Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Yoga and spelling words

During this week's yoga lesson, Liz asked the students to think about things they might find during a walk in the woods. When they suggested an animal or plant, they got to choose what the yoga pose might look like for that object. They were very creative! We had howling wolves, hopping rabbits and frogs, tall trees (some blowing in the wind), crawling lizards, and more.






Spelling Words for "Nate the Great - San Francisco Detective"
1. easy
2. grade
3. meet
4. late
5. seat
6. saved
7. pail
8. these
9. reach
10. name
11. raise
12. leave
13. gain
14. theme
15. scream

Artwork to Enjoy (and the artists who created them)

Here are our three latest art projects (names have been smudged out).

Hopes and Dreams - The students thought about things they were good at last year and things they want to get better at this year. On their square, they wrote and illustrated one thing that they'd like to work on this year.

Autumn Leaf Prints - The kids applied paint to leaves and transferred the leaf to the paper.







Personality Portraits - The students found pictures and words in magazines that described them.






Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Classroom Happenings

Whew! Where are the days going? We have been so busy - working, learning, creating, and just having fun.

We have been busy writing. The kids finished their "All About Me" books and have been reading about each other in the completed books. We've also written (and guessed) "Who Am I?" riddles. If you get a chance, stop by our classroom to see the riddles. They are hanging outside our classroom.
"All About Me" books

"Who am I?" riddles

The kids are doing a terrific job academically. We have had daily work and tests in all of our subjects. The first science test proved to be a tough one. We have our second one tomorrow. To give us a little extra practice, we used the Knowledge Bowl quiz strips for a friendly science review competition.
Ready for the next question!

In our latest yoga lesson, Liz told the kids about an ancient Sanskrit mantra. The kids discussed how treating yourself with respect helps you treat others with respect. This fits right in with our classroom rules. The mantra is:

LOKAH SAMASTA SUKHINO BHAVANTU
May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.


Our spelling words for "Pepita Talks Twice" are:
1. slip
2. fish
3. pick
4. rocks
5. lunch
6. gift
7. thing
8. inch
9. truck
10. pond
11. from
12. jump
13. socks
14. dish
15. thump

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

First Week Happenings

We have been settling into our classroom routines and getting to know each other. The kids have done a great job! They have completed their summer fun pictures,


bus safety posters,


and learned a new math dice game.




They also had a yoga lesson. They did a great job trying out poses like "cat/cow" and "downward dog".



We look forward to having even more fun this week!

Here are the spelling words for this week's story - "Officer Buckle and Gloria".
1. sat
2. felt
3. last
4. send
5. next
6. best
7. went
8. hand
9. stand
10. past
11. grand
12. stamp
13. belt
14. lend
15. checked



Thursday, September 1, 2011

Back to School 2011

This is it ... the last weekend of summer. It's hard to say goodbye to summer freedom and fun, but I'm so excited to start the new school year. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you - my new students - during First Day Conferences. See you there!