Goodbye Room 125 and Mohegan School

This is my last post of the school year and as a teacher at Mohegan School.  It certainly has been an adventure!  We will culminate our year with our class party on Thursday with Happy Meals and other festivities.  I want to thank Aimee Cayer for coordinating our end of the year celebration.  I also want to thank Melissa Leone, Tammi Brown, and Laura Treonze for their help this past year with our holiday party.  To all parents who have supported our classroom by volunteering to chaperon or just by making sure your child got his/her homework done, read every night, and handed in those notices on time...thank you, too!

To all the parents who have been so supportive of me over the past couple of weeks, I cannot thank you enough or express how much your kind words mean to me.

June is always a bittersweet time for teachers.  Though we are so proud of our students' many accomplishments, it's still hard to say goodbye.  Having had to spend the last few months of the school year knowing that I would not be at Mohegan next year has made the process all the more difficult.  Nonetheless, your children have reminded me daily of why I do what I do.  They have made me laugh and smile as they have shared their wonderful personalities and thoughtful insights with me and their classmates. 

I will miss every single one of the wonderful, unique personalities who have enriched my life and taught me so much this year. Their energy, enthusiasm, and love of learning have made my job a complete joy. I want you to know from the bottom of my heart how much I love each child and how much each one of them has left a lasting imprint on me. I am so proud of them and I am honored to have been their teacher this year. This has not been the easiest last few weeks of school for me personally, but what has kept me smiling are all those “a-ha” moments when I see the light bulb go on and someone says something that just blows me out of the water and I say, “Oh, my gosh…you are only 6 and 7 years old!”

So to Elena, John, Jacob, Emma, Kaylee, Michael B, Michael K, Michael L, Madison, Joey, Graham, Angelina, Jason, Luke, Andy, Devin, Giovana, Audrey, Jules, Annabella, Tori, and Taylor...I love you and I will miss you next year!  You are all UNFORGETABLE!

Have a wonderful summer!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

This week we begin a short study of "fractured fairy tales."  We will be comparing and contrasting some traditional fairy tales, folk tales, and fables with their "twisted" counterparts.  We begin with The Three Little Pigs and other variations on the story along with The True Story of the Three Pigs written from the prospective of the wolf.  As we work on this unit, we'll talk a lot about point of view and how different characters (or people) can view the same incident from different perspectives.

With our math units complete (everyone did an amazing job on our final post test), we will be working on reinforcing important concepts we've learned throughout the year through lots of fun games.  Last week, the boys challenged the girls to an addition and subtraction contest.  The catch?  Students had to answer the problems in sign language!

We wrapped up our poetry unit last week.  I typed up students' poems and they illustrated their work.  We have quite a classroom of poets!

Our end of the year party will take place on the 17th.  We will be having Happy Meals for our lunch.  Please indicate whether your child would like a cheeseburger, hamburger, or chicken nuggets as their main meal on the form that is going home.  Side choices are fries or apple slices.  Drink choices are milk (white or chocolate) or apple juice.  I have already explained to the children that there are no other substitutions allowed.

Please note that photo money is due immediately!  If you do not want your child's photo package, you must return it as soon as possible.

Next week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are 1/2 days with Friday as the last day of school for students.

My last blog post will be Monday of next week!

Short, Exciting Week

The kids were thrilled this week when all 7 of our caterpillars emerged from their chrysali as lovely painted lady butterflies.  We watched as the butterflies drank nectar from flowers that some students brought in.  Then, Friday, we released them into the wooded area behind the playground where they all seemed to land momentarily on some sweet smelling flowers.  I'm sure I'm dating myself when I tell you that I had all the kids singing "Born Free" at the top of their lungs as we released the butterflies!

Earlier in the week we were visited by David Adler, a world-famous children's writer and author of the very popular Cam Jansen books.  Mr. Adler's visit, sponsored by the PTO, was phenomenal!  He reiterated everything that we have been learning all year in Writer's Workshop about how writer's write and how they are inspired.  He was funny and down to earth.  I hope all the kids were as enthralled with Mr. Adler as I was..and hopefully inspired to write their own stories from the everyday occurrences in their lives.

This week I also began reading Roald Dahl's "The Witches," to the students, chapter by chapter.  I generally haven't read this story to 1st graders, but everyone seems to be loving it.  I get a lot of, "Please, Mrs. Cushing...are we reading The Witches today"!  Our read aloud of this book is for sheer pleasure, and the kids have been enjoying just having the opportunity to sit and listen to a really well visualized and written piece of children's literature by one of the greatest writers of children's literature of all time.

