Dear Fearless Falcon Parents,
We have been very busy! We are incredibly proud of our class name. Everyone we meet is in awe of the power of our name. I am trying to come up with a creative classroom t-shirt that we can make. If any of you creative folks out there have any suggestions I have ears wide open. This week we watched our Painted Lady butterfly chrysalides hatch and our final monarch hatch. We released them and watched them fly off to their new warm destination. "Gotta Go Gotta Go Gotta Go to Mexico!" Oh what fun. It was fun to observe the differences of the two Chrysalides and the difference in the butterflies. Observations in the natural setting, what can get better than that for a scientist. We have begun our new adventure in our handwriting book. We have talked about the writing lines and the lines that create the different letters. We have standing tall line, laying down lines, forward and backward slants, forward and backwards smiley's, Super C, and clock face. The kids are becoming experts on how to talk about making their letters. We have learned two new math games for learning our numbers, the value, sequence, and greater and less than. It also teaches us turn taking and how to lose and win with dignity. We play Garbage and Monster Squeeze as we begin to learn these skills. We have earned the golden whistle, in gym, for the third week in a row. Our behavior is exceptional. We are learning rhythms in music class, and created a collage in art using, craypas and tissue paper. Our learning opportunities are endless. Ms. Sam has been a bit crazy this week as we talked about the skinny sound and how our mouth feels while we are making the noisy and quiet skinny sounds (s and Z) We made a pretend sound soup with items that begin with the quiet sound (stinky socks) and noisy sounds (zesty zebra). We were able to use our imagination to taste the soup and use our adjectives to describe the soup. We had a lot of giggles. Ms. Kelly was sick this week so she was unable to join us for a few days. We did send her some positive healing thoughts during our calendar time. We also welcomed Ms. Kim into our classroom to help out while Ms. Kelly was healing. We have been writing some simple books for our book boxes that focus on color and simple sentences. We have been creating and writing and getting stronger with each one we write. We will soon apply our reading strategies. We had two visitors this week, one was from our former Readiness teacher, Ms. Candy. She came in to help us with a math lesson on fractions. This also tied into our discussion on butterflies. The kids made some delicious butterflies that they brought home. What a treat to be taught by such an amazing teacher that is still very active in our learning. The kids had some great ideas how they could extend this activity at home. I hope they shared their ideas with you. This Friday we had a visitor from a stranger who came knocking on our classroom door looking for food. (Don't worry it was Ms. Sam dressed as a stranger who was very hungry) We were able to carry out the story of stone soup, and create a delicious soup that we were later able to sample. This in itself was a challenge. Working with the kids on a "Polite Bite" before saying I don't like it is always a challenge. I was so proud of each of the kids for being brave and trying the soup and then giving a yes please or a no thank you. This is always a learning time and a challenge. We were all very very brave. We read many different versions of Stone Soup and discussed the similarities and differences of each text. We are settling into our classroom and routine and adjusting to unexpected changes. * On Thursday we will have our first evacuation drill. * Popcorn on Wednesday 50 cents * Ice cream on Friday 75 cents Thank you for sharing your child with me, we are truly becoming a family. Hear ye Hear ye It is official. Our class name for the year is the Fearless Falcons. What a strong name for a group of strong determined learners. We learned about the democratic process and learned about how to accept group decisions even when they aren't our idea as we voted through all the amazing ideas.
We got to celebrate our first birthday with many traditions and delicious whoopie pies. Thanks Carolina and Happy Birthday. We have continued on our adventure with learning how our mouth creates these amazing sounds, that connect with letters, and begins us on our writing and reading journey. We have talked about Poppers (p and b) and tappers (t and d) and began discussing the scrapers (g and k,c) All of these sounds are brothers, one is noisy and one is quiet much like siblings in our own house. We practiced another fire drill. We are learning Practice makes permanent, and each time we practice anything new, we get better and our brains remember it without even stopping to think. We have been working very hard to strengthen our fine motor muscles. We are learning how to use all of our tools to create strong muscles so we can become better writers. We have begun our handwriting adventure and have found that the writing lines are very simply named,top line, dotted line, and bottom line. We have also learned about the many lines that make up all our letters. We have a standing tall line, a laying down line, Super C, Clockface, forward and backwards smile, forwards and backwards frown, and forwards and backwards slanting lines. Soon we'll be putting this all together to make star worthy letters! We are learning new rhythms in music with rhythm sticks. We made Jack o lanterns with Mrs. Chalson in art, and we are playing hot dog tag, and the caterpillar game in gym. We have continued our study of butterflies and recreated the story of the hungry caterpillar with our puppets. I hope you had a chance to hear your child retell the story. We had a lot of fun in class with it. We have also learned a new math game called garbage, we even taught our 4th grade learning buddies how to play. We will meet with our 4th grade buddies every Friday. We will learn with our buddies across the curriculum. I hope things are going smoothly at home with all of you and that if you ever need anything please do not hesitate to reach out. I will do my best to help you anyway I can. Have a great week. Ms. SAM Well, as the famous saying goes... better late than never, so here it goes. Our first full week of school has been so so much fun, but it has also been very tricky to hold our stamina through the week. Each week will get easier as we move through the year. Please remember to keep washing hands and remind your kiddos to cough and sneeze into their elbow, If you please. We have a cold that has been running through our classroom. Some with Temps, and some with just a terrible head cold with a cough. Please keep an eye on your kiddos and make sure they get the rest they need! I miss them when they are not at school with me.
