Lately...and some news!

Young Author's ART work begins!
After a mini lesson on Eric Carle style illustrations...students embark on paper making themselves.

It's a messy job..but someone has to do it!

Jackson Pollock in training!

Oh dear!

The last two weeks we have been studying CUBA and the culture there. We read Martina the beautiful cockroach and then acted it out! It was hilarious!

Acting

Bowing

Measuring. Kids have been learning the difference between their feet and standard feet. We measured objects all around the room with partners.

Did you see your child's duck stamp? They are hanging in the hallway. Come and check them out. Please send your entry form back to school by Friday.

Other news...

Letter of the week is H...remember to encourage your child to bring in sharing Wednesday or Thursday.

We have no school on Friday, March 1st due to parent/teacher conference week.

For the month of March we are going to embark on a Math goal. Our math goals are:

Master teens reading and writing

Counting by 2's, 5's, 10's and backwards from 20

+0 and +1 Addition facts

Please help out by bringing in a pair of sunglass for your child as soon as you can. We are going to be doing a mini math performance before Spring break.

I am excited to sit down with you this week during Parent/Teacher conferences to discuss your child's successes and challenges. See you soon.

Happy Valentine's day!

Short week and Valentine's party!

So....today is Thomas Edison's birthday AND we get to bring in a stuffed animal to school (reward for good behavior)! And tomorrow is Lincoln's birthday. And Thursday is Valentine's day. And Friday teachers have an inservice so kids don't have school. It's a busy short week.
Do you wanna know what we did today. We skyped BASHO Mosko! Are you wondering "who is Basho?"...well, check him out HERE! Starting this week we are embarking on a Whole school project that has language and cultural pieces. BAsho and friends will be visiting our school in April to write, record and make music videos. And in May we will have a huge school-wide celebration showcasing all grades performing either a song...skit...puppet show and their will be a unveiling of the music video...and we even hope to have a dj and dancing...stay tuned! Until then we are learning about the Latino culture in different parts of the world. This week is Cuba!

I also began lunch bunch last week with 2 kids. Every week I will be meeting with 2 kids to eat, talk and build a relationship with at lunch time. I am looking forward to this time with your children.

Thursday is PAPER making with Kindergarten and First grade. We will be working in groups to make paper for our young author's book. I need one more volunteer. Let me know if you can come from 8:30 -10.

The Valentine's party is also on Thursday. I try to keep this pretty simple. We will be doing a craft, delivering valentines, and having a gluten free snack. I do not need any volunteers.

No school on Friday.

We have "O" sharing from Wednesday - Friday. We work on vowels for 2 weeks. Remember to bring in sharing!

Things to know!

Parent/Teacher conferences are the last week in February. Please let me know if one day is better than another asap!

Monday is Presidents' day. We don't have school!

Feb. 21 is Avery's BETTER know your eagle!

What's up in the Kindergarten corral?

Hooray! Hooray! It's the 100th day today!

Look Mrs. Griffin!

We celebrated the 100th day and this Friday we are celebrating almost 4,000 eagle feathers by going to Badger Creek Sledding Hill. I am so excited for the kids. We went last year and it was so much fun. Remember to dress warm...and bring a sled!

During reading workshop students learn during the mini lesson time and then we have a practice time. Students are learning that READING should sound like talking...we call it Smoothy Cow! Smoothy cow reads smooth like yogurt...not bumpy like cottage cheese. Give this a go at home tonight with their homework books.

In our class we did a TEAM building activity and shared why we love our school. Kids had to write it down and them find a way to capture their idea in a photo. We hung them up in class. Come and check it out if you wish! I also started LUNCH BUNCH today (THURSDAY) too. LUnch bunch will meet on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Two kids will be invited each day to attend and we as a group can work on our relationship together. There seems to be less barriers up at this time. Today I ate with Chip and Bjorn...we had a picnic on the floor! It was awesome...I now know that Chips loves mint chocolate chip icecream and Bjorn will eat a kiwi with the furry skin on it....FUN!

Remember...every week we have LETTER sharing...help remind your child to bring something in either Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

We have started a conversation around RESILIENCY in class...

Does your child know what being resilient means?

The ability to recover from misfortune or change.

 "Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before."

Is your child resilient?