As we wrap up our author study of Kevin Henkes, we read Old Bear and discussed the visual images in the pictures.  We talked about how the visuals helped set the tone of the story and allowed us, the readers, to really feel what was happening in the book.  Then, using water-color paints, the children painted their own pictures of their favorite season in the style of Kevin Henkes.

In math we finished up our last unit in Everyday Math and began reviewing for our final post test.  Please review time to the quarter hour and 1/2 hour with your children.  We've done a lot of review on this at school, but many children are still finding it a tricky concept.

REMINDERS:

IF YOU ARE NOT PURCHASING PHOTOS, ALL PHOTOS MUST BE RETURNED TO SCHOOL BY TUESDAY.  IF YOU DO WANT THE PHOTOS, PLEASE SEND IN YOUR ORDER FORM AND MONEY.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Wrapping Up

We will be wrapping up our Kevin Henkes author study over the next week with some of his "non-mouse" themed books.  To culminate reading the last of Henkes' mouse books, we played "Kevin Henkes Mouse Jeopardy" on Friday--boys vs. girls.  Students picked a category and dollar amount and answered questions about what we have been reading thus far.  Questions required students to really have been paying attention to details both explicit and inferred in the stories.  It was a close race with the boys just beating the girls by a narrow margin.  What I was most proud of was the good sportsmanship displayed by both teams, who cheered for one another and congratulated each other for their work.  The members of the winning team each received two tickets.  The girls settled for the consolation prize:  one ticket each.  Best of all, everyone had a great time playing and assured me that they would like to play again!

Students have been doing an excellent job of incorporating the mini lesson I have been teaching about a particular reading strategy or convention into their own independent reading in their just right books.  We have been learning about how to "talk to books" and constantly be thinking about our reading by making connections, asking questions, making predictions, and noticing details that help us better understand and feel closer to the our books and the characters in them.  After our mini-lesson, students spend about 20 minutes reading independently and using sticky notes to highlight pages where they have connected their thinking with our learning in the mini lesson.  As students read, I conference with them and talk to them about what they are discovering in their reading.  Then, students will often fill out a graphic organizer to gather their thoughts, and eventually apply those organized thoughts into a  fully expressed written extension.  Since each student is writing about the book that he/she has been reading at his/her level, I get a good indication of how to assess student strengths and weaknesses, and the kids are able to work at a level that helps them attain their personal best without the work being too easy or too difficult.

This week, we will talk about noticing tone and mood in two of Kevin Henkes' stories:  Old Bear and Little Kitten's Full Moon.  As students read their own just right books, I will be conferencing with them to discuss how they have applied what we learned to their own thinking about their reading.  Later, students will create watercolor paintings in the style of Kevin Henkes in Old Bear and will use similes and metaphors to create visual imagery as Henkes does in Little Kitten.

In addition to our author study, we are wrapping up our unit on poetry in Writer's Workshop.  Students will be choosing one poem to publish, and I will type them up to send home.

We've wrapped up the DRA's and all but one end-of-unit reading assessment.  We also have only one math post test left until the end of the year.  So, we'll be doing a lot of reviewing of concepts that, based on previous assessments, I have determined students need more support on.  We will review time to the quarter and half hour (this is a tough one for nearly everyone), fractions, and dividing numbers into equal parts.

In our science study of insects, we were actually able to watch one of our caterpillars split his skin, shed it, and form a chrysalis around himself.  In all the years I have been hatching butterflies, I have never seen this happen (it occurs very quickly), so it was so cool for the students to be able to watch the process.  All the other six caterpillars are now in the pupa stage inside their chyrsali.  We expect we might have a couple of butterflies when we come back to school on Monday.  When the butterflies hatch, students may bring in flowers from home (with permission, of course) so the butterflies will have some food!

Reminders:

• Wednesday is Field Day.  It is supposed to be HOT!  We will be outside ALL day.  Please make sure your child is dressed in appropriate clothing (shorts, tee shirts, sneakers).  Our class colors are green and white.  Please see the note that went home in your child's folder regarding which color he/she should wear.

• Please check your child's folder daily so you won't miss important notices.  Also, I will be sending home lots of papers that have accumulated over the year (mostly written work that I have saved to use in my own assessments), so expect to see a lot of paper over the next couple of weeks!

