Rennie Orchards

Enjoying fresh pressed apple cider

Learning about a wooden apple press

The cider is made with 5 different apples and a few pears

Team work

Apple picking

Twist and push up and they release like magic

Finding the perfect apple for consumption

The perfect apple

Grandpa Rennie teaching everyone how to pick apples

Hay maze fun

Class Picture

Lunch with friends

Riding out to the coyote den

Parents volunteers to keep students safe and protect the dens

Finding a pumpkin the size of our heads

Checking out the 250 year old tree that was lost in a storm a few years back

And that's a wrap!  Tired kids!

Book talks

Mrs. Kubesh launches library every day with asking the students about what they are reading.  You would be surprised at how much students enjoy this conversation.  This is a great way for you to also launch your reading time at home with your child.  Questions like:  What are you reading at school in your book box, what are your favorite books and why, what type of book do you like to read, what books do you hope to check out from the library?  These conversations help students to see you value reading and thinking just as we do at school.  Spend some time talking about what you are reading, what you enjoy and why as well.

Roll and Write

This week our learning goal for math is to read and write the numerals 1 to 8.  Some of the ways we practice this in the classroom is to use a dot cube and record that amount on a white board or roll a number cube (we have some with numbers up to 8) and then collect objects that equal that amount and record that amount on a white board.  For example, student rolls a 6, they find six objects and count them, 1,2,3,4,5,6 and write the 6 on a white board.  

A great way to help math skills at home is to have your child set the table, tell them how many forks, cups, or plates to get (or have them solve that part too by counting family members), make a collection of objects, use a dice to pick the number of objects you want them to count.  Many students are ready to use 2 dice and combine the numbers to collect objects as well.  

I can read like a teacher!

Our Goal this week in Reading Workshop has been to read like the teacher.  What does that look like?  What does that sound like? 

Here is a clip of a student reading a nonfiction book. Reading like a teacher means reading cover to cover, looking at every picture, thinking about what you already know on the topic and what the author might be teaching you in that picture.  You will hear me prompting when he is unsure of what he might see in this beautiful nonfiction book on Cheetahs.  You can guide your child through reading nonfiction books at home too by asking questions or drawing attention to details in a photograph.

Here is another student practicing a fiction book reading like a teacher.  Notice the student making gestures from the story, exact words from the story, reading the book page by page and using the picture to support her details.  This is the type of reading you can expect to see at home.  

Move-thon fun

A giant thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered and participated in this awesome school event.  The students LOVED moving their bodies with their friends and chatting as they completed their laps.  A huge shot out to King Orchards for the fabulous snack they donated, the students gobbled those apples and pears right up. 

Warm up

Bunny hop fun

Everyone enjoyed the snack at the end!  A huge thank you to King Orchards

Fire Safety

This week the students have participated in a variety of activities around fire safety from fire drills to a visit from the Long Lake Township Fire Department.  Students learned the importance of having a plan in case of a fire, how to be safe during a fire, what fire fighters look like and sound like with their gear on, what equipment can be used to help people and how to stop, drop and roll.  Make sure you discuss your family's plan with your child and enjoy the pattern book, "Fire Fighter, Fire Fighter, What Do You See?" with your child.  This can be a shared reading opportunity, they could read to you or you could read to them.  As you read, point under each word.  As they read, they should be pointing under each word too.  You may need to help them with this as it is a very new skill for some.  Praise any attempt and have fun!

  

Evidence to support choice in reading...

Here is a great article about students having choice in their reading.  This is why we are so passionate about students participating in the Move-a-thon and our Donors Choose grants.  Our kids deserve new reading materials and the opportunities to get "hooked" as a reader.  What can you do?  Help your child raise any amount in donations for the Move-a-thon or consider donating to our Donors Choose grant.

Writers have a plan

Writers make a plan before writing.  This week the writers in our class practice the steps below as they write.  

1. Writers think about what they know

2. Writers touch and plan

3. Writers make a quick sketch on every page

4. Writers record sounds and write words/sentences on every page

5. Writers add details to their pictures (color) and words

Here a brave student shares his planning for today's writing and takes a risk by trying something new in front of his peers.    

Learning proper pencil strokes

Learning the tripod pencil grip and the proper stroke (top to bottom) while recording our counting from dot cubes. Students love these opportunities to use non traditional materials to practice these basic skills.  Try sand on a cookie sheet, rice in a cake pan or shaving cream on a table.  Have fun reinforcing  basic writing skills by trying one of these activities at home. 

Exploring math stories

Mathematicians enjoyed finding numbers in books, hypothesizing what they might be learning in each of the books and sharing those ideas with their peers. The conversation about math existing in stories and books was exciting and the students shocked themselves as they discovered math everywhere!