Thanks to Grandma Laurie and Sara (Eva’s grandma and mom) we had a fantastic BINGO experience.
Look closely to see the BINGO markers (candy hearts).
Students were very focused on searching their BINGO grid for the numbers and listening carefully. What a fun Valentine’s Day math activity!
On Tuesday we celebrated our 100th day of School. It is official, we have been in school for more than 100 days. All of the 1st and 2nd grade students are 100 days smarter.
Last week, 6th grade math students visited our classroom for geometry learning.
These 6th grade students prepared stories inspired by Tangram illustrations.
Once they finished reading their Tangram story to their 1st or 2nd grade partner, our students were able to explore and create their own images from these geometric shapes.
Thanks 6th grade math students!
Sandy is a Spellbinder Storyteller. She is visiting our class once a month to share stories that relate with our learning. Next she plans to share biographies. We love listening to the stories Sandy shares.
This week we have been busy with our Personal Learning Plan (PLP) presentations. Next week holds Valentine’s Day fun. I hope that you have fun creating your Valentine’s Day box. We have a classroom full of very creative students!
January has been a month full of guest speakers.
We began the New Year with inviting University Schools alumni Millie Schbrieman to return as a guest speaker. She shared about her senior project, last year, a large painting in our school library (the Cove). She spent approximately 300 hours and included dozens of popular book characters. Students were able to ask her many questions.
Yesterday, Miss Rodeo Colorado visited our school. She shared about the history of the rodeo in Colorado. All of the 1st and 2nd grade students enjoyed her and Miss Rodeo North Dakota’s visit. These guests were thanks to Trent Johnson (Collin’s dad) of Greeley Hat Works. He creates the hats for Miss Rodeo Colorado each year.
We also learned about the history of Miss Rodeo Colorado’s crown (on top of the hat). It represents Colorado with turquoise and was handmade by a Native American artist in the early 70′s when Miss Rodeo Colorado first began.
Do you know which state held the first rodeo? Colorado!
We learned so much thanks to our guest speakers this month.
We recently began an ongoing reading and writing activity called Writer’s Workshop.
During this process 1st and 2nd grade students begin using their reading skills in order to become better writers.
Start – brainstorm the main character, a problem and a solution
Middle – create a book with words and illustrations
Middle – Peer editing
Middle – Conferencing with an adult for final guidance before publishing
End – Publishing (creating a final version of their book with color illustrations)
Instead of a series of steps in a specific order, students make all choices during the process of creating their book. They decide if they need a conference with an adult (myself or a parent volunteer) while they first form their book. However, students might wait until the final phases, right before they are ready to publish in order to have an adult assist with last minute spelling corrections, adding commas or other punctuation details. Writer’s Workshop equips students to be the leaders of their own learning.
Students experience the process of forming an idea, collaborating with friends and ultimately create an end product, a book that each student is proud of. The best part of Writer’s Workshop is that it is a learner centered activity, instead of a teacher standing at the front of a classroom to teach writing the students will hold a pencil and actively explore the writing process. Each child chooses when their book is complete, and is then able to begin brainstorming for their next book.
Some students are writing non-fiction. Others are writing fictional stories. Some students are writing to inform, while others are writing to entertain. A few students have developed a “Table of Contents” in the beginning of the book. Most importantly, all students are excited about reading, writing and creating their book.
Please contact me if you would like to volunteer during this time (9:55-10:45), or if you are interested in stoping by to experience what students are currently exploring and writing about.
Today we celebrated Pajama Day!
We love that our classroom community is full of unique and special students. Each of us bring something wonderful to our class.
Students have been busy learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Ask your student what they have learned about leaders such as Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ron McNair and Ruby Bridges. We have spent a small amount of time on many great leaders. See if they can share about any of these people who have changed our country, and our schools.
As we begin our large break from school, don’t forget to have fun reading, and even visit the public library for some good books.
We concluded our Unit on The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Have fun exploring his website and discover dozens of other great books written and illustrated by Van Allsburg.
As a class, we acted out the story.
Everyday 1st grade students spend their math hour in our classroom, exploring new concepts and ideas. The second grade students visit Mrs. Duran’s classroom each day during their hour of math learning.
Recently, 1st grade students concluded a geometry topic, and also explored various pattern structures (AB, AAB, ABB, ABC, etc).
The 2nd grade students have learned about adding two digit numbers, as they discuss the magic box. Feel free to ask your child about what they have been learning at school.
Great conversations could occur through asking specific questions, such as the following examples:
Enjoy conversation with your child.
Don’t forget about the learning games and activities on our class website.
We hope everyone has a wonderful time resting during our large break from school.
Due to the recent increase of toys being brought to school, we have recently had a classroom discussion. As a classroom community, students decided on a new classroom policy. That being said, from now on, any toys brought to school and removed from backpacks distracting friends from learning will be donated to kids that do not have toys.
Leading up to our break, students have a focus on the skill of comparing and contrasting literature. We incorporated holiday fun through using different historical versions of the story, Twas the Night Before Christmas, as well as more modern versions, such as a Pirate’s Night Before Christmas. Students discussed the main idea of these stories while also comparing and contrasting the details.
During our large break from school, please continue to support your student and encourage a time to read each day. Students have special journals to reinforce a time for writing during the break as well.
Lastly, if your family does not yet share a winter tradition with a special book or story, I would recommend beginning a seasonal tradition of reading something special each year. Have a wonderful time resting and being together as a family.
Today we celebrated a special date at school, 11-11-11. We discussed that today is the 11th day of November (the 11th month) of 2011.
We also celebrated today’s holiday, Veterans Day. Since today is such a monumental date, as a class we voted to save our Veterans Day (11-11-11) activity in our Portfolios.
Some students might want to play learning games at va.gov a special website with information about veterans of war.
Our class completed our Pen Pal letters to Ireland.
We have learned about the following:
We had great whole class discussion, as well as small group discussions on the types of questions we should ask our Pen Pals. Now, students have more developed writing and communication skills through the multiple drafts of their letter. Our Middle School Reading buddies helped us complete our final draft.
We hope our new friends in Ireland enjoy reading our letters, as much as we enjoyed writing the letters.
Please read some of the student letters in the hallway during Conferences.
We had a fantastic Halloween celebration on Monday, October 31st. Our class was invited to Trick or Treat at Grace Pointe Assisted Living. We were able to walk in beautiful sunshine.
Students were polite and gracious towards all of the generous elderly individuals sharing candy.
After we received loads of candy, we sang “I’m a Little Ghost” to share Halloween cheer with people at Grace Pointe.
Louise Buckley, our Music teacher helps students learn new songs all the time. Feel free to check out her website and read about what 1st and 2nd grade students are learning in music class.
Later, during the afternoon, all elementary students shared in a time to parade costumes. Fortunately, we had incredible weather and we were able to have our Halloween Parade outside in our stadium.
Look closely, and you will see some amazing costumes, you can even find Mrs. Duran’s great pumpkin costume. Whether it was a Lego, a ghost, or a few wildcats, Boyd’s Bugs really know how to dress up for Halloween.
Do you recognize your music teacher? She is dressed up as Coach Sue Sylvester from GLEE, while I posed as Rachel Berry in a leaf bug costume.
Boyd’s Bugs had a great Halloween!
Thank you for all of our parent volunteers who made our day great.