• Friday is a 1/2 day!  No school Monday in observance of Memorial Day!

Have a Great Week!

Bring on the Bugs!

We began our insect unit in science and that means we were visited by all kinds of creepy crawly creatures last week.  First, came the meal worms (not Mrs. Cushing's favorite little fellows, but sort of fascinating to examine, nonetheless).  We had a chance to look under a strong magnifying glass and see various stages of growth/development:  From tiny worms that were barely visible to the naked eye to rather chubby wiggly worms to worms in the pupa stage.  When the worms hatch, they will be beetles.  Viola!

We talked about the concept of metamorphosis further as we explored painted lady caterpillars, which will eventually turn into butterflies.  Right now we've been having fun examining them, watching them eat (and, boy, can they eat), and recording our observations about how they've changed in our "Caterpillar Diaries."  Since the caterpillars literally change overnight (the growth in them is visible), it has been easy for students to make observations to record.

We also entertained a house full of ladybugs and had a chance to watch them as they feasted on raisins and scurried around.

Continuing with our Kevin Henkes author study, we read Sheila Rae the brave, talked about her character traits, and then made comparisons between her and Lilly with a Venn diagram.  We also did a lot of writing and thinking about Kevin Henkes' characters, using our texts to find and record evidence to support our ideas and answers.  We also introduced the first non-mouse book by Kevin Henkes.  Called All Alone, Kevin Henkes' first children's book is full of understated watercolors and poetic language.  Students wrote about what they feel like and like to do when they are all alone.  This week we will read Wemberly Worried, Chrysanthemum, and Owen.

We wrapped up our latest math unit on mental arithmetic, money, and fractions with a post test and took a pre-test for our up-coming (and last) unit on place value and fractions.  During this unit, we will work on adding and subtracting tens, adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers, and comparing fractions.  Please make sure that your child is practicing addition facts, particularly doubles facts, at home on a regular basis.  We have been having fun having doubles fact races during which I use a stop-watch to time kids to see how fast they can do all doubles facts up to 10.  So far the time to beat is 12 seconds by Andy!

Our Writer's Workshop study of poetry is well underway.  The children have been exploring all kinds of poetic writing conventions like onomatopoeia, alliteration, personification, voice, and rhyme.  We explored concrete poems and went on a hunt around our room to find objects about which to write poems.  We talked about how poetic writing is different from other forms of writing.  I think Jason summed it up best when I asked what poetry was and he said, "It's writing that sounds like a song without the music."

I am still working on DRA reading assessments and hope to be finished by the week's end.  Please make sure that your children continue to read for at least 15 minutes per night and that you ask questions about their reading (Who were the main characters in the story?  Where did it take place?  What was the problem?  How did it get solved?  What were the events in the story in sequence?).  You can also ask your child what the story made them think of or if they had any personal connections they could make with the story or one of its characters.

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms and grandmas!

Lilly, Lilly, Lilly

We began our Kevin Henkes author study last week by reading four of his books featuring the indomitable Lilly.  Lilly is one of the great characters in children's literature; she's a bit full of herself; she's impatient; she fearless; she's fun.  In short, she's just likable, and our students really felt they could relate to how "real" she seemed as a character.  We talked a lot this week about how Kevin Henkes gets his ideas for the stories he writes.  Because he is inspired by snippets of actual experiences he's noticed in his daily life, his characters are believable and meaningful for children.

As we explored Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Lilly's Big Day, Julius, Baby of the World, and Chester's Way, we talked about Lilly's character traits and how she changes in each story.  We also made text to text and personal connections as we read.  Tomorrow we will make a Lilly's Great Big Character Trait web linking those traits and evidence from the four stories.  Students will also be writing about whether they would like Lilly as a friend based on our reading.

Last week, students wrote letters to Lilly giving her advice about how she could treat her baby brother, Julius, better.  I was really impressed with the level of thinking and the connections students made in their writing!

We've begun our poetry unit in Writer's Workshop.  The children are not only exploring all sorts of poems and learning about poetic language, they're beginning to write some great poetry of their own.

In math, we began learning about fractions.  We made "personal pizzas" and decorated them with delicious toppings.  We also used jelly beans to figure out how to equally divide portions among various groups of students.  It's always fun when you can eat your math manipulatives when the lesson is finished!

Later this week, in science, we'll be exploring meal worms and ladybugs--yes...real ones!

