December snack calendar

Family Tree Project

We will be spending some time in class looking at our ancestry.  Please help your child complete a family tree so they can "see" their family history. Feel free to be creative and have fun with this.  What we want is for the kids to understand  that they are connected to people who came from other places and  lived in the past where life was somewhat different. When they have completed their project, they can bring it into school and present it to the class.  I would love to have them all in by Tuesday November 15.  Thanks!!!  

 My only requirement is that photos are included in the project :)

Here is a link to some info that might help get you started 

http://www.ehow.com/how_7708043_firstgrade-family-history-project.html

Flubber!!!

Here is the recipe for the Flubber we made in class :) it is easy and very fun all wrapped into a science lesson!!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000039

Let the children play :)

Play is how children become curious and develop their OWN understanding of our world and how things work....Remember playing is HOMEWORK for your child every night....its important!

This is a great article about the importance of play, from the perspective of what made Steve Jobs the amazing gadget maker that he was....  Please read :)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darell-hammond/if-we-dont-let-our-children_b_1017485.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

At Home Volunteer Hours

Are you looking for a way to earn some volunteer hours at home?  Well, here is a great way for you to do just that :)  You can help create some center activities for us to use in our classroom.  Here is how it works:

 This is the link for The  Florida Center for Reading Research  Click on the link and then on the right side of the page click on "instructional materials for teachers"

Next, click on K-1 under "student center activities".  Look at the 5 sections (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) click and look through the activities that are available. 

Choose an activity that you would like to print out and create for our classroom.  Put the necessary pieces into a zipper bag and send it in with your child.

In order to help prevent duplicates of games, please comment on this post to let us know what activities you are going to make for our class.  Please say which of the 5 categories you got your activity from and the title of the game you made!!!

Dont forget to record your hours on the volunteer log and turn it in to me at the end of the month so you get credit for your hours :)  Thank you for your help with this project!!

Busy, Busy :)

Wow!! I can not believe that it is already mid-October!  The kids are doing great! They amaze me everyday.... This week in Reading we are focusing on a new theme...Me and My Family.  So, all of the stories will have to do with families.   A comprehension strategy that is being focused on this week is thinking about how a story makes you "feel".    When reading with your child, ask them how the story made them feel, this is an easy way to help them understand that part of their job as a reader is to connect with the characters...plus, you'll love to hear what they have to say!


In Math, we are continuing to work with building, writing and comparing numbers 1-20.  This is a concept that we spend alot of time nurturing in Kindergarten because it is the basis for all future math skills.  Having good sound number sense makes manipulating numbers later in school much easier. Continue to foster these skills at home too... Help your child see the many ways to represent one number...ex the number 6 could be: 3+3 or 5+1 (use counters to help them see this) or 6 tally marks or 6 pennies or a nickel and a penny.... My point is.... let them see that the possibilities are endless, there is NOT just one way to solve the problem.


In Science, we are discussing how books and movies can show plants and animals in a way that causes them to appear to have human characteristics.  We are discussing what it means to be living and comparing and contrasting non fiction text about bats to a fiction story about a bat named Stellaluna.  Talk with your child about animal characters in stories.  Ask them to describe the character's behaviors that show that the story is a make believe one.


In Social Studies we will be creating a timeline about events that happen on each day of the week in a very silly story called, Cookie's Week.  We will also explore with some maps and globes and identify where you can find land and where you can find water.  Show your child how you use maps in your life so they can see the relevance... I know the map app on my phone gets used many times a week. :)


We are going to be doing  a great seasonal math activity and it would be great if each child had their own pumpkin...They will be creating a book and recording the results of the measurements they will be taking of their pumpkin at each station.  Please be sure that it is a kid sized pumpkin (not the size of your kid, just make sure they can carry it on their own).  You can send them in as you purchase them and we will find a good spot for it in the room.  We will need them by the 27th :)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have loved having all of the help in the classroom :)  I am one very lucky teacher!!!

New routine :)

Begining tomorrow, the kids will be bringing home a "book bag". These MUST come to school each day as soon their leveled readers will be kept in there and we will need them for groups. Inside the bag are books that the kids have been making....cut, colored and sometimes stapled by your little darlings. Please have your child read a few (or all if they are motivated to do so!) books to you each night. These are books THEY can read and that makes them happy! Please reinforce what good readers do with the help of these tips.....


*have your child, "sit like a reader"... These are the words I use with the kids at my small group table to cue them to sit up, put their book flat on the table and to use their pointer finger. I expect them to read by pointing to and looking at each word. When they are sitting like readers I can see that they are doing just that :)


*If they get stuck on a word, tell them to look at the picture for some clues.


*Let's say they call a duck in the book a parrot... Say," ok let's take a look at the word....if it were Parrot, what letter would you expect to see at the beginning of that word?" They most likely will say P... Then, point to the D at the beginning of duck and ask,"could that be parrot." Prompt them to think of a different word that's a type of bird that begins with the d sound....




*No freebies :) make them work for the word.... Give them as many clues as you can think of....clues such as something in the picture, a word that rhymes with it, or a conversation about the word like the one above, but they have to work hard to be a reader!!


*After reading, see if they can remember details from the story. This could be questions about the story or even about details in pictures such as what color was the girls shirt in the story.


*Compare and contrast. Look at two pictures in the book or in two different books and ask your child, " what is something that is the same/different about these two pictures?". You will be surprised with the things they come up with, things you may never have thought of. This is a higher level thinking activity and is GREAT for your child's thinking and problem solving skills:)


Enjoy this awesome journey with your little one.... Give them lots of praise and celebrate their reading successes because, it's hard work!


Feel free to contact me with any questions at  hcandelora@cornerstonecharter.com

October Snack Calendar

I have to begin by saying thank you so much for sending in such healthy snacks for the kids.  They have been enjoying all of the fresh fruits and tasty snacks.... The first two questions I am asked each day are, what's for snack and who's parent is coming today....so as you can see, they enjoy both things :)

 Thank you!  Just CLICK on the calendar to view.

Welcome!

Hello everyone!  Welcome to our NEW class blog.  You will be able to visit this site to get up to date information about what is happening in our classroom.  There are also some "tabs" above  which will have useful information about proceedures in our class and at Cornerstone Charter Academy.  I am so excited to have a new way to communicate with you so we can all work together to make this schoolyear a FANTASTIC one for your child.