Welcome February

Wow it's a new month!! Hard to believe that we will be celebrating our 100th day soon.  Time is really flying by and there is so much going on in the classrooms.
February 5th is Read Aloud Day and our theme is Empathy.  We will be reading various books around this theme and do some writing activities to go along with it.
Our 3rd graders will be kicking off the PBIS assembly dedicated to Empathy. 

I hear that it will be an early Spring based on the Groundhog's prediction.  Let's hope it is true.  I am up for some warm weather. 

 

My homeroom class has started Hatchet and we did some pre-reading activities in groups.  This seemed to have sparked their interest and are looking forward to reading it on Monday. 

They discussed what they would include in a survival kit and how they would survive if they were stranded in the wilderness.  Great discussions were heard around the room and lots of eager readers are ready to begin the book.

My 4D class is already 3 chapters into The Family Under the Bridge.  They are reading and discussing the chapters within their groups.  Again, I am hearing some great conversations around the room.

 

It is wonderful to see how well they get along and help each other out.  They are always willing to lend a helping hand to students who are "stuck" or need help with a word or two.  Kindness is really blooming in our classrooms.  We love to catch them in the acts of kindness. 

 

Our student teacher, Ms. O'Neill is already part of our classroom.  She has been reading to them, helping them during station rotation and is learning all about our students.  She is an added addition to our school and the children are responding well to her.

 




Last Sunday we lost a great basketball player and his daughter.  Since our 5th graders are working on speeches, I put on Dear Basketball by Kobe Bryant.  It has such a powerful message.  As the children watched and listened, the room was silent and his words were so inspiring.

This week the children will be finalizing the speeches they are writing.  Many great topics have been chosen and the 5th graders are really passionate about the topics they are writing about.  They will be presenting their speeches on February 10th.  This was all on Summit and the students were very resourceful in finding articles, researching and putting it all together into a speech.