Open House

Thank you so much for a great turnout for Open House. We are honored to be your child's teacher. We look forward to an awesome year! The Journey Around the World in 180 Days has begun!

What an amazing opening of the school year. I have so enjoyed getting to know the students in both Homerooms. This group of children are very excited about reading. The class has just finished sharing the book The Wizard of Oz. They loved it and spent a great deal of time discussing the many differences between the book and the movie. Did you know that in the book the special shoes are silver? The students are fully enmeshed in Reader's Workshop. The students read independently for 40 minutes daily. The children have also started partner reading two days a week and are truly enjoying discussing books with their peers. The children have started a Reader's Response Journal. This is a journal where they can jot their thoughts about what they are reading. They write their noticings. wonderings, and opinions. It is also a place where they write their text to text, text to self and text to world connections. The children are learning so much about who they are as readers and are enjoying the opportunity to teach each other.

JJ Ossi

Our Work Meets the Standards

What's Popping in Science is our 1st Standards Based Bulletin Board. During this inquiry based lab our student's focus was on the 5E model. Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. This model operates under the premise that students learn best through concrete experiences from which they are able to develop complex thinking skills. The students featured on this SBBB are Andrew, Melina, Alyssa and Lily. Great job boys and girls.

Who Needs a Bathroom Break?

Say Hello to Scooby our class frog (yes, I did say frog :)), when the students need to use the bathroom they must put Scooby on their desk. This is a great way to let me and all the other students know where they are if they are not at their desk. Scooby got to enjoy popcorn from our PTA Popcorn Party.

Awesome Math Games

Can you beat the calculator? In this activity one partner uses a calculator to solve a number string while the other partner solve the number string by looking for combinations of numbers and adding them in their head. Mental Math! Partners take turns using the calculator and solving problems mentally. Learning Math through play! Awesome!

PTA Popcorn Party

No time for rest we played Close to 20 while enjoying our popcorn. The object of this game is to choose 3 cards that total as Close to 20 as possible. The children loved the popcorn and playing Close To 20! Yummy!

Our PTA has been voted Elementary PTA of the State for 2007-2008. We have won Duval County PTA of the Year for 4 years in a row!Thank you so much for your Support!

Math Strategies

Strategies in Math

Did you know that Friday was the 16th day of school? Yeah!
The students are doing great with our rituals and routines.Keep up the great work. We are proud of you! :)

It was a busy week in Math, we did a lot of work with adding number strings.We also explored how to use a calculator as a tool in mathematics.The students loved this activity! Mathematicians often use tools and materials to help them solve problems or to help them explain their thinking to others. Another tool we have used are interlocking cubes.

In Calendar Math were are counting everyday of school. We create equations or number sentences centered around the number. We are learning strategies for combining two numbers. Some of the strategies learned are called Legs, Counting On, and the Open Number Line. Ask your child to give you an example of each.

I sent home pages of cards for the students to cut out and continue to play the games we are learning in school. Tens Go Fish and Turn Over Ten are games to help reinforce Combinations of 10.
We are also learning about money. Have your child count your loose change and identify the coin.

Fun Cards Games

In Math we learned and played 2 card games to help us with our Combinations of 10. Tens Go Fish and Turn Over Ten. These card games reinforce Combinations of 10 with two or more addends. The students had a ball! We also learned about Doubles. Ask your child what happen when we put items in the magic pot. It was a great week of learning!

We Were Using All Our Senses!

In Science this week we learned about popcorn using our senses. We popped popcorn, and the students had to fill in a worksheet and make drawings explaining what senses they used for each section. It was a huge hit! Learning about Matter was also a hit! Did you know that everything around us is made of Matter. We also discussed the different properties of Matter, solid, liquid, and gases.

Combinations of 10

The students work with combinations of 10. They listed ways of making 10 with two and three numbers. The end result is a Book of 10, listing all of the possible combinations of 10 using two to ten addends.

Make Up Days for Duval County

Mark your calendar:

Makeup Days for Duval County Public Schools’ Students are Set
JACKSONVILLE – Tropical Storm Fay caused Duval County Public Schools’ students to miss three days of school at the beginning of this school year. The District currently has five days built into our school calendar in order to makeup any days missed due to weather.
Makeup days for students due to Tropical Storm Fay will be on November 10 and December 18 and 19. The storm also required us to move the end of the first quarter, changing the date for Teacher Planning Day from October 20 to October 24. Students will need to now attend school on October 20, not on Teacher Planning Day, October 24.

Plan Ahead ~ Upcoming Events

Mark your Calendar ~ September 2008

9/9 & 9/10~ Volunteer Orientation

9/10~ Early Release Day Dismissal @ 2:15

9/12~ Flag Raising in the Courtyard @ 9:00 am

9/15~Book Fair Opens~details to come!

9/19~ BUDs Pancake Pigout Breakfast 8:00 am

9/24~Early Release Day Dismissal @ 2:15

9/25~Open House

9/25~Campus Clean Up 9-11 am

9/26~Flag Raising in the Courtyard @ 9:00 am

9/26~PTA Family Bingo Night 6:30-8:30 pm

9/29 & 9/30~Vision Screening