What an awesome couple of weeks we have been having! As you will read below we have been learning loads and having fun along the way too. We had a great time on our first Field Trip on Friday to the Outdoor Center. We spent time with Mrs. Lacey and Mrs. Devooght, two of the teachers there, learning all about animals and animal adaptations. We explored during hands on activities, made bird feeders for home (coming home today), went on a bird watch hike, made animal shelters and more! We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and the balmy fall air helped. We had the best weather! Thank you to Mrs. French and Mrs. Roosen for helping to chaperone our trip. Below you will find a video recap of our trip :-).
Story Teller Action
You may have heard some exciting news!! Mrs. Kimberly Blaine, storyteller from the Walled Lake Public Library is going to be joining us now weekly on Monday afternoon for a storytelling session. Our first gathering was right before the election and she taught us all about being patriotic, voting and we learned so much! She's enthusiastic and excited to work with us this year. Welcome Mrs. Blaine!
You may have heard about our Shamrocks at Dublin! Every school is required to have a PBIS Team that is responsible for a behavior system put in place at the school. At Dublin we are focused on four traits: responsible, resilient, respectful and integrity. Children can be caught doing great things and earn shamrocks throughout Dublin by any adult on staff. Shamrocks are deposited into a mailbox at four corners in our hallway and then Mr. Drewno picks one shamrock from each grade level to read aloud on the P.A. on Friday's. The rest of the shamrocks are displayed proudly on each grade level's board. Our goal is for every child to earn a shamrock before Winter Break in December! Here are just some shamrocks that were earned lately in our classroom. Way to be great leaders, Weckies!
Reader's Workshop
Currently in Reader's Workshop we have been focusing on Buddy Reading. When learning to read with a friend, we have to make sure we first understand how reading independently looks and how it is different from buddy reading. Once students were paired up with this temporary buddy, we had to pick a spot for them to read together around the room. Then we spent time learning how to sit: Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee (EEKK) with their buddy. This ensures that both kids are ready to read together and the book is placed properly in the middle of both children. We have done several fish-bowl demonstrations where we have gathered around a model group to watch how the buddies interact and prepare to read. We have also done the same with groups that are already reading to make sure that they are following the same guidelines when reading. Besides reading with a buddy, we have begun talking about what you and your buddy can do after you finish a book: discuss it! Readers' have decided that they can: talk about their favorite part of a book, talk about a funny or a sad part, share any connections that they may have, or tell their partner something that they learned in the book. Buddy Reading is definitely a highlight of Reader's Workshop and such a valuable time in the workshop.
While students have been reading independently and with buddies, I have been working on the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) with your child. This valuable assessment is giving me information about your child as a reader: their engagement, their oral reading fluency (ability to notice patterns in text, ability to read, ability to notice miscues and correct them) as well as their reading comprehension. When we put it all together, we can figure out what just-right books look like for your child as well as begin instruction right at your child's level. I hope to have these tests done this week and begin to form guided reading groups next week! More info to come :-).
Word Wall Words: a, go, is, it, I, see, the, to, like
This week's sight word poem (you can even practice this at home with your kiddo!)
Writer's Workshop
In Writer's Workshop we have begun wrapping up our Launch Unit and have moved onto a unit we like to call, "Writing Wizard". During our Writing Wizard, one child who volunteers will be selected to come do a shared writing piece with Mrs. Weckstein on the easel - large chart paper. The rest of the kids are asked to watch and assist as needed. We demonstrate how writers' begin with a sentence with a capital letter, use finger spaces, stretch out the sounds in tricky words and end the sentence with proper punctuation. When students return to their seats, they are asked to try out something that they saw the Writing Wizard do on the easel. For instance, Gavin wrote about something he likes. Everyone was encouraged to model Gavin and write a sentence about something that they like. This is a great way to get EVERY child writing and learning about sentence structure.
Math Workshop
In Math Workshop we have been doing all sorts of fun things. Most recently we have been learning about tens frames and double tens frames. We have been learning how this tool can help us count and make ten or double ten (twenty). We have practiced making numbers with counters on the tens frame and have learned how to use a tens frame to write a simple addition number model for 10. We have worked with partners to make ten and we have done some whole group activities up on the interactive whiteboard!
We have also been spending time with shapes and patterns. We have been reviewing the properties of shapes and talking about the similarities and differences. Learners have been working on making patterns with shapes using pattern blocks on the big screen and with manipulatives. We did a shape scavenger hunt for circles and for rectangles from newspaper ads and magazines. It was pretty eye opening for the kids to see that we are virtually surrounded by shapes ALL of the time!
Lastly we have been working on our sorting skills: size, shape, color, material, etc. It's been fun to see how different mathematicians can sort the same items differently! We had some great discussions about our sorting activities.
Science
In Science we have been finishing up our unit on the five senses! We stopped along the way to do some Pumpkin Science which was super fun! We mad observations of two very different pumpkins, guessed and measured the weight, circumference and height. We also guessed the number of pumpkin seeds and were shocked to see how many hundreds were in the pumpkins! Most kids guessed on average, about 50 pumpkin seeds. The two pumpkins each had over 600 seeds!
We also did our Listening Experiment last week where we took a Listening Walk. Scientists had to use their ears to pay attention to all of the sounds we heard while walking the perimeter of the school outside. It was surprising to the kids how when you stop and listen, you are constantly surrounded by noise! We heard passing cars, buses stopping, squeaky brakes on a van, the sound of our feet on the pavement, grass, woodchips, dried leaves, gravel, etc. and more! Our list of sounds we heard was ginormous!
Important Dates/Information:
Wednesday, November 23- December 2, 2016 Student Council is asking all Dublin families to donate one pair of new pajamas that are for children and are flame resistant. Our PJ's go to Open Door in White Lake and are matched with a book from Scholastic before being passed out to families in need of winter clothes. Thank you for your support and generosity. The Pajama Drive will run until December 2nd.
Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25th: NO SCHOOL Please have a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving holiday with your family! We have so much to be thankful for on this day, and every day!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR CHILDREN WITH ME EACH AND EVERY DAY. THEY MOTIVATE AND INSPIRE ME TO BE MY BEST AND GIVE ALL CHILDREN AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AND GROW DAILY. Mrs. W. :-)
