5/5/17

Hello families!
We've had a busy and productive week here in room 250!  We enjoyed getting out with the beautiful weather and can't wait for more time as the year continues on!

Important information:

• The information regarding the China project was sent home on Thursday on a yellow sheet of paper.  Please read it over and assist your child in what they may need, for example printing pictures off the internet or gathering materials.  This is a project they can do on their own with just a little help from you so please keep that in mind as they are working.  Thank you!
• Next Thursday, May 11, is an early release day with dismissal at 12:30.  

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week...

3 math activities we concentrated on were measuring with meters and centimeters ( and the relationship between the two units of measurement), measuring various items of choice in the classroom using a variety of measuring tools, and stretching our mind with an activity called "The Race" where we needed to ask questions, focus on our work and showing the work in a logical way, and talking through our thinking...not just getting the right answer.  This was a challenging one for us but overall they did a great job!

2 strategies we worked on in reading were determine the why in a pourqoui story (such as Why is the sun and moon in the sky?) and determine the lesson of a short play we participated in.  The groups worked very well together on this play and I'm impressed with how much their fluency and speaking aloud has grown over the year.  Check out a few pics below!

1 new activity we have started recently is "Stump Mr. DeKing"!  We call Mr. DeKing and ask him a question related to our curriculum work for the week and see if he can answer.  Today we asked him, How many inches are in a meter?...do you know the answer?  Ask your child for the answer.  Today he even asked them a question!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. DeKing

Week ending 4/28/17

Another month has passed and we have hit 141 days in school!  Can you believe it?  Only 39 days left this year with so much left to do!
Important information:

• We will continue to go out for recess, so be sure to send appropriate clothing.  
• If you have any cleaning wipes at your house that you'd like to donate, we'll gladly take them.  
• Monday, May 29th, there is no school for Memorial Day.

3, 2, 1 things happening in room 250...

3 fables we've read this week were Frogs and the Well, Boy Who Cried Wolf, and the Crow and the Pitcher.  We've been focusing on the lesson the story is trying to teach us.   

*We read the Ant and the Dove today...ask your child what the lesson/idea was for that fable.

2 math stretching your thinking activities we did this week were finishing up a Coins activity independently and working on a new one called Color Day.  It was amazing watching the students work, share ideas, discuss their math thinking, explain their understanding or confusion, and works through what was difficult to come to a start of solving it.  This one was tricky!  We focused on showing the math work and talking about it is so much more important sometimes than just the actual answer.  Students took time to check out each other's work very quietly and respectfully and noticed all the different ways the problems could be solved.  Another great mind stretching activity for all students, no matter where they are in their math journey.  

1 fabulous presentation we had this week was from the Museum of Science on life cycles!  We learned about life cycles for mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, played guessing games, and saw the largest living thing!  Amazing!  

*Ask your child what the largest living thing is!

Here's a few pics for you to see...

Bearded Dragon

 Using our bodies to show the life cycle of a plant

 M helping to show us the life cycle of an amphibian.

Week ending 4/7/17

We made it through our first full week of April and Ms. Kariotis has finished all of her take over weeks!  Have you had a chance to enjoy the better weather?  I hope you can get out this weekend and take a walk, ride bikes, and play like a kid!

Important information:

• Next Friday, April 14, there is no school.  
• Please check your email and your child's folder for information regarding the CAP program that will be visiting us in May.  

3, 2, 1 thing you should know about our week...

3 math skills we worked on were naming fractions, using pattern blocks to show our fractions to peers, and identifying equivalent fractions.  

* Show your child a square with a line down the middle or showing thirds and ask your child to show you 1/2 or 1/3.  

2 reading strategies we worked on were summarizing our non-fiction reading on the rain forest and thinking about the big ideas with books such as Secret Place and The Great Kapok Tree.  It's important for students to understand that authors write about ideas that are important to many people, such as taking care of the environment, family, and friendship.

* Ask your child what the bigger idea was in one of those stories.  

1 activity we worked on social studies was identifying people in photographs that were consumers, producers, and buyers.  We looked at various photographs of people working and buying in China, discussed what they noticed in the pictures, and chose a photograph to sketch in our journals to help us remember.

Have a  great weekend!

Week ending 3/31/17

It's the end of March already!  Can you believe we start April tomorrow?  2 1/2 months of school left!

Important information:

• Friday, April 14th, there is no school and then school vacation starts.  
• If you have any cleaning wipes or paper towels you'd like to donate, we'd love to take them off your hands! 

3, 2, 1 things we've been working on this week...

3 writing activities we worked on as we started our new opinion unit were writing opinion letters to someone about what they thought of a class read aloud, getting energy for their writing by talking with a peer, and choosing a character they have an opinion about by rereading their favorite books.  

*Ask your child which book and character they have chosen to begin writing about.

2 math activities we used to practice our measuring skills were working with a partner to measure our arm spans and working in teams to measure our jumps, both in inches and centimeters.  

* Ask your child to tell you about inches and centimeters.   

1 activity we worked on in literacy was making inferences based on a poem we read together.  

* Ask your child what animal they inferred the poem to be talking about and how they knew that.

Week ending 3/24/17

Hi families! Spring has sprung even though we don't feel it yet!  We are all very excited regarding the Chinese Cultural Field Trip on Monday!

Important Information:

• Please send your child to school with a paper bag lunch and be sure to write your child's name on the bag. 
• Students will be making dumplings, and are offered them at lunch, so if there is an allergy concern, please let me know.  
• Should there be any concerns regarding weather, please plan as though we are still going and send a bag lunch.
• Also, if you have any paper towels or tissues you'd like to donate to the classroom, that would be great!

