Monday, April 30, 2018

Weekly Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - v-e (including suffix s)
tape
dime
hope
rule
whale
slide
spoke
tune
grapes
notes

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 141-150
again
off
went
old
number
great
tell
men
say
small

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Math - The yellow group is working on adding and subtracting up to 10.  The green group is working on organizing data and interpreting data, the red group is working on telling time, and the blue group is working on fractions.

Reading - Our word work focus is synonyms and antonyms.  We have so many choices in centers.  The students also work on read to self, read to someone, listening, and writing.  While they are in centers, students also work in their guided reading groups  - reading and working with stories at their reading level.

Practicing spelling words



Phonics - We are learning about long vowels.  We now have letter-keyword-sounds for the short vowels and the long vowels.  We are also learning about v-e...which is vowel consonant e.  This happens when there's a word with one vowel and then a silent at the end.  The e makes the vowel sound long.  Ex. - safe, Pete, pine, home, mule.

Social Studies - We are up to 45 states and capitals.  We're almost there!

Religion - The chapter we are reading out of - Jesus shows God's Love.  We read two Bible stories this week.  One where Jesus cures a paralyzed man.  One where Jesus brings a sick girl back to life.  Both examples of Jesus showing his love.  On Friday we will work out of our Promise Paper to learn about this week's Gospel.

Writing - This week in handwriting we are reviewing the letters Xx, Kk, and Zz.  In writer's workshop we are writing color poems.  The students had to write a rough draft.  After the poem was edited, they wrote a final copy neatly.  We are also finishing up our acrostic poems.

A few acrostic poems





Working on the final copy of a color poem



Science - We are waiting on our next shipment - guppies and snails!  We put our two water plants in our aquariums.  They are called elodea and cabomba.  We drew and described the water plants in our science journals.  We also drew the aquariums.  We took home our seeds on Tuesday.  Hopefully they made it home in one piece!  The plants can be transplanted into bigger pots - and eventually even planted outside if you'd like!  (If we ever get rid of this snow!)  We made planting cards - where we drew pictures of our seeds growing!


Pea Seeds - They started slow - but once they started, they grew and grew and grew!



Pumpkin Seeds - These had the hardest time growing.  
They took the longest time to start.  Some of them didn't grow at all.  No worries,
we planted extra seeds.  If a student's didn't grow, they took an alternate plant home.



Sunflower Seeds - These took a while to start at well.  They are just starting to grow now.  
The stems are very skinny and fragile.  Soon enough, they'll be the tallest plants in the garden!


Kidney Bean Seeds - These were the quickest to grow roots.  
They popped up above the soil quickly!  They grew very tall!


Working on our planting cards -Drawing how the plant is growing.  
Writing about what we found out with our seeds and plants.






And Aaron - His pumpkin seed didn't grow.  He asked if I could take a sad picture with
him and his seed.  He ended up taking home a kidney bean plant instead.  :)



Last Friday we celebrated Grandparents / Special people.  When the students visited our classroom with their special people they had a chance to make a God's Eye.  Here are a few pictures.







Flat Stanley - This week Aiden received his Stanley in the mail.  So far, his Stanley went further than any other Stanley we've gotten back.  His Stanley traveled to Canada to visit his grandparents.  We have had 20 returned so far.  We love getting Stanley mail and reading about his adventures!



A few pictures of our class working on morning tubs -




Art - This year our school will have one all school art show in the St. Matthew Campus Gathering Space.  Our show will open May 10th, the morning of Muffins for Moms.  It will also be open for viewing around the following weekend mass schedule.  All students select 2-3 pieces to display.  Please plan on attending and enjoy their beautiful art work!  Mrs. Ihlenfeldt












Weekly Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - Vowel Teams aw, au and suffixes s, ed, ing
fawn
hawk
sauce
printed
twisted
stinging
spending
plants
brings
blends

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 131-140
place
well
such
here
take
why
help
put
different
away

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

This week has been a busy one!  Monday we had a snow day.  Tuesday we had Vocations Day.  Wednesday we had a reading MAP test.  Thursday we had mass.  Friday we have Grandparents Day.  We had a make up art class.  We've been practicing for our mass.  We've been practicing our singing for mass.  Even with all our extra activities this week, we've managed to do a little learning.  :)

Weidner Center - Waiting for Moon Mouse


Science - We've been working on our organisms kit.

Setting up terrariums - They have three layers - gravel, leaf litter, and soil.  


Writing and drawing about our woodland plants - moss and pine tree seedlings.


The terrarium with moss and pine tree seedlings.



Many of the seeds are starting to grow.  Here are some bean plants.


Practicing for Mass


And...Stanley!  We love getting Flat Stanley mail!

Aaron's Stanley went to Indiana


Joah's Stanley went to Colorado


Alex's Stanley went to Florida


Elliot's Stanley went to Michigan


Brady's Stanley went to his cousin in Green Bay - and his cousin took him on a road trip to Clearwater, Florida!  


