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Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Happy 6th Birthday Brianna!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Our favorite storybook characters!

Cookie Erosion Experiment

Today in Science we did an experiment to be able to better understand the concept of erosion.  We each had a "rock" (cookie) and made predictions on which item would cause the most erosion: water, a toothpick or a q-tip. After doing the experiment we discovered that water causes the most erosion.  We concluded that is why rocks by water are round and smooth.

 

Too Many Tamales!

We read a story yesterday the kids really enjoyed called Too Many Tamales.  It was about a girl that wanted to try on her mother's diamond ring eventhough she knew she wasn't allowed to.  She ended up not being able to resist temptation and put it on her finger.  She was helping her mom and aunt knead dough to make delicious tamales when, before she knew it, the ring was gone!  She had her cousins help her eat all 24 tamales in hopes of finding the ring inside.  However: they found nothing!  When the girl was about to confess to her mother that she lost her ring: she saw the ring twinkling as bright as ever on her mother's finger!  This story started a discuss about rules in our own household and why they are important.  Our emphasis study this month in Social Studies is on rules and laws so this story was definitely applicable.

Parent Teacher Conferences

The times I am available for conferences are listed below.  Please "comment" on this blog post so I and other parents know which time slots have been taken.  Thanks!

Monday, April 25th, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Monday, April 25th, 2011: 3:45-4:15
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011: 3:45-4:15
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011: 3:45-4:15
Thursday, April 28th, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Thursday, April 28th, 2011: 3:45-4:15
Friday, April 29th, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Friday, April 29th, 2011: 3:45-4:15
Monday, May 2nd, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Monday, May 2nd, 2011: 3:45-4:15
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011: 3:15-3:45
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011: 3:45-4:15

Peer Conferencing

During Writer's Workshop this month we are really focusing on editing our writing.  We have started "peer conferencing" where a friend helps us fix up our writing.

Sasha and Sophia doing a peer conference.

Spring Concert

Friday, April 1st is our Spring Concert!  The concert will take place at Shen High School West.  The concert begins at 6:30pm.  The children need to arrive between 5:45 and 6:00pm.  The children are to wear their "Sunday Best."

Science Experiment

Our science unit for the month has been focusing on health and nutrition.  Today we discussed what our favorite snacks are.  The replies included: apples, crackers, chips, cookies, brownies, veggies and yogurt.  We then discussed what makes a snack "unhealthy."  The kids determined that unhealthy snacks can have too much salt, sugar and/or fat.  The experiment we are conducting investigates how much fat is in the snacks we eat.  We are using the following snacks:

The children then made predictions as to whether or not the snacks contain fat.  They said during discussion that we would know if the foods had fat based on whether or not there is a "grease stain." 

Tomorrow we will analize our results!

Math Centers

The children are beginning to be pros at recognizing and counting coins.  Today they went "shopping" at a pet store. 

There are several strategies we have been learning about to solve an addition problem: counting on, tally marks, touch points, number line and the last one which we used today: math counters. 

The kids have been working really hard on word problems.  Word problems can be tough for a kindergartener; first they must decode the words in the story problem, comprehend what the problem says, and then they must figure out a strategy to solve the problem.  They are doing a great job with this and the more we practice, the better we will be!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We arrived at school this morning and a sneaky little leprechaun left us gifts: pieces of gold!

We spent the day doing St. Patrick's Day related things like graphing with Lucky Charms, writing stories about catching the leprechaun and making leprechaun traps!

Vegetable Soup!

We have been learning all about Health and Nutrition and the Food Pyramid.  To celebrate our knowledge of being healthy eaters, we made soup today. 

Non-fiction Writing

Our class has been learning about non-fiction writing.  We have started working on a non-fiction animal "report."  Each child picked an animal that they are going to "research" for the next two weeks.  They will then teach the class all about their animal as that animal's "expert."

Easter Egg Hunt

On April 25th, MTA will be having an Easter Egg Hunt!  Each family must provide 5 plastic eggs for their child.  The eggs must be labeled with the child's name and filled with some sort of treat/prize.  Eggs must be submitted by April 8th.  On the day of the Egg Hunt, children come to school in their "Sunday Best" and bring an Easter Basket to put their eggs in.  Two parent volunteers will be needed to help hide the eggs on April 25th.  Please let me know if you would be interested in this opportunity. 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

In honor of Dr. Seuss, We dressed like the characters in Dr. Seuss books or just plain old wacky!

During math, we did Dr. Seuss themed centers including a Cat in the Hat pattern activity.  During the Daily 5, we did a Cat in the Hat sequencing activity, read Dr. Seuss books with our "Thing 1" or "Thing 2" buddy and drew wacky pictures like the illustrations in the Dr. Seuss books.  Lastly, we enjoyed treats and sang Happy Birthday to this wonderful author!

Dental Hygenist

We had a visit from a dental hygenist today.  We learned that her job is to help kids take care of their teeth.  Greg the Dragon taught us the proper way to brush our teeth.  We also learned about healthy snacks and the foods we should stay away from to keep our teeth healthy.