Oct. 9th

It was so great to meet with  most of the parents. We have a great group of students.  This week we watch some 2nd grade students actually doing "Genius Hour". Then we figured out what groups we were going to be in and what our topics are. They seemed really excited about their research. We are continuing to review in math "Number Sense". We did not get summaries written this week, but we will do them on Tuesday. There will be no homework next week. Have a fun and safe Spring Break.

Oct. 2

We went to the ZOO and a wonderful time. I was so proud of the students. Thanks to the parents who helped. We could not do it without you! We have been working so hard on finishing up our auto biographies. We hope every parent comes and reads them at Parent Teacher Conferences. I really enjoy Parent Teacher Conferences and meeting with each parent. We have to work together to help each one of these unique children. So, Please come and visit with me.

Sept. 25

We had a fun week, but Friday was the best. We did the Walk-a-thone and celebrated United States and North America by feasting on hot dogs, apple pie, lemonade, and cracker jacks. We sung "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and "What's More American". We started to make a "Me on the Map" flip chart to put in our journal. We did our 2nd summary. We have just learned hoe to do the beginning so far. In math we continue to review "Make a 10" and did some double subtracting.

SEPT. 18

We had a fun day today. We played drums as we skip counted by 10's. We made towers out of marshmallows and spaghetti. We continue to learn that the team who always wins is the team who works together.  Everyone in the class has passed off the first math drill and we got the most 100% on our Spelling Test this week.  On Thursday we wrote the beginning of our first Summary. I was impressed how many students wanted to go on to the middle. Thank You "First Grade" teachers. They knew the key words. We are excited about our upcoming field trip to the ZOO! I told the students to start thinking about what they are passionate about to Research. Maybe at the zoo they can find an interesting animal to research.

Sept. 11th

This year we are starting a new activity called "Genius Hour". Right now we are learning how to work together as a team. Eventually the students will research about something they are passionate about. Our activity this week was to take a hula-hoop across the room only using 2 finger tips of each person in the team. There was a tight part where they really had to be careful. If they used more of their fingers or let go they had to start over. We were racing in teams and being timed.  We had a great discussion on using every member of the team, balancing the size difference of the students and how high the hula- hoop needed to be and how effective a team leader is who listens or takes over.  We had a great week.

Sept. 8

Ask your child how to find a “Just Right Book”. See if they can tell you 3 ways. Ask them how to play “Guess My Number” and see if they can guess your number (1-100). This week we talked about our Community, practiced “Counting On” and asking questions to find a number on the 100”s chart. We have been working on FLUENCY in reading and Word Attack. Thanks for following thru with “Take Home Reading”. If you are not getting books it is because I have not got a permission slip. I hope you are enjoying Raz-Kids. You should see out class walk down the hall. They are the BEST!!!!! It’s cold in our class; please send jackets for the students to take on and off.

Aug. 31-Sept. 4

We have had a great start to school. The first day we made cookies and the rest of the week we practiced routines. We are best at walking in the halls. We counted by tens using our class drums (BYU ice cream buckets). We have been doing testing in reading and learning about "Just Right Books" and attacking words we don't know while we read.  In Social Studies we have been talking about how we fit into the world around us. Each student has their own passport and we have made a map of our home, neighbor hood, and school. This year I am starting a Genius Hour where students work in teams or individually creating something they are passionate about. We started by dividing into 4 teams and creating something. They each were given tin foil, pipe cleaners and tape. The students created the Eiffel Tower, a statue of hearts, a big group of spiders and the last one I could not figure out.  It was great to see most of the teams work together and create things. Two of the groups could not come up with or agree on any one item.  We have some work to do on cooperation and letting everyone have a chance to lead.  We made rough drafts of "How To Make A Great Classroom".
    Please remember to return the "Information" and "Take Home Reading" notes. Our library day is on Thursday. Take Home Reading will start on Monday to all students who said Yes and have returned their permission slips. 
    I am excited to be teaching your child.
Mrs. Kitchen