Spring Break

Happy Spring Break! I sent home a packet of math activities today. Please don't feel like you have to finish the entire packet. These are just activities to work on. Also, please make sure the kids are reading as much as possible over spring break. Also, I am trying to create a more comfortable reading area in the classroom. If anyone has any bean bag chairs, or comfy things to sit on, that you don't want anymore, I'd love to have them. Have a great break! See you on Tuesday!

Spring Pictures

Spring pictures came home today. If you like them and want to keep them (or a portion of them) please send your money in asap. If you don't want to purchase them, just return the pictures to school. Thanks for the help!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had quite the day today! It all started when Mrs. Scott arrived to the classroom to find chairs overturned, toys and books spilled, green glitter everywhere, and shamrocks scattered about the room. "Liam the Leprechaun" made a visit last night, and left a big mess in our room. And, he lost his hat. The kids had a great time looking for it, and even writing letters back to Liam. We'll see if he writes back to us. Next we helped a lost leprechaun find his way back to the rainbow by organizing his shamrocks in order, and making equations to match them. We worked on a puzzle packet, which the kids took home to finish. I told them that anyone who returned it to school this week all finished would get a treat, so make sure to keep yours eyes out for it. We ended the day with graphing Lucky Charms, which is Leprechauns breakfast of choice. At the end of the day, we even got to have a few green treats for snack. We had a great day, wore lots of green and had a fantastic time using our imaginations. I sent home our March edition of The Scott Sampler today, so make sure to take a look. Here are some pictures of our day! If you are in the building in the future, make sure to check out the new flat screen the PTC got for us. Our class is now famous on tv! (Check back- more pictures to be added tomorrow!)

PTC Meeting Tomorrow

Our next PTC meeting will be tomorrow, Tuesday March 17th, at 3:45 in the Earth Pod at MES. Please join us! We need all the support we can get, and will be discussing our next fundraiser. We are also looking for new officers for next year, so our PTC can continue to function. Hope to see you there! Don't forget to wear your green!

PTC BINGO Basket

Our class talked today and decided that for our basket for PTC BINGO in May, we will be making a "Green Basket." We need kids to bring in anything green to add to our basket. Some great places to get items for not much money is the dollar store, seasonal isles (Hi-School Pharmacy, BiMart, etc.), and sale racks. I will provide the container to hold our donations, but I am looking for parent support to donate items. If you don't have any ideas or time, but would still like to donate, you can also send in cash, and I will do the shopping. We came up with a list of ideas today that includes: balloons, gardening tools, candy, army men, toys, balls, books, socks, hats, dishware, bubbles, home decorations, water toys, art supplies, beads, school supplies, and anything else you can think of. The only limitation is that it is green. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for all of your help! This is great family night, and a fun fundraiser for our PTC.

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who made it to their conference! I think we only had three no-shows, which is still too many, but a big improvement from last time. I loved getting to talk with all of you, and sharing the kids amazing progress. I also wanted to thank everyone for all of the extra supplies that you've sent it. Hopefully we'll be able to make it to the end of the year without running out of glue sticks. I appreciate the help and support. Have a great weekend!

Conferences

It's now that time! Conferences are officially here. Please make sure to do the best you can to be at your conference on time. I will do my best to keep conferences to 15 minutes, in order to allow families time to travel to other rooms. If you know you will not make it, or you will be late, please call and let me know asap. It's no fun to have no shows. If you are running late, I may be able to fit you in, or I may not. The sooner you call, the better chance we'll have to re-schedule. I'm looking forward to meeting with everyone! Our class has made some great progress. Also, I sent home lyrics to our Water Cycle Song. Anyone who comes back on Monday knowing the song will get a prize, so make sure to practice.

I will post a conferences schedule first thing in the morning, so check back to confirm your time.

The Water Cycle Song

Today I taught the kids a song to help them remember the water cycle that Miss. Leonard taught us. It is very fun to sing, but may not be the easiest song to learn. We're going to practice, and eventually make a video of our class singing the song. If you'd like to hear the tune you can see it on Teacher Tube, or click here. Here are the words to practice at home. The kids really loved the song, and I've already heard them singing it under their breath.

The Water Cycle Song
Rain and Snow come down
And they hit the ground
Soak into the earth
Or they hang around
In puddles and lakes
They evaporate
Up into the clouds
Where they condensate
Boy it’s cold up there
But they’re unaware
As they grab some dust
And return to us
They precipitate
On land and lakes
It’s the water cycle
Aint it great!

Crocodile's Toothache

Yesterday we did a great activity on visualization. We have been working really hard on learning how to use different strategies while reading. The kids are learning that in order to be able to truly comprehend what they are reading, they have to have some tricks to use to examine their reading. We've started talking about how all good readers picture the reading in their head. We've compared this to watching a movie in your head of what you are reading. This is a technique that good readers should do. I began the activity by reading Shel Silverstein's poem "Crocodile's Toothache." As I read the poem, the kids had to draw a picture of that they were hearing, or what they thought it looked like. When I first introduced visualizing, they didn't quite understand what I meant. After the kids finished their picture, we had a chance to look at each others work and examine them. We had a discussion about what similarities there were in our pictures, and what the differences were. At the end, when the kids were asked "How did you know that's what it looked like? I didn't tell you, or describe it to you," they then understood that this was visualizing the reading. Here's the poem and a few examples of their drawings. This is a fun activity you can do at home. Read aloud to them, and have them draw what they see. Later, it's an good way to practice retelling the story using only their drawings.
Crocodile's Toothache
The Crocodile
Went to the dentist
And sat down in the chair,
And the dentist said, "Now tell me, sir,
Why does it hurt and where?"
And the Crocodile said, "I'll tell you the truth,
I have a terrible ache in my tooth,"
And he opened his jaws so wide, so wide,
The the dentist, he climbed right inside,
And the dentist laughed, "Oh isn't this fun?"
As he pulled the teeth out, one by one.
And the Crocodile cried, "You're hurting me so!
Please put down your pliers and let me go."
But the dentist laughed with a Ho Ho Ho,
And he said, "I still have twelve to go-
Oops, that's the wrong one, I confess,
But what's one crocodile's tooth more or less?"
Then suddenly, the jaws went SNAP,
And the dentist was gone, right off the map,
And where he went one could only guess...
To North or South or East or West...
He left no forwarding address.
But what's one dentist, more or less?

Written by Shel Silverstein

Welcome Alex-Ann!

Last Friday we welcomed a new student into our classroom. Alex-Ann is joining us from The Dalles for the rest of the year. She's already done a great job adjusting to our class, and has made some good friends. Please join me in welcoming Alex-Ann and her family to Molalla!

March Newsletter

Here is our newsletter that will go home tomorrow. I am going to experiment on how to post a document. We'll see if this works. To see the full size image, click on the picture.

What do Leprechauns look like?

Today we started of March with a bang. Whatever happened to "in like a lion, out like a lamb?" We enjoyed some beautiful weather at school today. For our first leprechaun activity we read a legend about leprechauns. Then we began to write our class book on what we think leprechauns look like. After the kids were finished with their writing, they each got to draw add their illustration. I took a few pictures to share:
I loved these drawings! Make sure to get a chance to read the book when you come for conferences. Our other big activity today was celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday with "Read Across America." This was a chance for all of the students in the school to choose a few stories to listen to across the school. We had some great guest readers as well, like Mr. Kostur and Dr. Valley. Our class was spread out all over the school, and had a great time! Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!