Another great day in Room 240 (are you sensing a pattern here?). Here’s how it all went down:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we finished up analyzing another of Eloise Greenfield’s poems, called “Fun.” It’s (as you might imagine) a fun poem to read – it’s about school. Ask your child all about it. During the lesson we talked more about “lovely language” and “inviting images” in the poem, as well as the theme. We also saw how Eloise used onomatopoeia in her poem, and indenting several of the lines. Hopefully, these two techniques will begin to show up in the kids’ poems as well. Then the kids had independent reading time and buddy reading time while I met with reading groups. While they were reading, they were looking for examples of onomatopoeia in their just-right books. At the end-of-workshop share, then, we complied a list of all of the words that they had found (such as zoom, bang, whoosh, boing, bam, etc.).

After Reader’s Workshop, we had a song (again, with the Down by the Bay – I need to teach them some more songs, I think…). After that, it was on to Writer’s Workshop, in which the kids finished up their found poetry. They will be including their found poetry in the writer’s Celebration that we will have as we finish our poetry unit.

After writing, the kids went down to the cafeteria for lunch and then out to recess. When we got back up, we finished the High Rise Private Eyes book (The Case of the Desperate Duck) that we began yesterday, just in time to head down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. They went outside, but I’m not sure what they were up to, exactly.

When we got back to the room, we had Math Workshop. Today we continued our study of addition facts, by making little books with facts that add up to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. The goal was to get the kids thinking about adding past 10, but also to have them see the patterns that emerge. They will bring the books home tomorrow.

Our Math Workshop went a bit long, so we had a bit less time for Science Lab. After a computer video malfunction (a really cool video on a cool site called brainpop –which we will watch tomorrow, so don’t show it at home tonight… ☺), we talked about the four things that electricity can make (heat, light, motion, and sound). After the kids brainstormed as many things as they could think of that use electricity, we sorted them into a chart according to the thing that is produced.

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!

One fine day in Room 240 again – here are the gory details…

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we worked on the scrambled Eloise Greenfield poem from yesterday – most of the kids were able to finish a poem – really interesting to see what they came up with, and how it differs from what Eloise actually wrote. I also introduced another poem for our Author Study today – “Fun” – once again written by Eloise (at this point, she seems like an old friend and writing mentor for us!). The kids also traded books in the Just-Right Bookbags and had Independent and Buddy Reading time while some of them met with me in Reading Group.

After reading, we had a song – a nice little number called “Mr. Knaus Has Got a Pig on His Head.” Ask your child to sing it for you…

Then it was on to Writer’s Workshop. The kids used the page from a non-fiction book that they selected yesterday to start a “Found Poetry” poem. They crossed off all of the “non-poetic” words in the text, and then used the lovely words that remained as the basis for a poem. They are turning out quite nicely.

After writing, it was time for lunch and then (outdoor) recess. When we got back in and up to our room, we read another Poppleton book for Read Aloud (this was the first one in the series, called Poppleton). Then it was time to head on down the hall for Media with Mrs. Hennen.

When we got back to our room, it was Math Workshop. Today I reviewed all of the pairs of numbers that make ten (10 & 0, 9 & 1, 8 & 2, 7 & 3, etc.). Ten we talked about how to use the “make ten strategy” to add numbers that go past ten, such as 8+5. The kids then went off to apply the strategy to solve word problems in their workbooks.

After Math, it was on to Science Lab. We’re still studying electricity, and added a buzzer to the electrical system (they have already ‘discovered’ how to make alight bulb light, a small motor turn, and a switch to work). The problem that we left off with today was trying to get all of the devices to work at the same time, with the switch to turn them on and off. We’ll get back at that tomorrow.

After all of that, as usual, it was time to pack up and head home!

Welcome back from break – I hope that it was a good one for you. Seems like a long time ago that we were in school, but it also seems like we never left.

Great day in Room 240 today – here’s the lowdown:

After Independent Literacy time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. As you know, we are in the middle of our Author Study Eloise Greenfield, a famous poet. Today we reviewed the poems of hers that we have already read, to get back in the poetry swing of things. Then I gave each of the kids a page that had all of the words from her poem “The Man in Red,” but scrambled. They each cut out the words and tried to rearrange them in an order that made sense, trying to think like a poet. It was a hard thing to try, and there were some very clever uses of the words. Tomorrow we’ll compare their work with what Eloise actually wrote!

After reading, we had a song (Aiken Drum). Then it was on to Writer’s Workshop. We had basically a continuation of Reader’s Workshop. Today I taught the kids about “Found Poetry.” The type of found poetry that we are doing (there are many) is to look at a non-fiction book and cross out the “unpoetic” (unnecessary) words, and then use the words that remain to construct a poem. It’s really pretty cool, and makes nice poetry, actually. We worked on one as a class, and then the kids each chose a page from a non-fiction book to use tomorrow to make their own found poetry (we had to carry over the choosing until after lunch because the wanted some writing time for their own poetry too).

After writing, it was time for lunch and recess, and then back up to the room to choose a page for found poetry tomorrow. When everyone had their book and page, it was time to head down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. The kids went outside, and did a long run and the 50 yard dash, from what I heard after class.

When we got back up to our room, it was time for Math Workshop. Today we worked on solving addition and subtraction word problems. Our particular focus today was on figuring out whether the problem calls for you to add or subtract, and then making a solid plan for solving the problem.

After math, it was on to Science Lab. Today we added another gadget to the electricity unit - a small motor. The kids worked on making a circuit that included a switch to turn the motor on and off. When they got their circuit up and running, I gave them shapes to spin on the end of the motor, as well as circles that were divided into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, and sixths to color in and then spin on the motors to see how colors mix. It was fun – the kids made a ton of “discoveries.”

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday – meetings after school took up all of my time. At any rate, it was another great day in Room 240!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we read another poem by our new poetry writing mentor/friend Eloise Greenfield. The poem is called “Reggie,” a sweet poem about a girl who misses her brother during the summer when he “moves out” to play basketball across the street all day long, only returning home to eat and sleep. We talked about “lovely language and inviting images” that Eloise used in her poem, as well as tried to tease out the theme (what she was trying to say or get us to feel, as opposed to the plot, which is what happened during the piece). Tomorrow we’ll talk about the structure of the poem – how she used line breaks and indentation to help her poem “sing.” The kids then went of to read their books, both with a buddy and independently. As the kids are meeting with me in reading group, they are reading Eloise’s poetry as well.

