Newsletter for Week of 9/26-9/29

What Went On This Week in Mrs. Ramirez’s Class?

09/26-09/29

Reading:

-Learned and practiced the /all/ sound in words like call, tall, ball

-We practiced talking about characters & the plot in a story

Math:

-Chapter 3 was very long!

-We are still learning Chapter 3, (doubles facts, etc.)

-There will be no Math homework this week because we are still doing Chapter 3

Science:

-We continued learning about Sun & Stars

Writing:

-We worked on a “sweet” story, and talked about the reasons why we were sweet

-We are still working on spelling Word Wall words correctly

Announcements:

-I will not be sending home Math homework this week due to the very long Chapter

-Come to open library, watch your child read a book, and then watch them take an AR test independently! (Mondays 5-7)

- Thank you for all you do, I really do have the BEST parents!
-No School tomorrow

Mexican Ponchos

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month today, we learned about some of the customs and traditions of people in Mexico. We decorated Mexican Poncho's, with paint, oil pastel, and scrap  paper. They really turned out stunning.

Making Them:

Finished Product:



Classroom Additions/Upgrades

  Adding a few of my favorite things to the classroom, to make it feel more homey and comfortable for the firsties. I've added some ottomans instead of chairs for my small group table, and I added 2 new reading spots for the classroom, for the students to sit at during Read to Self. I have also added a beautiful purple lamp! They also worked on American Flags during the 9/11 rememberance, and I absolutely fell in love with them, so I have decided to hang them up in the room for a while. It's really starting to feel like home.


Goodbye regular chairs, HELLO ottomans!

  


In front of this is where the students choose their Daily's/ Listen to stories

 



Our Chart wall/chunky words, and writer's workshop easel



Fun charts & our Buckets where we drop beads for filling buckets




The new reading spot complete with 2 ottomans & a lamp




Where we do Science/and Writer's Workshop





The Word Wall where we rap/sing/cheer/spell sight words




Our Daily 5 Reference Charts (We made these together)



Sweetness

My bucket was filled when I got a sweet note from 2 parents, with a coffee mug. They made my morning. I guess their child passed on the memo that Mrs. Ramirez is quite obsessed/cannot function without coffee! Haha! Thank you, for your KINDNESS! 

Classroom Newsletter

What Went On This Week in Mrs. Ramirez’s Class?

09/19-09/23

Reading::

-Learned and practiced the short /o/ sound in words like top, not, lot, etc.

-We learned a short /o/song (Ask your child to sing it to you!)

-We practiced sequencing, and learned about characters

Math:

-We learned how to use a number line to help us solve addition problems

Science:

-We continued learning about Sun & Stars

-We went outside and observed the Sun and Stars

Writing:

-Proud to say that EVERYONE published a master piece of writing today, and boy oh boy, are they outstanding!

Announcements:

-We will be having a FIESTA to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month where we will be reading poetry, learning, and showing off our great things we have created to celebrate this marvelous month! (Date to be announced soon!)

-Come to open library, watch your child read a book, and then watch them take an AR test independently! (Mondays 5-7)

-We earned our COMPLIMENT PARTY so today we celebrated by eating popcorn, and watching a Magic School Bus movie on Sun & Stars!

-- Thank you for all you do, I really do have the BEST parents!

I Wonder...

Throughout the day, the students have many questions and "whys?" There is just not enough time in the day to answer all of their questions, so I told them that they are to choose an I WONDER post-it, during non-teaching time, write their question, and stick it on the side of my computer. On Friday afternoons, towards the end of the day, my friend, GOOGLE & I help answer some of the questions.

Check out how many we have to look up today!

Mosaics & Poetry

We learned about Aztecs today, like where they are from, and some of their traditions. Some of their traditions include making "mosaics," to celebrate their faith, or feelings. We made mosaic harvest ores of corn!

Finished Product:

We also celebrated artistic poetry, by creating a bird, and learning a poem about a bird.

Snippets of the Debate

This debate was pretty awesome! The firsties loved watching it, and listening to both sides of the story. I was pretty impressed!

As part of their reading group, these students are to gather and collect data to prove a point, and win the Friday morning debate.

One student was trying to prove that TV is better than books, and the other 2 students are trying to prove that BOOKS are better than TV!

I do have to say, both sides were pretty convincing, however books did win overall.

Oil Drip Pan & Science Observations

Who knew you could go to the automotive section of Wal-mart, buy an OIL-DRIP PAN, stick some velcro on the back and make it educational!?
They are using magnet letters to build their high frequency words.
Awesome!

Also, we went outside at the end of the day to observe the biggest star in the sky (the sun!) We used adjectives like bright, humungous, shining, etc. to describe the star.

My Bucket Was Filled!

I had my bucket filled today, when a sweet student brought me 2 beautiful pink roses. He made me smile, from EAR to EAR!

His kindness reminded me of this quote:

We Love Poetry!

One of my favorite times of the day, is when we learn poetry!

Going for a Walk

Going for a walk is so much fun.

We look at the lovely trees.

We don’t hurry.  We don’t run.

We watch for birds and watch for bees.

Breaking Out in Song!

Short O Song

Where is short o? Where is short o?
Here I am. Here I am.
I am in a hot pot, rocky top, and stop clock.
o - o - o    o - o - o

Classroom Newsletter for the Week of 9/12-9/16

Newsletter Week of 09/12-09/16

Reading:

• We studied the fantasy genre, and read a story about a rooster, who missed his alarm!
• We learned that Roosters have an internal alarm clock.
• We also practiced the /ick/ and the /ack/ sounds
• We also learned about the PLOT and its importance in a story

Reading Connections:

• 
  

  We made a lot of connections in the class during our small groups
• 
  

  
  

  

  
  

  We also connected and talked about schema as a whole group (Check out our FOCUS Wall!)
  

Math:
• We finished Chapter 2!
• Goodbye subtraction (for now) and Hello to more addition strategies!
  
  
Science: 
• We learned a song about the Sun & Stars (check back a few older posts for the video!)
  
• We completed a K(what I know) W(what I want to know) L(learned) chart for Sun & Stars
  
  
Writing:
• We have still been practicing SMALL MOMENT stories, and stretching it out like bubble gum
  
Announcements:
• Open Library- Monday Nights 5:00-7:00 PM (Come on out, and take an AR test on your level!)
• Use the half-sheet Lesson 5 Study guide to study with your child this week
• Math homework is due 09/30
• Thursday started HISPANIC HERITAGE month, so we will be doing little various activities to celebrate & learn in the class.
  
  
Cheers:
• I am very impressed with almost the whole class doing their homework
• We have been earning compliments in the Cafeteria for being respectful
• We saw a baby turtle out at Recess (Don't worry, we didn't touch it!)
• We used my IPAD and Google Maps and traveled to Japan, Paris & the Statue of Liberty
  

Don't Hate, Debate!

2 students, and (myself) held a debate in class today. We debated whether or not, students should have recess ALL day, or if they should only have it part of the day.

Kids voted, and concluded that they should indeed have recess all day! (Oh my! Thank goodness it was just a debate, or I'd be out of a job!)

Enjoy some pictures: