Friday, October 16, 2009

Oct. 16

Fall has certainly arrived! Some days I think Winter has arrived - WAY TOO EARLY! :-)

This week we heard the story of Christopher Columbus and did the art project of a ship to represent the three ships with Columbus. We also had Theme Skills tests for Theme 1 in Reading. We are currently working on rough drafts for our stories. They use storyboards to plan their stories, and then we use them to write the story. It's new to my class and is a bit difficult, but it'll get better as they get used to it. We worked on sentences that are statements. I usually try to "trick" the kids by giving them a trick sentence like throw in an incomplete sentence or a question, and they are so smart they catch the trick. Hooray! In Science we had pictures of animals and found many ways to sort them- by number of legs, fur, feathers, habitat, etc. They did an excellent job of sorting. In Math, we have begun place-value and are using our base-ten blocks. Some are finding the place-value confusing so we'll keep working on that, too.

We have completed our second lesson for our Reconciliation preparation. The kids should have brought the sheets home as there is a note to parents on the last page of the pamphlets. Please look through these. We are also working on learning about the Mysteries of the Rosary. The booklets do not include the Luminous Mysteries, but they are on the other sheets the kids have on the rosary.


Next week we will begin Theme 2 in Reading. The theme is Nature Walk. We will be practicing comparing and contrasting. We'll be working on words with Vowel-Consonant-Final E long sounds of o,u, and e as well as the two sounds for "g". In English we'll do more practice with statements and questions. For Science, it's learning about reptiles, amphibians, and fish. We'll finish up the chapter in Math, and then the next chapter we'll start with ordinal numbers and comparing numbers with greater, less than, and equal to.

We will be doing games in our rooms for grades K-5 for our Honors/Halloween party on October 30. We plan to have the kids move from room to room with the aid of our Junior High students. We are asking for donations of prizes for these games. If you can help with the prizes, please sent them in to me. THANKS!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

October 8 OOPS! Hit the wrong button!

I'll try this again!

We had a great day of learning at the Diocesan Workshops in Rice Lake yesterday. The liturgy itself is worth the trip! Bishop Peter even commented on how great it is to have so many together praying and singing in unison. It is awesome! Getting together with so many other educators and staff is a great opportunity to get new ideas and share some of ours. We always get a boost from this day.

Today we went to Walmart for our Reading Event. Heidi read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We got fruit to eat to go with the book and the fruit the caterpillar ate. Then the kids got to draw pictures and share their pictures and stories with each other. We also got fresh, hot pretzels and lemonade! It was a fun trip! I took pictures, and I will share some of our class when I get the list of who can/cannot have pics on the blog or press.

We're starting our lessons for First Reconciliation this week. It's exciting to know the kids will be receiving the sacrament in about 8 weeks!

Have a good evening!

October 8

Thursday, October 1, 2009

October 1st

Is it really October already????? It's hard to believe!
Today I read Stellaluna and the kids made their quilt squares to go along with our story. They look really cute. One square has a black tree and the other has a "bat".
I also started to read The Quilting Bee to help them learn about making quilts and the kinds of squares and quilts people make.

NEXT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH, we plan on going to Walmart for the Read for the Record. We'll leave about 9:45 for the 10:00 program and activities. You will receive the permission slip tomorrow (Friday). If you are going to drive, the school must have driver information/insurance papers filled out as well as an Adult Waiver. These are required by the Diocese of Superior. Remember to send your child with his/her BOOSTER SEAT.

This is also PICTURE DAY, but we will make plans to have pictures taken before or after our field trip.

We are working on subtraction in Math. I am still having them practice the entire fact family when we do problems. Keep practicing with your child each night. The basic facts are SO important. If you have a computer, there are a couple of websites that I know are helpful but you may know others. One I use often is APlus Math. Click on the flashcards and kids can practice both addition and subtraction. Another fun way of practicing is using dice. Have the child roll two dice and give the fact family for the numbers rolled. This can even be done with playing cards. It's easier for the kids if we make it fun. :-)

In Science, we are learning what plants and animals need to live. We covered quite a bit today, and the kids are pretty sharp in this area!

Today we heard about St. Therese of the Child Jesus - or "The Little Flower" and colored a picture of her. Tomorrow is Guardian Angel day so we'll learn about them, too. Since October is the month of the Rosary, we'll be doing learning activities with that during the month. The non-Catholic children are welcome to participate in the coloring pages which are scripture.

Also, next Thursday I plan on beginning lessons to prepare the children for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Again, non-Catholic children are welcome to take part in watching videos and reading the pamphlets unless I am told by parents they should not do so. These lessons will usually be on Mondays and Fridays.

Have a good evening!