Winter Has Arrived, Dec.11th,2009

Hello Parents and Families,

We have had our first snow day, and the children are having fun playing in the snow at recess.  In the classroom, we are still working on our African unit with folktales and non-fiction stories.  Next week, we will learn about an African holiday called Kwanza.  It is celebrated for seven days beginning on Dec. 26th.  Mr. Cogan, the art and music teacher will also be teaching the children about Kwanza.  Of course, we will spend some of our time on Christmas stories.

Speaking of Christmas, I want to inform you that we will have our classroom Christmas party on Dec. 22nd.  That is the Tuesday which is the last day before we go home for Christmas break.  I will be sending a separate request  to the designated families whose turn it is to provide refreshments.  Remember, for our party refreshments, I have divided the class into thirds alphabetically.  In response to the district wellness policy,  I ask those families to consider sending some healthy refreshments such as fresh friuts, cheeses, chips,or pretzels.  Some sugary items are hard to avoid, but it is appreciated if there are some other foods as well.  Please note that there are allergies in the classroom to peanuts and cinnamon. 

For our gift exchange, we will not be drawing names.  Instead, we will have a book swap.  Please wrap the book you wish to include in the swap, and send it to school on the day of the party.  I will provide extra books if it is a hardship to purchase a book.  Please keep the price range no higher than $8.00. 

In math, we are starting a new unit on money.  The children can use practice in counting coins up to one dollar.  The half dollar is also used.  Please let me know if you would like extra practice papers sent home for money.  Also,  please see the enclosed sheet with your child's user name and password which can be used to login at the pearsonsuccess.net math website.  There are activities that I've chosen for the children.  I am not treating this as homework, but rather as extra practice.  Let me know if you have trouble with the login.

Thanks for all of your continual support.  It was wonderful seeing you at conference time.  Let's keep up the great team effort.  Parental involvement makes a huge difference.  

Jason's Pet Story

I wish I had a cat. I would feed it cat food. She would sleep in my bedroom. I will teach her to climb on a fence. I will name her Sally.

Andrew's Pet Story

I have two dogs. Their names are Chester and Timber. They are Chocolate Labs. I feed them dog food. My dogs are really intelligent. Timber is 10 years old in human life. Chester is only 2 years old in human life. Chester and Timber like to sleep on my mom’s bed. Chester can stand on his back legs. I would like to teach him to jump high.

Our New African Unit: Nov. 2nd

Hello Families,

I hope your children have been talking to you about our new unit of study on Africa.  We began last Monday on Nov. 2nd with stories about Anansi, the spider.  We have enjoyed learning about this trickster who came from West Africa.  There are many stories of his adventures.  We have read the following:  "A Story, A Story", "Anansi's Narrow Waist",  "Anansi and his Six Sons", and "Anansi Goes Fishing".  We have located Africa on the globe and on our wall world map.  The children have discovered that Africa is twice the size of North America.
 
The children are also reading many non-fiction books about African animals.  They are writing 5 facts for each animal and drawing a picture of the animal.  We may compile these into booklets, and hope to get a sampling of some of these facts and pictures on the site soon.  Stay posted.

I also hope you noticed in this past Friday's take-home folder a permission slip to go on a field trip to the Colonial Theater in Keene.  We are excited to see a West African show of live music, song, and dance by master drummer, John Hughes.  To learn more about this performance, go to this link:  http://www.thecolonial.org/AfricanKoraJembeStudyGuide.pdf.   The date for this event is Wed. Nov. 18th at 10:45 AM.  Please sign and return the slip as soon as possible.  Also, indicate if you would like to be a chaperon on this trip.  There are only seats for 6 extra adults in our group.  There may be additional seats in another section of the theater, but you would have to call and make your own arrangements with the Colonial.

I also sent in the folder conference confirmation slips.  I hope the selected times work for everyone.  Remember, your child's portfolio will come home on Friday, Nov. 20th.

If you haven't checked the site to see your child's pet story, please do soon.  Many thanks to Rosel's dad for his time and effort in posting them.  I encourage you to leave a comment, too.