Thank you to everyone who brought in tissues last week!  We sure did need them!

Kevin Henkes Author Study

This is the one I wait for!  We begin this week with a new author's study.  For the next month or so we will be exploring the works of my all time favorite author, Kevin Henkes.  You may be familiar with some of Henkes' more popular works like Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (in my opinion, the "perfect" children's book) and Julius, Baby of the World.  We'll read about the indomitable Lilly; fearless Sheila Rae, timid Owen, anxious Wemberly, naughty Wendell, and a host of other mouse characters whom Kevin Henkes features as the main characters in so many of his stories. 

But, apart from his charming "mouse" books, which are themselves absolutely delightful, Kevin Henkes has written and illustrated some of the most beautiful children's books in the world.  Students will be learning about Kevin Henkes as a person and how he uses his own life experiences to enrich and influence his writing.  Our study will focus on such topics as:  author's message, character traits, text-to-text, and personal connections.  We'll turn some of Kevin Henkes' narratives into scripts and act them out in "reader's theater" where students will get a chance to make props and scenery, and students will also have the chance to write a "literary review" of their favorite Henkes book.  I hope all my students will end up loving Kevin Henkes' stories just as much as I do.  You can check out Kevin Henkes' great website here.

As we begin our author's study, we also are in full assessment mode!  I am currently conducting the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) on all students to determine independent and instructional reading levels.  These levels will be used to help place students into second grade classrooms and will be used to aid their second grade teachers in placing students into guided reading groups.  Tests include students reading an unfamiliar text (called a "cold read"), making predictions, retelling the story, and in some cases doing some written extensions to the texts.  Students are also timed to assess fluency.  The DRA is a very low key assessment for students.  Since they are so used to reading with me in guided reading groups and answering the same kinds of questions that are found on the DRA, they usually aren't really aware that they are being tested at all.

This week we will begin a unit in Writer's Workshop on poetry, which I expect to be a lot of fun!  Students will learn about rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and other poetic conventions.

If anyone would like to bring in a box of tissues to share with our class, it would be most appreciated.  Allergy season has hit our room big time; we have lots of runny noses!

Many students are also running low on pencils (or have none at all).  Please make sure your child has at least two pencils to bring to school.

The Ban on Silly Bandz in Room 125

I know the average 5-7 year old thinks that Silly Bandz are all the rage.  I realize that they are an adorable fashion accessory for the elementary school set.  I have a five year old, so I truly do get it.  They're cute.  However....Silly Bandz are not very conducive to the educational process.  When kids are supposed to be listening, they are invariably snapping, twisting, and otherwise playing with their bracelets.  Hey, if I were wearing them, I'd probably be fiddling with them as well!  The Bandz also make convenient flying projectiles which can soar across a classroom with deadly precision.  I have made it clear to students that if they take off the bands, the bracelets will spend the day on my desk.  So, to simplify matters, I am requesting that students NOT wear Silly Bandz to school.  If you have any questions about this policy, please let me know.  Thanks for your cooperation.

Help Wanted

Next week the children will be drawing squares for The Great David Shannon Quilt Project based on  scenes from their favorite David Shannon books.  Each square will then be linked to create a class quilt depicting representations from our author's study.  After the squares are laminated, I will need a parent volunteer to put the quilt together.  This project can be done easily at home.  You'll just need to punch holes in the sides of the squares and attached each square to the next with yarn.  If anyone is interested in volunteering for this project, please respond with a comment to this blog saying you'd like to help or by emailing me at wcushing@sheltonpublicschools.org.  The first person I hear from gets the job!  Thanks so much in advance for your help.

Happy Spring Break!

We finished our independent reading incentive yesterday--though this by no means gets the children off the hook; they should continue to read for 20 minutes nightly.

The bad news is that our class tied with two other 1st grade classrooms for last place.  The good news is that we also tied for 2nd place.  It's just a matter of how you look at things!

Michael K. won the award for the most total minutes read over the course of the incentive.  Congratulations, Michael.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, warm, sunny spring break!

David Shannon Author's Study Wrap Up

We are wrapping up our David Shannon author study this week as well as celebrating the start of Mrs. Cushing's FAVORITE time of year:  Baseball Season!!!  Today we read David Shannon's "How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball" to commemorate opening day around the major leagues this past weekend.  We discussed how this book was very different in writing and illustrative style than the other David Shannon books we've read.  Students noticed that the mood/tone of the book was very dark and was depicted in the illustrations.  We talked about how authors can set the tone of a story through pictures as well as through words.  After reading the story, we discussed Georgie's character traits and wrote about our discussions during learning centers.

