On our way to October: September 27, 2007
It is hard to believe how quickly the school year is flying by! At morning meeting today, our calendar leader exclaimed, "We've been in school for 32 days!"This week, the students practiced note-taking. The steps include reading a sentence (or sentences), figuring out the important facts, and rewriting the sentence in one's own words. The students also formed research groups. Our Invertebrate group is TC, SY, and CH; the Bird group is MM, LW, and KM; the Amphibian group is AW, KL, and JH; the Mammal group is SA, AK, and KJ; the Fish group is SY, EM, and ZC; and the Reptile group is ER, MH, and JC. Since cooperative and collaborative learning is a fundamental aspect of our multiage classroom, the students discussed the importance of working together and created a web of "what it takes to be a good team member." They came up with the following: listen to your group members; help each other find information; respect your partners; work together to find information and take notes; never yell at your partner; take turns; be friends; and focus on your work. We will continue to emphasize the importance of working together and learning from our classmates as we delve deeper into our Animal Inquiry unit.
Upcoming Field Trips
Calling all parents!!! As part of our Animal Inquiry, we will be visiting the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium. We invite you to join our class on these field trips. If you are interested in chaperoning, please call the classroom or e-mail me. I will also be sending home a chaperoning sign-up sheet with your child on Friday. The dates and times for the field trips are:
- Waikiki Aquarium - Tuesday, October 9 - Depart MPI at 8:30 a.m. and return at lunchtime.
- Honolulu Zoo - Tuesday, October 23 - Depart MPI at 8:45 a.m. and return at lunchtime.
Since we are studying animals this semester, our class will be dressing up as some type of animal or something animal-themed for the school Spooktivity on Halloween. Please have your child wear a costume related to our topic of study; they can dress as an animal, a person who works with animals, or a habitat where animals live. Please save the pirates, vampires, witches, and princesses for trick-or-treating at home.
Book Orders
Look for round two of the Scholastic Book Orders in your child's homework folder this week. Thanks to the effort of Mrs. Adams, our book orders arrive at our classroom packaged and ready to go home with the students in a timely manner. If you are interested in ordering books, return the order form(s) and check by Thursday, October 4.
Thank You!
Thank you to the Kim family for the birthday books and the delicious rainbow Jell-o to celebrate AK's birthday. The children loved eating the yummy Jell-o while listening to Junie B., First Grader, Aloha-ha-ha! Thank you to the Cullinan family for donating the following birthday books for ZC's birthday: The Prince and the Li Hing Mui, Issunboshi, Waltah Melon, and The Surf Rats of Waikiki Beach. Thank you to EM for donating books to our classroom for researching animals. The children are learning a lot from the books: Horses and Ponies, Photo-Fact Collection and Dogs, Photo-Fact Collection. Thank you to Mrs. Adams for reading and donating the book Mr. Peabody's Apples to our class. After reading the book, Mrs. Adams led the class in a great discussion about how what someone says can have a huge impact on other people. As Madonna notes in the back of the book, the story "is about the power of words and how we must choose them carefully to avoid causing harm to others." We love reading and discussing stories with a thought-provoking and important message.
Posted on September 27, 2007 11:25 AM | Permalink