I was surprised that students were a little tired today- maybe it was the dreadful weather. Our bellies sure did tell us we were not adjusted to the time zone change.
In reading today we started talking about what happens at the beginning of our stories. We are using Franklin in the Dark to model this as a large group- and students get to choose a book to write about. We will journal about the beginning, middle and end this week- then talk about our favorite part and decide if that happened in the beginning, middle or end.
Today in math we learned that to observe means to look carefully. We did an observation walk to see if we notice anything new around Lowell. Some students noticed pumpkins on steps, we found a new set of steps at Lowell.
In writing we started making our sentence buddies- and we learned that a sentence needs a head and feet to be complete. Students are doing a nice job of understanding that authors don't always
We made it through the day! The students did such a good job today with all of the excitement of Halloween and our fall party! I'm glad they were able to work hard. It was tough, but finally it was time for our party.
In math today we picked four names to put them in order from shortest to longest. Students also got to compare with candy- who grabbed more candy.
In science today we worked on finding out how many lines were on our pumpkins. We learned that the more lines and the darker orange the pumpkin is- the more seeds it will have inside! All of our pumpkins had 10 lines. We thought that was pretty cool.
Have fun tonight Trick-or-treating. I can't wait to hear about all the candy they get!!
This week we are working on finding out how many letters are in our name. It was fun to find out that some of our students have 9 letters. We compared our name tower today with other people in the class to find someone with a shorter name, someone with the same number of letters and someone with more letters.
In reading we are really finding out how much we know about reading. It's been a great 2 days with new reading groups. Some students are really showing how much they know!
In writing we are having fun writing about Halloween. And in Science, it's been fun learning about pumpkins. Today everyone got their own pum
Today was such a great day in reading! We took a step back to revisit our "jobs" during each reading rotation- we know have a form that we are going to fill out everyday to help us see what we are doing during rotations and to show what we are learning. It was a GREAT day for me because as the entire class was reading to themselves at the same time, I could conference with students and talk with them about the characters in their book and the setting. I would LOVE to do this more often and am working on a new schedule so this happens each day!
In math we read the book Tikki Tikki Tembo- we found out that his name is SUPER long and we would not want to write that everyday! We will look at how many letters are in our name next week and compare with others.
In writing students had fun telling me about a picture that I hadn't seen- they described it to me, and I drew what they were telling me on the board. We found out that the pictures didn't match because instead of a yellow ball, I drew a basketball. We will continue to work on these things to help students add details to their sentences.
PLEASE ENJOY THE 4 days at home with your children! I hope to see you at conferences tomorrow- and a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that attended conferences last night.
Well, I woke up this morning- and knew that my students would be super excited today! They have been talking about snow for weeks!! They know I hate the snow! So that made it even better--- FOR THEM!
Today we worked on setting and learned that in a story our characters can go many places! We are tying this into our writing and learning that our sentences have to have a beginning, middle and end- they must all have someone or something (animal) doing something and then tell where the people are. Students thought it was fun to see a picture of my brother and me getting ready to run-- so the sentence was Mrs. Earle and Dustin are going to run in Des Moines. The students do a great job of deciding who did it, what did they do, and where were they.
Today was an extra special day because we had visitors from Tanzania come to Lowell and tell us all about life in Tanzania. We learned about the animals, food, and school in Tanzania. Can you imagine 100 kindergarteners in class with only 1 teacher? I can't!! We learned that students wear uniforms just like we do, and they have to walk almost 6 miles to school
Today during small group reading we got a very special surprise! Mr. Gary brought in 4 BIG boxes for us. Students were very excited to know what was in all the boxes. We opened the boxes to find our project material from Donors Choose. I wish I had the camera ready to take pictures of the students and their excitement as we opened each and every box. We got 18 sets of nonfiction books. I had a HUGE sense of pride to see the students and their excitement! We can't wait to start reading all those books and learning about the weather, sports, and people in the community.
We worked a little bit on rhyming with the words cap and can today. We learned those are the AP and AN family. This was difficult for students, but we will keep practicing.
We also were excited to meet Romeo today. He is our new student and the class was very helpful in getting Romeo set up with our routines and finding where everything is in the room and building. Again- another example of what a great class we have!!!
Well, if it snows tonight the children will get their wish- they were ALL hoping for snow tonight. I told them they would all be in BIG trouble if that happens! I hate cold weather.
SO if we get any snow tonight- it's all their fault!
Just a reminder we do still go outside even though it's getting colder- so please send a jacket with your child.
Today we wrote about going on a trip and what we would need to take with us. Students were upset that I am going to Des Moines for a run and the circus this weekend- but I promised them they would all have fun this weekend at home with their families.
In math we started comparing things and finding out what is longer and shorter. We used a ten tower as our measuring tool. Students had fun finding things around the room that are taller/shorter and longer/shorter than their tower.
Students in reading group were pulling letters out of a bag and had to come up with a word that starts with their letter. I was very happy with words students came up with.
Students were very excited to come to school today to meet our new student. There were lots of questions about Where is Romeo? When is he coming? Will he be here after lunch? Well, I found out he will start on Wednesday as his family is still moving to Waterloo. we will be very excited Wednesday!
Today in math we found different ways to count out objects. Some students could recognize a row of 5 and some could count the tiles by 2. We did a great job with math and 4 different activities today.
in reading and writing we are talking about making connections. Our story is about packing a bag because the little girl is going somewhere. Students were able to make a connection about a time they went somewhere. We practiced making a list of things we take to school. This was tough
JUST A REMINDER TONIGHT IS FALL FESTIVAL AT LOWELL.
Today we went on a leaf hunt and collected a bunch of leaves! Students enjoyed going out and finding big, small, green and yellow leaves. They are very curious about what projects we need them for.
In math today we talked about different ways we can record on our roll and record sheet. I asked a group of students what they could do instead of coloring in the square. It was tough at first, but through conversation they came up with writing the number or drawing pictures.
In writing we talked about all the feelings the characters in Goldilocks and the Three Bears had. It was fun to learn that just like us, characters can be mad, happy, sad and scared. We journaled about which character we would like to be friends with and why.
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