Osprey Point - Tuesday was so wet, windy, and cold.  I was worried about our weather for our trip Wednesday.  Well, thank goodness for Wonderful Wednesday!  The weather was beautiful!  It started out a little chilly, but it turned into a beautiful fall day!  We started the day with a hike down Eagle's pass.  On our hike we went on a nature scavenger hunt.  We found nearly everything on our scavenger hunt - including moss, mushrooms, tree stumps, a y shaped stick, assorted colored leaves, flowers, and animal tracks.  We made our way to the big oak tree.  This tree is over 100 years old!  It is a sight to see!  At the big tree we read a nature / creation prayer and the book Leaf Man.  We also used our senses.  We talked about what we could see, feel, hear, and smell.  When we were silent, we could hear geese, ducks, and cranes.  It was pretty awesome!

On the hike back we collected leaves.  We found all different types of leaves.  When we got back to the shelter area we spread out near the pond and worked on our leaf books.  We learned how to do leaf rubbings.  They turned out beautiful!  We also drew pictures in our books of things we saw at Osprey Point.  We ended our time with a fun game of duck, duck, goose.  We were so lucky to be joined by Mrs. Gordon.  (Mrs. Gordon is a parish member who volunteers in our classroom.  She is a retired art teacher.  Fun fact - Mrs. Gordon was my art teacher in middle school!)  Mrs. Gordon and her family love to spend time at Osprey Point.  She is an avid bird watcher.  She could tell us bird types by their sounds.  She also was identifying plants for us!  Mrs. Gordon loves to share her love of art with the students!  We were also lucky to have Canon's mom!  I don't know how she did it!  She had surgery just last week and is on crutches!  She hiked the whole trail with us!

Working on our leaf rubbings and nature drawings -

Duck, Duck, Goose

What a great day!

A few other tidbits from our week -

Writing - This week we worked on a story about what we would like to see if we went on a safari.  We are focusing on starting our sentences with capital letters, only using capital letters where necessary, using good spacing, using punctuation, and working on spelling words correctly.  We are also working on adding more sentences and more details - both in words and illustrations.  We also finished up our pumpkin stories.  

Handwriting - This week we worked on the letters Ee and Ff.  We continue to work on forming the letters correctly and putting the letters in the correct spaces.  Our handwriting is really improving!

Religion - This week we started chapter 4 - God our Father is Holy.  We learned a little about Moses.  We also discussed the Ten Commandments.  Friday we will read out of our Promise Paper.  Last Friday we had a visit from Fr. Bob.  He talked to us about God's Creation.

Math - Group 1 is working on circle drawings.  They are also working on making their numbers correctly.  Group 2 is working on the missing partner.  Instead of the missing number being the total, they are looking for a partner.  They are working on story problems and figuring out where the missing number is.  They are using math mountains and equations to solve their problems.  They are also learning about coins.  They learned the coin names, the president on the coin, and how much each coin is worth.  They are working on adding the coins together to make certain amounts.

Reading - We work in daily 5 during our reading block.  We have five reading groups.  While I am working with groups - the kids work in centers.  Here are a few pics -

Mason worked on story blocks and is sharing his silly story

Valeria made a Halloween sticker story

Samuel made a squiggle

Spelling - We will be starting spelling lists soon!  We'll get our first weekly list on Monday, November 6th.  More information will come soon!

And as always - they love the morning tubs!  

A Few FYI's -

Math - Group 1 is working on adding with picture drawings and circle drawings.  Group 2 is working on addition and subtraction, fact families, story problems, and writing out equations three ways - horizontal, vertical, and with proof drawings.

A Math Center

Reading - This week our word work center focuses on Halloween.  The students can make words out of the letters in Halloween, fill in the missing words on Halloween poems, make a Halloween book, or do Halloween related word activities such as crosswords, word searches, and codes.  Each reading group is working in groups at their level.  Each group reads poems and stories every time we meet.  We also work on different phonics topics in the poems and stories.

Daily 5 Center - Read to Someone

Word Work - Will worked so hard on this!  He put all 

the words to a Halloween poem in the right order!

Phonics - This week we finished up unit 3 - digraphs.  We are just starting unit 4.  We are starting to learn about bonus letters.  Bonus letters are the letters f, l, and s.  A bonus letter happens when a word is one syllable, has a short vowel, and ends with the letters f, l, or s.  When this happens, you double the final consonant.  Examples - mass, stuff, Will.

Writing - This week we met our writer's workshop helpers - Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Kelly.  Both ladies are grandparent helpers that have been helping out with writing for many, many years.  Mrs. Kelly is in her 90's and Mrs. Johnson is in her 80's.  They are incredible helpers!  This week we worked on pumpkin stories.  The students made pumpkins out of construction paper.  Then they had to write about them.  They had a planning sheet.  This is their rough draft.  They had to write the pumpkin's name, color, shape, number of teeth, and a few other things.  After they were finished with their brainstorm sheet they had to write sentences about their pumpkins.  This was a big writing project!  We are still working on finishing up this writing project.

Here are a few of the pumpkins.  I'll take some pictures 

of the writing when we're finished with this project.

Religion - This week we spent a lot of time practicing for our mass.  We also worked out of our Religion book.  Our chapter talks about us - we are creations of God.  God made us in his image, yet we are all unique individuals.  We talked about Jesus caring for us - and how we care for others.  Friday we will read our Gospel Weekly - The Promise Paper.  

