Catching up with Hootie

Hootie has been all over the place.  Here are his latest travels.  Here are his latest 'hand-offs'.

Precycling and Recycling

Mrs. S. and Mrs. P. came into school today to teach our class about ways we can save the earth.

We learned about making good choices when we shop. Glass and metal can be recycled. Plastic should always be your last choice. Also, we learned that it is often better to buy in bulk rather than individual containers. An example of this is buying a large glass bottle of juice instead of juice boxes which are wrapped in plastic and have plastic straws.

If we all do our part we can all help to make the earth a better and cleaner place!

This program was sponsored by the DEG (Darien Environmental Group)

Peek at the Week of February 1-5

This week marks out 100th day of school!  We will be doing many 100-related activities. 

We are still collecting donations to help Mrs. Nivrose's family in Haiti.  Thank you to all the families who have assigned chores for their children to do. Our class has raised over $65 so far.

We are also still collecting juice for the local food bank.  Please have all juice in by this Friday, February 5th.  We hope to have 100 bottles of juice.

This week we are excited to see the results of Groundhog Day.  We will also make some Superbowl Predictions for this upcoming weekend's big game between the Saints and the Colts.  The Student Council is sponsoring a "Sports Shirt Day" on Friday, February 5th.  Wear a sports shirt celebrating your favorite team.  Of course, Ox Ridge gear is also welcome.

Next week we will celebrate Valentine's Day with a pizza party at lunch on Friday, February 12th.  The Room Moms will send out reminders about the pizza party.  I will be sending a class list of names to be used in making Valentine's Day cards.  Sending cards is optional, however if you choose to send them, there should be a card for every person in the class.  We don't want any hurt feelings, especially on a day that celebrates love and friendship.

Reading Workshop:  We will be doing a special nonfiction project called "Study Buddies".  Your child will be working with 1 or 2 other classmates to research an animal and put together a presentaion at the end of the week.  I am going to attempt to tape the presentations and put them here on the blog.

Writing Workshop:  We have been enjoying the wonderful How-To videos made by our class' families.  Keep them coming!  This week we will be revising and editing our best/favorite How To story idea.  This story will then be rewritten in our best handwriting and illustrated. 

Phonics/Spelling:  long u spelled u, ue, ui:  GLUE, FRUIT, SUIT, BLUE, MUSIC

Science:  We will be learing about light and shadow.  A scientist will be coming to our class to do some experiments on Wednesday, February 4.  This program is funded by the PTO Enrichment Fund.


Homework
Monday 2/1
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Purple spelling test

Tuesday 2/2
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Groundhog Math Message

Wednesday 2/3
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Math:  100 Boxes

Thursday 2/4
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Study for spelling test

Have a great week!

Highlights of Week #19

MA and CM were our January Citizens of the Month. (MA)

FH is going to be in a play next weekend called "Jack and the Beanstalk". She hopes a lot of people can come. (FH)

We started a new read aloud book called "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". It is about a boy named Peter who has a little brother named Fudge. Fudge is annoying to Peter, but he is very funny to the readers. (JMN and class)

We had a spelling test today. (AD)

Two police officers came to our school to teach us about staying safe from strangers. They brought a police dog. The dog is new to Darien. She is called Zulu and she is from Germany. She is canine officer. Canines have good sense of smell and they can help the police to guide them to solve crimes. (DS and class)

We had our January Pep Rally. (KG)

My mom came in with OS's mom to teach our class about Precycling and Recycling. Our moms did a great job! (RP and OS)

We have raised $94 so far for Haiti. (EB)

Yesterday we had a music with Mrs. McG's class. (EB)

In library we got to write in our ABC dictionary books. (CP)

My mom came in for Mystery Reader. I was surprised. (CVI)

We showed CVI's mom the How To videos made by CP and TM. (MA)

In art we made weaving pictures. We turned them into bedroom quilts. (CM)

EB was a very good captain. (class)

CVI How To Video

Enjoy CVI's video on "How to Do a Cartwheel".

January Citizens of the Month

This morning MA and CM were presented with certificates in honor of being January's Citizens of the Month.  Congratulations to both of you.  You are wonderful examples to our class.

Fee Fie Foe Fum

FH is going to be in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk.  The show will be on Saturday, February 6 and Sunday, February 7 at 4:00 pm at the Darien Town Hall. For information call 203-655-2535 or go to http://www.ywcadariennorwalk.org/.

Mystery Reader #10

EB's mom came in to read to our class.  EB was really surprised!  The class enjoyed the story.

