Happy Holidays

I hope you all have been staying warm! The kids were so excited to finally make it outside Friday... a little indoor recess goes a long way!
This week we have been busy in math. We wrapped up unit 8, where we used the equal arm balance to find the masses of various objects in our room. This week we began adding larger numbers. As a class, we have been exploring various strategies used to add larger numbers including: base 10 pieces, tallies, pictures, the 200s chart, and the paper pencil method (vertical addition with carrying).
I won't be telling you much about our current writing project, because it's a surprise! I will tell you however, that they have been working hard and have been producing some great writings!
Your child received a new spelling list last Wednesday and this will be the last new sort before break. We will begin our regular schedule in spelling when we return in January. Thank you for practicing at home.
This Thursday we will participate in the 1st and 2nd grade Gingerbread day! From 9-11 we will rotate between our classrooms and have fun with the various gingerbread activities!
In health this month we have been studying how to stay safe and stay well. When we return in January we will begin our new science unit about weather.
I can't believe this is our last newsletter of 2009! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends. I look forward to making many more memories with your children in 2010!

Busy week back from break!

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break! I hope the break was restful and that you were able to enjoy time with family. Before the break, we participated in many Thanksgiving activities. Many of which included: thesaurus turkeys, a study of Native American tribes, writing a journal from a pilgrims point of view, and pumpkin pie!

Before the break we wrapped up a study in math about volume of cube models. (I know some of the homework was tricky!) This week we began a new unit in math about measuring and comparing masses of objects. The objective of these weeks’ lessons is to understand that you can not always tell the mass of the object by just looking at its size and shape. For example, if I have a steel ball and a wooden ball that are the same size and shape, because they are made of different materials, they will have different masses.

Over the past few weeks we have been recording the number of independent books we have read. We finally reached 100 books! I turned in our count to Scholastic and our reading helped to donate over a million books to children who need them.

In writer’s workshop we began a paragraph writing unit focused on the important people in our lives. We will be using the writing process to produce a final project that is sure to be a keepsake!

Ask your child how they are doing on school supplies. Most children are in need of new glue sticks and a new set of crayons and/or markers.

I have posted a great spelling website on our resources. You are able to input your child’s spelling words and it creates various practices for them to learn their spelling words. Our food drive also began this week and will continue into next week. Have a great week!

Mrs. Crooker

Needed Items

There are a few class projects that we have coming up before Thanksgiving and Winter break... If you are interested in helping with any of the following items, please let me know!
Pumpkin Pie Ingredients: butter, pie filling, graham crackers, instant vanilla pudding and pumpkin spice. (Please let me know if you are interested in sending in any of the items and I will be happy to let you know how much we need!)
Celophane (clear) 2 rolls
Cookie Tray- new or gently used for magnetic activities

Thanks Again! Have a wonderful weekend!

Conference Time!

Thank you for taking the time to fill out and return conference forms! I am looking forward to meeting with you over the next few days and talking about your child with you. If for some reason you are unable to attend your scheduled conference, please let me know right away so we can reschedule. Check out Progress Report article under Parent Information on our blog!
We have now wrapped up our science unit about the body and will be spending the next few weeks taking a look at our past! We will be studying various Native American tribes and comparing/contrasting two tribes. If you have any related artifacts, books, or pictures your child is welcome to bring these things in to display or share. We will also be spending some time talking about early pioneers by reading the book The Josefina Story Quilt.
We have finished our math unit about place value and will be taking a look at volume. Specifically, we will be looking at cube models and the volumes of each building and design. Make sure you take a look at the math games available through links on our blog!
Your child will not be bringing home a new spelling sort this week. We will resume spelling next week, receiving new words on Wednesday.
Have a great week!

Halloween Week...

We have been busy at school these past few weeks! In math we have taken a few days to practice time and money. This week we also took our end of the trimester assessment! We will continue to practice place value into next week.
Spelling words will continue to come home every Wednesday. The spelling tests may look a little different these days... each test is worth 20pts. I will give them one point for spelling the word correctly, and one point for writing it under the proper heading. Because Tuesday mornings tend to get busy, spelling tests will be given at the latest, Wednesday morning. Please make sure your child turns in spelling homework by Tuesday.
Fruit Roll-ups inspired our writing this week! Students used their five senses to "experience" a fruit roll-up. Each child collected information on what they heard, smelled, felt, saw, and finally tasted. They then turned this information into a yummy descriptive paragraph!
Wednesday your child brought home a conference confirmation form and topics to discuss form. Please sign and return at your earliest convenience. I am looking forward to seeing you all in just a few weeks!
A few family turkeys have started to trickle in. Turkeys are due Tuesday November 3rd... be creative and have fun with them!
In science we continue to study about the body systems. We first looked at the skeletal, muscular, and digestive systems. Each student assembled a skeleton, and then made a costume for it to wear on Halloween!

Speaking of Halloween... it is time for our first party! Below is the schedule of events.

Halloween Party:
2:15pm change into costumes
2:30pm Parade
2:45pm Party
3:00pm Clean up

Marble Party!

Our class has earned a marble party! They have chosen to wear pjs and bring a small stuffed animal to school... this will be happening on Thursday Oct. 29th. (Please make sure your child also brings shoes if they decide to wear slippers.) Also, Wednesday is school spirit day. Wear school colors and LH shirts. I can't wait to see all of the costumes on Friday!

Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog spot! This year we made the shift to paperless newsletters to conserve paper. Now, a blog spot... which will hopefully provide even better communication and resources to help with various things we are studying in class! Thank you for your patience as I learn how to blog:) You are welcome to check out our site daily, but will receive an email notification when a new post is updated!