Worms!

We have begun our animal unit with a discussion about living and non-living things. We learned that living things need food, water and air. Living things grow and move. We had a lot of fun looking at some real worms and comparing them to some non-living gummy worms. We also talked about how we need to treat and care for living things.

Each student is reading and learning about an animal -they will become an animal expert! We will begin writing about the food our animals eat, and finding some interesting facts. The children are very enthusiastic about their animals.
We are also excited about our new loom - we have begun to weave different types of yarn in it. If you have leftover yarn at home, we will put it to good use!


Just a reminder - our Parent Support Group Meeting is next Wednesday at 6:30 in our classroom. All parents, grandparents and caregivers are welcome to join us!

Birds and bird feeders...

Our bird feeders turned out great ! We hung some of them up in the trees near our classroom...we'll watch to see if the birds come.

We think our bird collages are pretty wonderful too!

We finished up our Jan Brett author study by reading her colorful version of " The Three Bears" and "The Three Snow Bears", which takes place in the Arctic.  Next week we will study another author, Ezra Jack Keats. Our students are beginning to recognize some themes that some authors write about .
In February we will begin our animal research unit! This will be a new experience for our class -we will be researching and writing about animals, learning about their habitats, food and other neat facts.  We may even be able to share our research with all of you one afternoon!
Looking ahead, I would like to remind you that our third Parent Support Group meeting will be on Wednesday, February 5th at 6:30. I hope that many of you will be able to attend - it is a nice opportunity to meet and talk with other parents and with both special education teachers and our social worker. We will have one more meeting in April this year.
We will exchange valentines cards and have a simple party on Friday, February 14. Your child only needs to sign his/her name on his/her cards. They do not need to write the names of their classmates on their cards. Your child should bring cards for 12 classmates, and 4 adults if they wish. We will make our mailboxes at school. If you would like to send in a snack or drink for the party, that would be wonderful -just jot me a little note/email. We also appreciate donations of boxes of kleenex and canisters of Lysol type cleaning wipes for washing off our desks.
Next week we will also welcome our 12th student!

Our caterpillar friend and bird feeders...

On Tuesday some of our students noticed a small caterpillar in the hallway near our boots. He was alive, but very cold. We discussed what we could do, and decided to put him in one of the cages we use in the spring for our caterpillars. I explained that I had never seen a caterpillar in the winter and I wasn't sure what would happen next - we talked about the possibility that he might make a cocoon or he might die. We were very excited the next morning -not only was our caterpillar alive, but he had climbed to the top of the cage! We remembered that our springtime caterpillars did the same thing before they became Chrysalids. This was such a perfect opportunity for us to talk about living things, animal needs and habitats, and respect for animals. It just so happens that in February we are doing a big animal unit and research project! I am glad this little guy wriggled into our little end of the hallway!

This week our Social Skills lessons were focused on noticing and caring about other people and their feelings. We discussed how some things happen by accident - we need to apologize when we do or say something that might upset a friend. We have been working hard on using kind words and paying compliments, as well as apologizing when we need to. We have also talked a lot about "feedback" - we understand that feedback is helpful and can help us change so that things are easier or better for us. We need to listen to feedback, think about it, and then make the change or follow the advice. Several children have noticed that they have better notes when they accept feedback! We are proud of them when they do!

We read many Jan Brett books this week and noticed that her books always have animals in them who do and say the same funny kinds of things that people do! We read, "The Mitten", "The Hat", "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" and "Armadillo" -ask your child if he/she had a favorite!
On Friday we read a book called "Snowballs" by Lisa Ehlert. It inspired us to make some collage bird pictures like the ones in her book, and to make some bird feeders so we could feed the winter birds.

Finally, we're back!

We are finally all back at school after an extra long winter break! We will be busy creating some winter themed art work this week and we will begin a Jan Brett author study.
With all of the cold and snow, it is really important that your child has warm boots, hats, mittens and snow pants for outside recess. It is fine to have your child leave boots and snow pants here at school if you wish. I would also recommend that your child have extra socks and even pants here at school -feet are often wet after recess. Sometimes our classroom can feel chilly, so your child might also like to leave an extra sweatshirt or hoodie here to put on.
This is also the time of year when children get colds and the flu. We try to wipe down all of our tables every day to help reduce the spread of germs. However, if your child has a temperature, has thrown up, or is feeling ill with coughs and aches, they should remain at home. This is best for the sick child, and it helps stop the spread of germs to classmates and staff.  We always welcome donations of boxes of Kleenex for our classroom.
We have been working hard on building friendships and working with a partner -  we have some wonderful kids in this classroom! Our Skills for Learning lesson next week will be focused on showing care and concern for our friends and classmates.

Today we are sending home some Scholastic Book order forms - if you wish to order from them, the orders are due next Friday. You may make one check out for all of your book orders, made out to Scholastic Reading Clubs.