After reading, we had a song (Down by the Bay, again…), and then it was on to Writer’s Workshop. Today the kids learned about taking a huge idea that they feel strongly about (huge like a watermelon) and then find a small moment, detail, or object that they can write about to show their feeling for that idea (small like a seed). It’s a big topic for the kids, but they’re starting to get it. They have written some very cool poetry thus far!

After writing, it was time for lunch. But after lunch today, we all came back up to our room for the ice cream party that the kids earned by having 100% participation in the Read-a-thon. Ice cream sundaes can make for a bit of an active Read Aloud, but it was all good. For Read Aloud, we read two Poppleton books – this one and this one. After we finished the second book, we headed up to the art room for class with Mr. Fairbanks.

When we got back up to our room, we had Math Workshop. We continued our discussion of telling time to the nearest 15 minutes. The kids each had their own little clock to manipulate. After the kids had a good chance to practice with the clocks, they each made a time book, in which they recorded some of the important times throughout their days.

For Science Lab today, we did another experiment with electrical circuits – we added a switch to the system (which looks like this). First the young scientists had to figure out how to make the lightbulb light using all of the components (battery, lightbulb, switch, and three wires). Then they had to figure out why the switch works. We had some interesting discussion, and finally ‘discovered’ that electricity needs a full circuit to work!

After all of that, it was time to head home!

Another fantastic day in Room 240 – here’s the skinny:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we went down to the gym for a Rope Power presentation by the Burroughs Rope Power (jump roping) team. They will be performing/competing at Washburn HS tomorrow night at 6:30, if you’re interested. It was really good – the ids have obviously put in a lot of hard work. They had some really interesting tricks!

When we got back up to our classroom, it was almost lunchtime, but we were able to sneak in a shortened Reader’s Workshop. Today we re-acquainted ourselves with our new author “friend” – the poet Eloise Greenfield. I read one of her poems to the kids, and had them listen for and identify what we call “lovely language” and “inviting images” in her work, in the hope that the kids will translate her quest for “word madness” (words that excite the reader) into their own writing.

After reading, it was already time for lunch and recess. After recess, we had Read Aloud – and we finished our current Jigsaw Jones book (everything turned out fine, you’ll be happy to know… ☺). Our schedule was mixed up today, due to the Rope Power presentation, so instead of going to gym as we normally would have, we had the Writer’s Workshop that we missed in the AM. Today we talked about putting line breaks in poems, and how they control the rhythm of the poem, and “make it sing.” We looked at two different poems, written first in prose, and then broke them up into distinct lines to give the poem voice and make it sing. Then the kids went off to make their own poems. They created some really brilliant poems – I can’t wait to share them all!

After writing, we moved into Math Workshop – we are beginning a min-unit on telling time. Today we practiced with the old, tried-and-true Judy clock – we will be working on telling time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour. Start asking your child what time it is (with a non-digital clock!).

After that, we packed up all of our stuff, and went down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson to end our day. From there, it was straight out to the buses and home!

Just a quick post today - my computer is not working well.

Basically, we had the Read-a-thon closing ceremony all morning (great fun - I'll have video and pictures up, hopefully, on Monday).  After lunch we did Science Lab - electricity experiments again, and then Friday Fun.

Have a great weekend!!

Another great day in Room 240!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today I introduced the kids to our newest author study – Eloise Greenfield. She is a poet, and has published all sorts of books, from fiction to non-fiction and biography, and from picture books to chapter books to poetry. We will focus mostly on her poetry, which is wonderful. The kids will be reading her work in Reading Group with me, as well as a whole class. Today, after learning some facts about our new friend and mentor Eloise, I read two of her poems to the kids – "Lessie" and “Honey I Love.” Both are from her book called Honey I Love. We also talked about how Eloise always tries to find precisely the right word to write – and when the kids went off to read, they looked for examples in their books of how the author looked for just the right word to tell the story.

After reading, we went on to Writer’s Workshop, which is really an extension of Reader’s Workshop. Today we talked again about seeing objects “with a poet’s eye” – to look at something commonplace and see it in an uncommon way (like Eloise describing her neighbor spraying her with a hose on a hot day as a “flying pool”). After we brainstormed a list of things in the room that would be good to look at with a poet’s eye, the kids used their poetry journals to record their observations. They were really great, like this one – I have a big, thick textbook in the room, and one of the kids saw it as “a huge, thick word cake, ready to be eaten.”

When we finished with Writer’s Workshop, we got ready for lunch, and headed down to the lunchroom, and then out for recess. When we got back up to the room, we read some more of our Jigsaw Jones book for Read Aloud, and then went down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back up to our room, it was time for Math Workshop. Today the kids played two games with a partner – one was addition practice, and the other was subtraction practice.

After math, we had Science Lab. We tried to make sense of the experiment that we did yesterday – how to get a light bulb to light up with a wire, a D cell battery, and a small light bulb. We were left with this question – why do we need the wire to make it work? Why can’t we just hook up the light bulb to the end of the battery, since we figured out that the electricity is in the battery? We’ll try top sort out that question tomorrow in Science Lab with another experiment.

After all of that, it was time to head home!

As you probably heard, I was out yesterday. I was at a workshop with a famous (as famous as such people get), literacy education author Sharon Taberski. It was a great day, full of new ideas and ways to teach reading and writing in first grade!

Anyhow, it was another nice day in Room 240 – here’s the lowdown:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we looked at a book that we read on Monday by Kevin Henkes (one of my favorite kid’s writers) called Julius, Baby of the World. It’s a really cute book, especially for kid that have new or little brothers or sisters. We spent the Workshop today looking for what we call “lovely language” – words or phrases that are especially neat, novel, or great sounding. We made a list of them, and then the kids looked for lovely language in the books that they were reading independently. At the closing share of workshop, each kid shared one or two examples of lovely language that they found on their own.

After reading, we went straight on into Writer’s Workshop. We basically continued the concepts from Reader’s Workshop by looking at things around our room, including books, posters, and anything else for examples of lovely language to put in our Poetry Idea books. Then the kids went around the room looking at things in the room “with a poet’s eye,” which we practiced on Monday. They found things like “a ceiling like Oreo cookie ice cream (our ceiling is white with black flecks in it), a clock that is like a big cookie that tells time, islands in the globe that are like crumbs on a big blue counter, etc. They are very clever poets! We’ll use these fragments and bits of lovely language to craft poetry in the coming days.

When we wrapped up writing, we headed on down to the cafeteria and then out for recess (what a great day, weather-wise!!!!). When we got back in, we read some more of the Jigsaw Jones book that the kids began with the sub yesterday. At noon, we walked upstairs to the art room for class with Mr. Fairbanks.

