Week 9 - Gobble Gobble!

Reminder:  There is NO SCHOOL Thursday or Friday this week (November 26th and 27th) in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.  Please safely enjoy this time with your families.

4/5 - This week we compared the traditional New York Thanksgiving celebration with those in Alaska.  We learned that turkeys are not indigenous to Alaska, so they enjoy their Thanksgiving feasts with other, more locally sourced foods such as polar bear, seal, whale, crab, and moose.

Home Connection:  Take notice of Thanksgiving Day activities around the city.  What did you find?

3 - What a spectacular play!  All of the 3rd graders' hard work paid off, the show was amazing!

Home Connection:  Celebrate your accomplishments. : )

K/1 - This week we studied the letter Tt.  Students worked together to come up with different words that begin with t.  We practiced the t sound, as in top. We also discussed Thanksgiving and what we were all thankful for.  We made adorable turkeys and sang a silly Thanksgiving song.

Home Connection:  Ask your children to hear their turkey song.  Also, as a family, you can share what you are all thankful for.

Parents - If you are interested in learning or improving your English, please join us on Wednesdays at 8:15 am in Room 212A.  Your children can stay in the cafeteria.  

Week 8 Happy Thanksgiving!

4/5 - This week we continued working on our text to text connections, with a focus of including end punctuation.  There are 3 different pieces of end punctuation: .  !  ?  We use them as writers, to let our readers know exactly how we want our writing to sound.  We use them as readers to understand how to read texts properly, with the intent of the authors.  On Wednesday, Mr. Bender joined us for some discussion around the word hover.  We realized that it means to float above .., but it can mean both literally, "the helicopter hovers above the crime scene," or figuratively, "my mom is always hovering over me."

Home Connection:  This week, we read about what a traditional Thanksgiving looks like.  What do you know about Thanksgiving?  (Click to read all about it?)  Do you have any holidays like it in your home country?

3 - We had an interrupted schedule this week, due to the 3rd grade play rehearsals.  I'm looking forward to seeing it next week!  When we had class, we starting making a chart, pooling the information we know about South America.

Home Connection:  Ask your children what they learned and what they are curious to learn about South America, which will be the first continent we study in depth this year.

K/1 - This week we studied the letter Pp. Students worked together to come up with different words that begin with p.  We practiced the p sound, as in pan. We also tried a tongue twister, Peter Piper.  The students had fun trying to pronounce it flawlessly.  Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Home Connection:  Ask your children what begins with p.  See how many things you can name!

Parents - This week we discussed the way I use language to teach language. 

Week 7

4/5 - This week we continued to use the Weekend News rubric to think about how we can evaluate and improve our writing.  We have begun writing reading responses that are focused on making connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world) to the articles we are reading about Alaska.  You can follow along with us by clicking here.  (You may have to sign up for Newsela to view it - it's free!)  We are currently reading the 660L in class.

Home Connection:  This week, we discussed a new vocabulary words: succeed.  Next week we will also study the words hover, spread and bare.  Have you ever heard or seen any of these words before?  In what context (where and how was the word used)? 

3 - We organized nonfiction books about countries by which continent they are on.  Then we read some of the books about countries in Asia and wrote some facts we learned about each country.

Home Connection:  Ask your children what they learned and what they are curious to learn about Asia.

K/1 - This week we reviewed the letters Jj and Kk.  Students wrote and sketched as many words as they could. We completed our letter pages, sorted letters and objects, and recited our poem about the letter Kk - K is for Kangaroo.

Home Connection:  Ask your children to recite K is for Kangaroo

Parents - We did not have class this week because of Veterans Day.  If you are interested in learning or improving your English, please join us on Wednesdays at 8:15 am in Room 212A.  Your children can stay in the cafeteria.  

Week 6

Reminder:  There will be NO SCHOOL on WEDNESDAY, November 11, 2015 in observance of Veterans Day.  Click the link to learn more.

4/5 - This week we used the Weekend News rubric to think about how we can evaluate our own writing.  Together we created a rubric for our reading responses.  The reading responses will be focused on making connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world) to the articles we are beginning to read about Alaska.  The articles come from an amazing site called Newsela.com.  You can follow along with us by clicking here.  (You may have to sign up for Newsela to view it - it's free!)  Newsela allows students to read articles on their own personal reading levels.  We are currently reading the 660L in class.

Home Connection:  This week, we discussed four new vocabulary words: stage, layer, lead, and frontier.  Have you ever heard or seen any of these words before?  In what context (where and how was the word used)? 

3 - This week we started reading non-fiction texts and learned how we could use text features to help us learn about real topics in our non-fiction texts. We are using the sheet below:

Home Connection:  Ask your children what the differences are between fiction and non-fiction texts.

K/1 - This week we learned the letter Kk.  Students wrote and sketched as many words as they could that begin with Kk.  We completed our letter pages, sorted letters and objects, and read a poem about the letter Kk.

Home Connection:  Ask your children what begins with Kk.  See how many things you can name!

Parents - If you are interested in learning or improving your English, please join us on Wednesdays at 8:15 am in Room 212A.  Your children can stay in the cafeteria.  This week, we spoke about the American holiday of Thanksgiving - mainly about traditional foods that are eaten and the shopping holidays that follow it... Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  We also discussed some cultural differences in childrearing and societal norms between the USA and Sweden.  Additionally, we spoke about the website mommypoppins.com, which is a great resource if you are looking for fun and free family activities in and around NYC.