We are talking about different types of dwellings this week, so I started the day by reading A House is a House for Me. Students brainstormed what things are houses for other things. They came up with some good ones, including, "A flower is a home for a fairy." Awww... Cute, huh? In math, students had to evenly distribute items to different numbers of people. They learned that the more people there are, the less everyone gets! We had P.E. in the classroom today because there was an orchestra concert in the gym. For social studies, we looked at dwellings from different parts of the country. We learned about wigwams, igloos, adobe homes, and yurts. I gave the students a hint about tomorrow's science lesson by telling them that they'll do a weather experiment in which they get to use an eyedropper. They were intrigued.

I just posted a link to a Dr. Seuss site in honor of Read Across America day March 2. See Cool Sites for Kids below.

If you looked in your child's backpack this afternoon and wondered about the cut up paper plate, it was a "fraction pizza." Students were asked to color a pizza with all their favorite toppings. The boys divided their pizzas into fourths and the girls divided theirs into halves. You could continue the fraction lesson by asking your child how much of the pizza remains if you take away a slice. Students have filled up their writing journals so we were happy when new journals arrived today. Students were free to choose what they wrote about, but I asked them to be very deliberate about leaving spaces between words and to use lowercase letters. If you notice your child writing in uppercase letters at home, please encourage them to write "the big kid way" (in lowercase letters).

We were able to watch a Michael Jackson tribute concert by the 4th-6th graders this morning. Later, we read some books that explained fractions. Students learned that the bottom number of a fraction is called the denominator and that fractions represent equal parts of a whole.

In math we learned about symmetry. Students demonstrated their understanding by folding a piece on construction paper in half, drawing a design on one half and making a symmetrical design on the other half. They even used mirror images! They are amazing! We did an art project this afternoon that required students to cut shapes such as rectangles for buildings, squares for windows, and triangles for roofs and then paint the reflection of of the buildings in a body of water below the buildings. The results are stunning.

It was so wonderful to see all the smiling faces this morning and to receive so many hugs! The students were absolutely angelic today! We had a lot of fun and even got to play outside! Ms. Butler taught a lesson on following directions, showed the class a cute video to reinforce the rules, and gave them a coloring sheet. In science we did a sink or float activity. The students were great at predicting the results. We also enjoyed some tasty cupcakes for Natasha's birthday.

Mt. Rushmore

I was able to take a road trip with my husband to Rapid City on Friday to visit Mt. Rushmore. When we left the hotel Saturday morning to see the monument, the weather in Rapid City was going from bad to worse but we decided to continue. We were so happy that we did because the weather was beautiful on the mountain. We were still able to get home safely.

The weather was so wonderful that I brought the bubbles and sidewalk chalk out at recess and let the kids have some fun in the sun! Our shared reading this week is called "Foods I Like," so during sign language each student was given a piece of plastic food and asked to sign a sentence about their food while others guessed the sentence. At writing time, students wrote a list of at least 3 foods that they love (I used "love" instead of like since we're still practicing spelling the word). In math, we learned about how shapes look when they flip, slide, or turn. For science we learned about the heart: how big it is, what it does, and how to keep it healthy. Remember that students get out of school at noon tomorrow and that we don't have school Thursday, Friday or Monday.

Thank you for the sweet Valentine wishes and the fun cards! I thought the students were relatively well behaved and attentive even though it was a holiday. They did a great job of distributing their Valentine's. We read a book about a rabbit whose poor listening skills get him into trouble. We also finished the chapter book Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine. Students graphed candy hearts by color for math. We started a new unit on US Presidents. We looked at a picture of the presidents on Mt. Rushmore and our current president. We discussed the job of the president and where he lives. See if your child remembers any of this information tonight.

Carnival

I wanted to show you all what your donations amounted to. According to the PTA, our class has the BEST basket. You all are awesome! Thanks for your donations. I'm sure the basket will bring lots of money tomorrow night. The carnival is tomorrow from 5-8pm. I hope to see all of you there having fun as a family. I

Happy Birthday, Christian!

(Morgan and her mom are making cotton candy for Friday's carnival.)
We had another fun day. Ellie's dad and another officer from the Sherrif's department brought the drug dog to our school for an assembly. We got to watch the dog, Aron, in action as he found hidden drugs. I re-read The Wolf's Chicken Stew and we talked about hundreds. Students worked in pairs to put together enough dominoes to make 100 dots. It was a bit of a challenge, but they persisted. We finished Stuart Little today, so for writer's workshop, students wrote a new ending. We all thought Stuart should have found Margalo and lived happily ever after, but the book left us hanging. We learned the difference between a square and a rectangle. Did you know that a square is a special rectangle because all of its sides are the same length? Students decorated Valentine's bags today and used hearts to create animal pictures. As always, they were very creative!

Today was so fun! This morning we had sign language with the other kindergarten class. We learned a new shared reading called "The Hearts." Mrs. Mayes, the reading coach, gave a math lesson about teen numbers. Students found teen numbers hiding in a list of letters and told the number to "go away." Ms. Butler taught a lesson about leaving heart prints on the hearts of others by doing nice things. In writer's workshop, students made a list of the people they love. For science, we let a hard boiled egg sit in cola for 30 minutes. We noted that the egg had turned brown. Each student took a turn brushing the egg with a small toothbrush and toothpaste. We talked about how certain drinks can discolor our teeth and that's why it's important to brush our teeth, especially after enjoying sugary foods or those things that discolor teeth. We also cleaned pennies with ketchup. The acid in tomatoes shines copper. Enjoy the pictures of the scientists hard at work.

Today students examined geometric shapes to find the flat sides. We now know the difference between a circle and a sphere. We reviewed the ABC chart, noting the difference between vowels and consonants and the sounds made by each. We read The Wolf's Chicken Stew and compared it to other stories we've read recently, such as Henny Penny, Rosie's Walk, and Hattie and the Fox. Students made a list of foods they love during Writer's Workshop. They learned to put commas between items in a list.

Today we reviewed numbers 10 through 20 through a poem and a writing activity. We read a different version of Henny Penny, noted the similarities and differences and learned not to believe everything you hear. Students attended an assembly about our school's upcoming blood drive. Tomorrow is library day so please remind your child to put their book into their backpack tonight.

Today we talked about the movements of the geometric shapes we're studying. Students had to decide if a cylinder, cube, cone and sphere would stack, roll or slide. We decided that it depends on which way they are sitting. Our art project required students to paint 4 separate backgrounds, decorate the letters L,O,V and E differently and put everything back together to correctly spell love. Look at the beautiful results.

The kindergartners joined forces today to practice signing and finger spelling basic sight words. The math coach, Jill Sanders, taught the class a coin matching game. She extended the game to counting on coins for those who were ready to take that leap. For writing, students had to write sentences using at least 3 words from the word wall. We read another chapter from Stuart Little and had free choice centers during recess times since it was too cold to go outside. I made a PowerPoint as a tool for practicing the basic sight words and added movement and sound to some of the slides to keep their attention. Students enjoyed reading along to the presentation. If you have too much time on your hands, here's a fun web tool for creating a funky avatar http://www.buildyourwildself.com/