Literacy Centers & Studio in the School

Happy February families! It's been quite chilly outside! Remember to send your child to school in warm clothing!

This month, we started literacy centers. Now that we have assessed each child for their reading level, every day students will meet in a variety of centers that support their reading including working with Ms. Rebecca, Ms. Darrell or I.

Reading with Ms. Darrell

Working with Ms. Rebecca

Reading in the classroom library

Working on the iPad

Writing Center

Listening Center

Today, we also started our Studio in the School art program. Ms. Monika, our resident artist will be coming in on certain Fridays to work with the students on art. Today, they explored different lines. They learned about straight lines, thick lines, dark/light lines, zig zag and curvy and spiky lines.

Viewing lines in art

The children were excited and super engaged in their art work! I can't wait to see what they create!

Website move

I've moved the class website to: Http://www.msesthersclass.com 

:)

Martin Luther King Jr

Reminder that Monday there is no school in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day. Here are some websites to help you learn more about this important man:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/martin-luther-king-jr/

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=149

rhyming

We've been learning a lot about rhyming recently in school! We played this rhyming game on the SMARTboard together. Try it out and see if you find some rhyming words:

http://pbskids.org/sesame/elmo.html#/games

and here are even more rhyming games:
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/rhyming-games.html

Welcome 2011!

I hope everyone had a relaxing break! I was so excited to see everyone in school today ready to learn new and wonderful things for 2011. I got to hear everyone's stories about what they did during the big snow storm!

Today, I also received the December reading log from a couple of students. Congratulations to those students on winning a certificate for a free one-topping personal pizza from pizza hut. Check out this website for more details about the importance of reading with your child: http://www.bookitprogram.com/Parents/index.asp

Today, we read Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson.
We are starting to write personal narratives, which is a story about ourselves and takes place in 1 day! Do Like Kyla is a personal narrative about a girl who copies her big sister, Kyla.

In reading today, we worked on not only making predictions but also checking them to see if our prediction was right or wrong after we finished the story! Try this at home when you are reading:
-Stop in the middle of the book
-Make a prediction "What will happen next?"
-When you finish the story, ask youself if the prediction was right or wrong
-Why was it right/wrong?

Here is a website to help with making predictions:
http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/i/makingpredp1st.cfm

Happy Holidays!

Dear Families!

I want to wish everyone a happy and wonderful holiday break! Today, I sent home with each child an updated word wall with words we have learned, a book for your child to keep and a DVD with photos taken from our class and a short video of your child's story. We hope you enjoy it! Remember to continue reading with your child every night! :) Also check out Ms. Kim's website: http://sites.google.com/site/mskimonline/
for some fun and educational activities for your child to do while indoors.

I can't wait to see everyone in the new year!

Ms. Esther

Storytelling

Hi Families! I am so excited to announce that our class will be working on storytelling for the next two weeks! Today, we started by telling partners a story from our lives. I was so excited listening to stories about the children going to the playground, going to Target, playing, decorating Christmas trees and more! We will be recording the stories at the end of the unit through voice recorders.

I also want to connect this with an art project in creating a diorama. Please bring in any spare shoeboxes you may have! :)

Also, this Friday is our concert. The students will be singing! Please come join us as we celebrate the season through song!