ONE HUNDRED DAYS! HOORAY!

You might have heard that we made snowmen!

The snow outside wasn't sticky enough so rice and socks were

the materials that we used.  The students used their snowmen

friends to complete a descriptive writing assignment.

They also used their snowmen to become the model for a

tryptic...three pictures (sketches) that go together.

The students drew their snowman looking forward 

(with their model patiently sitting right in front of them),

looking to the  right and finally the artists chose their final

snowman pose to complete the series.

Thank you parents for having to have not one, but TWO

special shirts ready for this week!

The students in my class walked 'the runway' with head held high,

shoulders back and confidence, before striking a pose in the 

middle of the carpet in the library.

Thank you for all the hard work.  The best ones were

the ones that the children had a hand in creating

themselves.  They were so proud!

Don't you just love their poses?

Oh how far they have come since that first day in September!

Here they all are...my Littles(Yep...they are smiling under those masks!)

If I lived in a snow globe...

It seems like it was so long ago that we read this story by Jane O'Connor.

It was a great opportunity to compare and contrast because in this story,

there is a large regular who lives in a house (probably in the Victorian times)

as well as a family who lives in a snow globe in that house.

This inspired the idea of imaging that WE might not have 

the same life if we lived in a snow globe.  The question that

was posed to the students was "What would you miss if you lived

in a snow globe?"  Here are some of their thoughts:

I would miss going to school.

I would miss going golfing.

I would miss going to a waterpark.

I would miss having friends to play with.

These 'Littles' are getting bigger!

I love how this little took me very seriously.  I had told the class

that we would be acting like detectives so she brought a magnifying glass

to school 'because that's what detectives use.'

I have a stash of small magnifying glasses so everyone else in the

room got one too!

What were these littles searching for?

It goes back to what we were learning.

The students have practised 'stretching' out CVC words,

such as 'kit'

Now, using their 'eagle eyes' they are finding out

that when a word has an 'e' at the end, the

vowel sound 'flips like a dolphin', to the

long sound.  The word still has three sounds, because the

'e' is silent as shown in the example....kIte.

(Long I sound)

The students used their magnifying glasses to search for

words with the 'magic e', also known as the 'silent e', super 'e'

or bossy 'e'.

The names have their uppercase beginning letter underlined, 

and all of the 'e' at the end are circled.  Those three words

at the bottom have been put 'into jail' because they don't

follow the rule.

Earlier this week I sent out a message to ask for parents'

assistance in helping their little 'hear' the rhyming words

with the long vowels.  Most students were challenged to hear

that consonant sound at the end, so words such as 'like' and 'ripe'

were suggested as rhyming.  The students heard the 'I' but ignored

the 'k' and 'p'.

The students can only get better at this skill when they practice,

so thank you mamas and papas for just saying words and having

your kiddos provide rhyming words throughout the day.

Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright tells of a snowman

who is cold, wants to be warm, but does not understand that

when snow is warm, it melts.

The importance of this activity is that the students were not

provided with tracers or pre-created shapes in order to make Sneezy

holding up the sign.

The students used the paper provided but had to draw, cut and

assemble on their own.  This is a BIG step for them.

It involves planning, spatial awareness, and shape recognition.

Some Sneezy Snowmen were tiny.

Some papers were vertical instead of horizontal.

Some added detail and others did not.

Activities like this demonstrate the students' learning over time,

and their ability to apply that learning to another situation.

That really is the end goal of all learning.

You can add....now how much will the 3 items in your grocery cart cost?

You can subtract....now do you have enough money to pay for those groceries?

You can read....what did that sign just say?

You can write....will you be able to fill in the required paperwork?

These may be Littles....but they are on their way to BIG accomplishments!

January brings the snow...inside and out!

Here is a true classic....

which the students used as a model for creating the following works of art.

They loved making 'Peter' play in the snow!

Dream Snow by Eric Carle offered the students a chance to make predictions.

Which animal was asleep under the pile of snow?

The students wrote three clues of their own,

drew an animal and painted snow on top,

which can be moved to reveal their hidden animal.

Thank you Lord for the very good day that we had on Thursday!

It made our planned trip to the hill in our school yard so much fun!

ZOOM!