The Start of Something

This past week seems to have flown by!  This past week we have begun to dive into our Investigations.  This is a math program designed to work on the thinking behind the solving of problems.  We try out various strategies to solving the same problem to see what one is the just right fit.  We have also started looking at clocks and how to tell the time on both digital and analog clocks.  I will post pictures soon of the math that we have been working on.

In science we have started looking into habitats.  Today the kids were given the choice of what type of habitat they would like to study.  Tomorrow we will start using our books to look at the different types of habitats in more detail!  As Wednesday is our time in the computer lab we will be getting on National Geographic Kids to check out some more animals that live in these habitats.

Also, don't forget to check out the Book Orders that were sent home!  Every book you order earns points and free books for our class! :)

Food for thought

I didn't plan on posting this much but there was a comment today in class that I can't help but share.  We have been reading Chrysanthemum, a wonderful story all about names and the way our words make people feel.  Two key words for this story are wilted and bloomed.  Today two questions were asked.   What makes you wilt?  What makes you bloom?  We took time to fill out a sheet with our answers and a picture to match.  The activity turned out beautifully and was the first addition to our class bulletin boards.

As I said there was one comment that just made me happy and feel the need to share.

"I bloom when I laugh"

Could there be a better saying than that?  Don't we all feel good when we laugh?  It made me stop and think how we should always find joy in our day, even in the smallest things. 

Now that you have seen some of our work today I want to ask you a question, have you laughed today? :)

First Day Jitters

Hello all!  I hope your kiddos enjoyed their first day of school!  I know I sure did.  Today was fast paced with to much to do and not enough time, but we have gotten off to a great start!  Our day started with an all school assembly where our wonderful new principal, Mrs. Cranston, welcomed in the new school year with a Charger Clap!  Soon after we were busy learning the rules and routines of our classroom along with starting work on our stamina.  What is stamina you may ask?  Well ask your child! :) We are working on setting up the Daily 5 in our classroom.  A large portion of this is for our students to be able to work independently for periods of time.  Don't worry!  This won't happen in a day.  We will be working hard to build up our stamina to become the best readers (and writers) that we can be!

After our hard work this morning we took a little time to check out what our math manipulatives are.  We will be using math tools a lot through Investigations.  Today the kids had time to check them out and think about how we might use them in math.  Here are a few of the designs that were created.  Can you guess the name of the tools? :)

In case you can't tell we had quite the robot theme going by the end of the day!  I hope your children enjoyed the first day and will continue to enjoy many more as the year goes on!

Back To School Night

Hello families!  A big thanks goes out to everyone who was able to attend!  It was great getting a chance to meet everyone and put some faces to the names on the desks.  :)  As I said I plan on updating this blog as often as possible, my goal is once a week (most likely on Friday's).  Tomorrow is our last work day before the fun begins.  Class begins Monday and we will be kicking of a great year!

The amount of parent volunteer forms fantastic!  I will be sorting through my papers tomorrow and plan on sending out some time frames for you to come in to the classroom within the next two weeks.

Tomorrow I will bring my camera in and take a few pictures of the room for you to check out and to show the difference of the bulletin boards once the kids work starts going up.

Have a great weekend before the new school year starts.

It's almost here!

I am currently sitting down looking through what different papers I need printed out, what other ideas I can come up with for the bulletin boards, and thinking on if I can can a few more beans before the school year starts up.  Then it hit me!  It's almost here!  It is so exciting and I am more than ready to begin.  There are a few more touch ups that need done in the classroom and then I will be putting pictures up! :) I am also ready for back to school night in the next two weeks.  We will be having back to school night on Thursday, August 14th from 5:00-6:30 at Columbus.  It is going to be a fantastic evening and I just simply cannot wait to meet all of my parents and kiddo's!  Here's to the next few weeks flying by and me managing to get my entire to-do list done by that time!