We've been here for 102 days of school!

We have a new classmate! Now our class has 13 wonderful students in it!

We celebrated the 100th day of school on Wednesday, and continued to work on our animal research projects, science notebooks and animal artwork. We learned about the different ways animals protect themselves and how some animals disguise themselves from predators. We also learned that baboons are omnivores - they eat vegetables (leaves) and meat (fish and bugs). Many of us are omnivores too!

In our social skills lessons this week we talked about how to calm down anger. We learned that when we have a strong feeling, we need to Stop, Name our Feeling, and Breathe. These things can help our body feel calm - deep breathing helps to lower our blood pressure and heart rate, which calms the body. We learned a little poem too:

       Stop, Breathe, Think it through

       Make a Choice that works for you!

We are also practicing following directions the first time they are given. Often times children develop some avoidance behaviors when they hear a direction. These behaviors can quickly become habits that interfere with learning and socializing - we suggest that our students say, "OK" when a direction is given and then try to comply. We are always there with praise when we see those attempts! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We learned about animal habitats this week, worked in our science notebooks and on our animal research, and had time for some great animal art projects! We read a great book titled "Actual Size" and used a tape measure to really see how big some animals are. We enjoyed holding our hands up to a print of a gorilla's hand.

We learned that it took 3 boys to equal the length of a Brown Bear! (13 feet)

Our loom has been a big hit -we find that weaving is very relaxing and easy to do. We enjoy using different yarns, ribbons and even strips of cloth to weave with.

In our social skills lessons we talked about how to recognize when we are feeling frustrated, and what we can do about it. I have been impressed with how often the children refer to their brains, and how they can use their pre-frontal cortex to help think through a problem and find a good solution, instead of just reacting.

On Monday, following mid-winter break, we will welcome a new kindergarten boy to our classroom!

We have had fun delivering all of our valentines cards this week, and had even more fun opening our cards up at our party! We enjoyed many yummy treats - thanks to all who contributed!

We've been working on animal research!

We have been working so hard on our animal research projects! Students read to find out what their animals eat - are they carnivores, herbivores or omnivores? We read a book about animal teeth, and learned that different teeth do different jobs. We read to find interesting facts about our animals and to learn what kinds of coverings they have on their body - feathers, fur, scales?  We are writing down all of our new learning on special paper....we hope to share these with you in a few weeks! This is something new for our students, and we are really exercising our brains!

Of course, we also found time to decorate our Valentine's mailbags - they look great! Your child only needs to sign his/her name on his/her card - we will deliver a card to each mailbag. You cannot believe how much our students enjoy opening all those cards on Valentine's Day!

Please remember that students go out for recess - they need gloves, hats, boots, and snow pants. You may send extra dry socks - feet often get cold and wet at recess. Sometimes our classroom feels chilly, so it is great for kids to bring an extra sweatshirt or hoodie to leave here.  We also welcome boxes of Kleenex and Lysol type canisters of wipes for tabletops -  thanks!

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.