Our Sense of Place Poems!!

Dear Families,

Thanks so much for coming to Open House.  It was wonderful to meet each of you, and to see your children so eager to show you their work.
I hope you have been able to access the blog site for our class.  Each child's poem  has now been posted.  The  assignment  was to create a poem about a special place which could be real or imagined.  The children focused on using repetition and rhythm. Having the poem rhyme was not required, though many of the children were able to come up with a few rhyming lines.  The children used their senses to think of  descriptive phrases.  We hope you enjoy reading them all.   Again, the blog site address is:

                                                     http://mrsbluhmsclassroom.blogspot.com

Please  leave  your  child  a  comment, and  share  the  site  with  other  extended  family  members  far  and  wide.  The  children  love  an  audience.

Out My Bedroom Window by Emma A.

I  see  the  sun,

And  the  birds,

And  the  trees, too.

I  hear  birds  chirping,

And  people  talking,

And  TV  and  music, too.

I  feel  the  hot  sun,

And  the  soft  breeze.

I  smell  the  clean  air,

And  my  perfume,  too.

Looking  out  my  bedroom  window

Is  the  place  I  want  to  be.

Pierce Lake by Wylie

I  love  the  lake.

I  love  it!

The  water  is  blue.

It's  for  you.

I  want  to  swim  in  it.

It  is  warm.

It  is  fun!

The  fish  are  faster

Than  the  sun. 

Camping in the White Mountains by Marshall

I  can  see  bright  blue  sky,

White  fluffy  clouds,

Tall green trees,

Our  red  tent,

And mountains  far  away.

I  can  hear  birds  peeping,

Waterfalls  splashing,

The wind  blowing.

The White  Mountains,

A  place  I  love  to  go!

Camping in Maine by Isis

I  see  green  trees.

I  see  white  clouds.

I  hear  birds  chirping.

I  hear  people  laughing.

I  see red  tents.

I  see  the  playground.

I  feel  my  soft  blankets.

I  smell  bacon  and  eggs 

Cooking  over  the fire.

Camping  in  Maine  is  fun. 

Peach's Castle by Joey

MARIO, MARIO!  The fireworks cracking,

Peach saying MARIO, MARIO, 

Help! Help! Help!

Jr. Bowser trying to get MARIO,

MARIO saying, but you can't get me!

Peach crying at the top of her lungs,

MARIO, MARIO!

Help! Help! Help!

Peak's Island by Emma S.

First  you  have  to  go  to  Maine.

Then   you  have  to  talk  to  a  lady.

Then  you  have  to  buy  a  ticket.

Then  you  have  to  get  on  a  boat.

Then  you  see  the  blue, blue  ocean  all  around.

Then  you see the  tall, tall  hotels.

Then  you  take  a short, short  walk to  the  beach.

Then  you  feel  the  hot, hot  sand.

Then   you  feel  the  cold, cold  water.

Then  your  lips  turn  blue, blue,

But,  I  love  to  go  to  Peak's  Island.

It's  the  place  I  love  the  best!

My Bedroom by Ella

I see my purple bed,

I see my sister's pink bed,

I smell my fresh clean pillow,

I feel my soft smooth blanket,

I hear my little sister yelling,

Still, the place I like to be

That's just right for me

Is on my purple bed.

Mario Kart by Owen

White fluffy clouds,

Above the mountains,

Cars racing,

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

King Boo in 1st place,

Mario in 2nd place,

Rocks falling down the hill,

Boom, boom, boom!

It's the last lap!

Lap, lap, lap,lap!!!

My House by Gabriel

My blue house,

My Mom's red truck,

My black cat,

My parents,

My bed,

The road in the front,

My brown and golden dogs,

Soft to pet,

My blue house,

The place I want to be.

Peach's Castle of Mario World by Josiah

Indigo cerulean merulean blue glue,

Blue green glue seen sky,

I see orange,red,black bricks,

chocolate brown door,

Red Mario pink peach,

Red Spiky orange green,

Bowser and Jr. Bowser,

Big dangerous,

Sharp Bowser castle,

White happy clouds,

Loud Bowser Roar!

Luigi's sad cry,

Toad's sad cry,

Mario World,

Peach's Castle, 

The place I want to go.

The Hill by Nisse

The place I want to go,

Green fluffy trees,

White big fish,

Birds chirping,

Breezes blowing,

Splash! Splash!

Big Boulders.

South Carolina by Avery

I love South Carolina!

Seagulls flying all around,

Tall buildings,

Parking building, too,

Lots of cars,

Seagulls squawking,

Waves splashing,

Kids yelling, kids laughing,

Hot sun shining, 

Tip-toe, Tip-toe

On the sand,

Here I go

Running to the water,

Jumping in!

Yeah! Yeah!Yeah!

The Ocean by Jimmy

Big  Sharks,

Blue Fish,

I love the ocean!

The fish are fast.

The waves are  blue.

The  sand  is  hotter

Than  my  shoes.

I  love  the  ocean,

And so  do  you!                

News for Sept.17,2010

Dear Families,

This week has gone by in a flash.  Here are some highlights.

In our literacy block, the question of the week was:  What can we learn by exploring space?  We read non-fiction stories about the lives of astronauts, and about some of the planets.  We also learned a cool song.  During our writing time, we have been working on a rough draft of a poem about a real or imagined place.  The children have first drawn and colored a picture about their special place, and we have brainstormed words to describe this place.  Now, we are working on finding rhythm, repetition, or rhyme using these words.  The goal is to have a finished poem for each child by next Friday.  Then, I will try to get them posted to our blogsite with their drawings. ( Heh, parents, this could be a job for you!!!)  Please let me know if you're interested in helping out on the blog.  You could come into the classroom to use my computer or work from home.

In math, we finished Topic 1 which was a unit on addition and subtraction using the model of a part/part whole mat.  Scores on that test are attached.  Please feel free to see me if you have questions.

Have a great weekend.  Thanks so much if you have visited the site, and thanks, especially if you have left a comment.

News: Week of Sept. 6, 2010

Hello Families,

Thanks for sending in all of the paperwork, and for providing support on the first week with homework.  It will take some time to set routines for everyone, so I appreciate your efforts in assuring that your child completes and turns in his/her homework by every Friday.

In our literacy lessons, we have started our first unit in the new reading program.  Our main theme is exploration for the next five weeks.  Each week we focus on a related question.  This week our question was:  What can we learn by exploring different communities?  We read stories, and sang songs to compare urban and rural communities.  In writing, we are beginning to write about a special place, real or imagined.  The children are also writing letters to me each week about the book they are reading for free choice.  During reading group time, the children have begun learning the routine of independent and group work at centers.  They seemed to enjoy the listening center with a CD player and four headsets.  The other center focused on spelling practice using magnetic letters, dry erase slates, and word sorts.

In math, we began a unit on addition and subtraction, and completed a cumulative first grade math test  to determine which areas need reinforcement and reteaching.  We also are working on increasing instant recall of basic facts with a program called Rocket Math.

Enjoy your weekend.  If you have time to visit this blogsite, please leave a comment.  Thanks so much.