Showing Our Support

Red Sox pride was evident in our classroom on Wednesday - and it paid off!  A special "Thank you" and photo credit goes to Mr. Dale - longtime Yankees fan :)

Upcoming Events

School Photo Retake Day

Picture retake day is Wednesday, October 30!  If your child was absent on School Photo Day, or if you would like for your child's photo to be taken again, please have your child prepared to get his/her picture taken on Wednesday.  If you are getting re-takes, please send in the photo package that went home with your child on Monday.

Red Sox Day

Teachers have received an email asking that staff and students who wish to support the Boston Red Sox please wear Red Sox clothing on Wednesday, October 30.  Hats are only to be worn outside, as it is not an official "Hat Day".  There is no fee to participate.

Halloween

The Center Drive PTG and volunteers put on a wonderful community Halloween Party last Saturday.  There were several families in attendance, including most of our class!  This was also a great opportunity for your child to show off his/her costume, and begin his/her candy collection.  Because of the wonderful job that the PTG does in offering a Halloween celebration, combined with many other family Halloween activities, we are not having another Halloween Party in our classroom.  I have set aside some time on Thursday for some Halloween activities, and I will provide a Halloween treat.  I ask that students do not wear or bring their costumes to school; instead they can save them for Thursday night.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Our Week in Pictures

Friday morning we had inside recess.  I thought I'd share a small moment of what our cherubs decided to do:

That's right - they are playing school!  I am so proud!  


As promised, I am also sharing some photos of our hallway bulletin board.  All of our Columbus letters are now on display.  It seems as though our sailors from 1492 were a little more than worried after sailing days and days with no land in sight!

Also as promised, here are a couple photos of the Book Mobile responses that some students chose to do.  Our next Book Response, due on October 25, will offer the same two choices of Cereal Box or Book Mobile.

Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmatic

Reading

October's Book Responses are a creative choice between a "Cereal Box" response and a "Book Mobile".  Although not everyone has had a chance to share theirs yet, they all look fabulous!  I love that students are really thinking about books they read, and are able to make connections and share what they have read.

Here are a few pictures of the Cereal Box responses.  Look for Book Mobile photos next week.

What is this?!  The Rainbow Pants by Orrington, Maine author Kelly Brooks-Bay! 

Writing

We are in the middle of focusing on poetry in both reading and writing.  Students have been creating "Shape Poems", as well as working on writing poems that rhyme.  It's not easy as it sounds!

We also have been working on letter writing.  In response to our study on Christopher Columbus, students are pretending that they were a sailor on one of Columbus' ships.  They have written a letter back home (pretending that it could be carried by messenger pigeon, of course) detailing how they are feeling and what they are wondering.  These letters really show an understanding of what it would have been like to be sailing in the unknown in 1492.  Once these letters are complete and added to our bulletin board, I will post a photo.

'Rithmatic

We have not left telling time, coins, addition facts, or working with story problems, but we have added geometry to our math lessons.  Students are learning about 2- and 3-dimensional shapes, as well as how shapes fit together, turn, and flip.  Visit our Portaportal page (the link can be found on this blog page, under "Web Links") to see what computer games we are playing to support our geometry learning.

"Find the Block" - matching 3-dimensional blocks to their 2-dimensional face shapes.

Fire Safety

Today Firefighter Shellie came to our classroom to teach us about fire safety.  We reviewed some very important fire safety concepts.

Most important:  The Smoke Detector is your NUMBER ONE tool for fire safety!

Tips to maintain your smoke detectors:

          *  Test the batteries every month (when you flip the calendar to each new month)
          *  Change the batteries 2 times a year (when you set the clocks for Daylight Savings Time)

The only safe place to burn candles in on the stove top - NOT in the bathroom, living room, on the kitchen table, or anywhere else.
         
If your smoke detectors go off -- Your ONLY JOB is to get out and STAY out.

The best way to move toward an exit in the event of a fire is crawling on your hands and knees (not too close to the ground, but still under the smoke).

If you are at a window on the second floor or higher, open the window and yell for help.  Someone will come get you.  DO NOT jump!

If your clothes catch fire:  STOP, DROP, COVER FACE, and ROLL.  Ask your child why these steps are important.

HOMEWORK for all families:

          *  Make a family plan and practice fire drills at home.  Be sure to have               an agreed upon meeting place for the family outside.

          *  Parents: teach children how to open their windows and remove the                 screens independently.

THANK YOU, FIREFIGHTER SHELLIE for giving us ongoing fire education!

Brenden shows us how to crawl in case of a fire.

Tilden will test the smoke detector to see if it's working.

Firefighter Shellie uses a model bedroom to show
how fire can spread and how to exit the room.