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We loved having parents and grandparents join us at school today.

Animal Riddles

Friends recorded each other reading their own animal riddles.

Working with doubles

Today we worked with partners to brainstorm all of the doubles facts we could think of.  Knowing some of our doubles will help us become more efficient mathematicians.

Students have started to notice patterns in doubles and have started to use doubles to figure out other addition problems.  For example:

if 1+1=2, then 100+100=200

if 5+5=10, then 5+6=11, because it has one more.

Quintin and Tilman take us on a quick tour of some of our work today.

Namaste

Today, when we took a quick wiggle break, we practiced some yoga: deep breaths, tree pose, downward dog.  Then I bowed to them and said "namaste."  I explained that "namaste" is a way to tell the other person that you hope they feel peace in their life.

 I am cherishing our children right now.  They provide light in my life every day.

 Namaste.

Busy Butterflies

Our week has been a busy one.  We enjoyed a concert by the fifth graders.  We also had the opportunity to view some of their beautiful Virginia Landscapes.

The PTO treated the school to a Science Day.  We watched the power of electricity at an all- school assembly, got our hands on a huge variety of science-related activities and learned about food webs and ecosystems.  All of this was in addition to our regular academic schedule.  

Our Tree in the Winter

The following post was written by kids in the Butterfly Class.  Our day was SO busy (many thanks to the PTO for hosting a fun-filled Science Day!) that we ended up with a very short amount of time to write about our tree, so we decided to combine our writing into a blog post.

It is bare.  It doesn't have many leaves.  The leaves are almost all gone.  The leaves are brown and orange.  Some of the branches are falling off.  There were lots of leaves in the summer on the tree.  Throughout the year it has been fewer and fewer leaves.

We used this joint writing experience to talk about the different purposes of writing:  a note to a friend, a grocery list, a letter to a loved one, a journal entry about a vacation, a scientific observation, a mathematical explanation.  In the case of writing about our tree in the winter, we noticed how the notes we jotted yesterday look and sound different than the blog post we wrote today.  We can write for ourselves and we can write for others.

Gingerbread Display This Weekend

(This is the gingerbread "log cabin" that my family made this year.)

Marley shared with the class today that she will be going to see gingerbread houses Downtown this weekend. The children wanted more information, and I promised I would post about it:
The Omni HotelCome join us in a Winter Wonderland complete with elves and helpers, Mrs. Claus, and electric trains! Stroll through the gingerbread houses from the 9th annual competition that will be on display. Santa will even stop by with some surprises from the North Pole! This year's Winter Wonderland will run for four days, concluding with the St. Nicholas Reception. Winners for the gingerbread competition will be announced, and prizes will be awarded at the reception. Thursday, December 6th: Grand Opening. 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Friday, December 7th: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Santa visiting from 4-8 p.m. Saturday, December 8th: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Santa visiting 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Sunday, December 9th: 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Santa visiting 12-3 p.m. St. Nicholas Reception 3-4:30 p.m.
for more information

Kids blog

We are learning to blog!  We will use this digital tool to write throughout the day.

Animal Classification

We worked together in small groups to sort animal photos.  Each group determined their own rules for classifying the animals.

Next, all students had a chance to visit each group of photos.  They then asked each other questions and tried to figure out how the group had decided to sort.

This group sorted the photos into two groups: mammals and not mammals.

This group sorted photos into three groups:  animals that live on land, animals that live in water and animals that live in both land and water.

Our Paramount Trip

With the Thanksgiving holiday and my preparations for being away from school at a professional conference, I forgot to post these images from our recent trip to the Paramount Theater to see The Velveteen Rabbit.

Frontier Culture Museum Trip

We stepped back in time at the Frontier Culture Museum.

Past and Present

We have launched our study of the concept of past, present and future.  

Here you can see students working with partners, and recording observations on white boards.  They went on a gallery walk around the classroom and looked at a collection of objects.  Students then shared their observations with the whole class and we were able to determine that all of the objects were ones that were used long ago.

PS- A question from a few students today:  "Can we bring our math journals outside and work on them at recess?"  The answer, "yes," was met with cheers.  School is fun!

Storm observations

We returned to school after Sandy dealt a glancing blow to our area.  On our nature walk today we noticed changes that the massive storm Sandy has left.

Thanks to Meredith and Jack for recording our observations with video cameras.

Fall Fun

What a glorious day to celebrate Fall!  We enjoyed the weather, played in the leaves, created our own snack mix and had fun with family and friends today.

Timelines

Our study of past and present begins with creating and reading timelines of all kinds.

It's true!

Mrs. Weary has a broom.

Halloween Party

Click here to find out what can you do to help.

Our party will be on Oct. 25 from 12:30-1:00.  Parents are welcome to join us.  Children will be changing into their costumes for the parade around 1:15.

Literacy

The Butterfly Class is a busy place during our daily Literacy block.  Here is a quick glimpse of what goes on daily in our room.

We work on Word Study.

We read and discuss literature.

We work with friends.

We read to ourselves.

Photographs!!!!!!!!!

Our class will begin to study the concepts of past, present and future next week.  We will start by creating timelines.  Each student will create a timeline of important events in his or her life so far.

 Please send in photographs that represent each year of your child’s life, with a brief note outlining something special that happened that year.  Example: “When Joe was one he ate tons of bananas.  When Joe was two he visited his cousins in Florida.  When Joe was three he met Santa Claus. etc…”

You may send in originals or photocopies.  If you would like for me to make photocopies and return the originals to you, please let me know.