Last week we read "How I Became a Pirate" and talked about how characters change in stories.  We followed that tale up with "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" where we talked about the problem and the solution in the story.  Later this week we will read Too Many Toys, Duck on a Bike, and And The Rain Came Down, which we use to make text-to-text connections with the book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

Wrapping up our short unit on geometry in math, students will be taking the end-of-unit post test as well as the pre-test for our up-coming unit focusing some more on money.

Students are doing a great job in their reading groups as the texts they read become increasingly more complex.  Please make sure that your child is practicing the books that come home in his/her bag and that he/she is using strategies to decode tricky words.  Students should always be asking themselves if what they are reading looks right and sounds right.  Quite a few students are relying solely on sounding out words and are having trouble with their fluency and comprehension because the words they "sound out" don't make sense in context (i.e. a child reads "wid" for "wide").  If your child does not know a particular word while he/she is reading to you and has tried a couple of strategies (using picture clue, finding known chunks in the word, going back and re-reading to think what would make sense), please don't allow him/her to spend more than about 7 seconds stretching out sounds to decode the word.  You are better off telling your child the word and discussing strategies AFTER he/she is done reading.  This way your child will not lose the sense of the story and comprehension.

This is the last week for our reading log challenge, though students should continue to read for 15-20 minutes minimum each evening.  Right now we are tied for 2nd place (barely)!  Let's go out with a bang, Room 125!!!!  Don't forget those logs on Wednesday and READ, READ, READ!!!!!

Stripes and Fairies and Pirates...Oh, My!

This week we read a variety of books by our featured author, David Shannon.  We began the week with my favorite David Shannon story, A Bad Case of Stripes.  The book tells the story of Camilla Cream, who loved lima beans, but would never eat them because she was afraid of what other kids would say.  After coming down with a mysterious ailment that causes her skin to break out in stripes, stars, and polka dots (among other things), Camilla finally realizes that she needs to be true to herself.  We discussed the author's message in this story as well as the distinctive characteristics that make it a David Shannon text.

Later in the week we read, Alice the Fairy, about a little girl who longs to be a "permanent fairy," but who only manages to make a mess and upset "The Duchess."  We talked and wrote about what we would do if we had magic powers.  We also discussed who "The Duchess" might be and who the character of "Alice" might based on.

This week we will read two books illustrated by David Shannon:  How I Became a Pirate and Pirates Don't Change Diapers.  Both are very funny reads, and I'm sure the children will love them.  We will spend time talking about how the main character changes in the story.

Our scientific discoveries took led us to explore solids in liquids this week.  We explored various solids:  a cardboard square, a popscicle stick, a cookie, fruit chews, raisins, a hard candy, rock salt, rice, and lima beans.  Then we predicted what would happen if we placed the solids in water.  After putting them in water filled baggies, we made observations of changes after 10 minutes, and found some fascinating discoveries!  Two days later, we made final observations and drew pictures and wrote about the changes.

In math we are continuing our study of geometry, polygons, and symmetry.  We played a lot of fun games designed to help the students understand the attributes of various shapes.  We also are working hard on addition facts, particularly doubles facts.  Please review these nightly with your child at home.  Students should be at the point where they do not need to use their fingers or any other aids to calculate doubles facts (i.e. 1+1, 2+2, 3+3, etc.). 

No school on Friday in observance of Good Friday.  Enjoy your long weekend!

Yes, David!

After having read all David Shannon's "David" books and conduct-
ing our trial of the main character where we highlighted the evidence proving David's naughty behavior, we decided to focus on the positive.  What, we wondered, might David do to make the adults in his life say, "yes," to him instead of no.  Each child came up with an idea that David could do to show respectful, responsible behavior such as giving flowers to his teacher, helping an elderly person cross the street, getting an alarm clock so he could get to school on time, etc.  Then, I typed up the text using the simple style of David Shannon and the students illustrated our classroom book titled, "Yes, David."  We then laminated and bound the book so we could share it with our families.  I will be sending the book home each night with a different student.  Please take some time to read the story with your child and ask him/her about our experiences learning about the works of David Shannon.  Ask your child why we chose to use such a simplistic writing style in our story.  Ask him/her to tell you about the unique writing and illustrating style of David Shannon.  After reading the story, please return it to school the following day so that I can send it home with another family.  We hope you all enjoy reading "Yes, David" by Room 125.

