Foster in the Spotlight!

Last week we got to celebrate Foster. Our favorite part was hearing him play the piano. He is so talented! We also enjoyed learning more about him through the wonderful poster. I can't believe we are almost done spotlighting every student. It has been a blast.

Strike a pose!

COOL POSTER!

Geometry: 3D shapes

This week we are exploring 2D and 3D shapes. On Monday we went on a scavenger hunt around the school looking for 2D shapes. Tuesday, we made 3D shapes using marshmellows and toothpicks. We have discussed the vocabulary edges, vertices, and faces. They are doing a great job!

Valentine's Party

Valentine's Day was so fun to share with the kids. I definitely feel loved by my sweet 18 kiddos. We did a math activity with heart shaped fruit snacks that the kids enjoyed. Also, I read aloud Arthur's Valentine by Marc Brown. The students each got a baggie of coversation hearts. They choose a character from the story and then wrote a letter using the conversational hearts. OMG this completely made me laugh! Oh the things kids say.

"Come play now. Lets go to the dance floor to boogie. Come on give me a high five."

"Please pick me to go to the prom with you. You can do it."

"I'm crazy 4 U. We can play 1-1 or be on my team in wii."

"Will you ask me out? Text me."

"Will you feel comfortable if we could hold hands? How about this text me and we will be a perfect match. You actually have to win me."

After all that fun, we had our party. Everyone loved handing out their valentine's.

Photo Montage of Grandparent's Day

Christian is Celebrity of the Week

Christian was a wonderful Celebrity of the Week last week. I loved his poster especially because there was a picture of me! He dazzled us with his basketball moves and read aloud a classic book, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. We enjoyed celebrating Christian.

Love the pose!

Christian LOVES football.

Area and Perimeter Fun

I found the perfect steal for teaching area and perimeter...Scrabble Cheez-its that have letters on them! The kids created a design with the Cheez-its, traced their shape, and then figured out the area and perimeter. It definitely helped the concepts stick. I love using food to teach and I am pretty sure the kids do too :)

Groundhog's Day, Context Clues, and Rainforest OH MY!

Well we have been super busy in Mrs. K's classroom this week. One thing I have noticed is that my kiddos are reading more and more every week. I am so impressed by the increase in volume and stamina since we have been back from Christmas break. We have been doing a lot of study through book clubs. Every couple of weeks I highlight 4 or 5 chapter books. The kids choose which they are interested in and I check and make sure it is a "just right" book. Then they meet with their fellow friends that have the same book. During this time they read, discuss, and have a little fun. I have noticed that with the increase in chapter books they are encountering new, interesting, and difficult vocabulary. So, I introduced context clues this week. As a class, we became detectives and studied the 4 main types of context clues. I made it fun by creating detective suitcases out of manila folders and we wrote "The Case of the Context Clues" on it. Each day I taught one of the types of context clues and used authentic literature to showcase it. Needless to say, the kids have caught on and are really expanding their vocabulary. YAY!

Also, I taught them about Groundhog's Day. I found a great interactive lesson for the Smart Board. After we learned all about Punxsutawney Phil, we graphed whether we thought the groundhog would see its shadow or not. Six more weeks of winter! On Thursday, we created our own little burrows and did a cute craftivity. I hung them all up on Friday and the kids can't wait to show their grandparents.

In other news, I am sure you have heard all about the beginning of our rainforest study. The kids are so excited. The last two weeks they have done their own research about the tropical rainforest. I call these groups Inquiry Groups because they do all the work. I provide the paper, supplies, and books and the kids dive into the resources to find out all about the rainforest. Each group also decided how to showcase their learning with their classmates. Two groups created a video which I will post soon and the other groups created a PowerPoint. On Friday each group shared. Wow, they learned ALOT. Next up is researching an animal from the rainforest. They have all chosen their animal and created their research folders. This week we will actually start the research. Also this week we transformed the classroom to look like a rainforest. As you can see it was definitely an exciting week!