When we got back to our room, we flip-flopped Science Lab and Math Workshop to do Science Lab first. We are working on Electricity, and the kids spent quite a long time experimenting with a battery, a wire, and a small light bulb, trying to figure out how to get the bulb to light. They were so into it, and so excited about it, that I couldn’t stop them. We discussed what they discovered, and then went back to do some more experimenting. By the time we got to a good stopping point, it was time to go home – we’ll have to do double math tomorrow, I guess!

Q: What do you call a camel with no humps?
A: A horse!

Yet another great day in Room 240 – read all about it…

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had, like usual, Reader’s Workshop. Today the kids reviewed the sounds that the long vowels make (/a/ as in cake, /e/ as in feet, /i/ as in sigh, /o/ s in moon, and /u/ s in use). We brainstormed a list of words that have those vowel sounds, and tomorrow we will review the list to see which letters (and combinations of letters) can produce those long vowel sounds. Then, as the kids went off to read, they paid close attention to words in their books that have long vowel sounds.

After that, we had a song – the Planet Song again, which they can’t seem to get enough of. They all know it, so have them sing it for you. When the music died down, we began Writer’s Workshop. Today we made a list of “The Secrets of Writing” – Mr. Wold’s class requested it during our Writer’s Celebration yesterday. When we had complied a two-page list of “secrets,” the kids went off to their tables to sort their writing from the previous unit. They kept one piece that is in progress in their writing folder and gave me one piece for their cumulative record (I’ll send it home at the end of the year). The rest of the writing they will bring home tomorrow, so expect some good reading material in their folder tomorrow!

It was then time for lunch and indoor recess. After recess we started a new Read Aloud book – Jigsaw Jones and Case of the Runaway Dog. The kids really seem to enjoy mystery stories (me too!). After only two chapters (and just when we were getting to the good part), it was time to head down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back up to our classroom from the gym, it was time for Math Workshop. In math today, we worked on a slightly different concept tan we have been studying all week. Today we solved problems that involved combinations up to 12, instead of just 10. Plus, the problems were in story form, so the kids had to figure out which operation (adding or subtracting) to do, and then how to best solve the problem. We had some really nice discussion around the different approached that the kids took.

After math, it was time for Science Lab. Today we finished the planet project – the kids did their ‘research’ for a small information sheet that we’ll attach to their planet in our room. They also finished an illustration for the letter to “Poor Pluto” that they wrote yesterday. Both will be hanging up outside our room shortly, so come and take a look!

By the time we got all of that done, it was time to pack up and head home!

Q: If two is company and three is a crowd, what are four and five?
A: Nine.

Another great day in Room 240 – a bit crazy schedule-wise, but we’re none the worse for wear.

After Independent Literacy Time, we went down to the Atrium for spring picture day. Everyone had great hair, big smiles, and took cute pictures. Look for a packet with proofs to come home in a few weeks – order if you like.

After pictures, we came back up to the room and got it set up for our Writer’s Celebration today. The kids got in some last-minute rehearsing/practicing, and we got organized into reading teams.

Then the kindergartners from Mr. Wold’s morning class came up to be an attentive and eager audience. Both classes were split up into teams, and the first graders took turns reading to a small group of kindergartners. It went really well – the kids really had a chance to shine, and I think that the kindergartners were sufficiently awed.

After the celebration, the kids had a chance to share “The Secrets of Good Writing” with the kinders – it is amazing what they have learned and retained in writing!

It was then time for lunch, and indoor recess. After recess in our room, we finished the Cam Jansen book that we were reading, and headed up to the art room for class with Mr. Fairbanks and his student teacher. You should see the fruits of their labors today – they brought them home.

When we got back down to our class, we had Math Workshop, in which the kids each made a “Tens Book,” which had a different page for each number combination that adds up to ten, along with the equation and an illustration. They will come home tomorrow.

In Science Lab, at the end of our day, we read a fun book called “Poor Pluto.” It’s funny, and written by a class of third graders in California. Each of the kids wrote a letter to Poor Pluto (who is poor Pluto, by the way, because he’s not a ‘real’ planet anymore – he’s a dwarf planet). By the way, it’s the book, and not me, that assumes that Pluto is a he. Tomorrow we’ll be illustrating the letters.

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head out!

Q: What do you call a camel with three humps?
A: Humphrey.

Here’s the update on our day – another good one in Room 240!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today I taught the kids about “magic endings” for words (endings like –ing, -ed, -ist, -ly, and –tion). If they come across a tricky word in their reading, they can take off the magic ending, and then try to read the word. After we learned about that, they went off to practice that skill in their reading, both independently and with a buddy.

After reading, we moved on to Writer’s Workshop. Today the kids practiced reading the pieces that they will read to the kindergartners tomorrow at our Writer’s Celebration. They are really good – they will be bringing home a lot of their writing this week. Our next writing unit is poetry, which I’m really looking forward to. (Also, check the blog tomorrow – I will try to post some photos and/or video of the celebration.)

After writing, we headed down to the lunchroom for lunch and then out for recess. When we got back up to our room, we started a new Read Aloud book – Cam Jansen and the Mystery in the Haunted House. After only 2 chapters, it was time to walk down the hallway to the Media Center for class with Mrs. Hennen.

When we got back to our classroom, we skipped over Math Workshop today, and had an extended Science Lab. We learned about the moon, and did an experiment with balls of various sizes – we dropped them into a box of flour (to simulate and asteroid’s impact on the moon) to see how the size and speed of an object affects the size of the crater that it leaves. The experiment looked like this, only without the chocolate powder on it, because... well, super messy.

At the end of Science Lab, the kids finished up the planets that they have been working on – I’m going to hang them in the room tonight. They are all to scale – Jupiter is over two feet across, and Pluto (yes, we included Pluto – we felt badly leaving poor little Pluto out, even though it’s been relegated to a dwarf planet) is the size of a hole punch, like from a three-hole punch machine. The planets are also in scale going across the room – Mercury is about 4 inches from the sun in our model and Pluto is all the way across the room – about 400 inches! Pretty cool stuff.

After that, it was time to pack up and head out!!

Q: Why shouldn’t you play cards in the jungle?
A: Because there are too many cheetahs!

Another very productive day in Room 240 – here’s the lowdown:

After Independent Literacy time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we talked about the strategies that readers use when they encounter a tricky word – see how many your child can recall! Scroll down to the post from last Tuesday for a list of the strategies. The kids also traded books for their independent reading bookbags, and did both independent reading and buddy reading. After that, we had a song (the Planet song, which is pretty catchy, actually – have your child sing it to you!).

