Poetry, Spiders, and Math Fun!

In reading this week we practiced finding verbs and adjectives while exploring non-fiction books about spiders.  Then, we used our list to create "sandwich" poems about spiders.  It was fun to hear how each poem was so different even though we all used the same list of words.  Our spider "craftivity" really added to our display.

Each week we learn a new poem or two which then gets added to our poetry binder on Fridays.  We read these poems each day to practice fluency and expression.  This week we thought it would be fun to share one of our poems with you:

Our writing is really coming along!  Along with using interesting words (verbs and adjectives), we are learning so many different ways to organize our stories.  One of the ways is to use transitional words (first, next, then, finally) and to practice we wrote a narrative titled "If I Were a Spider..."

We are in the Halloween mood here in our classroom!  In math this week we practiced adding and subtracting with some fun games.  We also put together a math game packet with dice, game mats,etc. to take home for even more practice. Our families are going to have so much fun playing these games with us!

We also practiced collecting and graphing data using a variety of graphs.  We also wrote about our findings. Here are some examples of what we did:

More fun to come!

A "Spookley" Week!

We have made it through the first nine week grading period and had lot's of fun along the way!  This week was jam packed with math and reading assessments of all kinds, yet we managed to have some "delicious" fun too!
In writing we have begun focusing on organization as a part of the "6 Traits of Writing" framework we use. We read the book "The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin" by  Joe Troiano

and followed up by making edible "Spookleys."  Afterwards, we discussed what we did and wrote a recipe to practice using transitional words.  Here are some pictures:

We also discussed character traits and compared "Spookley" to a character we read about last week named "Stellaluna."  A Venn diagram was used to record our work:

The students also enjoyed a new game on the interactive white board called "Clothesline Spelling" where they hang letters on the clothesline to spell words given by the teacher.   All students seated on the carpet used dry erase boards to practice right along with the student at the IWB.  (Thanks to David at TPT!)

On Friday, our school celebrated with a "Dress Like a Farmer Day" as a culmination to a special week dedicated to "Relay for Life" with donations being collected in each classroom throughout the week.

See you next week!  Halloween is just around the corner!

Rocking in My School Shoes

Here is the long awaited debut of our rendition of "Rocking in My School Shoes" by Eric Litwin

Columbus Day, Fire Safety, and Bats! Oh My!

Last week was packed full of activities and lots of learning!  Upon returning to school following the Columbus Day holiday, we read about Christopher Columbus in a variety of books

 and compared him to the characters in "Library Mouse: A World to Explore" by David Kirk .  
We discussed what it would be like to be an explorer, what an explorer does, and where it would be fun to go exploring.  Then, we wrote and illustrated a narrative titled, "If I Was an Explorer." Check out some of our work below:

In honor of "National Fire Safety Week" we took part in a school-wide fire drill and listened to a local fireman teach us some important things to share with our families.  We also got to see a fireman get dressed in his rescue gear.  Back in our classroom we enjoyed assembling "fire trucks" that were good enough to eat.  We have included some pictures below:

As a part of our study of nocturnal animals, we read several non-fiction books about bats.  Then, we wrote bat facts and painted beautiful sunset pictures to display our facts on.

We also practiced making a story map,

learned how to determine a theme, and discussed character traits after reading
"Stellaluna" by Janelle Cannon. 
  This culminated with our "Brown Bag Book Club" discussion on Friday.

All in all, it was a VERY busy week!