Wonderful Weather!

I hope this is post if finding everyone enjoying their weekend and the beautiful weather!  ;)

Our class has been enjoying the weather this week, too!  We started a project on weather with the question: How does a weatherman or weather woman predict what the weather will be like? 

So far, the students have made their own 5-Day Forecasts to figure out how their observations are similar to those of the meteorologists on KRCG!  We have also been observing weather using our senses!  With our clipboards in hand, and our senses active, we have become professional scientists!...or at least we feel like it! ;) Plus, we get a chance to get outside of the classroom and enjoy the beautiful weather! If you are outside this weekend, encourage your child to observe the weather using his/her senses.  

• What do you feel? (wind, warmth from the sun)
• What do you see? (sun, trees blowing in the breeze, clouds)
• What do you smell? (rain, fresh air, grass)
• What do you hear? (wind)

Happy Weekend! 

--Ms. Brandt

Goodies with Grandparents was a SUCCESS!!!

I love nights like last night!  The students come in on "Cloud 9," proving their "big boy" and "big girl" statutes by reading to their grandparents, showing them around the classroom and the school, introducing them to their friends, playing math games, and so much more!  They are so proud to show their grandparents all that they do each day!  It such a rewarding experience, as a teacher (and I'm sure as a grandparent) to see the students take ownership in the things we do each day!  NOW, with that being said........THE PICTURES!  Enjoy! :)

Goodies with Grandparents

REMINDER!  Goodies with Grandparents is on Tuesday, September 11 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.  Please come and enjoy in the fun!  Students can show their grandparents a little bit of what they do each day! :) 

Off to a GOOD START!

Wow!  It's hard to believe that this school year is well under way!  We have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY learning!  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what we have been doing!

This is the first component of Daily 5 that the students learn--"Read to Self." 

The second component is "Work on Writing."  The students have all sort of fun writings they can do: letters, lists, stories, books, cards, postcards, and even text messages! :)  I will post pictures soon! 

The third component of Daily 5 is "Read to Someone."  This part really reinforces cooperative learning.  It helps students develop the confidence to read to others, as well as being mentors for each other in figuring out difficult words and comprehending what the story is about.  

We have been playing a lot of games during Math Workshop that focus on the skills of comparing the values of numbers and combining numbers to form a total.  The game the students in this picture are playing is called "Double Compare Dots."  Each student pulls 2 cards from his/her stack, adds the amounts together, and compares their total to their partner's total.  The person with the greater value wins!  The students really enjoy it...and from comments about the homework, parents and siblings do too! ;)

This is probably one of the most exciting things we have done yet!  FACETIME!!!  As part of our project about Labor Day and occupations, the students have had the opportunity to listen and talk with people from all sorts of professions: teaching, military, law enforcement, construction, martial arts, and much more!  We were very lucky (and very grateful) that most of our guests could come into our classroom and talk to us.  However, this guest, an Air National Guard veteran from Colorado, shared information about her profession via FaceTime.  The students loved it!  Hopefully with some more tech work we can soon FaceTime or Skype our guests using our Smartboard.  Very exciting! 

I will post more pictures soon!  :) 

Enjoy your weekend and the beautiful weather!

--Ms. Brandt