Each day for letter review, students echo read a predictable book (only 1 word changes per page. I read it and then they read it as I point to the words. Today, students wanted to do it on their own. I read the classic book The Runaway Bunny and a Halloween "copycat" version called The Runaway Mummy. At journal time, students thought about their own "copycat" version and wrote where their character would run. I saw an excellent one called "The Runaway Ghost," in which the ghost ran away to a graveyard. In math, we learned about number lines and how they only show some numbers--the arrows at each end mean there are more numbers in both directions. Students completed a dot-to-dot. Students played a math game similar to Candyland, in which students had to take turns, spin a spinner, and move their game piece. It quickly became clear that we need to word on cooperation. We had a little time to kill between recess and library so we played a quick game of Duck Duck Goose. Mrs. Waples gave students a preview of some of the books available at next week's book fair. Ms. Kembel made some fun treats for students that they received at the end of the day and I gave them a coupon for a free Wendy's frosty. Have a fun weekend!

No Halloween Costumes!!

In case you were wondering, students are not allowed to wear Halloween costumes to school--school policy. If your child is wearing a costume, you will have to bring them a change of clothes. Thank you.

This morning Ms. Kembel taught a math lesson on graphing. She gave each student a cup of candies from a pot of "Witch's Stew" that they put on a bar graph. We reviewed the letter Yy, learned some new vocabulary words, and played the game BANG. After lunch, Ms. Kembel read Diary of a Spider to the class. For writer's workshop, students wrote a list of the ingredients in Witch's Stew. We made a torn paper pumpkin craft. In the afternoon, we went to Mrs. Paulson's room to watch the first graders perform a pumpkin play.

Oh my gosh are the pumpkins cute! I will post a slide show of all of them later tonight, when I get to my home PC. In sign language, we learned the signs for a poem called "Trick or Treat" that will go into the poetry binders. Students practiced showing nine and ten counters in a 10-frame and practiced writing the numbers nine and ten. We read the Ww book and brainstormed words that begin with W. We did a new activity today in which students had to identify what part of the word a letter sound occurred--beginning, middle, or end (the /t/ in bat is at the end). I thought they did very well with it! Students who turned in disguised pumpkins filled out a form today that said, "I am not a pumpkin, can't you see? I am a _____ so don't carve me!" I put the forms beside their pumpkins in the hall. Riley was the musical chairs champion. Yay, Riley!

As we begin to have cold weather, just a reminder to dress your child for the weather. We WILL go out for 3 recesses each day unless it is raining or the temperature drops below zero. If your child has lost a coat, there is quite a collection of unclaimed coats in the gym, hanging below the stage. If they are not claimed by the end of the month, they go to the rescue mission.

Today we received a few "disguised" pumpkins and are they ever CUTE! They will be displayed in the hall until Friday, when I will send them home. If your child has an especially heavy pumpkin, you might want to help them carry it home on Friday or make arrangements to pick it up another time. We read the book Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews. Students had to cut out 10 black dots to create a picture similar to what the author did. After reading Dinner at Panda Palace, students imagined that they had their own restaurant and drew foods that they might serve and labeled the pictures. We played musical chairs in the afternoon and I've gotta say that this group was very well behaved throughout the game. Have a great evening.

Bus Trip Pic

We had a fun "short day." We played "teacher versus kids" in which I point to words in a book. If they read the word correctly, they get a point. If they get it wrong, I get the point. Thankfully, the kids won! (I don't mind losing at this game.) We practiced spelling all the words on our word wall on mini whiteboards. Ms. Kembel read a pumpkin book to the class which talked about the life cycle of a pumpkin. For art, students traced a leaf template, drew vein lines on their leaf, which created several sections on the leaf. Next, students drew a different pattern in each section, and then colored each section a different color. They look really great and I wish I had a picture to show you. Morgan's mom brought her dogs for a quick show and tell at the end of the day.

I just placed the Scholastic book order. Thanks again for your orders! I was able to add $20 worth of books to the classroom library. Have a relaxing 4-day weekend. I'm headed to Missoula to watch my daughter perform in the All-State Band concert.