Last week was busy. We had lots of caterpillars hatching and we began observing our new Painted Lady caterpillars in our science journals. We had our first ice cream day. This is a tricky part of our day. I want to be clear that Ice cream is not part of the lunch program. The kids need to bring in 75 cents to purchase their ice cream. I do have containers for each child with their initials on it. I will hold their money and help them manage buying their ice cream. If you want to send in extra money I will also keep that in their container and give it to them on Friday. I do encourage the kids to eat their lunch before they buy ice cream so that their lunch does not consistent of a sweet ice cream and nothing else. If you have any questions about ice cream please don't hesitate to ask. In Gym this week we were introduced to the Golden Whistle. If we have expected Bobcat behavior during our gym class we are awarded the golden whistle and we proudly display it outside our classroom for the week. When we head to gym the next week we bring it back and try to earn it again! Our first week and WE EARNED THE GOLDEN WHISTLE! What an honor. So proud of our Kiddos! In art we also receive the Art Star award for that student that exhibits outstanding behavior. This week we worked on sorting and putting in order a book describing the life cycle of a caterpillar. We will have these books in our book boxes for a while as we learn how to independently read and use our book boxes. We had our first indoor recess, Oh what fun!!! We played Hot Dog Tag in gym, we have had a few friends sharing their items from the apron. We are learning how to be a quality speaker and a quality audience. This week we also received a special caterpillar from the former Readiness teacher Ms. Candy. She brought in a beautiful Monarch caterpillar that was munching on something we had never seen before. Ms. Sam looked it up and learned that this caterpillar was eating a plant called Mexican Butterfly Weed. How cool, tying in the caterpillar and where it will end up. Ms. Candy even said she would help us plant some of this in our very own garden here at school to help attract the caterpillars for years to come. I have been doing a lot of assessment to find out where each student is academically. This is coming to a close shortly and we will begin our next learning adventure. I am so thankful for each one on of my students. Thank you so much for sharing your child and your family with me. I am looking forward to an amazing year. Good Morning and Happy Saturday,
By now you have received your very first Friday fun letter. The kids worked so hard to write about one special thing that happened this week. I hope you will look for these fun letters each Friday and watch your child's writing as we progress through the year. Please remember to write your child a response letter on the back side. I will keep these and put them together in a book for you and your child as a memory of our year together. This week has been full of new and fun things. I think the most exciting piece was watching a butterfly hatch from its chrysalis and then releasing the butterflies. We had some amazing discussions about the life cycle of a butterfly. One of my favorite comments was "This is science" as we all dropped what we were doing to watch the butterfly come out and expand its wings. If you have never seen this process it is so worth stopping and taking the time to watch. We learned a lot of rules this week and how to manage ourselves in many different environments in the building and at recess. There is so much to learn, the learning never ends. We have written our first class book based on the book The Kissing Hand. We have learned responsibility by getting jobs that will help manage our classroom. We have colored, cut, created, laughed and cried together. We are already becoming quite a school family. Next week we will be having some practice with fire drills and other drills to practice and keep our community safe in an emergency. As I tell the kids practice make permanent. On Monday there will be our Back to School Night at 6 in the Readiness room. This is a parent night only. This give me the opportunity to share what is going on in the classroom and the many things you will see as we head through our year together. It is also a great time for me to answer any questions you may have. I hope everyone's first week was a great success and everyone is able to rest up this weekend. Please remember this is a full time job for our kiddos and as the week progresses they will get more and more tired. We are working on building our stamina. Have a great weekend. I can't wait to see my friends on Monday! It has been a long day! I know all the kids came in with many mixed feelings this morning, and I assured them all, that I had those very same feelings. I am sure as parents you had many of those very same feelings. My sleepless night began at 2am. and I am still going strong (ha ha) at 8:52, after my son's last, first soccer game at GHS! So many bittersweet endings for us. Today was a mixed bag of lots of emotions. We helped support and care for one another all day. The first few days are full of lots of rules, and learning of procedures. This will pass as we all begin to adjust to the newness of our day. This morning we all got together in the gym with the whole school and met many new students and teachers. We learned about how as Bobcats we need to be safe, respectful and responsible in all of our settings. If we follow those three rules we will be certain to have success inside and outside of the classroom. We got to enjoy two wonderful recesses and begin to learn all the challenges that recess brings. We became authors for the first time and published our very first class book about first day feelings, based on the book The Kissing Hand. We got to meet Ms Kjellander our music teacher and had so much fun singing and playing rhythm games. For the first week of school our 6th grade buddies are helping us get to our end of the day destination. It makes us feel so safe, but gives us some independence away from Ms. Sam. Our first day was full, and we were all exhausted by about 11 am. This too shall pass and our stamina will increase as well as our independence as the days move forward. Thanks to all who were able to help with some of our classroom supplies. It will help us all in the long run. Tonight the kids had their very first homework assignment. They were given a plastic folder and in it there was some paperwork that needs to be filled out by parents or guardians. The kids job is to give you the plastic folder, your job is to fill out the paperwork and then hand the plastic folder back to your child. They are then responsible for putting it back into their backpack and bringing it to me in the morning. So so exciting, our very first act of responsibility as a Readiness kiddo! If you have any questions, or concerns please contact me either at school (487-2211) or by email, [email protected]. tomorrow is a new day, with new adventures I can't wait to see everyone in the morning!
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I Believe“You cannot make people learn. You can only provide the right conditions for learning to happen.” ~ Vince Gowmon Archives
August 2021
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