Ask me all about my narrative writing piece!  It is all "Fancied Up" and ready to celebrate.  We have been working so hard this week, revising and editing our stories.  Today we finished them off by adding special covers.  We can't wait to share them with you!!!

Ask me all about the new math tool we learned how to use today!
At the beginning of Math Workshop we spent several minutes exploring with geo-boards and rubber bands.  We created shapes of all sizes and kinds.  After we learned how to use our new tools we played a special geometry game.  We had to create a shape and then defend our thinking.  We had to tell everyone what the shape was and how we knew it was that shape.  We used math language, such as sides, angles & vertices (corners), same, different, length, width, etc.  After Math Stations, we ended Math Workshop with two fun shape songs.
Mrs. Brady was amazed!!!!  We are just incredible Mathematicians!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ask me all about Geometry.  We can name all kinds of 2D shapes.  We can tell you how many sides and vertices (that's what mathematicians call corners!) they have.  We worked hard during Math Workshop today.  Some of us went on a shape hunt in the classroom, recording our data on clipboards.   Some of us used shapes to create life pictures (A shape can be...)  Some of us used the Smart Board to create shapes and some of us even counted and added shapes!
What a day!

Ask me all about Shared Reading!  We read two different versions of the same traditional folk tale!  The enjoyed The Mitten, by Jan Brett and The Old Man's Mitten, by Yevonne Pollock.
We compared and contrasted the stories, sharing what we noticed about each.  We used a special (mitten shaped) organizer called a Venn Diagram.  It was so cool!!!  We wrote down what was the same about each and what was different.  We noticed so many details!!!!
Tomorrow we are going to read another version!!!  We can't wait!!!

Ask me all about our Warm Fuzzy Jar!!!   We filled it, AGAIN!!!!
Today we celebrated with our 4th grade buddies.  We played all kinds of games together.  We worked on following directions, taking turns, using our words, showing good sportsmanship, and many other important skills.
We had so much fun!!!   We are so proud of ourselves.

Ask me all about Informational Texts!  We have been investigating non-fiction.  We have been looking closely at books and noticing all of the different text features.  Today we read a type of story called a Biography.  It was about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We realized that a Life Story (like the ones we have been writing in Writer's Workshop)  can be non-fiction, too.

During snack today we had a picnic.  Mrs. Brown read us Knut, the true life story (biography) of a baby polar bear.  We learned so much about his life and about polar bears.  It was wonderful!!!

Ask me all about Martin Luther King Jr.  
We read a book about his life and his dream.   Then during Learning Centers, we read The Crayon Box that Talked, by Shane DeRolf.  We discussed how important our differences are and how our differences make us special!  Then we made our own special box of crayons!!!

Wouldn't it be terrible? Wouldn't it be sad?
If just one single color was the color that we had?
If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green?
If yellow, pink, or orange was all that could be seen?
Can you just imagine how dull the word would be,
If just one single color was all we got to see?
Martin Luther King Jr. fought for love instead of hate. 
Our crayon box has all the colors for us to celebrate!  

Ask me all about our read aloud The Magic Tree House, by Mary Pope Osborne.  We LOVE it!!!  We are making predictions, connecting, reflecting....and comparing character behavior!!  It is such a great story.  Today we had to stop at a really exciting part.  We can't wait to read it tomorrow!!!

Ask me all about Candy Land!  
Today was Candy Land Day!  We played Sight Word and Alphabet Candy Land with Mrs. Lago during Reader's Workshop.  When we traveled down the rainbow road we had to read the sight words or identify the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.   It was hard work!
During Learning Centers, Mrs. Brady got our our BIG Candy Land.  While we played we focused on positional language.  We used the words behind, in front of, next to, right, left, beside, etc.  It was so much fun!!!!

Ask me all about the special guest reader we had today!  
A good friend from first grade has been working very hard on his fluency and story voice.  He came to visit today and read The Three Little Pigs. 
We had so much fun listening to the story.  We gave him lots of compliments when he was done!  It made us all feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Thank you, Mrs. Birdsall, for sharing your great reader!!!

Ask me all about my writing! 
We are focusing on making our writing easy for a reader to read and understand.  That means working really hard!  
We have to...

• Use a capital for the word I
• use neat handwriting
• make our words match our picture
• use spaces in between each word
• use punctuation (. ? !)
• stretch out each word and write as many sounds as we can
• REREAD!!!!!

Today, at the beginning of Workshop, a writer asked for help.  He wanted to know "what words would sound good with his picture"  We helped him get off to a great start!!!

Ask me all about my New Year's Resolution!  We have a party going on in our room, complete with party hats and New Year's noise blowers!!!   
During Learning Centers today, we talked all about goals and resolutions.  We thought about our reading and the things that we want to accomplish as readers this year!  Take a look!

Ask me all about our new math game!  It's a twist on an old favorite.  Instead of working on number and quantity recognition we are working on EQUATIONS!!!!   We can write equations for addition within 6!!!!
We roll the dice and find the sum.  Then we write the expression (an equation without the equal sign) in the right column!  WE had so much fun seeing which number would win....we didn't want to stop!!!

Ask me all about my day!  We all came in with so much to talk about that we switched our whole day around!!  After a big "Welcome Back" morning meeting we jumped right into Writers Workshop!   We had so many stories to share!  We worked hard on making our writing easy for a reader to read and understand.
Then during Readers Workshop, after a little bit of independent reading, we asked if we could partner read.  We just missed each other so much!  We read and shared and talked and made connections.
It is so good to be back!!!!