Gingerbread Fred!

We have read some great gingerbread books and we are so excited to have a new friend that has joined our class! Gingerbread Fred is our new classmate in Room 9 and he loves learning with us!  Each night, Gingerbread Fred is invited to go home with one lucky student.  While Fred is at your house, your child has to write a summary of what he/she did with Gingerbread Fred and return it to school the next day.  One perk to receiving Fred, is that your child doesn't have to do their regular homework that night (but they are welcome to because Fred loves doing homework!)  Every child will get a chance to take Fred home before the holiday break.  Meet Fred!

Gingerbread

We have been reading many gingerbread books and comparing the similarities and differences between the various texts.  We have talked about a Venn diagram and had lots of practice filling one out.  We have also had some great discussions about what a strong comparison is verses a weak comparison.  After we read each book, we filled in a big grid that we referred to often! Here is a picture of our hard work!

 This is just SOME of our Gingerbread Books!

Look at this amazing grid comparing all of the gingerbread books that we read!

Hamburger Writing

We have been learning a new type of writing this week!  We have been learning to write a constructed response after reading a book.  This is a very regimented writing style.  The first paragraph has an opening sentence with the title of the book and the author as well as the most important sentence, the focusing sentence.  The second paragraph has 3 examples from the text that support the focusing sentence. The last paragraph has a personal connection and the closing sentence.  I use a picture of a hamburger to visually teach this writing skill.  This is something that we will work on all year.

• the top bun is the opening sentence and the focusing sentence
• the tomato is the first example
• the lettuce is the second example
• the burger is the third example
• the bottom bun is the connection and the closing sentence

Here is an example of a constructed response I wrote about the book Amelia Bedelia.

     I read the book Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish. Amelia is very silly!  One example that shows Ameila is silly is she changed the towels in the bathroom by cutting them into pieces!  Another example that shows Ameila is silly is she put dusting powder all over the furniture instead of wiping the dust off.  The last example that shows that Amelia is silly is she sat down and drew a picture of the curtains instead of closing them to keep the sun out.  I am sometimes silly when I tell jokes with my daughters.  I have shown you three ways that Amelia is silly.

Burnham Library Visit

Last week, we walked to the Burnham Library to meet with Hannah, the children's librarian.  She gave us an amazing tour of the library, read us a great book, showed us how to use the computer to locate books, and then we are able to browse through the books.  Everyone's behavior was amazing and we had a fabulous time!  Here are some photos from our adventures!!



We walked very safely to the Library with our partners!





We all found successful seats and waited for Hannah to read us a story.





Hannah was doing a book talk on the book she was going to read. Look at the amazing listening ears!



Hannah is such an amazing and entertaining reader!



Students had a really great time browsing through the books and finding one to check out!



Three Brothers/UMS PTO

Today, Monday, November 5th is Three Brother's Night.  If you order dinner and either eat in or take out, a percentage of the profits are donated to the UMS PTO.  Three Brother's Pizza is located in the Sunny Hollow dip near Costco.  Let Three Brother's make your dinner tonight!

Conference Time/No School

Conferences are being held on Monday, November 19th from noon until 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday, November 20th from 8:00 a.m. until noon.  I will be sending a reminder notice home this week with the time of your conference.  I look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress.

There is NO SCHOOL Monday, November 19th through Friday, November23rd.  School will resume on Monday, November 26th.  Enjoy your holiday break!

Burnham Memorial Library Field Trip

On Friday, November 9. 2012 we will be walking to the Burnham Memorial Library.  We will be leaving at 8:50 and walking the short distance.  While we are there, we will meet the Children's Librarian, take a tour of the library, listen to some stories, and maybe even browse through the books.  Reading is an imperative skill and we want to encourage children to read, write, and enjoy the process.  We will return in time for lunch. 

If there is a light rain, we will still walk so make sure that your child is dressed appropriately with hat, mittens, rain coat or winter coat, and boots if it is wet.  If the weather is too severe, we won't go.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me!