Aria's Pet Story

My pets are three fish and three dogs and two cats. I will just tell about my fish. My fish are red, brown and blue. There are spots on two, and stripes on one. They are cold and wet to touch. One is the same size as a small square. One of my fish is the size of a crayon, and the last one is the size of Sean’s name tag. They eat fish food. They sleep in a tank.. My fish can sleep. I would teach then to read. I got them from my grandmother’s house.

Ashlie's Pet Story

My pet is a dog. Its name is Opal. She dances. She runs wicked fast. She is a show dog. She stands up all by herself. She is white with tear stains under her eyes. She sleeps everywhere. My dog is a Chinese Crested Powder Puff. She has fur. It is soft. She is the same size as a big shoe box. She eats dog food in her pink princess bowl. She goes in my club house. She loves me and I love her.

week of 10/12 - 10/16

Hello Families,

We have been having fun with our Australian unit.  The children have written riddles for different animals.  In art class, they have worked on an enlarged drawing for each riddle.  We learned a song about Australia which we are performing for this Friday morning at assembly.  We are also performing two chants about the tricky spelling words: there and their.  Another chant is about how to spell the word:  they.

Here is some upcoming news.  The whole school will  be celebrating Halloween this year on Friday, October 30th with the annual costume parade.  On this day, the children are allowed to bring their Halloween costume to school so that they can change into their costume after lunch recess.  We are hoping to all leave school by 1:45.  Then we will walk downtown as a parade, and end at the Antrim Village.  We should be back to school by 2:30.   Then each class will have their own party and refreshments. Since we have 3 or 4 parties throughout the year, I have divided the class alphabetically into thirds.  For this party, I will ask for contributions of food, drinks, and paper products from the first third.  Please check for a form in your child's Take-Home folder. I thank you in advance for your contributions.  If you would like to come in that afternoon to help set up, serve, and clean up, send in a note with your child.

Next week, I will be sending home a conference schedule form.  Conferences will be held all day on Tuesday, Nov. 24th, and the following week after school.  If you know that you could arrange to meet with me on that Tuesday during the day from 8:00 - 4:30, please let me know as soon as possible.   I am hoping to see as many of you as possible on that day so that I won't have to stay too late the following week.  Just send in a note to let me know in advance of the schedule form.  Thanks and have a great weekend.

Katy's Pet Story

I had Goldfish two times. I won my fish at a game at Winterfest festival. Unfortunately both are dead. If I touched my fish, which I actually didn’t, it would be wet and smooth. Both times I had fish, I named my fish Goldie. Both my fish were orange. The fish were about the size of the shortest finger on a hand. It ate fish food of course! It rested in its bowl of course! My pet can swim. I would have taught my fish to swim through both doorway openings in the little castle tower. I just enjoy having fish in the bowl.

Gabriella's Pet Story

My pet is a dog. His name is Buddy. He’s light golden. He has white on his tail, chest and belly. He has fur, and it feels soft and fluffy. He’s the same size as a little bear. He eats leftover foods and dog food. He sleeps in my mama’s and papa’s room. He can chase a ball. I would teach him how to jump through a circle. I like to wrestle with him. My mama and papa bought him from a breeder. I am glad he’s my pet.

Nicholas' Pet Story

My pet is a fish. My mom thinks it is a Koi. It eats Goldfish food. His name is Goldie. He sleeps at the side of the bowl. He is orange. He feels cold and wet to touch. He is the size of my pinky finger. He knows how to jump. I would teach it to do a flip. I got it from Winterfest.

Nadia's Pet Story

My pet is a dog. I play with him. I feed him, and wrestle with him. I read with him. His name is Bubby. He is a Golden Retriever. He likes to chase his ball. I love my dog. He is yellow. He is silly.

Nolan's Pet Story

I have a goldfish. He nibbles on your fingers, and he would do tricks like a back flip. Then he would get hungry. Then he would eat. His name is Goldie and his skin color is gold. He is a full grown fish, and he likes to eat just like me. He likes to sleep just like me. He eats fish food. My fish sleeps in a fish castle. He knows how to play dead.

Fabulous Pet Stories!

Dear Families,

Please check our classroom blog for the student stories and illustrations about their pets. It would also be great if you left a comment. To find our blog, type the following into your address window: http://mrsbluhmsclassroom.blogspot.com . I also wish to express my gratitude to Rosel's dad for posting the children's work. Without his time and effort, this task would not have been done. I hope you will take the time to view the blog.