After our sing-along, we had Writer’s Workshop. Today the kids worked on practicing reading their stories that they will present at our Writer’s Celebration on Wednesday. We will be hosting a class of kindergartners to read our work (don’t worry – the next two celebrations will DEFINITELY be parent and family invites). After we had practiced and done a little ‘fixing and fancying,’ they were almost literally dying to have some time to start new pieces, and who am I to say no to eager writers?

By the time we finished all of that, it was time to head downstairs for lunch and recess. When we got back up to our room, we read some more of Cam Jansen, and then we were off to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back up to our room, we had Math Workshop. Today the kids played a card game with number cards that is similar to “Go Fish” – except that they had to make combinations of ten, instead of matching the numbers. After they got the hang of that, they were able to choose which game to play with their partner – Go Fish, Face-up (the game from last week), or Face-down (like Memory or Concentration, but with making tens again).

At the end of the day, we had Science Lab. We worked on the planet project again today – the kids did a little bit of research about their planet, and then we measured out where the planets should go in the room (in scale). It is amazing to see – in our model, Mercury is about 4 inches from the sun, and Pluto is all the way across the room (diagonally). We’re still working to get the kids’ heads around the concept of a model, but the distances are really interesting. We will be hanging our planets tomorrow, hopefully, so stop in and have a look when you get a chance!

Whew. After all of that, it was time to pack up and head out!

Sorry for the short post today - it's conference day, and I'm booked. Great day today, though!


Reading: Looking for dialogue and "fancy words" in our books

Writing: How to sign up for a writing conference with me (plus writing, of course)

Read Aloud: New book: Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown

Math: Subtraction game with dice, and the same card game (Making Tens) from yesterday

Science: Basic info about planets, and set-up for our in-class planet project (more on that tomorrow!)

Thanks - enjoy the sun!!!!

Another nice day in Room 240! Our schedule was a bit mixed up, but we all came through just fine, I think.

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Science Lab instead of Reader’s Workshop. We worked on the vocabulary that would be included in the presentation in the Exploradome. The kids learned the words, and illustrated them. They should have brought the mini-books that we made home today.

After Science Lab, we headed down to the gym for our session in the Exploradome. It was really cool – the program that we saw was called “The Night Sky” – we saw constellations and talked about the sun and moon rising and setting. It was quite a sight to see all of us (me included) laying inside this huge bubble on our backs, looking up at the screen. It was very well done, and a great kick-off to our mini-unit on space in science.

We had just a little bit of time before lunch, so we came back up to our classroom and finished the Cam Jansen mystery that we started this week. After lunch and recess, we were back up in the room for Read Aloud – we chose Mr. Putter and Tabby Make a Wish. By this point, Mr. Putter and his cat Tabby are old friends of ours. After Read Aloud, we headed upstairs to the art room for class with Mr. Fairbanks.

When we got back down to the room, we had Writer’s Workshop. Today the mini-lesson was about what to do when the kids have a writing conference with me during their writing time. The goal is to get them to talk not only about the topic of their writing, but what they are doing as a writer (techniques like adding dialogue, using fancy words, adding more details, or even taking some details out). The additional point is to get them to think about why they would use a particular technique in their writing – to what effect.

After writing, we moved on to Math Workshop. The kids played a card game in which they had to match up pairs of number cards that add to ten. It was sort of like the game Concentration, except all of the cards were face up.

After all of that (whew!) it was time to head home!

Q: Why did the book join the police department?
A: So he could work undercover.

Here’s the lowdown on our day in Room 240 – yet another good one!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today I taught a mini-lesson that was really more of a review of past lessons, as a refresher. We talked about and then practiced reading strategies to use when they encounter a tricky word. There are 6 that we discussed today:
1. Looking at the pictures for help
2. Getting your mouth ready to say the word (first sounds)
3. Does the word make sense?
4. Leapfrog – skipping over the word and then coming back to it to figure out what it is from context
5. Chunking – looking for smaller word parts or familiar words inside the word for clues
6. Pointing to the words as you read.

The kids all practiced those skills as they read independently and did buddy reading today. At our end-of-workshop share, each shared one of the particular skills that they used today in their reading.

After reading, we worked on our spelling word sort for the week – the kids brought it home today, along with their words. In each word sort, there is a sound (phoneme) that the kids are working on.

When we finished our word sort, we moved on to Writer’s Workshop. Many of the kids were itching to start a new piece of writing today, so many of them did. Officially, we’re still working on “fixing and fancying” our pieces for publication. At the end-of-workshop share, every student chose the best sentence that they wrote to day to read out loud to the class.

After all of the writing and reading were done, we headed down to the lunchroom for lunch, and then outside for recess. When we got back up, we read some more of our Cam Jansen mystery novel – it’s quite suspenseful. Then it was time to head down the hallway for Media with Mrs. Hennen.

When we got back to our room, we had Math Workshop. Today we worked on refining the kids’ skills in using a problem solving process to solve word problems using both addition and subtraction. It is the same process that we used last week – they are really catching on to it!

After math, it was time for Science Lab. Since we are going to the ExploraDome tomorrow morning (check the Burroughs Bulletin for more information about it, or click here), we worked on some of the vocabulary that they will hear and use tomorrow. We talked about constellation, horizon, and Milky Way. We’ll go back over those terms and a few more tomorrow before we go.

After all of that, it was time to clean up, pack up, and head out!

Q: What did the blanket say to the sheet?
A: I've got you covered!

Today was another great day in Room 240 – here’s the scoop-

After Independent Literacy Time, we had Morning Meeting. When we finished with Morning Meeting, we worked on moved all of the kids’ stuff from one table and set of shelves to another – quite a process, as you can well imagine. After we got everybody settled and ready in their new spots, we began Reader’s Workshop. Today I taught a mini-lesson (more of a reminder lesson) about how to treat books properly, since we just got a huge number of new books (thanks, PTA!!!). The kids enjoyed trading the books in their Independent Reading book bags for new ones for the week. We also had time for independent reading, and then to write a short reaction to the text in their journals.

When we finished with reading, we had a short song – Down by the Bay (again). It seems to be a crowd favorite – probably because they get to make up silly verses for all of us to sing.

After the song, it was on to Writer’s Workshop, in which I taught the kids about the different ways that writers can use dialogue in the stories, and the way it changed the story. We talked about how to use words other than “said” in their writing: words like “whispered,” “yelled,” “told,” and “asked.” A particular one that appeared in some very choice spots in some kids’ pieces was “sassed.” ☺ Here’s the chart that we made to help remember the words:

After writing, we headed down to the lunchroom for lunch, and then the kids went out for (a pretty soggy) recess. When we got back in, we started a new Cam Jansen book (the Mystery in the Monkey House). We had to leave off at a very suspenseful part! After Read Aloud, it was down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson – the kids worked on jump roping, I think.

When we go back up to the class, we had Math Workshop. Today we worked on writing number sentences (except now in first grade we use the math name for it – “equations”) that correspond to dot pictures of numbers (click here for some .pdf examples of dot pictures). The goal is to get the kids thinking about how numbers are composed (which numbers can be used to make another number, either with subtraction or addition).

For Science Lab, at the end of the day, We began our new science unit – we will be studying space. The kids are excited about it, I think. Today we spent our Lab time talking about the things that we already know about space, and things that we would like to find out. Part of the kids’ homework tonight is to ask someone at home about the significance of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper – I told them that if they were lost at night (and had a map), they could use those constellations to find their way home. If you want to study up a bit, go here or here.

After all of that, it was time to clean up, pack up, and head out!

We had another great day in Room 240 - it really seemed to fly by. We spent the morning on a field trip to Underwater Adventures at the Mall of America. We had a GREAT time - we first spent some time in a class with one of the staffers. she taught us about Invertebrates - animals that have no bones. Be sure to ask your child all about it. They got to touch some cool artifacts, such as a turtle shell, sponges, shells, and shark's jaws.

After the class, we got to tour through the "tunnel", in which we walked through a glass tube, basically, and had all kind of cool animals swimming all around us. We saw various sharks, rays, fish, and invertebrates. We also got to see seahorses and other smaller animals.

After the main part of the exhibit, the kids got to 'pet' sea stars, rays, and crabs (if they wanted to).















We also took a class picture:
















When we got back to school, we quickly ate lunch, and then headed on down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. When we got back up from gym, we read a couple of books (gotta read those minutes during the Read-a-thon!!), and then worked on a writing project about our trip - we worked on sequencing, by making a pseudo-comic strip about the trip. The kids were encouraged to think about what happened first, second, third, etc., and then make sure that their writing reflected that sequence. By the time we fginihsed that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant and a fish?
A: Swimming trunks.

Yet another great day in Room 240 – here’s how it all went down:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. The kids had a chance to do independent reading and buddy reading, while several reading groups met with me. We also had a guest reader for the Read-a-thon – Ray’s grandmother came in to read to us.

After that, we went straight into Writer’s Workshop – today we worked on making sure that all of the words that belong in the stories that the kids are working on are in there (that they have not skipped or left out any words). We also worked on sorting their spelling words during Writer’s Workshop.

After writing, we headed down to the lunchroom and then out for recess. When we got back in, we had time to read another chapter or two from the Geronimo Stilton book that we have been reading. When we got done with reading, we went down the hall to the Media Center for class with Mrs. Hennen.

After Media we came back to home sweet home Room 240 and had Math Workshop. We played a game with dice that was similar to the game from yesterday, except that today we played it with addition and subtraction – getting trickier!!

After math we had a bit of an extended Science Lab – we first measured the water animals (they have grown quite a bit since we last measured them, on Friday) and put the data that we collected on the chart. Then we learned about the areas of the ocean – the underwater topography. The kids each made a cross-section map, that looks a little like this, but much simplified. They cut and pasted labels for continents, continental shelf, continental slope, ridge, trench, and island. They turned out pretty cool – they will be coming home in the next week of so.

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!!

Q: What’s more dangerous than pulling a shark’s tooth?
A: Giving a porcupine a back rub!

Another really nice day in Room 240 – here’s the low-down:

To begin the day, the kids had Independent Literacy Time, like usual. Then, at 9:00, we had an assembly for National African-American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID). The entire school gathered in the gym to see a performance and teaching by a group called Visions of Culture. They shared music and dance (and information) from and about the country of Guinea (in West Africa). They were very good – the kids loved the drumming and the dancing especially well, I think.

After that, we came back up to the room for Reader’s Workshop. Today the kids had a chance to trade in their “just-right” books in their bookbags, and many of them met with me in Reading Group while the others had independent reading and buddy reading time. After that, it was already time to head down to lunch and recess!

After lunch and recess, we headed back up to the room for Read Aloud – Ray brought in a book for us to read. It is from the Geronimo Stilton series and it’s called Cat and Mouse in a Haunted House. It’s pretty funny, as are all of the Geronimo Stilton books. After two chapters, we went down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back up to the room, we had Writer’s Workshop, since we were plum out of time for it in the AM. The kids worked on adding details to their stories, to create what we call a “mind movie” for their reader. While they were all writing, each student met with me in their spelling group to get and read their spelling words for the week – they should be in their folders today. At the end of workshop, each kid who wanted to share had a chance to read the piece that they are currently working on.

At the end of the day (time just FLEW by today), we had time for a short math workshop. We played a dice game in which the kids had to roll a 12 or 20 sided die and then roll a die that had only the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on it. They then had to make a addition number sentence out of it (9+2=11, for instance). The other kids in their group checked their work to make sure that the sentence was a true one.

After all of that, it was time to clean up, pack up, bundle up, and line up to go home.

Q: How do you find out where a mosquito has bitten you?

A: Start from scratch.

Another great day in Room 240. Here’s the scoop:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Yesterday we worked on predicting, as it is a skill that readers have and something that readers do as they read. Yesterday we read a fiction (story) book, and today we extended the lesson by reading a non-fiction book about animals and their babies and working on predicting in those types of books as well. Then the kids had a chance to do independent reading, buddy reading, and write a reader response.

After that, we sang a song – “In the Ocean” – an old favorite. Then we moved on to Writer’s Workshop. Today the kids continued with the pieces that they are working on, and we also began to have writing groups during work time, in which I introduced the spelling program that we will be using for the balance of the year. There should be a spelling list for the week in your child’s folder today – we will be working on the words in school as well, and we’ll have a test on Friday.

After writing, we went down to the lunchroom for lunch and then out for recess. When we got back up to the room, we finished our Nate the Great book during Read Aloud. Then it was down the hallway for Media class with Mrs. Hennen.

When we got back to our room, we had our sharing time from Writer’s Workshop (I didn’t have the heart to interrupt them while they were writing – they were all so intent). After that, we had Math Workshop, in which we worked on composing and decomposing numbers (thinking about the numbers that can be used to make a number). We just go a new math tool yesterday in first grade (they look like this) and we used them today!