Reading Logs and Odds and Ends

Congratulations to all the students who returned their reading logs today!  Room 125 read well over 2,000 minutes last week.  I accidentally forgot to send home the log for this week today, so please keep a record of tonight's reading.  I will send the logs home tomorrow.

A couple of reminders:

Please make sure your child has at least 2 pencils at school.  Many students are running low and need supplies!

Students should be reading their latest guided reading book every night when their book bags come home.  In addition, they should be reading some of the older books in their bags to gain stamina and build fluency.

Weekend Wrap Up

We wrapped up the week by reading another great David Shannon book called Good Boy, Fergus!  We learned that Fergus is a West Highland Terrier and is really David Shannon's dog.  As I read the story to the students, I asked them to be thinking about how this book compared to the David books both in writing/illustrating style and in content.  After reading the story, the children listed Fergus' character traits and evidence from the text to support their opinions.  Turns out that Fergus is quite a bit like David; he gets into all kinds of trouble!  I then asked the children if all the evidence shows us that Fergus is NOT a good boy, what might be a better title for the story?  They came up with an array of clever titles, which we listed on a graphic organizer.  Finally, I challenged the students to think more in-depth about the author's message in the story.  If all the evidence suggests that Fergus is not a good boy, why on earth does David Shannon call the story, Good Boy, Fergus?  I was so pleased that the kids seemed to understand the author's message.  In fact, they even came up with some ideas I hadn't thought of before.  One student said, "Well, I think that David Shannon is trying to tell us that even though Fergus does bad things, his owner still loves him anyway."  Another student chimed in, "That reminds me of David.  His mother still loved him even though he was naughty."  A third child said, "I think David Shannon was trying to train Fergus by showing him how to be good and using positive words."  Hooray Room 125.  What great thinking!  The students are also working on written extensions to the stories during center time.  They have three options from which to choose (making a personal connection, comparing the David stories to the Fergus story, or describing character traits with evidence).

Friday we read what is probably my favorite David Shannon book:  A Bad Case of Stripes.  We'll be talking more about this story on Monday.

We took three unit tests in reading last week on which everyone did very well!

Last week we wrapped up our latest math unit on fact families by doing some review and then taking the post test.  Most students did quite well on the assessment.  Our new math unit will focus on geometry.  I expect this theme, which is very hands-on, will be lots of fun for everyone!

Our Writer's Workshop focus has been on realistic fiction.  This has tied in so nicely with our shared read alouds in our author's study.  The books we have been reading by David Shannon are such wonderful examples of realistic fiction to which children can relate.  We also used the mentor texts You Can Do It, Sam, Big Al, and When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry to talk about the components of realistic fiction and begin to write our own stories in that genre.

The children had a wonderful time on our field trip to see Junie B. Jones.  They were all wonderfully behaved and made me very proud.  After we returned, we did a written extension about the play for morning seatwork.

Coming up this week: 

Literature/shared reading:  A Bad Case of Stripes and Alice the Fairy

Writer's Workshop:  More fun with realistic fiction

Math:  Introducing geometric concepts

Science:  Solids and Liquids

Don't forget reading logs are due Wednesday!

Reading Logs and Leprechauns

Congratulations to all those students who remembered to hand in their reading logs today.  One student, who read 288 minutes last week, won the prize for reading the most minutes in our class.  As a class, students read over 1,400 minutes last week!  A good beginning...however, only about 1/2 of the children returned their logs on time.  Please be reminded that this log is part of the students' homework and must be returned on Wednesdays in order for them to receive credit.  I cannot give credit to students who hand in logs late or whose logs have not been filled out correctly.  Logs should list the titles of the books read, the number of minutes per day that the student read, and should be signed by an adult.  We are also competing against the other first grade classrooms to see who can read the most minutes; there is even a bulletin board charting our progress across from the nurse's office, so keep reading Room 125!!!  New logs went home today.  Please check your child's folder for his/her copy.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day by finishing up our leprechaun traps and placing them around the room in hopes of catching one of the mysterious red-bearded fellows.  When the students came back from recess they discovered candy and real coins in their traps!  I'm sure you'll enjoy your child's creativity when he/she brings his/her trap home!

A big "thank you" to Mrs. L for providing special cookies for St. Patty's Day and to Mrs. C for giving us a set of 28 new glue sticks!!!  We also got one box of tissues in today (thank you, Mrs. B)...but with everyone sniffling and coughing at this time of year, we sure could use more!

