MLK Day

Today we discussed what civil rights are and what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for.  After we had read a book and talked, I had the kids write in their notebooks about what they want for the world.

Here are their thoughts:

"His words meant a lot (lot was underlined) to the world." - Grant
"When I grow up, I want the world to be a better place.  I do not want to trash on the grass." - Kylie
"I have a dream to live in a world with peace and justice and no bad people." - Leah
"My dream is that people get along no matter what color.  No wars." - Jake

Pretty big dreams!!!

Word Fun

Each week we have a word family as part of our spelling test.  I try to have the students play with these words throughout the week.  They are required Friday to write any five that they can spell correctly.

Here is Josephine's sentence where she used as many as she could from the -ay family.  Downside...she beat me!

I like to play in gray hay and my parents say to stay and lay in the gray hay.  I say, Okay, let's see a display.

Writing Workshop Lesson

Today, as you look at your letter and my letter, what do you notice?  Do you see those red marks on my letter?  What are they called?

Yep, commas!

Writers place commas in the date, the greeting, and the closing.  They aren't stopping, so there's no reason for a period.  By inserting a comma, the writer pauses.

Check your letter.  Check again...did you put a comma in the date?  Did you put a comma after who you are writing to?  Did you put a comma after your closing?

In all of your letters from now on, place those commas!

Also, feel free to write me a letter and tell me all about your day.  Or, feel free to write to another teacher and tell them how much they mean to you.  We'll be delivering them on Monday, so write on!!!

Happy writing!!!

Where in the world?

Where were we today?  Well...we traveled to New York City and Mount Everest.  How?  Through books and websites.  Thanks to The Curious Garden by Peter Brown, we found a website about the Highline. 

After lunch, we traveled to Mount Everest by Google Earth and by Wonderopolis. 

The kids were amazed and it provided great lessons for us to learn and read about.

Before and After...

Wyatt took a giant risk today!  He chose to revise his writing and used Gail Gibbons as his inspiration.  Noticing her frames for text and her setting for the pictures, he revised!!!

What do you think?

I wish you could have seen his face after he shared his after picture with me...huge smiles on his part!

Some new sites

I have found a few new sites that the students seem to like.

We have a subscription to Tumblebooks.  If you would like our name and password, please notify me.  The students also know the name and password.

We also are enjoying Math Playground.  We found a balance game that involves logic.  Enjoy!

Kris Kringle

I had the joy of knowing an actor from our area when I worked at a local theatre.  He has always been gracious and comes in every now and again to read to my class.  This year, he was in the show that we saw for a field trip and still agreed to come in.  Here are some photos of us at the show and some with him...and yes, some thought he was Santa, even though he only played him in the show.