We Love to Read

The children enjoyed several Halloween books today, as we had a few Mystery Readers appear at our door.  Thanks to Daniel, a former student and Colin's mom and grandmother for their visits.  I know you surprised us all and we loved all three books! Happy Halloween!

Thank you for reading The Monsterator and The ish Book.

We L-O-V-E-D listening to Daniel read.

We have been working hard to improve our reading comprehension skills through several reading strategies: using visualizations or "making a movie in your mind," and making connections to ourselves, another book we've read, or to our world.

"Making a movie in our minds" helps us to understand the setting, characters and events in our book so much better.

Lincoln is working hard to add more details to his visualization.

Natalie proudly shows her work!

Here are a few questions the students developed for our first Skype.

Colin has an opportunity to ask his question.

Thank you Mrs. Klipfel for your wonderful expertise as the children enjoyed their first opportunity to Skype this year.  We connected with a group of first graders in Middleton and shared our thinking with one another. We made predictions, asked questions and even made some very strong inferences.   WOW... our comprehension skills are improving daily!

Standards Covered

RL. 2.1: Ask and answer questions  as who, what, where, when, why, how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. 

RL. 2.3: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

SL.2.2: Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text
 read aloud or information presented orally or through other
 media.

Our First Mystery Readers

Today the children welcomed Natalie's grandparents who had surprised her with a visit to our classroom.  They shared two engaging books and Natalie sat with pride while her grandmother, a former school teacher and her grandfather, a retired primary school principal asked the children several questions and even shared a bit of French.  The children loved both stories, but I believe Baxter the Dog was their favorite, which was written by Deedee's friend.  I'm sure Natalie will enjoy snuggling with her new stuffed dog.  Thank you so much Popa and Deedee, we had a blast and hope you did too!

Natalie's Popa and Deedee from Florida were our first Mystery Readers to share books with us this year.

Thank you for the bookmarks...we LOVE to read!

Halloween Celebration

Our Halloween Celebration is planned for Friday, October 31st from 10:00-11:00.  Children are invited to bring their Halloween costumes to school, please label all belongings so they can be returned for their Trick-or-Treating adventures later that evening. Please leave any props at home so they will not be accidentally left at school. Thank you in advance to the families who have agreed to donate healthy treats and supplies for our classroom celebration. Parents are welcome to join us if you are available.  A very special thank you to our Room Mother, Mrs. J. for organizing what promises to be a memorable celebration.

Click on the link below to help remind your children to be safe during the Halloween season.

Halloween Safety Tips

 

We are Entomologists!

We began our research skills this year with a focus on insects, as a culminating activity the children wrote a mini-research report, drew their insects and using their first person voice spoke as their insect, and finally recited a poem by Ethel Jacobson, called Insects' World. 

Please click on the image below to hear and watch all we have learned.

Dear Parents and students,
Please click on the "No Comments" button below and share two new facts you learned from our entomologists.  Be sure to click on PUBLISH and leave your first names only!

The children were captivated while they watched and listened to each insect report. 

Cole learned that the horn tail wasp is related to the termite and doesn't sting people.

Mia's  butterfly has left for her long migration to Mexico..."tootles!"

Elements of Realistic Fiction

The children have been working hard to determine the elements of realistic fiction, we have read several picture books to model these elements and then determined how they play an important role in reading different genres.  This is a recent example of a new classroom favorite, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partrige by Mem Fox.  The children worked hard to add specific details, especially when describing the problem and solution to the BIG problem in the story.

The children inferred that Wilfrid was a caring and thoughtful boy. They found evidence from their
reading that Wilfrid's actions and words showed that he helped Miss Nancy "find her memory."

The children recently read Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, a story about a little girl who wants to be Peter Pan in her school play.  Her classmates say she is NOT allowed, because she is a black girl and she can't play the role of a white boy.  Grace practices all weekend and is chosen to be Peter Pan after all... the author's message is that "you can do anything you want!"

Bea and Margo work hard to fill in the graphic organizer as they identify the elements of realistic fiction.

Gavin and Alex are looking for "direct evidence from their reading" to help infer character traits.

The Butterflies Have Emerged!

The students were making their final observations when "right before our eyes" (quoted from Alex) two butterflies emerged from their chrysalises! The children have named the first butterfly, Jeremy and we are anxiously awaiting the name of our second butterfly.

Every student silently observed our first butterfly emerge from his chrysalis...meet Jeremy!

We are planning to release all 19 butterflies soon so that they can safely migrate their way to warmer weather in Mexico.  Click on the highlighted word above to see a National Geographic video showing the long migration of Monarch butterflies arriving in Mexico.

Can you predict how long it will take for our classroom butterflies to make their way to Mexico? Watch the video first and then use your new knowledge to form a strong prediction, record your prediction below in comments.  Be sure to share your prediction with family and friends.

Can you see the proboscis?

One last chrysalis left, I wonder how much longer it will be before a beautiful butterfly emerges?