Week of Dec. 17th

This is a follow-up to my email regarding this week.

As you already know, there is no homework this week, yeah!  We will be reviewing some things, introducing a few new activities, and working away on our planner.  This morning we worked on an activity and as we worked on it, the kids came up with things to add to it.  Gotta love that they take the ownership!!!

Tomorrow is Pajama Day.  If your child is not comfortable wearing PJs all day please send a change of clothes.  We talked about it this afternoon :)

We do have several extra activities planned this week but we are really trying to keep learning all the way through Friday.  I can't believe the semester is over already, it has flown by!

Thank you for all the snacks for Field Day, we enjoyed some in between events and the rest during lunch in our classroom.  Enjoy some pictures.

 On our way to the Parade of Classes, our banner turned out AWESOME!!!

 The Twins Race was hilarious!  Pammy and Fahad

 Charleston and Reese

 Isabel and Leo

 The Hula Hoop Race is harder than it looks!  Samantha and Cindy

 Jackson and Charlie

 Alex and Ethan

 The Frog Race was also a lot of work, they had to touch the ground with their hands at every jump!

 We wrapped up our day with an Art a la Carte lesson by Mr. Friesen

Student-led Conferences on Wednesday, December 5th from 3:00-4:30, in 30 minute blocks

If you are unable to come on Wednesday please let me know and we can arrange an alternate day/time.  This is a wonderful opportunity to meet with your child!  The children lead the conference and share goals and work from our completed planners.

Language Arts: this week we will focus on common nouns (teacher, park, ball, snake). We will read A Big Fish for Max.  The genre is Animal Fantasy. The spelling pattern this week is digraphs sh/th and the vowel sound in ball.

Math: we will work on numbers from 11-20 and the hundred chart.

Science: magnetism, soil, and rocks will be our focus over the next weeks.

LDC: we will have a one week rotation this time around

Getting started on the class creation for the Bash!

Practicing math facts with dominoes (part/part/whole)

Planner title: Where We Are in Time and Place

The central idea of our current planner is that a universal pictorial language connects people around the world.  The lines of inquiry are: 1) communicating with symbols, pictures, and gestures; 2) geography and place; and 3) symbols and patterns and problem solving in math.

The children created the US flag, a national symbol, and wrote about what each part of the flag represents.

Our 'new' student :)  Ainsley, Jackson's little sister

 We went on a 'Signs Hunt' around the school

Some signs were not inside so we went on a 'mini-field trip'

 

Art a la Carte: Mr. and Mrs. Loffredo led this month's lesson!

Week of November 12th

Field Trip: Tuesday, November 13th.  Please make sure that your child has turned in the permission slip, there are still several children that have not returned it.  Your child should bring a sack lunch, no lunch kits; everything must be disposable.  Also, have your child wear his/her Nathan's Nighthawks t-shirts, it makes is easy to spot a child in our class :)  Thank you to all the parents that are joining us!

Early Dismissal (12:30) on Wednesday, November 14th.

High Frequency Word Evaluation: I will finish assessing the kids this week, additional assessments will take place in the spring if necessary.

Language Arts: this week we will focus on interrogative sentences, or asking sentences (questions).  We will read Get the Egg! The genre is Realistic Fiction.  The spelling pattern this week is short e and initial consonant blends such as bl, st, sm.

Math: we will work on patterns this week.

Science: we continue working on energy: light and sound.

Planner: we will wrap up our current planner this week with a visit to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts!

Week of Nov. 5th

Ten-frames practice on the Smartboard

How we express ourselves through art: creating texture

Creating patterns

Week of October 22th

Please remember that there will be a Spelling test each Friday, along with the weekly language arts assessment.

Early Dismissal (12:30) on Wednesday, October 24th.  Parent Conference invitations were sent home last week.  If you did not receive one and want to schedule a time please email me.

Language Arts: this week we continue focusing on the subject of a sentence and reading Pig in a Wig! The genre is Animal Fantasy.

Science: I had gotten my weeks mixed up :(  We will work on the light, heat, and sound energy this week.

Social Studies: we continue working on historical figures

Planner: we continue learning about the different ways people express themselves through art.  This past week we looked at a piece of art and noted all the different things we saw and wrote down questions that we have about the piece.  This is the first step in the Independent Investigation Method (IIM), determining a topic.  This first time, we will be investigating and researching as a group, to learn about the process.

Mrs. Bradford came in and lead an Art a la Carte lesson on Friday.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed it!  The lesson was on Henri Matisse, creating art with cut paper.

Their work is posted ourside our room, what a gallery!

Thanks for all the work at Spooky Spaghetti!  Our booth was very popular, and I know that it was very hard work so please thank all the volunteers!!!

Both my daughters enjoyed getting their nails done.  Below, Jackie is attentively watching as Mrs. Friesen begins working on hers.

Week of October 15th

Please note that the homework looks a little different this week.  A spelling list is included in the packet and there will be a Spelling test on Friday, along with the weekly language arts assessment.

Language Arts: this week we continue focusing on detailed sentences and reading Sam, Come Back! The genre is Realistic Fiction which is a made-up story that could happen in real life. We will discuss Character and Setting.

We had several special activities this week that set us back:
Social Studies: we continue working on historical figures

Planner: we began our second planner entitled How We Express Ourselves: the central idea is that through art, people express ideas, thoughts and feelings.  It is an inquiry into different art forms and styles, materials used over the world to create art, and personal reactions about art.

Nathan's Nighthawks: week of October 8th in Pictures

What a busy week we had!!!

Ethan volunteered to help at the SKATE presentation on Tuesday :)

 We celebrated the 30th day of school by making pumpkins or jack-0-lanterns with Zero the Hero!

 The class work is hanging outside our classroom, check out the creativity!

 The children sorted Nouns & Adjectives on "The Vortex"

 After holding a 'primary' for the class' Field Day name, the 3 contenders were:

The children then practiced being good citizens and cast their votes, a secret ballot.

 We ended the week with the ribbon-cutting for the track!  Mr. Mike Lunceford, president of the HISD Board of Directors.

We celebrated the 30th School Day today and sang about Zero the Hero!

Language Arts: this week we are focusing on detailed sentences and reading Farmer's Market. The genre is Realistic Fiction which is a made-up story that could happen in real life. We are working on identifying the plot of the story, which includes the beginning, middle, and end, and often includes a problem and the solution.  We will also be reviewing Setting.

We have officially started Literacy Workstations.  The children are still getting the hang of it but they are very enthusiastic, flexible, and independent!  Making Words at the Smartboard is extremely popular!  Please try to walk your child through the Log in process on Pearson; if the kids are quick to log in, they have more time to explore the different activities online :)

Social Studies: we will work on historical figures such as Ben Franklin

Science: different forms of energy, light, heat, and sound

PYP: we have begun our new planner entitled How We Express Ourselves.

Science:  "Mmmm!  It smells sweet!"

Another fun and yummy senses activity.  The kids really enjoyed recording their observations on the graphic organizer, using all five senses, and eating the tasty treat.