MAY!

We took the time test yesterday and I was extremely happy with the results! The class average was 94%.  The Fundations unit 14 test will be on Friday.

Also on Friday, we will be having a pancake day! We will be reading the story, "Pancakes for Supper." After we take the test, the kiddos and I will be having a rather relaxing day.  I am also planning on having a kite afternoon.  When I was at Crimson Ridge the other week, the owner was kind enough to donate 26 kites to my classroom once he found out I was a teacher. I told the kids that this adventure will be weather dependent.

Yesterday we cleaned out our bins!!! They were a MESS!

We have officially finished covering all of the Common Core Math Standards.  So, now we will be going back and making sure they have been mastered.  I gave the kids a quick pop quiz review over everything we covered this year and I will use those results to structure the rest of math instruction for the year.  

Our field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry is next Friday.  Make sure your student is here no later than 7:20 and is picked up by 4:20.  I have not heard from any parents that they plan on driving.  Please let me know if you are going to.  Also, I will be sending home a consent form regarding electronics on the bus.  You only need to sign and return it if your student is planning on bringing an iPod, Kindle, DS or any other electronic device on the bus.

I will not be at school on Monday.  My husband and I are in the process of becoming foster parents with the goal of adoption and we need to get some ducks in a row, including doctor visits and paperwork. I let the kids know that I will not be here that day and I expect them to be on their best behavior.  Next week will be a lot of fun, but extremely crazy, as well!  

Time!

This morning I attached a watch to each of the kids wrists and their job was to find out what time everyone's watch said.  All of the kids did a really good job and I definitely hope they will be ready for the test on Wednesday morning.

We finished up poetry last week with the book, "Mirror , Mirror." It is one of the coolest books ever! Afterwards, the students worked in pairs to reflect on a poem of their choosing. Before all of that, we created diamante poems.  They wrote them out first and then typed them up.  After that, they cut and pasted them onto kites that they made.  Diamante poems are in the shape of a diamond, so a kite seemed fitting.  

On Tuesday, Ali and her mom were nice enough to bring in her new lion-head bunny Leia for us to see.  

After a nice vacation in California, Kadin came back and shared some things with the class.  He was kind enough to bring me back an Oscar! 

Earth Day

We have already had a great day and it is only 10:35! The PTO has organized some REALLY fun things for us this week in honor of Earth Day.  This morning, we went to the science lab and created big flower magnets out of the bottle caps that we have been collecting since November.  Tomorrow, the kids will vote for what design they want to create in the garden in May.  Thursday, we will finishing up the collection of water bottles for the Dragonfly Studio.  The class with the most bottles will win a wonderful dessert picnic in May. SO, SEND IN EMPTY WATER BOTTLES!!!! Finally, on Friday, each student will receive an earth shaped cookie to enjoy.

We have begun "The Great Pencil Challenge!"  Pencils are my least favorite thing ever so, we trying something new to hopefully reduce the issues.  Each kid started with a pencil today.  We will have occasional check-ins to see who still has their pencil.  The last pencil standing wins a PRIZE! If I find a pencil on the floor, that kiddo is disqualified.  I am really hoping that all of the kids rise to the challenge!

  

Celebrating SPRING!

This week we continued to work on poetry (we will also be doing more next week).  We made adjective poems about Peeps.  First, we conducted a peeps taste test, of course.  Later in the day we wrote cinquains about Spring.  But, to make it more fun we made bluebirds to go along with them.

Some of the acrostic poems from Monday

This morning we had an Easter Egg Hunt.  I hid 24 eggs around the school and they all had questions inside that the kids had to answer.  It was a lot of fun! 

This week we took the array test and the unit 13 test.  I was incredibly happy with the results.  The average score for the Fundations test was 93% and 95% for the array test.  Thank you for working at home with your students.   I appreciate the support.  

Remember, no school tomorrow (Friday) and no school on Monday.  Have a great long weekend! 

Hooray for WINNING!

I am a very competitive person and I LOVE when we can win anything and everything.  A few weeks ago we had the canned food drive.  The student teachers in the building organized it and second grade collected more food than first grade.  So, we WON! Besides the winning part, it was awesome that so many of them were able to donate to the food pantry.  Second grade collected about 300 cans and first grade collected just under 250.  That's pretty great for only a week of collecting. Since we did win, we received popsicles at the end of the week.  The kids were very grateful!

Today we started poetry.  I am so excited to see their imaginations at work.  Today we wrote acrostic poems using their names.  Over the next few weeks we will be writing A LOT! 

Dates to remember...

April 15- Talent Show

Aptil 16- Array test

April 17- Unit 13 test

               11:05 Dismissal

April 18 and 21- NO SCHOOL

May 7- 1:35 Dismissal

May 9- Museum of Science and Industry Field trip (7:20-4:20)

May 14- Trip to 3rd Street (if they earn it)

May 19- Spending the afternoon at Sumner Park

May 26- No school

June 2- Field trip to Krape Park (information to come)

Chinchillas, yo yo's and arrays.. OH MY!

We have had an exciting last couple of weeks! Because of that, I have changed the test on arrays to Wednesday next week.  Our math time kept getting interrupted with meetings, assemblies, days off and more! So, in order to make the sure the kids fully understand rows, columns and arrays, we are moving the test.  That means we won't start a new math concept until after Easter break.

The kids did make an "Array City" this week.  We were supposed to do guided math but, the iPads were broken so, we improvised!

Last week we had the NED assembly and that is where the yo yo's come in.  They are driving me CRAZY but, the message that came along with them was wonderful.  Click here for the NED website.

Payton K. has been talking about her chinchilla Daisy for weeks now and we finally got to see her for ourselves.  Her mom was gracious enough to bring her in and let us all pet her.

As kids are starting their summer activities, please let me know if they want me to come to a game or recital or anything.  I would love to see them in action.

BOOK ORDERS ARE DUE TOMORROW!

The Elusive LIRPALOOF

April 1st is meant for tricks and school is no exception! 

First, we learned about the Lirpaloof.  It is a bird that comes out in early April and LOVES carrots. You can find it by singing it's name and holding baby carrots up in the air.  So, we did just that and... APRIL FOOLS! Lirpaloof is April Fool's spelled backwards (kind of). Below, we are searching for the Lirpaloof outside.

Later I rewarded the kids for a good day with Brownies! Well... kind of... I gave them brown E's! 

Let's just say that I had a lot of fun with today and the kids were note quite happy about being tricked but, I hope they saw the fun in it all! 

On a more serious note... we will have our Unit 12 test on Friday for Fundations and we are in the midst of a canned food drive that ends on Friday.  Also, tomorrow (Wednesday) is a 1:35 dismissal.