G'day Mates!

We come to you from the LAND DOWN UNDER, having officially left the U.S.A.! We have gotten of to a great start. The students came back from a long weekend and touched down in Australia. We immediately revealed their Australian animals and have been busy trying to prep their life size creations.

Thank you Davis for bringing in a life size wallaby. It is so cool!!!

Our new favorite indoor recess activity is doing the Boomerang Dance and singing to the Boomerang Song!!!

In our centers this week Miss Fate has begun their Australian animal research. This process is very much like the research they did for their famous Americans. They will complete their research as well as their report this time all in class. When this is complete they will present their animal reports and stuffed life-sized animals to their classmates. The animals of Australia are truly amazing. We have everything from the Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo to the Saltwater Crocodile!

Miss Fate also introduced the students to their number scrolls. The students start at zero and write their numbers as high as they can go on the number scroll. The students can pull this out anytime they have free time! The students end up loving this activity. It reinforces their understanding of written numbers and encourages them to challenge themselves. We have had students in the past go as high as one thousand! Thank you to the parents who helped us collect the paper towel rolls, wrapping paper rolls and more!

GUIDED READING!
Mrs. Waller has continued with guided reading and writing. In doing so this week, we have revisited nouns, verbs and adjectives. Nouns and verbs are close to being mastered; however, we are still working on recognizing adjectives and using them to make our writing more exciting! Adjectives help the reader visualize pictures and enhances their understanding of the topic. In some groups we brainstormed a list of adjectives to describe the beaver in Beaver's Green Treat, others came up with adjectives to describe the brave and amazing Abe Lincoln. In the next few weeks we will embark on some fantastic Australian animal stories and while using some incredible adjectives!

Independently, the students have been working on creating good sentences. They chose between two endings to complete a sentence depending on what made sense. They chose the correct color word (adjective) to complete. Then they completed some cloze sentences by placing the correct word which was selected from a word bank. They have also put together Australian puzzles and practiced their spelling words by placing each word in a special February heart (a little late for Valentine's Day, but we got it in).

In Social Studies Miss Fate introduced the Kangaroo to the students! They loved learning about all the interesting traits and talents of this amazing animal! Did you know that some Kangaroos can leap 40 feet in one single bounce? There are actually more Kangaroos in Australia than there are people! Crazy! Miss Fate also started the children in the pages of their new theme notebook. They love learning about Australia! (Check out the amazing mural in the back of the room! Hats off to Mrs. Chu who drew the mural and painted it in one night for Miss Fate last year. We are enjoying it greatly. Thank you!) We also learned some great Aussie songs!!

To follow-up and deepen the students' understanding of the Kangaroo during TNT (Try New Things) on Wednesday the students created a Kangaroo of their own. First, the students had to write one fact about a Kangaroo that they have learned this week. They placed this fact on the belly of the Kangaroo. Next, they traced the animal and added eyes, eye lashes, hands, feet and a nose. Once complete we placed the Kangaroos around the room above their cubbies. They are so cute. Please stop in any time to take a closer look!

In Math, Mrs. Waller revisited money as we prepare them to move on to the next grade. We reviewed each individual coin. In partners, the students looked closely at each individual face on the penny, nickel, dime and quarter. We felt the edges, compared the sizes and placed them in order from the least amount to the greatest amount as well as smallest in size to largest in size. To follow-up the students moved to their seats and took part in a great round of Money BINGO! We are getting there! If you have free time pull out some change and have your student get practice counting the coins.

Thursday Mrs. Waller continued on with the concept of place value. We split up into two groups. Independently the students, continued their domino game from last week. Individually the students drew two dominoes from a bowl. They laid the dominoes horizontally, one on top of the other and created a double digit addition problem without regrouping. This time the students highlighted the ones in green and the tens in yellow. This helps the teachers know who understands the concept of place value and it reminds the students to start with the right column (the ones) when completing a double-digit addition problem. These sheets will be coming home soon. If this sounds a little confusing, you will probably understand it better when you see their work! Meanwhile, the other group worked with Mrs. Waller on place value mats using craft sticks grouped in ten and individual ones. The students drew numbers out of a bag and created that number on their mat. For example, if a child drew 84 they would have 8 groups of ten and 4 ones. Once this was mastered, we added two numbers together, trading ones for tens resulting in the new sum! Students and teacher alike, had a great time!


Thursday morning we got to take a trip to the third grade rainforest! What an amazing exhibit! A buddy or even a sibling gave each individual student an informational tour through the rainforest. Your children learned some great facts about various animals who live in this habitat! Two of the animals are a part of our studies of Australia: the Saltwater Crocodile and the Sugar Glider! Take a look at two of our students and their siblings!

In Computer Lab this week....the children did a lesson on Speakaboos. Speakaboos are an educational resource for the classroom and at home. The award winning videos teach reading skills, life lessons, and creativity in a fun and safe environment. Each story comes to life with educational worksheets, activities, and games. Speakaboos timeless tales are ideal for kids of any age. Miss Fate learned how to do this in a computer training last year and she wanted to share it with your children. Today in the lab, the children went to http://www.speakaboos.com/ they listened to three stories online and then did three follow up activities such as rhyming, coming up with their own words and alphabet words. You will understand more when you see their papers that come home today. Speakaboos have changed the way we view education and the results are unbelievable!


In Hands On Science with Mrs. Wiedeman this week the children explored the Great Barrier Reef to supplement our study of Australia. They learned about this amazing part of our world and used charcoal, table salt, and food coloring to help demonstrate the way coral polyps create their calcium carbonate cups. Nothing has happened yet, we will keep you posted on the growth our own Coral Reef!Thanks to Mr. Mosby for his help in Hands on Science & Computer Lab today!!!


Observing .............


Thank you Nina for this great piece of artwork! We love your children too!

Science Experiment











Spelling this week: pick, pack, tack, back, sack, sick, chick, clock, snack, truck

Challenge Words: Australia, Aborigine, continent, outback

Surprise the Teacher Word??? (Your Australian Animal)

CALENDAR NOTES:

*************************************************************************************

2/28-- Duck for President Field Trip

3/2--Parent Volunteers that are sketching animals for us we need them returned back to school by today!!!

3/3--Parent Volunteers that are helping with painting the children will be painting their animals at school @12:45-2:00 in our rooms & commons

3/4--Spirit Day & Animals will go home with the children for them to decorate with crafts, stuff & staple (detailed info. will come home later but you could start gathering materials now...ex. feathers, fur, scales, spikes, eyes, etc.)

3/4-- Books in a Bag are due back all 5 books & Spelling Packet due & Spelling Test on this day

3/7 & 3/8-- Children will be presenting thier Australia animal report to the class

3/8-- Australian Animals are due back to school decorated, stuffed & staple to show them off for our International Festival!!

3/10 --International Festival (kid event only)

3/11-- Spelling Packet Due & Spelling Test on this day

3/12-3/20--Spring Break

3/21--School in Session due to make up Snow Days

3/23-- 1st Grade Australia Dance 9:15am-9:45am in the north wing MPR (short dance)

************************************************************************************* Enjoy your weekend!

~Miss Fate & Mrs. Waller~