Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home

We spent most of the month of May immersed in "Ladybug Land," learning all there is to know about ladybugs (as all of the students will tell you: "Mrs. Johnson's favorites!") We studied the life cycle of these little creatures by "growing" our very own ladybugs. I sent away for live ladybug larvae from a company called Insect Lore, and our new pets arrived in early May. Over the next few weeks, we carefully observed the larvae as they grew and changed from larva to pupa to adult ladybug. We also spent a lot of time reading some great literature about ladybugs and playing ladybug games and singing ladybug songs. Finally, it was time to release the ladybugs into our school gardens, where we hope that the ladybugs will help protect our new plants from pesky aphids, which happen to be ladybugs' favorite foods. To celebrate the end of our unit, we enjoyed some food of our own: yummy ladybug cupcakes!

Here are a few photos from our ladybug unit:We examine the ladybugs in their house before releasing them.

The ladybugs landed on our hands and fingers before finding their new homes!

Yum! Ladybug cupcakes, complete with red wings and black spots!

As a part of our ladybug unit and our problem solving unit in math, students wrote and illustrated "Ladybug Picture Problems." Please click on the link to enjoy this photo story of their work!

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BwTa0ql-ggedMDlhMzJlOWYtY2ZhZS00ODhjLWE1MTMtMTJkMWE5NWQ3MGQx&hl=en_US&authkey=CNvt76wH

Sea Creature Picture Problems

We have spent a great deal of time over the last several weeks writing, illustrating, and solving picture problems during our math block. Please visit the link here to enjoy our class book of Ocean Problems:

http://www.storyjumper.com/book/index/1834202/Ocean-Math#

Ask your child to help you solve his or her classmates' picture problems!

Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-Ups

Dear Families,

You should have received an email from me inviting you to sign up online for Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences (held the week of April 4). Please visit the link below to choose your time slot:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/spring896

If you do not have access to email or the Internet OR you do not see a time slot that is convenient for you, please contact me (by email: mjohnson@cssu.org or phone: 482-6208) and we can schedule a time to meet. Thank you in advance for taking the time to meet with me for this important conference. I look forward to sharing your child's progress with you!

Mo Willems Author Study

We spent several weeks doing an in-depth study of the author and illustrator, Mo Willems. Mo is the author of many wonderful children's books, including Knuffle Bunny, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Elephant and Piggie books, and more. Our unit kicked off with a field trip to the Flynn Theater to see an amazing performance of Knuffle Bunny. We spent time during our author study exploring Mo's writing style and getting to know his lovable characters. We tried to emulate his style by writing using speech/talking bubbles and learning how to draw the pigeon! We even had a visit from Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct. She left dinosaur tracks in the snow and left us a special chocolate chip cookie treat! Here is a picture of us wearing our Knuffle Bunny hats that we made with our Big Buddies:
We completed a writing response to the question: "What would happen if the pigeon drove the bus?" Please enjoy the video that I made of the children's responses!

Untitled from Miranda Johnson on Vimeo.

We had so much fun getting to know this great author! Make sure to ask your child what his or her favorite Mo book is! If you would like to learn more about Mo Willems, please visit his interactive website at: http://www.mowillems.com/

March 18th, 2011 Newsletter

I have decided to return to a paper format for my classroom newsletter, however I will also post the newsletter on my blog here for you to read. Please click on the image of the newsletter to enlarge it.

March 18, 2011 Newsletter

Happy 100th Day of School!

Wednesday, February 9th marked our 100th Day of School! The children were very excited to share their projects with the other primary classes on our annual 100th Day Parade! Please enjoy this slide show of each child's creative project.

Wonderful Winter!

Wow! It seems that winter has finally settled in to stay! With two snow days already under our belts, we are trying to maintain a routine in the classroom! In preparation for the second quarter report cards that will be sent home on Friday, February 4th, I have been assessing each child's progress in all academic areas. I have been very pleased with the results and I can't believe how far the students have come in just a half a year. This amazing growth is one of the main reasons that I love teaching kindergarten so much! I hope you are as impressed by the progress as I am!

As the new quarter begins, we will be focusing on reading and writing simple words by "finger tapping." Ask your child to show you what this is! Some of the simple words we have practiced include: mat, set, rug, and many more! We will also be learning to read high-frequency words and we will begin learning how to read predictable, repetitive texts. In math, we will be learning more about teen numbers, practicing with ten frames, we will continue to practice number writing, and we will begin to explore the concepts of addition and subtraction.

During theme time, we just wrapped up a unit on Liquids and Solids. We learned about what both of these things are and we talked a great deal about changing states of matter. Please enjoy the slide show of when we made Oobleck and ice cream (not at the same time!)

Customize your own free picture slideshow

We are currently doing an author study about Jan Brett and all of her wonderful books. Please visit her website for some amazing activities and ideas! The web address is: http://www.blogger.com/www.JanBrett.com. Next week, we will begin to learn about the ocean, a topic that is of great interest in Room Eight!

Next week marks our 100th Day of School! You should have received a letter about completing a 100th day project with your child. Because of the snow days we've had, this special day will now take place on Wednesday, February 9th. We will have many different activities to complete during the day and will tour the Primary Wing to admire all of the students' projects. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

On Monday, February 14th, we will celebrate our friendships and Valentine's Day. Your child is invited to bring valentine cards to school to share with classmates. I ask that, if you choose to do this, you send enough valentines for each child in the class. I will be providing a special treat to enjoy during the day.

Please remember to continue to send your child to school prepared to go outside for recess. That means that he or she should have snowpants, boots, a warm jacket, a hat, and mittens or gloves. We go outside unless the temperature is below zero. It is also a good idea to make sure that your child has a pair of shoes to wear while indoors. Thank you for your help
with this!

Have a wonderful, wintry weekend!