“*Dr. Kenneth Zike has said that at least 50% of the children with learning problems referred to the neurological clinic at his hospital had had no traumas, no birth injuries, and no other physical deviations. Their trouble seemed to come from pressure - pressure to do a task that they did not have the maturity to do.”

~Borrowed from Robert Jackson on the world wide web.



Saturday, November 21, 2009

Week in Review!

There were four birthdays in our class this month! (Vic, Jack, Dylan, and me!)
I celebrated my birthday on Monday and received the nicest gift from the class! A "Star Teacher" book! I also received many nice cards and gifts. Ignore the candle...it is supposed to say 28...really!


Mr. Carter made me an ice cream cake! Look how delicious!!! After a week of celebrating, I am looking forward to dieting and beginning a running regimen!

We decorated our door for American Education Week! Our door was focused on Teamwork! This is our team photo...only I am not in it because I took this photo! Mrs. Shaw took the picture of the class and me. It is hanging on our door and I forgot to take a picture of the door...which won honorable mention, I might add! Your child may be missing...but it is because we had several children out for the holidays.


As part of American Education Week, Vic's Dad came in and talked about his job at the Travel magazine. It was so interesting to learn about how Vic's family was able to go to Jamaica and live in an amazingly fabulous tree house for a week for work. Work??? That seems like more fun than work! :o) Vic is even in a photo shoot from the article that Vic's dad wrote!


The past two weeks have been a flurry of learning and native American studies! I can not show you all the pictures I have been taking of the projects as I want you to be surprised when you arrive for our Native American presentaion on December 4th. Have you marked it off on your calendar yet? Dec. 10, at 10:00 am - 11:30 am. We may be having some very special guests there as well! (My parents.)

On Friday, we had a Thanksgiving Fun Day. We did three rotations.

#1


#2 Pinecone Turkey (If you could have seen me stopping my car in a persons driveway and asking them if I could have pine cones for my first grade class project.......) hahaha


#3 Oreo Cookie Turkey

The children have been SOOO concerned about what was going to happen to Froggy over the Thanksgiving break. I told them he would go home with someone from the class for the week. They thought it was so unfair! They only get him for a weekend. I had pushed Froggy until later in the afternoon...and forgot to pull a name. So, I did the only kind thing I could for Froggy. I brought him home with me! He immediately went for a bath...in the washer and dryer! :o)
Then Jay caught a glimpse of him and it has been love at first sight!

The first thing Jay thought he needed to do was go and use the potty! Do you think Jay will get the idea and use the potty himself??? That is my job this week...potty training!

First thing this morning, Jay was out of bed with Froggy and getting him into his high chair for breakfast!

The two of them played together all morning while I went out and got a Caramel Macchiato at Starbuck's and then headed out to the Art Festival in DeLand, shopping for some new shirts, and lunch with my mother!

Later that afternoon, we were off to the park to play...only when he realized he forgot Froggy...Jay was totally bummed out!

Froggy has been having a ball here at our house and wonders why I hadn't brought him over sooner! Oh well, he is so spoiled from having such great weekends with his classmates that he expects it here! Tomorrow we have some fun things planned so stay tuned and check back soon!


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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Shoe boxes

We need shoe boxes!
We are knee deep in our Native American unit and the projects are getting underway!
If you have shoe boxes you can part with, we can use them!
Thank you so much!

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Math Mad Minutes

I am beginning to give math mad minutes to the children. We are working on addition at the moment. Starting with 0, and working on up. Please review addition flash cards with your child through adding to 5.
There are many fun websites that will practice addition with your child. Check out www.funbrain.com. If your child is a more traditional learner, you can use flashcards or paper pencil.
These math mad minutes are NOT for a grade. They have a minute to complete 30 problems. This works on simple addition fluency.

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Challenge Words

I will be giving spelling pretests on Monday. If your child passes the pretest, he/she will use the challenge words for all spelling homework during the week.
On Friday, I will be giving two spelling tests. The original list and the challenge list. The children who passed the pretest will take the challenge test.
I will be attaching the note to the pretest. If your child has a 10/10 or 9/10, they will be taking the challenge words on Friday. The pretest grade stands unless challenge word grade is better.


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How I Became a Pirate Field Trip













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