Viva Italia!

For the past two weeks we have discovered a favorite book series.....Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola, a classic Caldecott winner, that has been brought to life again in room 136. We have been following the adventures of Strega Nona, Big Anthony, and Bambolona while we focus on the comprehension (understanding while reading) skills "Making Predictions", "Noting Details", and "Problem Solving". The students have really taken a liking to the characters and we have even learned some Italian along the way.

Strega, meaning "witch" and Nona, meaning "Grandmother" is a delightful tale of an old woman who lives in Calabria. She helps the towns people by making magical remedies to take away headaches and warts, to name a few. Big Anthony is her house boy who helps with the household chores such as milking the goats. The students were very surprised to hear that milk can also come from goats! Big Anthony always seems to get himself into some sort of trouble that only Strega Nona can fix.

We are currently on our 4th book in the series. Check them out with your child the next time you visit the library! You'll have some laughs, see how engaged your child gets when reading the tales, and even pick up a few Italian phrases.....Buona lettura!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

On Friday, March 2nd our class celebrated Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel's 108th birthday. We began our morning by watching Tim Tebow read Green Eggs and Ham on the morning announcements.

The kids made predictions if they would like green eggs and ham before we had our morning snack. Together we feasted on what else....GREEN EGGS AND HAM!

 

After making "Cat in the Hat" hats, we started our Seuss Centers. The students rotated between a Seuss rhyme hunt, book browsing, exploring http://www.seussville.com/, One Fish, Two Fish Goldfish graphing, and a Seuss inspired  antonym activity. It was a such a fun day and really got the kids excited about our upcoming Seussical Musical Thursday, March 15th at KTE!

Pizza, Pizza!

To kick off our study of functional ("how to") writing, the students and I took part in pizza making! In order to teach someone how to do something you must be an expert. What better way to make sure we get all the steps right, but to actully make a pizza. We started by spliting the English Muffins (thanks to Mrs. Deason), the students then spread the desired amount of tomato sauce all over there individual pizzas. Those who wanted pepperoni added a few, and we finished them off with a handful of shredded mozzarella. I popped each one in the microwave for about 1 minute, just to let the cheese melt and voila......pizza!

The kids had a blast! later that day we started our first functional piece of writing. The kids came up with some great beginnings! We really focused on grabbing the reader's attention by posing a question. They were very detailed when describing the steps to making pizza. Our "How to Make a Pizza" writing is spotlighted on our hallway bulletin board and also on our "Rapid Writing" board inside the classroom. Feel free to stop by and check them out.

Make a slideshow design

Delightful Digraphs

This week we have been learning about digraphs. Digraphs are the letter combos -sh, -th, -wh, and -ch that we see at the beginning and the ending of words. Some examples are ship, brush, catch, cheese, whale, tooth, then. Check out these great websites for some interactive digraph practice: (a great rainy day activity or something fun for our three day weekend)

http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/phonics/games/ch_sh_wh_th_sounds.jsp

http://www.starfall.com/

Happy New Year to All!!!

Hello parents, students, and followers! I'm sorry I haven't been posting in a while, it's been a very busy Holiday season! Make sure to check the blog this weekend and upcoming week for new posts. I have lots of pictures and stories to share from our field trip to UNF, Christmas party, pizza making activity, and other goodies. Thank you for your patience. Happy Blogging :)

Goodbye Pumpkin Pie

                                  Year after year after year I go crazy!

Every Thanksgiving I sit with the babies!

It’s the little kids’ table; the table for tots,

Where my mom makes me sit, if I like it or not.

The table for grown-ups is fit for a king,

With goblets and giblets and gold napkin rings,

But here all the kids drink from Styrofoam cups,

We eat small turkey bits that our moms have cut up.

Our plates are red plastic and so are the spoons,

And we eat by ourselves in a small dinning room.

“I’ll never eat mushrooms or green beans or squid!”

“And I NEVER will eat at a table for kids!”

“What’s wrong?” asked my mom, she was pouring some drinks;

“You haven’t touched dinner…not one single thing!”

She straightened the napkin tucked under my chin,

She gave me a hug as she pushed my chair in,

She cut up my turkey bits two sizes smaller,

She held up my glass, “have a sip of some water!”

She dished up a spoon of potatoes and gravy;

My mom tried to feed me like I was a baby!

“I can use my own fork! I can use my own knife!”

“And I don’t want to sit at the table for tikes!”

Then my mom said, “I think your Thanksgiving’s all through,

“And I think that it’s time you go up to your room.”

I sat all alone on my bed feeling hungry.

It felt like I had a stone knot in my tummy.

I was just about ready to snack on my hat,

When I heard someone knocking, RAT-TAT-A-TAT-TAT!

It was mom with a plate piled high with a feast,

And it didn’t seem that she was mad in the least.

She set up a TV tray right by my bed,

And she gave me a kiss on the top of my head.

“You’re growing up fast,” she said, hiding a tear,

           “Won’t you join the adults for Thanksgiving next year?”

It's Turkey Time!

Today we hosted many KTE friends and family members for our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon. We feasted on turkey, dressing, green beans, and sweet potatoes. There was even pizza!  Anyone can make a Native American headress or a Pilgrim's hat, but have you ever seen a hat of turkey legs? The students also reflected on things they were thankful for. Come check out our "I am thankful for" writing outside our classroom on display now!