At the end of the day, we had a combined Math Workshop and Science Lab – since we are working on measurement in both, the kids practiced drawing lines of certain lengths (only inches so far), and then went around the classroom measuring pretty much anything they could get their hands on, and writing down the results on the recording sheet. (I can tell you with some degree of certainty that my head is either 6½ or 8 inches from top to bottom…).

When we finished that, we measured the [rapidly] expanding water animals and put the data on the chart.

After all of that, it was time to clean up, pack up, and bundle up!

Another great day in Room 240 – here’s the low-down:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we talked about treating books and materials with respect, and reviewed how to properly store and use books (a simple, but necessary lesson for first grade). The kids all then got to do both independent reading and buddy reading, and also wrote a nice reader response.

After that, we had two songs – we reviewed the ocean song again, and then I taught the kids a song about the continents (see the lyrics here – the tune is to “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”). Ask your child how many of the (seven) continents they can remember!

After singing, we had Writer’s Workshop. The kids all had writing that they were anxious to get back to – they are working on pieces as diverse as stories, poetry, recipe/cookbooks, lists, and letters. It is so much fun to read them and discuss them with these young writers as they work!

It was then time for lunch and recess, and then back up to the room to read three more chapters of Mercy Watson – Something Wonky This Way Comes. At high noon, we headed down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. Gym was indoors this week – next week we will be outside for skating, weather permitting. (Parents are ALWAYS welcomed/encouraged/begged to come and help out – tying all those skate laces is quite a job. Please come if you can – Monday and Thursday, from 12:00 until 12:55. You can meet us in the gym, or in the warming house at Lynnhurst.)

When we got up from gym, we had Math Workshop, in which the kids all put the data that they collected from their surveys yesterday onto a graph. I am collecting all of the graphs to make into a class book, which will be in our class library.

After math, we finished the day with Science Lab. Yesterday the kids all traced those little water-expanding animals, and today we measured them (a little measurement lesson) to see if they had grown any since yesterday. They actually have – tomorrow we will work on recording that information on a large chart!

After that, as always, it was time to clean up, pack up, and bundle up!

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Cows.
Cows who?
Cows go moo, not who!!

Another great day in Room 240 – read on to hear all about it!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today we worked on building reading stamina – the amount of time that the kids can spend reading at one stretch. They did both independent and buddy reading, and wrote a reader response to their reading.

After reading, we had a song – the ocean song again, to review, for science and social studies, the names of the oceans. (It’s to the tune of “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean.”)

We then moved on to Writer’s Workshop. Today, instead of working on a story, we wrote letters – we had some rather exciting news that we will have a new student joining our class on Friday. His name is Owen, and each one of the kids wrote him a note to welcome him to our classroom and to tell about the fun things that we have going on here. They were very sweet notes – ask your child what s/he wrote!

After writing, we got bundled up and headed down for lunch and recess, then back up to our room for another couple of chapters of Mercy Watson. We just had time to three chapters before it was time to go upstairs to the art room for class with Mr. Fairbanks.

When we got back to our room, we had Math Workshop. Today the kids each got to ask all of their classmates the survey question that they developed today and record the results. Tomorrow we will work on taking those data and organizing them onto a graph. Look for the work hanging outside our door in the near future!

After math, we had Science Lab. Today we finished reading a non-fiction book about Orcas (Killer Whales). We are learning both about ocean animals as well as how to get information from a non-fiction text – both are valuable and important first grade skills. Also, Anna’s mom was in to help out, and she helped the kids trace four of those little plastic animals, the kind that expand when you put them in water. They traced them onto graph paper, and tomorrow we will figure out the area that each takes up, to compare them with the “fully grown” versions in a week or so. The dolphin, shark, sea star, and sea turtle are all currently in a bucket in our classroom. We’ll have to see how big they are tomorrow!

After all of that, like usual, it was time to pack up, clean up, and bundle up!

Q. Why do fish live in salt water?
A. Because pepper makes them sneeze!


Another nice day in Room 240 – here’s the scoop…

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. The kids got a chance to practice reading their bookbag books, and then got to do buddy reading with a friend – they did really well. After that, each wrote a response to the text – my challenge to them was to try to write a different type of response than they had previously.

After reading, it was on to Writer’s Workshop. Today we reviewed all of the ways that writers make their writing easy for their readers, and then went to work polishing stories. We were so hard at work on the stories that we ended up not having time to share our work. Luckily we could postpone that until after gym – many of the kids were bursting at the seams to share their hard work.

When we finished writing, we were off to lunch and recess, and then back up to the room for Read Aloud – today it was Bear Feels Scared (a really nice rhyming book – one of a series about the same bear and his little friends). Then it was down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson – SLEDDING! Of course, I had to go out and join them (no wonder I love my job – I can brag to all of my friends that I “had” to go sledding as a part of my workday!). Here are some photos and a video that I took – the video I shot as I was sledding down the hill, so it’s got interesting cinematography…

After gym, we came back up to our room and had a writing share – the kids that wanted to used the chair in the front of the room and the microphone to read their stories to the class. They were very enjoyable!

After that, we had a small birthday celebration for Mykal – he was nice enough to bring us treats, so we were all very happy to share them with him. Then we got to watch a slideshow of the photos from the sledding trip, as well as a couple of videos of the kids on the hill. After we cleaned up the room, we had Thursday Fun, in lieu of Friday Fun (remember – no school tomorrow).

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Q: What kind of chese doesn’t belong to you?
A: Nacho cheese.

Another great day in Room 240 – here’s the lowdown:

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.   We spent our time today reading – doing independent reading and buddy reading, and then writing about our books in our Response Journals.  The end-of-workshop share today was to have everyone read the reader response that they wrote today.  They are coming up with some very interesting insights about their books!

After that, we headed right into Writer’s Workshop.  Today we worked on making on making our writing readable, both in terms of clear handwriting and spaces between words, and also in terms of making the information clear for the reader.  The kids all had some quality writing time too!

Then it was time for lunch and recess, and then back up to our room for Read Aloud.  The book today was Can-Do Pigs, by David McPhail.  After the book, we headed upstairs to the art room for class with Mr. Fairbanks.

When we got back down to our room, we had Math Workshop.  Today we worked on a couple of assessments that are a part of the end-of-quarter program in first grade, and then we worked on the math/science combo that we started yesterday.

After math, we had Science Lab – the kids learned the whole oceans song – ask them to sing it for you – and I told them to quiz you all on the four oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic).

After all of that, like usual, it was time to pack up and head home!