PS:  Glad to see we're gaining some "followers"...you can follow our blog by signing up for a google account...it's easy and free!

Lil of This; Lil of That

• 
  
  We are in desperate need of supplies!  If anyone in interested in donating, we need the following items:  tissues and dry erase markers.
• 
  
  All students should replenish their pencil boxes with a new box of crayons, at least 4-5 pencils, an eraser, and two glue sticks.  Many students have only tiny nubs of crayons in a couple of colors left.
• 
  
  Thanks to the moms and dads who chaperoned our field trip to SCSU to see Junie B. Jones.
• 
  
  As the weather finally gets nicer we will be going out side for recess.  Please make sure your child has an appropriate jacket, sweatshirt for outside play.

Junie B. Jones Field Trip

Don't forget our Junie B. Jones field trip is Tuesday, March 16th!  All students should bring their lunch on Tuesday; there will be no cafeteria service since we will be arriving back to school after the cafeteria closes.  Chaperones will be assigned a group of 5 students to supervise and should come to our classroom no later than 9:00 to get their assignments.  Children should wear comfortable clothes and shoes (preferably sneakers).  We are going to have SO much fun!

The Verdict is In

After closing arguments on the part of the prosecution and the defense, the trial of David was placed in the capable hands of the jury. Students on the jury learned about the important role juror’s play in a trial and how they had to make their decision based solely on the evidence presented in the case (i.e. not on whether they liked the defendant, were friends with him, etc.). With David sequestered away, the jury began their deliberations. Students spent a great deal of time discussing the evidence and David’s defense statements. Some argued that David’s defense was reasonable while others said he was making excuses for his own bad behavior. In the end, the jury voted 16-5 to convict David on all counts. After handing down the verdict, students entered the penalty phase of the trial. There, they came up with a point by point list of ways that David could turn his negative behavior towards more positive endeavors. For example, jurors suggested David buy a good alarm clock so he wouldn’t be tardy to school. They advised that he make a list of the clothes he wanted to wear at night, so he wouldn’t forget to put them on in the morning. And, they told him that he would have to wait until the sun came out to skateboard. No more skateboarding in the house. Upon receiving his penalty, David was released on the promise to make better future behavioral choices.

Based on our trial experience, tomorrow we will write a whole class story called, “YES, DAVID!” exploring the many things David could do to hear the word, “Yes,” from his parents and teachers instead of “No.” Each child will have the opportunity to come up with an idea and make an illustration for our book. After that, I’ll send it home with one student per night, so that the children can share their work with their families.

Next week we will read Good Boy, Fergus and find out that David Shannon has a real life dog not unlike the David character. Students will explore the similarities and differences in the four stories and will continue to make note of what they notice about David Shannon’s writing style.

The Defendant Takes the Stand

(The defendant swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth)

In day two of Room 125 vs. David, the defendant had the chance to take the stand and answer the charges against him. Dressed in his trademark striped shirt, David put up a startling defense to explain his misadventures. His responses ranged from blaming other people, “The other kid started the food fight,” to forgetfulness, “I ran outside naked because I forgot I wasn’t wearing clothes.” As the attorney’s confronted David with the evidence against him, he clearly had come to court prepared. Telling the jury that he had skateboarded and played baseball in the house “because it was raining out,” David tried to persuade the jury with logical reasons for his behavior. But, in the end, David’s future will be in the hands of the jury…and only they will be able to decide his fate.

Tomorrow: The jury deliberates and reaches its verdict!

A Word About Reading Logs

The first grade team is continuing its goal of getting 100% of first graders to read independently each day. A letter and reading log for this week went home in your child’s folder today. Please make sure to take it out and see that your child is reading independently on a daily basis. Logs are due on Wednesdays (please do not send them in early or late).

Reminder...

Each student needs to have four (4) quarters in a baggie to keep in their tool kit.  Quarters were due today.  We need them for our math lesson on Thursday.  Please make sure your child brings his/her quarters in tomorrow 3/11/2010.  Thanks

The Trial Begins: The Prosecution's Case

We began the trial of David today in Room 125 of Superior Court. David was charged with 6 counts of being naughty, a bad listener, disgraceful, disrespectful, unsafe, and rude. After David entered his “not guilty” plea, the prosecution presented its case against him. All the attorneys involved in the case participated and providing damaging evidence against the defendant before resting their case. Will David be able to provide a solid defense against such evidence as “running down the street naked,” “skateboarding in the house,” “chewing with his mouth open,” and “starting a food fight in school”? We will have to find out when David takes the stand tomorrow in his own defense.

