September 20,2012

Today was a fantastic day, we got through all our planned activities.  We are working hard on staying quiet in the halls and we will continue to make sure to respect others.  We did two rotations of reading work stations and we discussed connections we have in books we are reading.  We shared about how connections help us build on our comprehension as a reader.  We continued our CGI problems in math and are doing one problem tonight at home.  I look forward to seeing what they do for you and hearing about it.  Then we continued to discuss telling time to the hour and half hour.  Some students are having trouble and others seem to grasp it.  We completed our National symbols unit and we will be moving on to Science and experiments. YEAH

September 18, 2012

Today was a fantastic day, Ms. Wolfean was here again.  I love to see them and have them report to me they missed me.  I am trying to get back to the swing of all we need to do.  The students will start their CGI math problems on Thursday.  Also Kona Ice will be here tomorrow the students must be with a parent, unless they are a bus rider or day care.  THEY MUST HAVE MONEY, this is a fund raiser to support the school. They need to have 3 to 5 dollars because it depends on the sizes they offer.  I hope this clears up any questions. 

Today we did our reading and discussed connections.  There are three types text to self, text to text, and text to world.  Please ask your child during reading time to practice making connections.We also took a math test which involved number sense.  They could not study, but we will be reviewing items and games in class to bring up scores.  I am proud of them and rewarded them with no math homework because of it.  We discussed letter writing and practice writing a letter to Ms. Wolfean about test taking and if recess is important or not?  Please ask your child what they will be writing.

September 17, 2012

YEAH, MS WOLFEAN IS BACK!!!!  I loved hearing all the kids say this as they were coming through the door this morning.  I am okay, but still am weak.  We had a great day reviewing our reading strategies on how we read in class.  Then we practice buddy reading and independent reading.  I can not wait to get them in to groups tomorrow and begin listening to them share books.  We Spent a lot of time writing as well, we discussed ways to begin a story and where writers get ideas for their writing.  Then we did CGI in math, this way we will begin solving problems at home.  We will begin our unit on time and continue working with addition and subtraction.  We reviewed social studies by breaking  down the pledge of allegiance.  The students should be able to explain the words behind the pledge.  I am sorry for not updating the blog before now.

September 7, 2012

Today Ms. Wolfean was not herself, but she is a trooper and came in to teach anyway.  We started out our morning writing and Ms.Wolfean model the best way to journal write,  She gives a prompt if we don't like it we can choose to free write.  We practice the time line plan and drawing before we write.  However, she also began to show us how we can just start writing to get thoughts down on paper, if we have a topic already.  We then moved to reading and we did group reading and plotted our books we read.  We plotted the setting, characters, problem, and solution.  Then we of course got to run and play, we were sad Ms. Wolfean was study hall no play time with her.  We came back and completed our map of plotting and headed quickly into math.  Ms. Wolfean taught was a game called target number and we wrote on the table.  IF YOU ASK THEM TO SHOW YOU, GIVE THEM PAPER!  You will need a die.  This is finally when we began discussing our patriotism unit.  Last but not least we said, "Good-bye!"

September 6, 2012

Today was a busy day, we got almost everything done.  Reading we continued to discuss plot and character traits.  We had a great time reading to self and practicing the correct way to read.  We went over how to focus on the words and pictures.  We also giggled because Ms. Wolfean was modeling reading and was acting up, she modeled what not to do.  They tried to explain that reading a book upside down is not what good readers do.  Then we moved into writing and Ms. Wolfean issued out our white binders for writer's workshop.  They were excited to see how they were going to keep their writing together.  We created a draft for our first story to place in our binder.  Then we went outside to play and we were sad because Ms. Wolfean does not go out on Thursdays, she has it off.  Then when we came inside it was time for math.  We began our CGI math, which is our problem solving notebook.  The will come home next week for you all to see.  They will solve a problem and I will grade it the next day.  Finally we ended the day with a lock down drill, some were scared.  I reinforced it was a drill and all relaxed.  Then we finished up our community lesson and continued to discuss the symbol of our Nation.

September 5, 2012

Today was another day of excellent students, however, we do need to work on our behavior in the lunchroom.  There are some, who need to make sure to  remain focused on themselves not others.  Overall, almost all are doing AWESOME!  I am excited to report we had another citizen from the community, of Gattis Elementary, come visit the class.  Mr. Brillhart came to visit the class, we interviewed him about what it was like to be a good citizen.  Please ask your child what they learned about him?  During reading time we took a spelling test for Ms. Wolfean to guide us in spelling this year.  It was not a test I am grading them on.  It is to see what I need to teach your child.  We began our reading unit on story plot. We discussed setting, problem, characters, and solution.  Ask them what they mean? Then we discussed the types of books we can read fiction and non-fiction.  We moved on to math, but after we had recess.  In math Ms. Wolfean did silent teach, this is when I do not say anything and the children pass a marker writing their thoughts.  Please ask what they learned from silent teaching?  Our last item before leaving the class was finishing up our citizen paragraph.  The students chose a person, wrote about what they do to be a excellent citizen, and why they felt that way.  I hope you all as parents find this helpful and take time asking your child about their day.

September 4, 2012

Today was a fantastic day, I loved seeing their writer's notebooks they created over the holiday.  If they did not do this they will bring it home over the weekend to decorate the cover.  I am enjoying getting to know the students and I love the fact we got four compliments from teachers around the building. I hope this behavior continues to stay just the way it is.  I love feeling like I have the best class in the school, but just a secret...I DO!  They did a lot of work, however it seemed like not much because we had a special time.  We made it to the library for our first check out.  They thought that was exciting, because I could not get them to stop reading.  I love to see them enjoying their books and having fun reading.  Then we returned to the class for our writing and this will be the focus for us, writing more instead of just drawing.  We continued our day with math and worked on doubles and doubles plus one.  Finally we ended the day with Social Studies, our focus is moving towards our country and their symbols.