Other news this week is that we have begun a new unit of study on Australia. The children have enjoyed the following stories at read aloud: "Kill to Eat", "Shark", and "Carpet Snake". These stories are from a collection of true stories based on a memoir of a woman who grew up on an island off the east coast of Australia. She was one of seven children, and her stories are quite good. We are learning a song about Australia to perform for next week's Friday assembly. Be sure to come if you can. The assembly is from 9:15 to 9:45, and we will be in the cafeteria. Enjoy the three day weekend, and many thanks for all your support and involvement.

Corey's Pet Story

My pets are 7 fish. There are 2 light-up fish, 1 cat fish, and 5 normal fish. I will feed the fish. Five fish have blue and red stripes. The cat fish is white. The 2 light-up fish are white and orange. The cat fish stays on the bottom of the fish tank. I got my fish at the pet store. Their names are Luke, Darth Vader, Ed, Nick, Nolan and Andrew.

Lillian's Pet Story

My pet is a cat. Her name is Mittens. She looks like she has mittens on her feet, and she is crazy. I put my hair in her face, and she plays with it. She is black and white. She is really furry. My pet is about the same size as a kitten. She always sleeps with me. I feed her wet food and dry cat food. She is 3 years old and she plays at the window. I love her. She can jump ten times. I would teach her to swim. I like to lay down with her. My mom got my pet. I love my pet.

Haiden's Pet Story

My pet is a bunny. I feed my pet bunny food. I would brush my bunny’s hair. My bunny is black with a white nose. My bunny has fur. My bunny’s fur feels like fluff. My bunny is as tall as a stool. My bunny sleeps on the dark side of his cage. My bunny can do a bunny dance. I would teach it not to scratch. My pet’s name is Darkness. I like to sit down and hold him. Someone gave it to me.

Petra's Pet Story

My pet is a cat. His name is Tigger. I feed him cat food. He eats birds and things. He sleeps with me, and I don’t like it though. My cat is orange with white, yellow and brown stripes. He has a pink nose. He also is fluffy. He drools when he’s happy. My pet is about the size of watermelon. He is as tall as the chairs. He has fur. My cat can scratch, bite, and hunt. I would teach it how to jump up into someone’s hand. I like to give him treats. When I was a baby, my mom got him from her friend. I love my cat.

Jacob's Pet Story

I have a cat and his name is Lex. He has black fur and a long tail. My pet has fur and it feels soft to touch. My pet is about the size of a piece of paper. He eats cat food. He sleeps anywhere. He knows how to play. He knows how to jump. I would teach him magic. I would play with him. He was born by a mother cat.

Autumn's Pet Story

I used to have two dogs. One's names was Titan, but I called him Bubbie. My other dog’s name was Maya. Maya was brown and Bubbie was white. When I touched Bubbie, his fur was soft and so was Maya’s. Maya and Bubbie were the same size as my chest. Maya and Bubbie ate dog food. Maya and Bubbie slept on the couch or on the floor. Maya knew how to rough house. I would like to teach my pets to play tag. I would like to sleep with them. I got Maya and Bubbie before I was born.

Molly's Pet Story

My pet is a dog. He is a black lab. My pet’s name is Sampson. His fur feels soft. He is as big as the top of my leg. He eats dog food. He sleeps beside my mom’s bedside. He can jump. I would like to teach him to bring back the ball in the game of fetch. I would like to go to the park with him. I got him by my dad’s old job. He is an awesome dog.

Ed's Pet Story

My pet is a dog. Its name is Wolfy. He is orange. He feels soft. He is as big as a chair. He eats grass. He sleeps in a cage. He knows to sit. I would like to teach him to do a back flip. I like to wrestle with him. My grandpa gave him to me. I like to lay with him a lot of the time. I like to give him his bone at night. I love him.

