What We've Been Up To
Science Day
What Fun We Had! Snakes, popping rockets and much more, entertained and educated our class on Thursday, January 21. Despite threatening weather, Science Day was a great success. We learned about Florida’s wildlife, touched reptiles rescued by the Herpetology Rescue Society, mixed oil with colored water, “felt” weird items in the mystery boxes, and watched an interactive science show. Thank you to all our parent volunteers who helped ensure that all the demonstrations ran smoothly.
What’s Coming Up
Our 100th Day Celebration is this Friday, February 5. We will be visiting different stations working on 100th day activities. One thing the students will be doing is making Fruit Loops necklaces with groups of 10 in each color to make 100. We would appreciate any donations of boxes of Fruit Loops!
This week we will also be discussing Groundhog Day, which is February 2nd. Our class will be involved in a fabulous science lesson about shadows, and we will be getting ready for Valentine’s Day. We will also be learning about President’s Abraham Lincoln and George Washington this month too.
Officer Friendly
Officer Friendly (Officer Jowers, our school resource officer) visited John Stockton Elementary School on Friday, January 29 with some very important safety information for our Kindergartners and First Graders:
Police keep people safe!
Always wear your seatbelt, it’s the law!
Always wear a helmet when on a bike!
Be aware of your surroundings and never talk to strangers.
Call 911 for emergencies on
Dolphin Running Club
On Monday, January 25th we will be kicking-off the Dolphin Running Club. Students will go out on the soccer field twice a week, where they will either run or walk around the designated cones as many times as they can during our scheduled running time. Once we get signed up to participate in the Dolphin Running Club, we will let you know what days the students will need to wear their tennis shoes to school. All of the students will receive awards for participating in the Dolphin Running Club. They will earn an award for the first mile they reach, and for every five miles after that. It is a fun, healthy way to exercise.
Author Visit with D.W.
We had Kim Brown, the sister of the author Marc Brown come and visit on Monday, January 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the cafeteria. She showed us pictures of her life growing up with her brother Marc. She shared with us how her brother came up with some of the ideas for his books.
After she was finished sharing her family photos, she read one of her brothers books. The students really enjoyed the story.
When she was finished sharing the book with us, she asked the students to pull out their paper and pencil. That is when she began drawing Arthur on the Smartboard for the students. She showed them exactly how to draw Arthur step by step. Their drawings were very impressive. And at the end, she stamped each drawing for every child.
Weekly Homework
Every week a Homework packet with a pink Reading Log, a writing page and a math page will be sent home in your child’s folder for Homework. Please be sure to read two books to your child every evening during the week, and record them on the Reading Log. The writing page will be a response to a book that was read to the students in class. The students may write about their favorite part, and draw a picture. The math is a simple facts page that gets a little harder each week. Then on Friday, you may send the Homework back and we will check it, and turn the Reading Log into Mrs. Phillips, our Media Specialist. She will enter your child’s Reading Log count into her computer, so she can keep track of how many books your child reads during the year.
Educational Websites
This week we have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of the websites we visited shows Dr. King’s I Have a Dream. The other website Commemorates the Life of Martin Luther King. It has many different links, and lots of great information about Dr. King. Please feel free to visit these websites.
There is an awesome website that we have been using in the classroom that correlates with the National Geographic Young Explorer Magazine that students will be receiving this year. The National Geographic Young Explorer website is interactive. It will read the words to the students in each article, and they can turn the pages and discover many new and fascinating topics. The students can read our current magazine for the month of September, or check out previous magazines by the same publisher. It is a fantastic site that will be engaging for your child, as well as a great reading tool.
Here is another website that will provide your child with some extra practice on letter identification and sounds. I suggest you check out Starfall. It is a fantastic interactive website that focuses on literacy skills and activities. Your child will love it!
This website will help students with their reading and is called Literactive. This site provides leveled readers, a phonics reading program and learning activities. Please take the time to check it out.
A new website that I introduced to the students is the Between the Lions. It has stories, video clips, games and music that you can download. Everything on the website comes directly from the show. You should take some time to look it over. It even has a tab for Parents and Teachers.
Classroom Collection
In our classroom, we are collecting soda can pop-tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. This is the third year we have been collecting tabs. The RMH recycles the tabs and the money is used towards funding the house. This Collection Drive is an easy and fun way to help other families. If you would like to help, please send in your pop-tabs.