Saturday, October 25, 2014

Classroom Update WELCOME BACK! (First 2 1/2 weeks)

WELCOME BACK!  It's another school year in the Red Snail Classroom and boy did we have a crazy first two and a half weeks when we came back!  From a trip, to a new grade level, we had a lot to get ready for.  We were bummed to see summer go though. ☻


This year are also trying a different approach to staying organized throughout the entire year.  I've gone with the teacher planner version for almost everything we do.  I like to refer to it as the "Simple Theory of Minimalization."  (more on this later) It is definitely working so far!


But we are ready for a new school year, for sure!  Here is a recap of our days back to school for the Rain Valley-Red Snails.

Take note of our new class times and schedule:  
• Mondays:  Are always a no school day. (Catch-Up Day)  
• Tuesdays:  Spelling and Vocabulary, Reading and Writing, and P.E.
• Wednesdays:  Science and History.  Wednesdays are also library days (if it's a day to pick a new book selection for the classroom). 
• Thursdays:  Social Studies/Geography, and Math.  P.E. also falls on this day. 
• Fridays:  Test days for each week.  Most subjects carry over for two weeks at a time, but a mini test will be given at the end of the first week to see where we are.  

Fridays are also Art, Cooking, and Gardening days.  Music will fall under Art days when there is time.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are P.E. days and days we come up with new activities to get motivated.



September 8, 2014 
Monday: 
Normally we wouldn't have school on Mondays, but since we were leaving for a trip on Thursday, we decided to have class on Monday this week to be able to cover what we needed to cover.

 For Spelling and Vocabulary, we got a list of 25 new words and three vocabulary words for the two weeks.  The words we had for the first two weeks are:

  1. terrarium
  2. natural
  3. resource
  4. border
  5. mountain
  6. larger
  7. depend
  8. listen
  9. space
  10. covered
  11. several
  12. himself
  13. toward
  14. fragile
  15. hostile
  16. wind
  17. rock
  18. fast
  19. hold
  20. mobile
  21. tonsil
  22. evil
  23. attractive
  24. awkward
  25. baggage
The last three words on the list are the new vocabulary words for the first two weeks.


We also covered "ie" and "ei" words, along with K sound in words and identifying what we are really hearing with the sounds.


For Reading and Writing we read the first chapter in the new book, "A Series of Unfortunate Events-Book three."  We also covered how to write the perfect paragraph by studying it in a paragraph sandwich.

  • Opening sentence
  • Details (Story)
  • Closing Sentence



September 9, 2014
Tuesday:  
For Reading and Writing, we learned how to address an envelope and postcard.  Skylar got to write a quick postcard note to anyone he wanted, he chose his grandparents that live in Arkansas.  It was a nice treat for them to get a quick hello from him, it really brightened their day!



We covered Probability and Data



September 10, 2014
Wednesday:
No School


September 11, 2014

Thursday:
No School


September 12, 2014

Friday:
No School


September 13-14, 2014

Saturday and Sunday: How we spent our weekend.
We took a trip to southern Oregon and spent Wednesday through Sunday off from regular school activities.  You can see photos of this trip HERE!


September 15, 2014

Monday:
No School


September 16, 2014

Tuesday:

We covered more on our vocabulary words for the week.

We also read chapter 2 in the Series of Unfortunate Events-Book three.  You can find it under the reading list tab at the top of the page. After the chapter was read, Skylar had to give me five important facts about the chapter.



For Writing we also learned more about addressing envelopes and postcards.  Skylar chose his Arkansas grandparents to send a postcard to, last week.  


September 17, 2014
Wednesday:
For Math we covered a few items from the end of last year.
We talked about percentages.  From the work on the board you can see that we did a lot of explaining.  But after the explanations, we were good to go.


September 18, 2014
Thursday:
For Science we covered a few items from the end of last year.

September 19, 2014
Friday:






September 22, 2014
Monday:
No School

September 23, 2014
Tuesday:
Spelling test and Vocabulary test from the following two weeks.



September 24, 2014
Wednesday:
We did some gardening on this day. We decided to try to grow some lettuce and some tomatoes in the classroom throughout the winter months. We'll let you know how that goes.



September 26, 2014
Friday:
We worked up a menu plan for our daily school meals. We used this printout (Found on Pinterest) to write down our favorites.



September 27-28, 2014
Saturday and Sunday:  How we spent our weekend.

We fixed up the new school bell with a pull rope and worked on the area around the post.  Skylar likes to ring it every morning, so it brings character to our yard.  We love it!

Follow more about our classroom every two weeks!