Rohyn's Pet Story

My pets are cats. Their names are Sandy, Socks and Isis. I feed them cat food. Sandy sleeps with me. Isis and Socks jump on the counter. My mom and dad throw the cats off. Socks has white feet. Sandy has yellow fur. Isis I do not know. My pets have fur. It feels fluffy and wet. They are about the size as my leg. My cats sleep everywhere. My cats can jump. I would like to teach my cats to play fetch. I like to pet my cats. We bought Sandy and Socks. Isis lived next door, and one day she moved in. Now, we have three nice cats.

Haley's Pet Story

I have a cat. Her name is Butterscotch. She is a very mean and cute cat. I will be laying on the couch, and she will jump up and scratch my face, and bite it too. She will chase me up and down the stairs, but I love her. Butterscotch’s bed is right next to mine. Butterscotch is a pretty long name so I call her Butter or B-scotch. Her bed is a basket with a blue froggy blanket. Some times I give her a cat treat. Her food is in the pantry. She hisses at the dog. I got her when I was 5 years old. Once when Haiden slept over at my house, I had a dream catcher on my light switch and there was a table under it. B-scotch jumped on the table and pulled the dream catcher and put the light on! Wow, what a cat!

Sean's Pet Story

My pet is a cat. Its name is Wiggler. I feed it cat food. I would pet it. It plays fetch with me, and I don’t know why. It is black and white. Its skin covering is fur. My pet’s fur feels like fluff. It is as big as my knee. It eats cat food. It sleeps everywhere. It can stand on its hind legs to jump. I would like to teach it to play fetch. My dad got it when he was a kid.

Izabella's Pet Story

I had a cat. I named her Turtle. It was a girl. I miss her very much. My cat was afraid of me when I was little. My cat was a tortoise shell cat. She loved to be picked up. She was very soft. She was small because she was a kitten. She ate cat food. Turtle slept with me. She could stand up by herself. I would like to teach her to walk on her feet. I played with her every day. I played throw the toy mouse. I got Turtle when I was 1 year old as I got picked up from my old daycare. When I got into the car, I saw Turtle. She was a great pet.

The End.

Angus' Pet Story

My pet is a dog. My dog’s name is Fancy. She is cute. I feed her dog food. She likes to ride in the car. She is black and brown. Fancy has fur and it feels soft. Fancy is about the same size as one and a half desks. I would feed her dog food. She sleeps in my mom’s bedroom. She can roll over. I would like to teach her to play soccer. I like to play keep-away with her. Some nice people gave us Fancy. She is a great pet.

Rosel's Pet Story

I have a dog. It is a boy. His name is Cooper. He likes to play tug-a-war, fetch and he likes to be chased. He used to bite and scratch you, but now he does not. He has spots and he is soft and smooth. He is a puppy, but he is the size of a grown-up dog. He eats dog food. He sleeps in a dog bed in my mom and dad’s room, and in the morning if he makes noise, he sleeps in his kennel. My pet can run really fast. I like to play tug-a-war with it. I got my pet from a shelter. I would want to teach it how to jump through a hool-a-hoop.

Week of 9/28/09

Hello Families,

It was wonderful seeing most of you at Open House last Wednesday. I did not write a newsletter last Friday, so I will try to give you some of the highlights of the last two weeks. First of all, we are finished with the computer testing.

In our literacy block, we finished the chapter book of the Next-Door Dogs. The main character, Sara, a girl about 10 years old, overcame her fear of dogs through an act of kindness towards her new neighbor. The children thought the ending was very satisfying. During read aloud since completing the chapter book, we have enjoyed the following picture books: "The Dog Who Had Kittens", "Two Bobbies", "McDuff Moves In", "Who Wants Arthur?", "The Bookshop Dog", and "I Am the Cat, I Am the Dog". Ask your child to tell you about these stories. In our reading groups, we are reading the Henry and Mudge series. Most children have also completed a writing piece about their own pet, or a pet they once had, or a pet they wish for. I am hoping to get these posted to our blogsite with pictures of their drawings very soon.

In math, we are learning about fact families, and how subtraction and addition are related processes. By the end of next week, the children should be ready to take the test for this first unit.

In science, we learned how seeds travel by wind, other animals, or by hitchhiking. We also examined a soaked lima bean seed to discover what is inside a seed. Some of our seeds sprouted, so we can observe new growth each day.