Highlights of the Week #18

EB's mom came in to be the Mystery Reader. (CP)

We had a spelling test on tricky long o words.  (EB)

We played Bingo.  (KG)

In library we chose comfy spots for reading.  (TM)

We had a substitute teacher one day.  (MA)

MA was a very good captain.  (CVI)

We had no school on MOnday because it was Martin Luther King Day.  (EB and OS)

Everyone in the class is making "How To" videos.  (EB)

we watched JMN's video called "How To Tie a Shoe". (MM and class)

On Tuesday we watched a video about Martin Luther King's life.  (FH)

In gym we played a game called Messy Yard.  (RP)

We had a substitute teacher in gym.  (CP)

We finished reading Mr. Popper's Penguins.  (CM)

Peek at the Week of January 25-29

It's the last week of January, how did that happen? 

We have a very busy week ahead.  The monthly first grade Pep Rally for January is this week.  On Thursday OS and RP's moms will be coming in to teach us about recycling.  This is a part of the Darien Environmental Group's educational programming.  We will also attend "Stranger Danger", a safety program put on by the Darien Police.

We have 2 collections going on this week.  One is the juice collection for area food pantries.  The other is the school-wide collection on behalf of Mrs. Nivrose's family.  Thank you in advance for your genorosity!

Reading Workshop: So far in our non-fiction unit we have been learning about the features of non-fiction books (table of contents, glossary, captions, labels).  We also spent time picking out non-fiction books that are at our "just right" level.  This was quite a task!  Making sure that we can understand what we are reading (versus just saying the words and not comprehending) is a very important task.  The next few weeks we will be focusing on comprehending and sharing what we have learned from our reading. 

Writing Workshop: Keep sending in those How To videos.  They are a great inspiration!

Phonics/Spelling: Long u/silent e:  rule, use, cute, flute, cube

Math:  Miss M. is doing a great job with math.

Homework
Monday 1/25
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Spelling Sheet


Tuesday 1/26
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Penguin Article and True/False

Wednesday 1/27
1. Read for at least 20 minutes
2. Math:  Mitten Problem
Thursday 1/28
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Study for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

How To Tie Shoes

Check out JMN's awesome video on How To Tie Shoes.

We Love Mrs. Nivrose

Mrs. Nivrose works in our cafeteria.  She has many family members who were affected by the earthquake in Haiti. 

Ox Ridge students are encouraged to do an extra chore around the house to earn $1 to be donated to help Mrs. Nivrose's family during this difficult time.  All contributions (big or small) are helpful!

Day 100 Community Outreach

Last year the Kindergarten classes collected items for local charities in conjunction with Day 100 of school. 


This year the first grade and fifth grade are joining the Kindergarten in doing this collection. 


Our class has been assigned juice.  The goal is for our class to collect 100 bottles of juice.  These drinks will be divided betewwn the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County and Person to Person. 


A letter with all the details is coming home with your child today.  Thank you in advance for your support!

Peek at the Week of January 18-22

January is flying by!  It has been fun to have so many days of snow during recess.  I hope everyone enjoyed the day off.  We will continue to learn about Martin Luther King and Ruby Bridges this week. 

Math:  Miss Montesarchio will be teaching math lessons this week. 

Writing Workshop: We continue to write How-To's this week.  We will be using many different formats (booklets, posters, pamphlets, etc).  We have enjoyed the videos sent in by some of our classmates.  I am working on uploading the videos to the blog.  Last week I was able to put a link to RP's video on the blog.  Keep sending in the videos!!!!!

Reading Workshop: We are learning about non-fiction text features such as the Table of Contents, Glossary and Index.

Spelling/Phonics: Long o spelled o, oa. ow: going, only, own, know, boat

Homework
Tuesday 1/19
1. Read for at least 20 minutes
2. Purple Spelling Sheet

Wednesday 1/20
1. Read for at least 20 minutes
2. Reading: Martin Luther King article

Thursday 1/21
1. Read for at least 20 minutes
2. Study for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

Highlights of Week #17

We did math with partners.  (AD)

We had our spelling test on long o words that end with a silent e.  (CM)

This week we got up to captain #19.  Next week we'll start the rotation again.  (FH)

We did our Catch Up folders.  (AD)

My mom came in for Mystery Reader.  (KG)

CVI was a very good captain.  Me and CP made "How To Videos".  The class loved the videos and we can't wait to see more.  (RP and Miss D.)