Q:   What happened to the dog that swallowed a firefly?
A:   It barked with de-light!

I hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend – and that was actually a long weekend for you.  We are right back in the saddle here in Room 240!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.  Today we read another book by the author that we are studying – Mem Fox.  The book of the day was Whoever You Are, a really nice book about acceptance and global understanding.  The skill that we worked on was getting the meaning/lesson that the author intended out of a text.  After that, the kids traded books from their bookbags, and then had Independent Reading and wrote in their response journals.

After that, I taught the kids a new song – Shake My Sillies Out (also a book by Raffi, if you’re interested).  Then it was on to Writer’s Workshop.  Today we talked about the importance of making our writing easy for our reader to read and understand – the morning message today lookedalllikethiswiththewordsallbunchedtogethersothatthetkidscould
realizethatitisreallyhardtoreadwithoutspacesbetweenwords.  We then talked about how they can make their own writing easy for their readers, and then they went out to write.  At the end of workshop our sharing time was for them to share with their fellow writers how they went about making their writing easy for their readers.

We then got bundled up and headed down for lunch and recess.  When we got back up to our room, we had Read Aloud – I read the kids a book called Pig Pig Goes to Camp.  Then we trundled down the hallway to Media for class with Mrs. Hennen.

When we got back to our room, we had a combined Math Workshop and Science Lab – the kids worked on various activities that had to do with aquatic animals and reading, writing, and math. 

After that, we spent some time doing social studies, related, of course, to our science theme.  Each student labeled the oceans and the continents on a world map – ask them to see if they can remember how many oceans there are (4), and how many continents there are (7 – don’t forget Antarctica…).  I also taught them a song to help remember the names of the oceans – it is to the tune of “My Bonny Lies over the Ocean.”

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Why did the chicken cross the playground?
   
To get to the other slide. 

 Here’s the scoop on Room 240 today…

After Independent Literacy time and Morning Meeting (and realizing that it is the 81st day of first grade – time flies!!), we had Reader’s Workshop.  We skipped our Author Study for the day, because Morning Meeting took longer than planned – two kids with newly lost teeth, and some good math figuring out how much longer until the 100th day of school.  The kids had independent reading time, buddy reading time, as well as time to write in their Reader Response Journals.

We then had a song (Down by the Bay again, with only aquatic animals in the verses).  Then we went on to Writer’s Workshop – we worked on original stories again, with the kids expanding on the Reader Questions from yesterday.

After lunch and recess, we came back up to the room for Read Aloud, which today was Pickles to Pittsburgh, the sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Then it was back down to the gym for more snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

After that tiring but very fun expedition, we spent a bit of time organizing our classroom – making sure that all of the reading, writing, math, and science materials are all in the proper places so that they are easy to find.  Then we had math workshop – we worked on subtraction and addition sentences with the numbers missing in various places (e.g. ____+ 3 = 10, 7 + ___ = 8, and 5 + 5 =_____). 

We then moved on to Science Lab, and some of the kids got to go out in the hallway and learn about how long various species of sharks are, while the rest watched a short film about sharks, and took notes in their notebooks about facts from the movie – both to learn about sharks, and to start to think about research as well.

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home.

Another great day in Room 240!

Here’s the joke of the day:

Why did the boy eat his homework?

Because she said it was a piece of cake!

This morning, after Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.  We worked on our Author Study of Mem Fox again – we read Possum Magic, which is her first book (and was rejected by 9 publishers, and ended up selling 3.5 million copies).  The kids all then write a Reader’s Response to that book, so that they could practice different ways of writing their responses.

After reading, we had Writer’s Workshop, in which the kids read a piece that they were working on to a partner, and then their partner gave them a nice comment and then 3 Reader Questions.  After they switched roles, everyone went back to their tables and wrote, trying to answer the reader questions.

After that, we had lunch and recess, and then back up for Read Aloud (the book I Stink).  After Read Aloud, we headed up to art for class with Mr. Fairbanks. 

When we got back down to our room, we had Bravo class – Ray’s mom Joanne came in to teach the class about Beethoven – we listened to and saw an orchestra playing his 5th Symphony, learned about his life, and then saw a clip form the Disney movie Fantasia that had animation that went along with the music.

After that, we had Science Lab, in which we reviewed a book about sharks to learn some more interesting facts.  While we were doing that, each child had the chance to make an aquatic “fossil” by pressing seashells into clay.  After they dry, we will try to be paleontologists and match up the imprint to the shell.

By that time, it was time to pack up and head home!

Another super day in Room 240! 

Here’s a joke that I heard today:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Dishes.
Dishes who?
Dishes the police - open up!

This morning, after Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.  We began our Author Study of Mem Fox in earnest today – we started of by making a list of the literary components of Mem’s stories that we wanted to pay attention to – the kids came up with Setting, Characters, Plot, Writer’s Craft (how she tells the story, and interesting details and words that she includes), and Connections (how we all relate to the book).  Then we read Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, and talked about various aspects of the story.  Then the kids had independent reading time, and I worked with each individually doing a literacy assessment.

After reading, we moved on to Writer’s Workshop.  We talked again about how writers answer Reader Questions in their writing, and I told the kids about how Mem Fox took 49 drafts and 2 years to write Koala Lou, which is a book of only 585 words – she kept on thinking about Reader Questions, and asking her friends for their ideas and comments.  The kids then went out to try to write like Mem!

After that, it was down for lunch and out for recess, and then back up to the room for Read Aloud – today it was a short one – Mr. Putter and Tabby Fly the Plane (if you don’t know about this series, it’s a great one – kids LOVE it – see the whole list here).  After the book we headed down the hall for Media with Mrs. Hennen – I know that the kids were in the computer lab for part of their time there.

When we got back to our room, we had Math Workshop – the kids each made two posters of a subtraction story – with an story problem that they made up, an illustration, and four different ways to solve the problem.  Some of them had very creative story problems, as you can probably imagine…

After that, it as on to Science Lab – the kids learned about the parts of a shark, a fish, and a whale, and tried to figure out if a shark in a fish or not (it is), and then how fish are different than whales.

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Another fine day in Room 240!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.  The highlight of the time was that the kids got a switch out the books in their bookbags.  They also had Independent and buddy Reading time, and then they wrote in their Reader Response Journals as well.  After that, we had a song, which is called In the Ocean (to go along with our science theme).

Then we moved on to Writer’s Workshop, in which the kids worked to revise and improve one of the pieces that they have already written by trying to anticipate Reader Questions (questions that their likely readers would have about their story).