Your child will have a much easier time creating their timeline if the photos are no larger than 5x7.

Photos are due Monday, Oct. 22!

more from Ivy Creek

Thanks to Lindy's mom for these great Ivy Creek photos!
Click below.

More Ivy Creek Photos

Ivy Creek Field Trip

A little bit of rain, a lot of fun and loads of learning.

Observing and writing about our tree

the observation

some of our notes

a sample of our final writing

Ivy Creek Field Trip

We are looking forward to our first field trip of the year.  We will visit Ivy Creek Natural Area for a presentation on Virginia trees and a hike in the woods on Oct. 15.  Parents and family members are welcome to meet us there.  We will arrive around 9:45 and leave around 11:30.  This will be a great way for us to observe seasonal changes and extend our study of plants.

Stems

We conducted an experiment to see how the stem of a celery plant might carry water from the roots to the leaves.  Take a look at our before and after pictures below.  It was great to be able to see the role that a stem provides for a plant.  We also noticed that the celery with food coloring did not look very healthy, while the one with just water looked healthy.  We wondered what food coloring might do to the insides of our bodies, if it makes the celery look so bad.

Discovering plants

Whoops of, "This is so much fun!" can be heard coming from Room 13 these days.  The children have found true joy in learning through our study of plants.

Here are some of their discoveries:

There are baby plants inside of seeds.

Acorns are actually seeds and sprout just like a bean seed.

Roots are hairy.

Plants don't turn green until they sprout.

Too much water is not good for a plant.

In addition to every child observing the seeds that they planted last week, we have begun an experiment for our whole class to watch.  

Our question: Will our plants survive without water, air or sun?

Our hypothesis: We think the plants will not survive.

Plant Observations

Butterflies have been practicing making careful observations of plants and recording what they notice through writing and art.  Check out our botanical illustrations and collages.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88032734@N05/show/

Red, White, Blue and a little Green

Addition skills

We've been working on adding numbers up to ten and using different addition strategies.  Today we played a game called Three Towers.  We also added Math Technology to our Daily 4 math choices.  See Gavin practicing addition by rolling virtual dice.

September Newsletter

The latest newsletter is now available.  Go to the Newsletters tab above.

New friends

We have four new friends to listen to us read.  A wolf, two frogs and a cow have joined the Butterfly class and live in the Reading Corner.

Conferences

Go to this Doodle Poll to sign up for a time to meet for a Parent-Teacher conference.  If you would like to meet at a time not reflected on the Doodle Poll, please let me know.

http://doodle.com/zi3m2ww45mpskyrt

Math Notebooks

This week we took some time to learn how to use our Math Problem Solving Notebooks.  This will become one of the choices students can make during math time.

Today's Walk

We have a new student in our class.  Can you find Quintin in the video?

Reading is FUN!

I love this!  I was listening to a student read who was sitting next to me, when I looked across the room and discovered these two young ladies reading Eric Carle's Head to Toe to each other.  Now that is truly finding the joy in a good book.

Speaking of reading, please look for your child's Reading Log.  I sent them home today in backpacks.  Reading homework is for every child to read (or be read to) for at least 10 minutes every day.  Go here for directions to use the Reading Log.  Please send the Reading Log back to school every Friday.  I will check them and respond with a brief note to your child.

We're DYNAMITE!

Class Rules

We have spent the first few weeks discussing our hopes and dreams for the year ahead.  We have also determined what needs to happen in our classroom for us all to be able to achieve those hopes and dreams.  Here are some of our hopes for the year:

"I want to know how to write a poem. " -Mackenzie

"I want to know what it was like long ago." -Marina

As a result of these discussions, we have created a list of four simple rules that will guide everything we do throughout the school year.

They are:

Everybody works and plays.

Use things the right way.

Be safe.

Be nice.

See you on Tuesday night at Back to School Night!

Independent Readers

A First Fall Leaf

 Today we started to collect data while on our Nature Walk.  We observed birds and mushrooms and took a count of each.  We also had a discussion about mushrooms and the possibility of them being poisonous.  We counted only 6 birds, but over 100 mushrooms.  We will graph our data over time and try to make conclusions about the numbers in relation to seasonal changes.

a first fall leaf, mushrooms, lichen and acorns

bird count (recorded with checkmarks by Lindy)

mushroom count (recorded on a grid by Marina)

First Newsletter Posted

Head to the Newsletter tab above to read our first Newsletter of the year.
There is important information about the Sharing portion of our Morning Meeting.

Scientists

Kids in the Butterfly Class practiced the skill of observation today.  They watched tadpoles and recorded their observations with writing and drawing.

Nature Walk

Every Thursday (weather permitting) our class will take a  nature walk, following the same path every time.  We will be able to observe plants, animals, and weather as the seasons change.  Here are some items we collected today on our first walk.  There were loads of beautiful mushrooms and we noticed the differences between lichen and moss.

First Day!

Welcome back!

During our first few days of school we:

• learn routines
• build confidence
• explore the classroom
• have fun!

We do not keep a consistent supply of spoons and forks for snack time in our class.  Please remember to send one to school if your child will need it.  A reusable spoon or fork that can stay in your child's backpack everyday is a great way to make sure that it's there when it's needed.

Reminder:  Please return the forms for the office (came in a manilla envelope) to school ASAP.

Welcome Back!

I am busy preparing our classroom and I can't wait for all of the newest first grade Butterflies to arrive.  I hope to see all of you on Monday, August 21 4:30 to 6:30 at Open House.