Meanwhile, as we proceed with the trial, the students are learning a little bit about the judicial process in the United States as well as reinforcing what we have been learning in language arts about character traits and supporting our opinions and ideas with evidence.

As if our trial weren't fun enough, we also began our leprechaun traps in class today. The children are using what they learned about constructing with solids in science to build creative, clever, inventive traps in the hopes we might snag some gold come St. Patrick’s Day. We will be working on the traps for the next few days, so if your child would like to bring in more embellishments, please feel free to do so.

Tomorrow: The Defendant Speaks!

Quaters, Quarters...Bring in Your Quarters!

All students need to bring in Four (4) quarters to keep in their math tool kits by Wednesday, March 10th.  All money will be returned at the end of the year! 

Thanks!

Oye, Oye: The Honorable Judge Mrs. Cushing in Search of a Robe

Room 125 will be prosecuting David in the Case of Room 125 vs. David beginning on Tuesday, March 9th.  I am looking for a black robe (graduation gown will work) and a gavel (a small mallet will work) so that I can preside over the trial as judge.  If anyone has either of these items, please email me.  You can send the items in with your kids on Monday or Tuesday morning.  Thanks so much for your help!

The Wonderful World of David Shannon

(Author David Shannon illustrates his character "David" at Linda's Storytime in Monroe)

Welcome to Room 125's new online format.  I encourage you to visit weekly to catch up on what's happening in our classroom and to make comments on any units of study on which we are working. 

This week we embarked an author's study of the works of David Shannon that the kids are really loving.  We began with Mr. Shannon's most famous books, the "David" series.  Based on his own childhood experiences, the David books recount the experiences of the very mischievious and often naughty David.  As we read these stories, our students are thinking of words to describe David's character trait(s) and then finding evidence in the text to support their opinions.  Next week, we will culminate our experience by putting David on trial for his naughty behavior.  I will act as the judge, one student will serve as the defendent, and the rest of the students will be our lawyers out to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that David is guilty as charged.  After listening to David's defense, students will deliberate, come up with a verdict, and even take part in a penalty phase of the trial where they will come up with ways David can make better life choices (assuming he is found guilty)!

Students have spent time in centers creating David characters out of construction paper and writing about David's character traits.  Of course, they are supporting their opinions with plenty of evidence from the words and pictures in the texts.

We are also working on an author's chart where we write down our observations about David Shannon's writing and illustrating style along with any questions we still have about this author.  In doing this, students are able to recognize distinctive patterns in Mr. Shannon's writing.  Later we'll compare his writing style with other authors we will be studying.

Based on what students recognize about our author's craft, many of them have chosen to write their own books in the style of David Shannon when they go to the writing center.  They've really come up with some clever writing, and it's clear they have picked up on the nuances of how this author creates his work.

Later we'll read other books written and illustrated by David Shannon (see sidebar).

We're just finishing up our How To books as part of our Writer's Workshop unit of study.  I'm learning how to do everything from swimming, to "crazy crawling," to playing a variety of Wii games!

Our math studies have focused on fact families.  Last week we made "Funky, Fancy Fact Family Houses," played a great addition fact game called The Calculator and The Brain, and reinforced addition doubles facts.  The Calculator and the Brain is a great game you can play at home with your child.  You need three players and a calculator, and preferably a chart or list of addition facts 0-9.  The first is the Caller; the second is the Brain; while the third acts as the Calculator.  The Caller says an addition fact.  The object of the game is for The Brain to do the mental math and guess the sum before the Calculator can find it using the calculator.  If the Brain guesses the fact first, he/she writes down that fact (in class, we colored in the facts on a addition fact chart).  The kids had a blast with this game.

During our investigative science studies we continued to explore solids and liquids.  We first checked out the differences between solids, granular solids and liquids.  Students worked in cooperative groups with mung beans, red beans, lima beans, rice, and cornmeal and a variety of containers to see how the materials could be poured.  Later this week students will work to sort "soup mix" into its various parts.

Remember, our field trip to SCSU to see Junie B. Jones is March 16th.  All students need a bag lunch as we will not be returning to school in time for hot lunch in the cafeteria.