Fall Festival

Capacity Of Liquids

It was a great week of learning! Our focus in Science was learning to accurately measure liquids. We had 3 containers of different sizes per group with 1 cup of water,a measuring cup, our lab sheet. The students practiced measuring the amount of water in each container to see which container holds the most liquid. We learned that just because the cup looks larger does not mean it will hold the most water. The children really enjoyed this lab. We hope you enjoy our slideshow.

In Math, we have started working on Story Problems. We are learning to visualize if the story problem is about combining (add) or separating (subtract). The children must write an equation, solve the problem, check it with a second strategy, circle their answer and answer the question with a complete sentence. We have lables on our desk to help us remember the steps. Great job boys and girls!

Field Trip To Wolfson Hospital

Our field trip was full of great information about the people that work in our community. We heard a picture story about a stay in the hospital. We also learned about X-rays, skeletons, and dental hygiene. We watched a pretend patient get a cast put on her arm. Mr. Darin, the Orthopedic Technician, explained how easy and fast it was to help heal a broken bone. We were given a cast leg to sign and we brought it back to school. How Cool! We also met "Roxy" the pharmacy robot. It was a great day!

Fix Up Strategies

Things are going great in Readers' Workshop. One of the things that we have been working on are strategies that help to clarify confusion when reading. Here are the "fix up" strategies that we have learned in class. These are great tips to remind your child of when you are reading together at home.

Fix Up Strategies
* Stop and think about what you have already read.
* Reread.
* Adjust your reading rate: slow down or speed up.
* Try and connect the text to something you read in another book, what you know about
the world, or to something you have experienced.
* Visualize
* Reflect on what you have read.
* Look at key words, bold print, italicized words, and puntuation.
* Notice patterns in the text structure.

The next time you and your child come to a confusing part in the book, try one (or more) of these strategies to clear up the confusion.

Another Incredible Week

We got Slimed on Tuesday! Our Science lab was so much fun! The students had to answer the question, Does slime have the properties of a solid or a liquid? Everyone started out with a hypothesis, I think.....because.

After creating their hypothesis we mixed up a batch of Slime. We tried 4 tests.

1. Set it on a paper plate.
2. Pour into cup.
3. Hold in your hand.
4. Roll in a ball.

After each test they had to decide whether the slime has the properties of a solid or a liquid. The students recorded their observations. So much fun!

In Math we skip counted by 2's, 3's, and 5's. We were introduced to tallies as a way of keeping track of groups of 5.

We are becoming familiar with coin equivalencies and using money as a model for counting by 5's and 10's. As a whole class we examined all the different ways to make 15 cents using, pennies, nickels, and dimes.

Did you know that Friday was the 31st day of school! Wow! Time flies when you are having fun!

We will have a Field Trip to Wolfson Hospital on Tuesday. 9-12:00. Please have your child wear his/her Chets Creek T-shirt and pack a bag lunch.

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.