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week...

3 activities we worked on to practice inferencing were: "What's in my teacher's bag?" to make inferences about what our Mrs. K.  likes and participates in, listening to the read aloud No! David to infer qualities of David, and read together and discussed the poem "Things" to infer what the girl was doing.  

*Show your child an item that is important to you and ask them what they can infer about you.  (Ex. Showing a Starbucks gift card and your child may infer you not only like to drink coffee, but like to drink coffee at Starbucks. 

2 math skills we've been working on are doubling and dividing  numbers and understanding the relationship between that.  We used the activity called Wubbles to do this.  We also worked in teams to show see who would win a "basket ball game" with dice and addition.  

1 social/emotional piece we're working on with all of our students is getting refocused back on our rules, our understanding of glitch and disaster, thinking of other's tone of voice before responding upset, and thinking about problems in our class and how we can work together to fix them.  I have noticed more students given each other a kid positive postcard and for both the giver and receiver, they both are rewarded in their heart.  

Week ending 3/10/17

We've had a great week and it's been so nice to meet with many of you at conferences.  Next week, Ms. Kariotis takes over again as part of her student teaching.

A few reminders:

• Depending on the weather, please send in clothes accordingly for recess.  
• There will be more information regarding field trips as it gets closer.  If you were chosen out of the box to chaperone, you have been emailed.  Thank you to everyone who has offered!

3, 2, 1, things you should know this week...

3 skills we worked on in math are adding and subtracting double digit and three digit numbers while explaining how we solved them to a partner, learning about estimating, when we might estimate, and how it goes with rounding  numbers, and we practiced comparing numbers through number stories.  

* Ask you child which addition strategy they feel most comfortable with and have them show you an example.  

2 reading skills we've worked on are creating questions or wonderings in our mind regarding fiction and non-fiction stories and comparing Ivy and Bean's friendship to one of our own using evidence from the text.  

1 read aloud book we listened to was Recess at 20 Below.  

* Ask your child what it's like when the students in Alaska go out for recess when it's 20 degrees below zero.

Week ending 3/3/17

Hello families!
It's been a great week back from vacation.  The students have adjusted nicely back to the school routine and we've been working hard in so many areas!

Important information:

• Going home TODAY is field trip paperwork.  Please read over the information, sign BOTH permission forms, check if you would like to be considered for a chaperone, and send the money in, in an envelope in cash only.  We can not accept checks.  If you do not have a current CORI on file, as I've mentioned before, you can not be considered for the field trips.  One is the end of this month and the other is in June.  If your CORI is not complete now, you will not be considered for the field trip this month,  you can check yes on the form and complete the paperwork with Ms. Sheehan for June but if you're chosen and it's not completed, you will not be able to attend.  All the information is coming home today so please look at it and send back on Monday. Thank you for your support in doing this quickly!  
• Conferences begin on Tuesday.  This is a time for you and your child to meet with me to discuss how the year is going so far.  
• Thursday, March 9, is an early release day.  Please let me know if there are any changes to your child's dismissal schedule.  Thanks!

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week...

3 skills we've been working on throughout our Friendship Unit while reading Ivy & Bean  have been making predictions based on evidence from the text, deciding how Ivy and Bean's friendship has changed over the book so far, and then using our own reading workshop just right books, deciding how the characters have changed in those books.  

*Ask your child what they've learned about the characters Ivy and Bean so far.

2 math skills we've been working on are learning how to add using the strategy of partial sums and how to add three numbers at once using a variety of strategies.  

*Ask your child to solve this problem: 74+56 = ?

1 skilled we activity we have begun in writing workshop is reading and taking notes regarding our topic for our informational Mexico books.  Students have read various Mexico books, used post it notes to mark the parts related to their topic, and have taken notes on the important information.  

*Ask your child which topic they are researching.

Have a great weekend!

Week of 2/13/17

Hello families!
How are you all enjoying this weather and the snow days?  I can't believe we've had winter come to us all at once and we've had three snow days.  It's been nice to be home but I'm ready to get back!  Since we're home again today, I decided to write our classroom blog today.

Important information:

• Don't forget to have your child bring in their bag of 100 things and the clue sheet.  Students love doing this activity!
• If your child is bringing in valentines to hand out, be sure there is one for every student and remember not to send in food with them.  
• We will be celebrating the 100th Day of School AND Valentine's day tomorrow, Tuesday the 14th.  
• Vacation is next week!  I hope you all enjoy a wonderful and fun week. 
• Later this week, I will be sending out a Sign Up Genius for Spring conferences which begin the second week of March.  Again, these will be on the afternoons given to us and a few mornings before school begins.  I will send an email with the link when ready.

3, 2, 1 things you should know about room 250 this week!

3 skills we'll be working on in math this week are making tally charts and bar graphs to represent the colors and numbers of conversation hearts we'll be counting on Tuesday, creating a time line to record our own birth years and those of our family members, and we'll use that time line to determine the ages of people in our family using subtraction and explain our thinking to a peer.  

2 writing activities we will begin working on this week are using the Mexico non-fiction books to compile pages of information that will be useful in writing our own Mexico non-fiction, informational books.  We'll also be deciding which topic we would like to research using the texts and various web resources, such as Pebble Go and Brainpop Jr. 

1 skill we are working on is identifying a character's feelings and actions and how they relate to each other.  Our friendship unit focuses a great deal on character's feelings and how that impacts in their actions.