November 1 is All Saints Day.  At our campus the students have the opportunity to dress as a saint for this mass.  (It is not required - but they can if they choose to.)  If your student is choosing to dress as a saint, please let me know by next Friday, October 27th.

Divine Mercy Chaplet - We will be praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet on Friday, October 27th at 2:30.

Read-Aloud - We finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  We have been watching the movie, as well.  (Hopefully we finish today or tomorrow.)  We have been comparing the book - which was written first, to the movie.  We are finding some parts very similar, yet others are very different.  For example, in the book, Veruca Salt goes down the garbage chute in the nut room with squirrels.  In the movie, she goes down the garbage chute in the egg room - with the geese that lay the golden eggs!  We are now reading a Junie B. Jones book.  In honor of Halloween we are reading Junie B. First Grader - Boo! And I Mean It!  

Osprey Point - We are going to Osprey Point on Wednesday, October 25th.  One of our math/reading volunteers, Mrs. Gordon, has volunteered to come with us.  If you would like to join us as well, please let me know.

Tuesday, October 24th - No School!  I know it's strange not having school on a Tuesday.  There is a diocesan inservice on Tuesday, October 24th for teachers.  Enjoy your day off.

Halloween - We will be celebrating Halloween at school on October 31st.  The students will come to school in their regular uniform clothes.  They will change into their Halloween costumes in the afternoon before our party.  

A few pictures from the week -

Morning Tubs

We made spider webs with Mrs. Curran

  

A Few FYI's

Math - Group 1 is working on partners and switch partners up to 10.  Group 2 is working on subtraction stories, circle drawings, and proof drawings with subtraction.

Reading - Our word work center focuses on rhyming.  While the students are working in daily 5, we are also meeting in reading groups.  We have five reading groups.  Each group usually meets every other day.

Writing - This week in handwriting and writing we worked on a poem called Jack'O Faces.  The students had to copy all the words of the poem in the correct spaces.  They then illustrated the poem in a book.

Phonics - This week we are still focusing on digraphs.

Religion - This week we finished up our creation books.  We picked parts for our next mass.  We will be having mass on October 19th.
Greeters - Elliot, Mia, Emma, Guadalupe, Canon, Joah
Introduction - Dylan, Aaron
First Reading - Samuel, Will
Petitions - David, Suzi, Alex, Madison, Mason, Valeria, Lucy, Johanna
Bread - Gabriella
Wine - Lizzie
Leader of the Pack - Lillian
Book - Aiden
Thanksgiving Prayer - Jake, Brady

Science - We tested water temperature this week.  We had a bowl of hot water.  We took the temperature.  It was 102 degrees F.  We had a bowl of cold water.  We took the temperature.  It was 70 degrees F.  Then we mixed the two bowls.  We predicted that the temperature would be between those two.  We were right.  Our mixed bowl of water was 80 degrees.  We filled another bowl with hot water.  It was 102 degrees.  We decided to let the bowl sit out until the morning to see what would happen.  When we checked in the morning, the water was about 60 degrees.

Volunteers - We would love to have volunteers!  We have reading every day from 10:15-11:15.  We have math every day from 1:15-2:15.  We would love to have you!

New student - This week a new student joined our class.  Her name is Mia Sandoval.  She just moved here from Miami last weekend.  She is originally from Venezuela.  :)

Osprey Point - Our first trip to Osprey Point this year will be on October 25th.  We will need some volunteers to go out there with us.  Please let me know if you'd be interested in joining us.

A few pictures from the last week -

Morning Tubs

Work on Writing Center - A squiggle and a sticker story

Math Centers

A few FYI's -

Reading - This week we started reading groups!  We will have five reading groups.  It has been wonderful working with all the small groups!  This week our word work center has changed.  Our focus these next two weeks are rhyming words.  We have puzzles, games, and activities galore - all working on rhyming.

Writing - This week we wrote about where we want to go.  The choices were the circus, a castle, a carnival, or the north pole.  This week I'm starting to notice more details - in both the writing and the illustrating!  Our sentences are getting longer.  We continue to focus on starting with a capital letter, using punctuation at the end, and using good spacing.  In handwriting this week we worked on the letters Aa and Dd.  We are working on forming the letters correctly and putting the letters in the correct spaces.

Phonics - This week in phonics we are continuing to learn about digraphs.  We have been doing dictation this week.  I say a sound or a word or a sentence and the students need to write what they hear me saying.

Math - Group 1 is continuing to work on partners and switch partners.  Group 2 is working on counting on and starting the equation with the bigger number.

Science - This week we compared the inside temperature to the outside temperature.  We looked over our September weather graph and tallied all of the weather we had in September.  (Cloud Cover = cloudy, partly cloudy, sunny, or foggy,  Precipitation = hail, rain, snow, or no precipitation, and  Wind = no wind, some wind, or strong wind).

Religion - Last week our Promise Paper dealt with making choices.  This week we have been working on our creation books.  They are turning our beautiful!  As we have been working on our books, we have been watching Bible story videos.  We have learned about Joseph and the coat of many colors, Noah's Ark, and Jonah and the whale.

Volunteers - I would love to have volunteers during our math block.  Math is every day from 1:15 - 2:15.  Please let me know if you'd be able to help us out.

Conferences - Remember to sign up for conferences.

A few pictures from the last week -

Lillian and Guadalupe - math centers

 Suzi and Valeria - math centers

 Gabriella and Guadalupe - math centers

 Lillian - math centers

Our mustard seed plant.  See those tiny black specks?  Those are the tiny seeds!  In one week, look how much the mustard seed plant has grown!