We went on Google Earth so we could see where Haiti is located.  Haiti is south of Florida.  It shares an island with the Dominican Republic.  There was a big earthquake in Haiti this week.  In Haiti buildings broke down and a lot of people died from the earthquake.  It measured a 7 which is bad.  It is near Aruba.  (DS and EB and class)

We had a math test on topic 4.  (MA)

We had Game Day on Wednesday and we are going to play with our new bingo game this afternoon.  (KG)

In library we went on Pebble Go. (TM)

We played volleyball in gym.  (TG)

In reading workshop we are talking a lot about labels and captions.  We read a lot of books about polar regions. (CD and MA)

For our How Tos, we wrote about how to blow bubbles and how to eat an Oreo cookie.  (CP and JMN)

We studied Martin Luther King in Social Studies.  (OS)

DS subbed for captain CVI.  (DS)

We are in the middle of Mr. Popper's Penguins.  (TG)

The IT guy fixed the airflow on our Smartboard.  (class)

How To Do a Magic Trick

Check out RP's video on How To Do A Magic Trick.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/a717f5aba2efbeeb15a9fe0d144a6a5b/video/9152055

A Peek at the Week of January 11-15

There will not be any school next Monday, January 18th in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day. 

Scholastic book orders are due this Wednesday. 

We will have our monthly Game Day this Wednesday afternoon.

Reading Workshop:  We will continue to learn about the non-fiction genre.  This week we will focus on the text feature of captions--where they are located and how to read them in order to understand the topic of the book.

Writing Workshop: We will continue writing our How Tos. This week we will be making posters which will use Step 1, Step 2, etc.  We are looking forward to viewing some How To movies made by some of our students and their families.

Spelling/Phonics: Long o ending with silent e:  hope, wrote, those, note, joke

Math: We are starting Topic 5.

Social Studies:  We will be learning about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Homework
Monday 1/11
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Purple spelling sheet

Tuesday 1/12
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Polar Bear Math

Wednesday 1/13
1. Read for at least 20 minutes
2. Learn About Penguins

Thursday 1/14
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Study for Spelling Test

Have a great week!

Gail Gibbons

Gail Gibbons is our non-fiction author for the month.  Check out her website:
www.gailgibbons.com

Highlights of Week #16

OS was a great captain.  He used a loud and clear voice when he did the morning opening.  (Miss D.)

DS's dad was our Mystery Reader.  (PR and RP)

We had a spelling test on long i words.  Almost everyone got 5/5.  (KG and EB)

Miss Montesarchio started working in our room on January 4th.  It was also her bday this week.  We made her cards.  (JMN and TB and KG)

In Reading Worshop we made a polar bear and we read a book by Gail Gibbons called "Polar Bears".  It is a non-fiction book.  (EB)

We started a new read-aloud book called Mr. Popper's Penguins.  (MA and class)

In Writing Workshop we are working on How-To books.  This is a non-ficiton unit.  CP made the first How-To movie called "How to Do a Backbend".  It was great!  (CP and DS and CVI)

Our class has made a New Year's resolution.  Our goal is to be the best hallway walkers in Ox Ridge School.  We are going to be so quiet that no one will hear us coming down the hallway.  (class)

We had a 90 minute delay today.  Lunch was really early.  (TB and EB)

In gym we started learning how to play volleyball.  (TM)

In library we went on Pebble Go and learned about allosaurs.  (CM)

In math we took a test on Unit 4.  We will begin Unit 5 on Monday.  (OS)

A Peek at the Week of January 4-8, 2010

Welcome back to a fresh new start.  We will be starting some new units of study this week.  The focus for our Reading and Writing Workshop will be Non-fiction. 

In Reading Workshop we will be looking at the overall genre of non-fiction and discussing what some of the characteristics of non-fiction are.  Also, we will be working on increasing our Independent Reading 'stamina'.  Gail Gibbons will be our 'mentor' author during the month of January.

In Writing Workshop we will be starting our "How To" unit.  This is usually a fun unit.

Our new read aloud book is "Mr. Popper's Penguins".  We will use this fiction book as an inspiration for learning about penguins and polar bears during partner work and science lessons.

Phonics/Spelling:  long i- tie, kind, high, night, icy

Homework
Monday 1/4
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Purple Spelling Sheet

Tuesday 1/5
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Writing:  Happy New Year

Wednesday 1/6
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Math:  Getting Ready for a Blizzard (graph)

Thursday 1/7
1.  Read for at least 20 minutes
2.  Study for spelling test

Have a great week!