This week we have read several books by Norman Bridwell about Clifford the Big Red Dog. Next week will start a new month and a new author of the month. We will be doing many activities with the books written by Eric Carle. He is one of my favorite authors and the children always enjoy rereading familiar stories and hearing new ones.



We have been busy working learning the names of coins this week in math. In science we talked more about what a scientist is. Many students were surprised to find out that they are scientists. We are making a book in social studies all about our classmates. We are still learning about each other's special talents and abilities. This book will also help the substitute teacher learn about us when I go on maternity leave.

Computer Lab

We have been going to the computer lab last week and this week. Students have learned how to login and open up student applications. We have also explored a couple of software programs: Balanced Literacy and 10th Planet Literacy. These are both reading programs. On Thursday we will be working in a math program. Tuesday and Thursday are our regularly scheduled times for the lab.

Just a reminder that you may send in a daily snack for your child. Please follow the guidelines sent home in the summer packer. Your child should not be bringing a soda for his or her snack. If you need a copy of suggested snacks, please let me know and I will send a new one home.
Also, students now have P.E. on Mondays and Thursdays. Be sure that they wear gym shoes on those days.

ish!

Today we read the book ish! and talked about perfectionism. The little boy in the book was frustrated he couldn't draw perfectly. However his drawing kinda looked like what he wanted them to be, they were vase-ish, sun-ish, and happy-ish. We decided that we can do ish things too. It's okay if we make mistakes or our work isn't quite perfect. We just do the best we can.
We also played a game in math to practice addition. We rolled two dice and added them up. Whatever number we got as the answer we colored on our paper. We had a lot of fun coloring in our stars.

Spelling

Today we practiced our spelling words on dry erase boards. All of our words this week have the short "a" sound. Students will be tested each Friday on their words.

Glyphs

Today we made glyphs in class. Glyphs teach children to consult a legend, follow direections, and convey information about themselves. Today's glyph tells about each child's favorite subject, birthday, name, family, and home.

We also read Giraffes Can't Dance and talked about perfectionism. This trait is very common in gifted students and we will spend a lot of time talking about it this year. Today we focused on how sometimes we can't do something well (like Gerald the Giraffe dancing) the first time we try it. We have to practice over and over. Students generated examples of things they had to practice in order to do them well like reading, playing the violin, playing basketball, or taking a timed test.