I hope everyone had a nice 3 day weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  Let's hope we get just as nice weather for our rescheduled Springdale Sprint this Wednesday.  Also, don't forget Picture Day is on Friday.

Here's our schedule this week...
Tuesday - Yellow Day  Share: Audric, Harshitha, Brayan, Kevin
Wednesday - Green Day - Springdale Sprint *Wear sneakers Share: Collins, Cielo, Maya, Addison

Thursday - Blue Day - Media Center  * Remember library book Share: Gia, Juliana, Abby
Friday - Purple Day - Picture Day Share: Isaiah, Bhuvana, Sebastian

Week of October 5th...

No days off, no short days, it will be a busy week in Room 8 this week.  We will continue writing our narrative stories, begin learning how to tell time, practice addition including different ways to make 10, read some Fall stories and much much more.

Here's our schedule this week…
Monday - Green Day *PE    Share: Collins, Cielo, Maya, Addison
Tuesday - Blue Day   Share: Gia, Juliana, Abby
Wednesday - Purple Day   Share: Isaiah, Bhuvana, Sebastian
Thursday- Red Day *PE   Share: Omari, Elsy, Gianna
Friday - Orange Day   Share: Matviy, Emilia, Maria, Genesis

Please help your children think of ideas and practice for their share day. We like to hear about all different kinds of things…things they've done, places they've gone, pets, parties, new toys, losing a tooth etc.

Here's to a better blogging year

Last year was my first attempt at keeping a blog and it went well for while but slowly fizzled out.  This year I am looking forward to using this blog to share classroom happenings on a weekly basis.  In addition to posting pictures and recaps of exciting activities and events, every weekend I will post important information for the upcoming week including our PE schedule, "share" schedule, homework information etc.  Please visit often.

Our One of a Kind Mittens

Here are all of the wonderful and creative mittens students designed with their families (from rooms 7 and 8).  The students had fun sharing them with their classmates and reading their descriptions.  

The Pencil Trick

 We have begun our 2nd science unit on Balance and Motion.  We learned how weight affects balance and how you can add counterweights to make something stay in a stable position.  By far our coolest trick so far was getting a pencil to balance on it's point.  It took some time and perseverance but everyone finally got it.  As you can see by the smiles, the children were quite amazed.  One of the students remarked "It's like we are defying gravity!"

 Some of the pencils leaned over and even "danced" back and forth but they still stayed up.  Pretty cool!

Check out this article about what scientists say about the benefits of dancing in the classroom.  http://teacherpop.org/2015/01/science-says-your-classroom-needs-more-dance-parties/

We love our dance breaks.

December Happenings

Know it's a little late but after a busy holiday season, I'm finally getting around to sharing all of the fun we had.

Room 8 was definitely feeling the holiday spirit.  Reading holiday stories, learning about different holiday traditions, singing holiday songs, making presents, seeing the winter concert, and having a Polar Express pajama day, were just some of the many activities we enjoyed.   Of course, there was plenty of learning to go along with it.


One of my favorite stories to read around this time of year is Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett.  In this story, the Gingerbread baby loves living with Matty but he is lonely when Matty's not around and goes out to search for some friends.  While he is out having some adventures, we can see that Matty at home busy baking more gingerbread.  What a great surprise it is when the Gingerbread Baby comes home to find so many new friends.  it's such a sweet story and the illustrations are amazing.  The children really enjoyed it.  They then got a chance to make their own beautiful illustrations and write about why they liked the story.  I loved their details.

After learning about Chanukah, the children had fun playing the Dreidel game.

Our Polar Express Pajama Party was enjoyed by all.  What a fun, and comfy way to enjoy the last day of school before Winter Break.  We read the story, sequenced the events to help retell and then made our own Polar Express trains out of Graham Crackers.  Love the creativity.