100 Days of School

Can you believe we’ve been in school for 100 days? Tomorrow we’re celebrating our 100th day of school with some fun activities in the classroom. Thank you to Valerie, Maria, Kris, and Akiko for offering to run our stations! We’ll be playing Hundreds Chart BINGO, creating art projects using 100 items, enjoying 100 Tasty Tidbits, and exercising outdoors by doing 100 ____ (you fill in the blank!). It’s going to be great fun!

Keep bringing in those 100 Projects! RB brought in a pasta necklace. TS brought in a picture of 100 cars. RJ put together “100 things I found at the beach.” BH displayed 100 (practice) golf balls. JM spelled his name using 100 origami stars. We enjoy looking at all of these projects and are amazed at each family’s creativity!

Last week we began our classroom jobs. Every week, the children will have an opportunity to be a responsible community member by doing one of the following jobs: morning message, calendar, attendance/office, flag, table wipers, sweepers, line leader, caboose, table setters and clearers, supplies, and lights.

“What do you want to know about the solar system?” continues to be our focus this week in inquiry. Each child has a folder for our solar system inquiry. Their questions are in their folders so they can review them daily. During inquiry, the teachers read from a wide collection of resource materials and the students write and draw the facts they remember. In small groups or as individuals, these facts will be sorted and assembled. The students are beginning to collect the answers to their individual questions. We will be taking a field trip to UH this Friday. Dr. Petersen, a professor of astronomy, will speak to us about the solar system. Hopefully he will be able to answer more of our questions.

Last week we extended our knowledge of patterns. Everyone is able to easily construct AB patterns (red, blue, red, blue, etc.), so the students were challenged to make other patterns. They came up with ABC, ABB, AAB, ABCD, AABB, AABC, AABCD, ABABCDD, AABBCC, ABBC, and ABCDEFG. Pictures of these fabulous pattern trains can be found in our photo gallery. Check them out! We’ve also posted pictures of various activities your children have been doing since returning to school several weeks ago.

Last week during free journal writing, several students chose to write a short story. Here are two stories: “Once upon a time, an ice cream was lost. She missed her mom and dad that was a[n] ice cream, but where were they? Mom and Dad missed her too. And they were a part.” “Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Her name was Katey. She found a[n] amazing cave. She got caught in a cage. A handsome prince came to rescue her. He fought with the giant. The giant lost. The prince won. Katey married the prince. The End” One person decided to type up her story during Centers. We’ll print it, make it into a book, and keep it in our library. Since we have become pretty proficient at letter writing, we will begin to do short story writing during shared writing times.

During Centers, more activities are being made available for our learning enjoyment. Besides KidPix, the children may use the computer to type up stories for writing or information for their space inquiry. In math, the children may play some of the math games we’ve been learning – BINGO, What’s missing? -  or they can make pattern block snakes. Some of the children have been playing checkers and learning strategies to “eat” their opponents pieces. Legos and Guess Who? have been added. The morning messages from the beginning of the year have been placed in our classroom library for everyone to read, and pointers will be made available for those who want to “read around the room”.

Please continue to send your child’s nap mat to school, as we have not eliminated it all together. As we mentioned last week, however, rest time is being shortened.

If you have any recyclable items we can use in our art center, please send them with your child. Items need to be stored on a shelf in our classroom, so please, no bulky items. Suggested items include paper towel/toilet paper rolls, styrofoam pieces, and fabric/wallpaper squares. Thank you!

Everyone looks forward to the Guest Reader on Friday afternoons. If you are interested in coming into the classroom to read to the children, please contact Sabrina Ako.

Parent volunteers are such a help and blessing to us, especially when projects arise. If you are able to volunteer your time (no skill or experience needed, training provided), please contact Sabrina Ako.

The new set of Family Learning Activities has also been posted. Some items have been removed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back to them and complete the activity. Remember, these activities are optional; please enjoy them, as your family’s schedule and available time will allow.

Remember, our 100th day celebration is scheduled for January 29. Thank you to the four parents who have volunteered to run a station! Everyone is invited, so please let us know if you would like to attend, as we will need to inform campus security of the extra cars on campus.

Beginning in February, we will highlight two Students-of-the-Week. Both students will have an opportunity to bring in pictures and other items that show who they are as unique individuals. Parent volunteers for the week will help the students assemble their bulletin board “showcase” which will be up in the classroom for a week. During the week, the bulletin board will be used as a sharing tool as we celebrate the Students-of-the-Week. Also during this week, the next students will begin to bring in their items.

The following dates show when the new bulletin boards will be assembled for display. The initials of the Students-of-the-Week are listed after each date.

2/6 – GA, RB (Items may be brought in from 1/30)

2/13 – EC, IC (Items may be brought in from 2/6)

2/20 – SC (Items may be brought in from 2/13)

2/27 – JD, KF (Items may be brought in from 2/20)

3/12 – AG, ZH (Items may be brought in from 3/5)

4/9 – BH, DJ (Items may be brought in from 4/2)

4/16 – RJ, GK (Items may be brought in from 4/9)

4/23 – JM, TS (Items may be brought in from 4/16)

4/30 – LY. WC (Items may be brought in from 4/23)

Posted on January 28, 2008 9:38 AM | Permalink