Impulsive puppy and Shy snail visit

Students met a new friend this week with Mrs. Parker and Impulsive Puppy.  Shy Snail came out of his shell where the room was quiet enough for him to feel safe.  Shy Snail wanted to join in the classroom fun but loud, quick movements make him nervous.  Students practiced using whisper voices and moving their bodies in a controlled manner.  Ask them about the Follow Follow game they taught Shy Snail.  

Students write stories to share

Can you read this beginning writing?  Students are working hard to record the sounds that they know in words.  You will soon see spaces appear, accurate beginning and ending sounds.  Praise your child no matter where they are in the writing process and encourage them to say words slowly as they write.  Let them write grocery lists, thank you cards, letters to family or label the house!

Queen of Hearts

Apple Cider

Beach - Sea

Apple Cider

Fruit Fly House

Dance class - teacher

Listening challenge with Mrs. Sulecki

Students played a fun game with Mrs. Sulecki during our peace lesson.  Students had to do one motion and continue that motion until the person right before them changes.  I was in awe at their ability to wait, focus and follow directions to this challenging game.  

Writers add labels and captions

Writers are at a variety of stages in our classroom.  Here are some fabulous examples of writers being brave and labeling their work and adding captions to help their reader better understand their story.  Students love to use sticky notes and label the classroom too.  Give your child a pad of sticky notes and prepare to be surrounded by sticky note bliss.

Go noodle

Indoor recess can't keep us down!  The students loved doing the extended Go Noodle exercises that involved coordination, balance, concentration and listening.  If you are not familiar with Go Noodle, check it out and have some fun at home with your child.  

Apple sauce

We used many of the apples from our field trip to make homemade apple sauce.  The students loved the apple peeler corer slicer and could not believe you can make apples into apple sauce by applying heat in a crock pot.  

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the day:

"This is the BEST apple sauce ever, don't tell my mom."

"Fresh is best, of course this is delicious."

"I love the way it smells but it sure feels lumpy on my tongue."

Looking at print

Students are learning concepts about print (how to hold a book, reading left to right, pointing one to one, finding known words, exploring punctuation, etc).  Many of these early literacy behaviors are modeled by both you and I as we read to the kids.  They mimic whatever it is that we do and this is a critical time to praise the approximation and not correct their attempts.  The kids are not yet able to use the print to read these books accurately and that is ok.  We are really looking to see if they are creating stories that make sense and connect page to page.  

Rennie Orchards field trip

What an amazing day at Rennie Orchards.  Thank you to the volunteers who joined and supported our learning community.  The students took a tractor ride to pick a pumpkin, visited the stump of the 3rd largest tree in the USA, looked at bark rubbings from deer in the area, found three coyote dens, ate lunch, ran a hay maze, played and picked apples.....wheeeeeeew what a fabulous day!