After that, it was on to lunch and recess, then back up for the last chapter of Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  The kids all kept their warm clothes on, because after Read Aloud they went down to the gym for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.  From all reports, they had a blast!

When gym was done, we came back up to our room, got all of the outside clothing off and packed up, and had Math Workshop.  Today we built upon the subraction work that we have been doing for the past week.  Each student made a small paper book and wrote and illustrated a subtraction word problem on each page.  They really did a nice job, and I can see that they are making good progress in understanding the concept of subtraction  - plus their writing skills are growing every day!  Each student also had a chance to share his or her best subtraction story with the class.

At the end of the day, we had time for only a short Science Lab, in which the kids reviewed the parts of a shark – dorsal fins, pectoral fins, caudal fin, and gill slits.

After all of that, we packed up to go home!

Another great day in Room 240!

Today, after Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.  We continued with our Author Study of Mem Fox.  We listened to her tell about how she got her name, as well as listen to her read Koala Lou.  It’s always interesting to hear the author read the book, as opposed to just some old first grade teacher.  Plus, I think that the kids enjoyed her Australian accent…  After that, we had both independent and buddy reading time.

After reading, we began Writer’s Workshop.  We talked again about how writers need to write with their readers in mind, and try to anticipate the questions that their story might raise for their reader(s), and try to answer them.  We call them “Reader Questions,” and talk about the fact that all writers do it.  They then went out to write, and many of them tried to use Reader Questions to help shape their writing.

Then it was off to lunch and (outdoor) recess, and back up to the room for another chapter of Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  Next, the kids all got their gym shoes on and went down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back up to our room, we had Math Workshop.  We talked about subtraction in a little different way (yesterday we talked about drawing pictures, making tally marks, and using ten frames to conceptualize subtraction).  Today the kids learned that subtraction is not only the inverse of addition (5 + 4 = 9 is directly related to 9 – 4 = 5), but also that subtraction (and addition) problems can be thought of as “missing number problems” – that they can think of 8 – 5 = ____ as being the same as _____ + 5 = 8.

We then moved in Science Lab – we watched a video about sharks that are found in the oceans around the United States.  Ask your child to name some of the species of sharks that they saw today (such as hammerheads, great whites, bonneted, tiger, sand, etc.).

After all of that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Another nice day in Rom 240!

After Independent Literacy time and Morning Meeting, we were on to Reader’s Workshop.  Today we began a new Author Study on one of my favorite authors (I have a lot of them, as it turns out – occupational hazard, I think…).  We are starting to learn about Mem Fox, who is a very prolific Australian author – for more info on her, click here, or here, or here to hear her talk about her name, or here to hear an interview with her.  She has a ton of cool books – today we read Koala Lou, and tomorrow we will begin to analyze it.  After that, we had independent reading time, and then Reader Response Journals.

After that, we headed straight into Writer’s Workshop – we talked about how our new author friend Mem uses lovely language in her writing, and also how she thinks about her reader as she is writing, which is the focus of our current writing unit.  Then, of course, the kids went off to write.

After writing, we went down to lunch and (outside!!) to recess.  When we got back up to the room, we read another chapter of Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and then it was off to the art room for class there.

When we got back down to our room, it was time for Math Workshop, in which we practiced solving subtraction word problems together as a group and also individually.

After math, we had Science Lab.  We continued our study of sharks – the kids learned the various parts of the shark – ask them about dorsal fins (the ones on the back), pectoral fins (the ones on the underside), and gill slits.  Here is a picture that looks pretty much like the one we looked at in class.

After all of that, it was once again time to clean up, pack up, and bundle up!

Another fine day in Room 240!  We were busy and quite productive.  Read on to hear all about it!

After Independent Literacy Time and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop.  Since the kids all got new books for their book bags yesterday, they were itching to read and read, so we had independent reading time, followed by Buddy Reading time, and then they all wrote in their Reader’s Response Journals.

After that, we sang – Leah chose Stone Soup as the song of the day.  Then it was on to Writer’s Workshop.  Today I taught the kids about how writers write with their readers in mind, trying to think about what their readers know and can relate to, in order to make their writing more interesting.  I wrote about a trip that I took to the Sahara Desert (many years ago), and the kids were left wondering about some of the details that I ‘took for granted’ that they would know.  Then all of the kids went off to write and try to consider their readers.

Then it was time for lunch and (indoor) recess, then read aloud – Mr. Popper’s Penguins again.  After read aloud, we headed down the hall to the Media Center for class with Mrs. Hennen.

After Media we moved on to Math Workshop, in which we practiced our newfound subtraction skills – we’re still working on the concept of subtraction (how and why it works) versus the actual computation, which will come soon.

Then, we had Science Lab.  Today, we began our new mini-unit on sharks.  We talked about all of the prior knowledge that we all had about sharks, and then we opened up a traveling trunk from Underwater World (at the Mall of America) that has all kinds of cool things to look at.  Today I showed the kids two shark jaws (real ones, but happily disconnected from a shark…).  We got to see how sharp the teeth are, and how the teeth are lined up inside the jaw, ready to replace one that goes missing.  Pretty cool.

After all of that, it was time to clean up, pack up, and bundle up, and head home!

Welcome back to school, and Happy New Year. I hope that the vacation was good (believe me, I’ve heard ALL about it today…) ☺ It’s good to be back in Room 240 – we had a good day!

This morning, after Independent Literacy Time (the kids can choose to write in the morning instead of reading now, if they like) and Morning Meeting, we had Reader’s Workshop. Today the kids were busy changing the books in their independent reading bookbags, as well as reading books at their levels. Several of the reading groups met with me today, and all of the kids write in their Reader Response Journals. After that, we had a fun sing-along (Down by the Bay again).

After our song, we had Writer’s Workshop, in which each student wrote and illustrated a page about their various exploits during Winter Vacation. I will be assembling all of the pages into a class book for al of use to read. They sure had some adventures, to say the least!

After writing, it was off to lunch and then back up to the room fort indoor recess, with the temperatures still near or below zero. After that, we read more from Mr. Popper’s Penguins. We then headed down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson (indoor, again, due to the weather).

When we got back up to the room, we had Math Workshop. Today we began to talk about subtraction. We looked at ten frames, and wrote number sentences to match them, using both addition and subtraction (8+2=10 and 10-2=8, for instance). Then the kids played a game using dice called Roll and Record, in which they subtracted one of the numbers on the dice from the other.

After that, we had just a bit of time left for the afternoon, and used it to do another of our monthly self-portraits. Then we packed up, bundled up, and headed home!