Here's our Stanley map.  So far we have received 18 Stanleys back in the mail.  
We have loved reading all about all of Stanley's adventures!



*Friday afternoon we have Grandparents Day.  Our grandparents will be meeting us at 12:15.

*Next week Wednesday we will have our math MAP test

*Next week Friday we will have Discovery Day.








Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Math - The yellow group is learning to add and subtract numbers up to ten both horizontally and vertically.  The green group is working on adding tens and ones, as well as subtracting tens and ones, to numbers up to 100.  The red group is working on telling time.  The blue group is learning about shapes and they are learning about equal parts.  They are starting to learn about fractions.

Reading - This week our word work focus is synonyms.  The kids are doing a great job in their centers!  While the students are in the daily 5 centers, guided reading groups are working on reading stories at their level. 

Phonics - We have learned a few more suffixes.  We are now working with suffix s, suffix ed, and suffix ing.  We learned the difference between suffix ing and glued sound ing.  We are working the hardest of all the vowel teams - ou, oo, ew, and ue.  They are so tricky because they have multiple sounds. 

Writing - April is National Poetry Month.  We are going to learn about a few different types of poems.  Today we worked on acrostic poems.  Pictures to come soon.  :)

Science - Our seeds are starting to grow!  We have roots and a few sprouts.  We are waiting on our live organisms shipment of water plants and land plants.  Our next project will be planting woodland plants in our terrariums.

Social Studies - We are up to 39 states and capitals! 

Religion - We finished up our Safe Environment curriculum.  The students brought home their packets.  We are also practicing for our mass on April 19th.  Tomorrow we will read our Promise Paper to learn about Sunday's Gospel reading.

Stanley - We have received a few more Stanleys!  The kids LOVE getting their Stanleys back in the mail and reading about his adventures!  We have had so much fun finding where he went on our Stanley map and learning about where he has traveled!


David sent his Stanley to Massachusetts.  His Stanley arrived in Massachusetts- and then also traveled to North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, and Connecticut!


Gabriella's Stanley went to Texas.


Canon's Stanley went to Florida.  


 Lizzie's Stanley went to Texas.

Monday, April 9, 2018

Weekly Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - Vowel Teams ou, oo, ue, ew
house
group
tool
cook
school
glue
cue
true
flew
stew

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 121-130
another
came
come
work
three
must
because
does
part
even

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Math - The yellow group is working on subtracting numbers up to 10.  The green group is working on adding and subtracting groups of tens using the hundreds chart.  The red group is working on story problems using comparison bars.  The blue group just finished up their time unit.  Today they started working on learning about shapes.

Reading - This week our word work focus is synonyms - words that mean the same thing. 


Mason worked on work on writing in Daily 5.  He found some state stickers to make a sticker story about North Dakota and South Dakota!  What a creative idea!


Social Studies - We are now up to 30 states and capitals!   20 more states to learn!  See if your child can remember the words to "Fifty Nifty".

Religion - This week we are working on Safe Environment during our Religion time.  So far we have talked about things / people that keep us safe.  (fire alarms, stop signs, police officers, etc.)  

This week we also picked parts for our next mass coming up on April 19th.  I'll get mass parts copied and to the students hopefully tomorrow.  Parts chosen this time are as follows -

Greeters - Emma, Guadalupe, Gabriella, Johanna
Introduction - David
First Reading - Lizzie, Aaron
Petitions - Elliot, Canon, Will, Alex, Dylan, Samuel, Mia, Aiden
Thanksgiving Prayer - Lucy, Valeria
Leader of the Pack Reader - Mason
Leader of the Pack Basket - Joah
Bread - Lillian
Wine - Madison
Song Readers - Suzi, Jake, Brady

Science - We started our new Einstein Kit - organisms.  Organisms are living things.  So far we have brainstormed lists of organisms, drew an organism and wrote what it needs to survive, and we discussed how plants and animals are alike and different.  Tuesday we planted seeds.  We planted sunflowers, kidney beans, peas, and pumpkins.  We have a planting journal - we are waiting a few days to watch them start and then we'll be drawing in our journals.  Hopefully they start growing soon!





Writing - Today we worked on the letter Kk.  The lowercase is a little tricky.  :)  We are always working on forming the letters the correct way and getting the letters on the correct lines.  This week in writer's workshop the students worked in their notebooks on their stories.  Next week we're going to work on some poetry - as April is National Poetry Month.

Stanley - We are starting to get some more Stanleys in.  The kids are loving the pictures and reading the letters of Stanley's adventures.  We have a Stanley map where we keep track of where our Stanleys have traveled to.


Read-Aloud - We are continuing to hear about Stanley's adventures.  We are currently reading Stanley and the Magic Lamp.

*Reminder - Next week Thursday, April 12th, we are going to the Weidner Center.  We still have a few students who have not returned their permission slips.  Please return permission slips ASAP.