NEWS ABOUT HOMEWORK FOR NEXT WEEK:

Since we have only four days of school next week, we will not have a spelling test or spelling homework. Instead, I will send math homework. This will be good practice for the end of the unit test. Please assist your child with the math, and check over their answers.

Many thanks for your involvement and support.

More Pictures of Working and Playing

Here are a few more pictures of those children that were absent on my September 12th posting. I hope to have some of their own writing and art work up for you to see soon.

Week of 9/14/09

Hello Families,

Most of the children have been in class this week, which has given us time to catch up on missed work and activities. I will send home this weekend any work that has not yet been completed due to your child's absence. I thank you in advance for helping them with directions, and for providing any support needed.

Here is information about regular weekly homework. It will come home in your child's homework folder ( bright orange) on Monday or Tuesday of each week. At this point, the work is focused on spelling. There will always be a list of words for your child to practice and study for the week. This list stays at home as a study guide for the week. Please help your child practice these words each week. Other worksheets need to be completed and returned by Friday of each week. Of course, these can be turned in earlier. I only ask that you check over the work with your child to insure it is completed and correct. In this manner, I can be assured that the time spent on the homework was of value. Again, I thank you for your involvement and support.

Here are some highlights from this week. In literacy, we are reading all about Henry, the boy and his dog Mudge. Some of us are reading about another dog named Danny. We have almost completed our first read aloud chapter book called, " The Next-Door Dogs. Our writing has been linked to both of these readings. Many of the children are earning marbles in the jar each day for completing their writing assignments. In math, we are learning how to write subtraction sentences, and how to show our thinking using drawings and real objects. We are also finding some time to work on automatic recall of facts with the rocket math program. In science, we have begun planting six kinds of seeds: kidney bean, corn, sunflower, lima bean, garbanzo, and white bean. Our experiment is too see if a seed that was soaked in water will sprout and grow faster than one that was not soaked. We are also curious to see which ones will grow at all. Thus far, the garbanzo bean has sprouted first.
On Tuesday, we went on a scavenger hunt on the edge of the soccer field to look for wild seeds. This event was led by a teacher from the Harris Center of Hancock. We collected an amazing array of seeds, which we will be sorting next week.

NEWS FOR NEXT WEEK: OPEN HOUSE: WEDNESDAY NIGHT : 6:00 - 7:00 PM

I HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU THERE!!!

Working and Playing

Our second week has flown by. We have been working hard to earn a little free choice time by filling up the marble jar. Here are a few pictures of the children enjoying their reward as they play with legos, draw, or just visit with one another.
Many have been absent this week with sore throats, stomach ailments, and low grade fevers. I am hoping to have everyone back next week.

Our First Week: A New Year

It has been a very busy first week to begin our year. As I mentioned in my opening letter, we have a large group consisting of 14 girls and 11 boys. I thank you for responding on the volunteer forms. I may be calling you sometime over the long weekend so that I could start next Tuesday having you come in to help.

Overall, we have had a great first week. The children have shown excellent behavior and are making good progress towards learning the routine and my expectations. This is a wonderful group of children, and I'm truly looking forward to the year. We have spent some of our time getting to know one another. We have shared responses to discover how we are alike and different.

In literacy, we enjoyed two picture books about Boomer, the dog. We read "Boomer Goes to School" and "Boomer's Big Surprise". I also began to read aloud a chapter book called "The Next Door Dogs". The children have had guided lessons in writing answers to comprehension questions about the chapter book. In this way, I have gained a better understanding of their writing skills. They have also had time to use many materials for partner and independent use of word skills. We have just started the first page of our spelling books. Spelling homework will be coming home next Tuesday which will be due back by next Friday. Our first spelling test will be next Friday.

In math, we completed the first two lessons with a focus on joining groups and writing addition sentences based on story problems or visual sets of groups. You will see some samples of these math lessons in your child's take home folder. The children have also been practicing number writing to increase their speed and accuracy. We will start Rocket Math next week which is a program for learning math facts to 18 with automatic recall.

In science, we started a unit on seeds and plants. You will be hearing more about this as we begin to explore how seeds differ from one another. Hopefully, next week we will begin a few planting experiments.

If you have internet access, check out our classroom site by going to mrsbluhmsclassroom.blogspot.com