During Writer’s Workshop we learned something cool about writers. We learned that writers don’t write books all by themselves because every writer has people to help them. Each writer in our class now has a partner to help them just like a grown-up writer. We’ll sit next to our partners during our mini lessons and throughout the year we’ll learn many different ways that our partner can help us with our writing. We practiced planning our story across three pages (if we had a lot to tell) and we began using a new kind of paper that has lines at the bottom. We discovered that these lines are a wonderful place for our letters and words to go. Finally, we reread some of our pieces to check to see if we could add the word the. During our Math block we learned that one of the best ways to count a collection is to line up the objects and carefully count them one at a time. We learned what makes a shape a rectangle and why a square is a special rectangle. We practiced counting sets of 10 and practiced making and solving number stories. During our math centers we played top-it with dot and number cards, made pokey-pin pumpkins and counted up to 20 links to attach to our count and link elephants. Finally we learned about a helpful math tool called a 10 Frame. During our extra library on Friday, Mrs. Burns brought the class to the makerspace to make pumpkin catapults. You can see some pictures of the activity on our Photo Gallery page. During our Reader’s Workshop we had time to read privately and with a partner in our classroom library. We worked at several centers where we practiced hearing and identifying the first sound we hear in words. We sorted objects by their first sound using some sound tubs, played a matching game with rhyming cards and we learned how to read and write the first of our 10 kindergarten spelling words. This week we looked closely at the word the. We practiced finding it among other words and we practiced writing it in a fun halloween book called Boo! When Mrs. Benoit visited us she reminded us about using our mouth to help us to be a Whole Body Listener. She read a story called My Mouth is a Volcano. She explained that it makes our classmates feel happy when we can listen to them talk without interrupting. In addition to all of this hard work we’ve been doing in our workshops, over the past two weeks we have been working to get our classroom ready for our Halloween party. We decorated our door with jack-o-lanterns and ghosts, carefully followed directions when we made our candy cane monsters, and we colored and cut shapes to make a scary green monster. All of this fine motor work is helping to strengthen the muscles in our hands which will make writing and drawing easier. Monday is our Halloween party from 10:45 to about 12:15. Children should plan to come to school that day wearing as much of their costume as possible. Costumes should be easy to put on and take off. We will begin the day with a costume parade through our school at 9:15. If you are not able to volunteer at our party, but would like to see the parade you can watch it from the front office.
All children will change out of costumes before going to lunch and recess after our party. We encourage costumes that are not violent in nature and that are developmentally appropriate. Please leave all "weapons" at home. Thank you for your understanding. During our party children will rotate through activities playing games and making crafts. The afternoon will be a typical afternoon.
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During our Writer's Workshop we practiced telling true stories from our very own lives and shared our writing with a partner. We continue to add labels to our pictures and are trying to hear the sounds in the words that tell our story. We wrote about fall leaves and continue to practice making letters the "school" way. When Mrs. Benoit visited us she read a story called Whole Body Larry at School. During our Math block we practiced adding and subtracting small numbers when we played “Pocket Problems”, we talked about what is sorting and what is not sorting and we learned that circles are closed shapes with a curved line and that triangles have three straight sides and three angles. We played count and sit, Gotcha! and dot top-it. During Reader’s Workshop we learned that readers reread books to learn MORE from them. We practiced reading with a partner and we reread some favorite story books by remembering the story and looking closely at the pictures. At centers we used our dot daubers to match upper and lower-case letters, sorted letters from the rice tub, and used tongs and chopsticks to make a pom-pom path through letters. On Friday we met our First Grade Reading Buddies! We got to know them a fun way-by using our chrome books to take some silly pictures. :-) . Next week we'll start reading some simple books and poems that we can share with our Buddies. To prepare for our trip to White Pine we began to talk about Native American Indians. We talked about how a long time ago American Indians wore clothing made from animal skins and used tools to hunt for and gather their food, but American Indians today live, work play and hunt just like we do. Wednesday afternoon we took a field trip to White Pine to learn how important the forest is. The teachers at White Pine taught us about making a fire using material from the woods, building a shelter using sticks and leaves, cooking in an outdoor kitchen, and using forest debris found on the forest floor to make an art project called a Debris Mat. While we were there we had the privilege of listening to a master story-teller. David Sanipass is a member of the Mic Mac nation here in Maine. David recounted three tales which kept our class enthralled. He asked the children to go home and share these stories with their families, and to ask their parents and grandparent to share their stories. Later, David led us in a hunt for a deer. We learned that when hunting deer you have to move quietly and then stay low to blend in with the woods. Here is the video of our trip to White Pine that I shared with the class today. You can also check out our Photo Gallery page for pictures from our trip. Because the natural world was and remains such an important part of life for Native Americans our November share will be a nature share. Please help your child find something from nature which they can bring to school and share with their classmates. Some ideas might include an object found in nature, a picture of them working in or enjoying nature (gardening, hiking…), a nature craft your child has made, a book about an aspect of the natural world in which your child is interested or another idea. The schedule will be will be posted on the Share Dates page of the class website.
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Ms. McCormack's BlogHere's a look at what we've done this week. Archives
June 2018
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