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Monday, January 12, 2015

Filling buckets everywhere!

The 1st grader in the middle has been busy showing bucket filling around the halls and within the walls of our classroom!  Nice work!


Building character through song!

At our lighthouse meeting last week, a parent (Mr. Chatwin) and teacher (Ms. DeMario), presented a new school song that was written and recorded for our enjoyment.  We practiced singing along and tried to remember some of the words.  It is a catchy tune!




Thanks Mr. Chatwin and Ms. DeMario!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Caught being kind!

Our current character education pillar word is--kindness.

These two classmates were caught being kind to others.  Going above and beyond kindness expectations!

Way to go!









December Citizenship Awards

Kudos to these ladies for being truly outstanding citizens of our school community!


What do we do during ELA?

ELA time consists of whole group, small group and independent work.  Students have daily choice to read-to-self, read-to-someone, participate in word work games, work on writing or use learning apps on iPads.  Students may also be reading with a teacher.  We try to incorporate as many open-ended, game-like activities as possible.

Reading with a teacher!



Word work games (and iPads in the background)!




Working on writing!

Buddy Reading!














What are interactive notebooks or journals?

Over the last several weeks, we have been using interactive notebooks or journals during our ELA time.  An interactive notebook or journal in our classroom is a spiral bound notebook that documents and collects our learning over time.  These notebooks can make learning more interesting, engaging and appealing.  Work in these notebooks can be creative including cutting, gluing, foldables, coloring, writing, planning and thinking!  These notebooks act like a portfolio of work and show learning over time.  We also have the learning at our fingertips to look back upon (if we forget a skill or concept) and to build upon.  So far these notebooks have been a positive additional to our classroom.  You may notice less paperwork coming home daily because we are utilizing these.


A teeny tiny bit late, but nonetheless...


Thanks to your generosity!

We were able to stuff Ms. Shaffer's Car (humane education from Wanderers' Rest Animal Shelter) with all of these items for homeless animals!  Wow!


This picture only shows part of the items that the first, third and fourth grade classes at Bridgeport donated!

Ms. Schaffer, along with her furry companions Rosie, Pebbles and Stuart Little, talked to the students about the responsibilities of the shelter and how to properly care for an animal at home.


 The students had an opportunity to love up to Rosie, Pebbles and Stuart Little (who were very respectful visitors to our school)!

The green face...

GRINCH made a visit to our classroom during December.  Here is the proof!


Owl Pellets

In late fall, we had the opportunity to learn about owls and dissect owl pellets.  This was a first for myself and all of the students.  The dissection was optional.  A few students made a "scrunched up nose" face and decided to pass!
We had a diagram that organized bones from several different owl prey.  We were able to determine what type of small animal the owl ate by matching up the bones we found contained within the pellet to the bones on the diagram.  This process took much longer than expected (must be done in small groups), but the students seemed to enjoy it.  Each student was able to clean a couple of the bones they discovered and set the bones in clay to keep as a reminder of the task!