Ask me all about our special literacy assembly.  It was a Fluency Fest!
We sang songs, read poems, recited a reader's theater, and enjoyed book trailers.  Every class showed off their fluency skills...What a great afternoon!!!

Ask me all about Science!  
Today we realized that some of our tadpoles have their back legs!  It was so cool to look closely at them.  They still have their tails.  We learned that they will for a while.  We worked on our frog life cycle book, too.  We used accurate colors and labeled the diagrams, just like professional scientists!!!
We are studying the tropical rain forest.  Did you know that half of the world's living species are found in the rain forest?  Including lots of FROGS!!!!

Ask me all about Reader's Workshop!  
Today we made connections to how a character was feeling!   We re-read The Grouchy Ladybug, by Eric Carle.  We noticed what made the ladybug feel grouchy and then we shared a time when we felt JUST LIKE the main character (and why)! We wrote about it and then made own own "grouchy ladybugs"!
Check out our grouchy faces!!!

Ask me all about today's Reader's Workshop!  
We had a "First Grade" workshop today.  We read independently (for 20 minutes!) and the we read with partners (for another 20 minutes!).  It was amazing!  We came back together and shared our reading observations.  We were so proud of each other and we had so much fun curling up with our Just Right books!

Ask me all about Eric Carle!  He is an author/illustrator...just like us!!!
We have been looking closely at his work, with the eye of a writer, noticing everything that he does.
We can be writers, just like Eric, if we...

• use bold, bright colors
• tell when the story happens (sun or moon)
• use different size and shape paper
• use repeating lines
• add feelings (hungry, tired, busy, grouchy, greedy)
• use speech bubbles (to tell even more)

Ask me all about the story I am writing!

Ask me all about Science!  Today we became Rainforest Detectives!!!  
We are learning all about living things, through a special inquiry!!! We are investigating and reviewing many of our science standards by exploring the rainforest!
Did you know that a rainforest gets an average of over 100 inches of rain a year?   We learned that Warren is NOT a rainforest.  We learned that Warren gets about 51 inches of rain each year!!!

We compared our height to the 100 inches of rainfall a rainforest gets each year!!!

Ask me all about our beautiful painting!
Last week we started creating a piece of artwork with Mrs. Sweet. We went out in the garden and drew some wonderful sketches. Today we added color!  
First, we read Planting A Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert and talked about all of the wonderful colors we are seeing around us this spring. Then we added the colors to our pictures, in stages.  
Tomorrow we will be working with Mrs. Sweet, again!  We will be using a special type of crayon to add even more details to our work.  We can't wait!!!

Ask me all about our special gift!!!  
Mrs. Vernali (our school nurse) brought us our very own class pet!!!  It is a red, male long-tail beta fish!!!  We love him!!!
We are going to put him in our science corner with all of the other "living things" we are studying.
We can't wait to name him!  We are making a big list of ideas. Tomorrow we are going to take a survey to see what we should call him.
We will let you know!!

Ask me all about Art Enrichment!
Today we combined our science, math and art skills while observing the living plants and flowers in our Harvest of Dreams Garden.  We were so quiet as we drew and observed.  We could even hear the bees buzzing!
Over the next few weeks we will be collaborating with Mrs. Sweet (Art) and Mr. Loomis (instrumental music) on a special Rain Forest study!  We can't wait!

Ask me all about Science!!!  We are learning about Living and Non-living things!  
Today was a very special day!!!  The chicks in Mrs. Birdsall's room hatched and we got to go visit them!!!  One was already in the brooder and four were still in the incubator.  They were all wet but we could see their feathers drying.  It was so cool!!!
During our Science unit we are learning many facts about living things.  Did you know that living things can be classified into groups based on the different ways they reproduce?  For 
example, some living things lay eggs (like chickens and frogs), while others produce seeds (like sunflowers) or give birth (like a dog).  We are becoming amazing scientists!!

Ask me all about Math workshop!
We are collecting and organizing data!   Today we figured out the best way to count a large number of items.  We counted to see how many chairs there are in our room!  
It was important to make sure that we only counted each chair once.  We had to come up with a plan.  We used all different kinds of math tools.  And we each recorded our information differently.  We worked so hard we ran out of time!  Monday when we share our collection process and data, we will also share our ideas to see which ones worked the best!  

Ask me all about what it means to try and be persuasive!!!  
We learned all about the word from a very special character....The Lorax!!!
The Lorax really wants people to stop cutting down trees and he gives many reasons why.  He works really hard tries to convince the Once-ler that he should stop his chopping.  He even uses the word "unless", explaining what would happen if the Once-ler doesn't stop.
We are writers just like the Lorax!!!!   We are working hard to solve problems and grant wishes with our writing.  We loved comparing ourselves to the him!

Ask me all about Writing!!!  Did you know...
When you think you're done...You've just begun!!!
You can...

• reread (with your pencil or your finger)
• Look closely at your writing (make sure it is easy to read)
• Share your writing with your writing partner
• Share your writing with a grown-up
• Add to the illustrations
• Add more details
• Add speech bubbles
• Give more reasons for your ideas

Ask me all about Science!!!  We are learning how to look at things closely.  It is called observing!  
We have been writing and recording our observations in our Science Notebooks.  Today we used a two column chart to share our thoughts.  On one page we drew and labeled a diagram and on the other we wrote what we saw.  
We are such good scientists!!!

Ask me all about math!  During our Number Talks we have been partitioning numbers!  We have been looking at groups of dots and counting how many there are.  We all figured it out in different ways!  
Today we wrote about our mathematical thinking.  We explained to our friends what strategies we used to count.
We are so smart!!!

Ask me all about our favorite math games!!!!!!!!
They are now on our website!!!
Go to favorite Links and click on Math Games!!!
Then PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!!