November, Here We Come: November 1, 2007

Spooktivity
The children's costumes were fabulous!  We had a collection of animals: dolphin trainers, cats, a monkey, a shark, a lion, a human (mammal), a bat, and more.  First and second grade parents, thank you so much for all the work you put into organizing and executing Spooktivity for the Elementary School.  From the decorations in the dining room to the intricate designs on the "Treat Street" houses, our campus was Halloween to the extreme.

Pumpkin Carving
Talk about intricate designs...our pumpkin carvers could win any pumpkin-carving contest.  The best part about the carving was that the children actually did a lot of the carving themselves!  Before carving their pumpkins, the students estimated the circumference, weight, number of vertical lines, and number of seeds for their pumpkin. Next, they took measurements and compared their predictions to the actual circumference, weight, number of lines, and total number of seeds. The students and parents carved away and created amazingly detailed jack-o'-lanterns!  Thank you to all the families who donated pumpkins: Kim, L. Wong, Jung, Hersh, Mento, You, Loo, Ramirez, and Handa.  Thank you to all the parents who helped us carve pumpkins: Tracy McConnell, Theresa Kuo, Wendy Handa, Jill Cullinan, David Ramirez, Torry Montes, Ann Loo, Cliff Cheng,

and Steve Adams.

First Grade Math - Unit 3 - Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System
The first grade mathematicians finished up their final assessment tasks for Unit 2.  The assessment focused on decomposing shapes in different ways and sorting shapes based on their attributes.  In the first problem, students used pattern blocks to fill a shape with as many blocks as possible.  In the second problem, students filled the same shape with as few blocks as possible.  For the third problem, students sorted shape cards into groups and described what attributes they used to sort the shapes.  Now that students have reflected on their math from Unit 2, we are working on solving story problems in Unit 3. 

In Unit 3, we have been focusing on finding as many 2-addend combinations of a number as possible.  Today the students solved the following story problem: “I have 10 toys.  Some are blocks.  Some are marbles.  How many of each could I have?  Find as many combinations as you can.”  The students came up with all the possible solutions! 

Museum in a Box
The Academy of Arts Ambassador Program brought its Museum in a Box "Animals in Art" unit to our classroom. An artist explained how different cultures at different periods in history represented animals in art. We learned about the different beliefs, stories, and special powers and gifts that are associated with various animals in art. The children described what they saw and then touched the different pieces and discussed the texture of the artwork.  The artist discussed the following animals: pig from New Guinea, Imperial Dragon, fish from the Philippines, frog from Indonesia, cat from Egypt, Sari Monarch bird from the Philippines, frog mask from Indonesia, ducks from Korea, horse from Sweden, elephants from Africa and Asia, snake and rabbit from Mexico, fish and donkey from Thailand, cow from Switzerland, sheep from New Zeland, rooster from Mexico, monkeys from Indonesia, crocodile from New Guinea, and fish from South America.

Tomorrow we will take a field trip to the Honolulu Academy of Arts to see more animals in various exhibits. An artist will then return to our classroom next week to lead the children in an art activity.

Field Trip to Art Academy
On Friday, November 2, we will visit the Honolulu Academy of Arts for a docent tour of "Animals In Art" in the galleries.  All of the multiage 1-2 classes are going on the field trip. While two classes are taking the tour, the other two classes will be eating lunch at Thomas Square Park across from the Honolulu Academy of Arts.  On Friday, please send home lunch with your child to school.  Since we will be carrying the lunches with us and eating at the park, please label your child’s lunch and pack an “easy-to-eat” lunch in a disposable bag.  No lunch boxes or plastic containers - we will throw away everything after lunch.  Please send a snack with your child as usual.  As always, please have your child wear covered shoes and their MPI Polo shirt.  The class consistently looks great when they wear their MPI Polo shirt...very put-together, sharp and professional!

Thank You
Thank you to all the second grade parents for throwing an awesome Halloween party for our class last Saturday!  The numerous Halloween activities for the children were great: caramel apple station, noodle crafts, balloon ghosts, "dirt" worm desert, and of course, Professor Fun.  I left the party with sore abdominal muscles from laughing so hard during Professor Fun's performance, entertainment for both the children and the parents!  Thank you, everyone, for such a great party!

Thank you to KJ for being a super-scientist and bringing in tadpoles for our class to observe!  It was perfect timing as we begin discussing the life cycles of various animals.  Thank you to TC for bringing in cookies to share with our class!  Thank you to JH for the yummy Rice Krispies treats!  Thank you to JC and KM for the Halloween treats.  While reading a collection of Halloween stories, our class enjoyed eating pumpkin seeds cooked by Wendy Handa and Tracy McConnell. 

Thank you to all the parents and children for your constant generosity and support!  You are all wonderful, and I appreciate everything you do for our class!

Posted on November 1, 2007 7:37 AM | Permalink