Last Week

Summer

Today I will be sending home a calendar for June and July. There are ideas for activities to do over the summer. These are purely optional.

Also, you can get a copy of the summer reading list at: http://www.duvalschools.org/cce

I will be posting pictures from Field Day shortly! Stay tuned...

*SNAPS*

The classroom was dark with only a single dim light. The only sound was fingers snapping as we concluded our poetry unit in our Poetry Cafe. We have spent weeks of studying different poems and creating poems of our own. Each student was asked to choose what they felt was their "best" poem to be published (have Miss Lewis type it up for us). Today, each student stood tall and proud on the stool as they read to the rest of the class their poem. Here are a few samples...

Outdoors
by Amber

The leaves are blowing
The trees are waving
The clouds are grey
And the birds are not tweeting


Games
by Cade

There's a game in there
It's going crazy
The fish is shaking
The root beer is exploding
There's a game in there!


Hit a Wave
by Billy

Hit a wave
One piece becomes two
Scared
Fall of the wave
Broken
Angry

May Book of the Month

I love my mom because...

I love my mom because... from Julia Lewis on Vimeo.

Egg Hunt

Author Visit

This morning we got to meet author and illustrator: Pamela Duncun Edwards and Henry Cole. What a treat! Several of our past Book of the Month books were written and illustrated by this dynamic duo. We got to learn about what it is like to be a real-life author and illustrator. Pamela Duncan Edwards told us how she decides what to write about-through her own experiences. She even read to us a book she wrote: Livingstone Mouse. We watched as Henry Cole illustrated a picture based on details we added. Thank you for visiting our school!

Watch the video below to see Pamela Duncan Edwards read our March Book of the Month as Henry Cole illustrates:

Untitled from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

The Very Busy Kindergarteners

We ended our Eric Carle Author Study with a day of fun! We spent the morning in a center rotation: caterpillar race, pancakes, Mister Seahorse art project, and technology. In the afternoon we played Eric Carle BINGO, made butterflies, and made pictures like Eric Carle's. It was a great way to end our unit!

Leprechauns on the Loose

There were definitely Leprechauns on the loose today! We arrived back to our classroom from lunch to see that a Leprechaun had snuck in the window and trashed our room! As we were cleaning up our classroom, there was a Leprechaun sneaking around our window. Luckily, we scared him away. Check out the pictures from our green-filled day!

Book of the Month

Listen to Principal Phillips read The Other Side:

Book of the Month 2-10 from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Does your child know how to tie their shoes?

Students are expected be able to tie their own shoes at this point of the year. We have started an "I can tie my shoes" club in class. Below is a great video to help your child learn to tie their shoes. Please practice this skill at home with your child if they are unable to tie their shoes.

1,2,3, to the Zoo!

Friday was our big zoo field trip. We explored the zoo, went to the educational program, ate lunch, and explored some more! At the educational program we were able to learn about animals and even touch some real ones! In Science we have been learning about animals and their habitats. The educational program leader was impressed by how much we already knew! Thank you to all the parents who helped chaperone our wonderful day!

Guest Reader

There was not one peep in the room this afternoon as students listened to our guest reader: Lt. Steidle from the US Navy! It is not everyday that we get to listen to someone other than Miss Lewis read to us. We were all able to introduce ourselves and ask questions. We can't wait to have another guest reader! If you are interested in coming to read to our class, please contact Miss Lewis!

Author Study

We have begun to learn about Eric Carle as an author. In Reader's Workshop we have begun looking at his books and creating an attribute chart of our noticings. This week we are working on making connections (text-to-self and text-to-text)to his books.

In Writer's Workshop, we are responding to books through retellings, connections, things we learned and/or discovered, and our wonderings. Students are encouraged to talk/respond to books they read at home as well.

We are very excited for our Eric Carle Celebration Day next Friday!

We are 100 days smarter!

Today was the 100th day of school! We did various activities throughout the day with the number 100. At the end of the day, a special guest arrived...ZERO THE HERO!! Look and see what we brought with 100 items...

Yes or No?

In Math Workshop we have been talking about different ways to record information. One of the ways we learned to record information is through surveys. A type of survey we discussed is yes/no surveys. Students had to think of a question which required a yes or no answer (ex. "have you ever seen snow?") and ask their classmates. Once students had recorded their peers answers, they counted their responses to find out if more students said yes or no. During share time, one of the conversations brought up was that some students had not recorded all their peers answers because it was hard to remember who they had asked and who they had not asked. We decided to try the yes/no surveys again the next day but with a class list so that students could write yes or no next to each student's name. Students found this recording sheet easier to keep track of their friend's answers.
Another way we learned to record information is through graphs. We graph information daily in Calendar Math. We have graphed the weather, our favorite pets, and our favorite workshops. Last Thursday for Miss Lewis' Birthday, we had to record how old we thought she was turning. We then graphed the student responses. Although there were some students who thought she might be turning 55 and 70, most of the responses were 16 years old. Miss Lewis definitely liked the responses!

Letter Combinations

In Skills Block we have been learning some new strategies for words that don't always follow the "rules" if we stretch out the sounds. Some of these strategies include letter combinations. Letter combinations are two to three letters that make one sound. The students recite the following chart daily:

ay, ai - see kids play
ir, er, ur - see the church
ar, ar, - drive the car
ow, ou - one brown cow
ing, ing - watch me swing
oy, oi - see the boy
ea, ee - let's go to the beach
oo, oo - the ghost says "boo!"
ue, ew - find the clue
or, or - shut the door
aw, au - I can draw
all, all - catch the ball

We look for letter combinations in words to help us become better readers and writers. Please use this tool to help your child when you are working with them at home!