Artist in Residence

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Posted by Alissa | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 30, 2020

 

We are thrilled to have John Porcino, local storyteller and musician, visiting our classroom.  The kids really enjoy our time with him and the joy he brings to our class.  John is teaching us how to be brave, courageous storytellers who tell our stories with expression.  Most of all, he is encouraging us to TRY to retell our favorite story; the one we each chose from a long list of folktales that we read together.  Please check your child’s backpack tonight.  They are bringing home their favorite story to practice reading and retelling to you.  Please take some time to walk through the story with your child to better prepare them for our fun Storytellers Festival, coming to LES on February 13th!  Everyone is encouraged to come to this event to hear our wonderful young storytellers in action!

What makes a good storyteller?  This is what we are learning.

First Grade News

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Posted by Alissa | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 24, 2020

This week we have immersed ourselves in non-fiction!  Come take a look.

We read a big book together on different animals and how they get their food.  Then we did a little research, using the text to help us record the names of several animals, what they eat, and how they eat their food.  The beginning steps of research.

We read about Martin Luther King, Jr, and put a poem about him into our poetry notebooks.  We also finished our Justice Walk, recording ways we could follow in his footsteps.

In writing, we are making our own teaching books on a topic we are an expert on. This is the chart the kids use, as they move through each step of making a teaching book.  Ask your child about the book they are making.

In science, we learned about camouflage and played a game where we had to find paper moths camouflaged in our classroom.  We talked about the reasons why animals need camouflage.  Ask your child about them.

Today the Kindergartner’s Chinese Dragon visited our classroom.  🙂

Our wonderful builders of the week:

Have a great weekend!  Hope everyone stays healthy.  There has been some sickness traveling around the classroom.  Take good care and have a restful weekend.

 

First Grade News

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Posted by Alissa | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 17, 2020

Welcome back to First Grade News!  The kids are happily back at school and ready to learn in 2020.

One of the first things we did when we returned from our break was finish up our study of American Symbols.  These wonderful creations, teaching what we learned about our favorite American Symbol, are hanging on the bulletin board outside our classroom.

We have now immersed ourselves in non fiction texts.  We are learning how to write teaching books about topics we are an expert on.

In science we are learning about animal adaptations, and the “superpowers” animals have to help them survive in their habitat.  In this activity, we learned about different kinds of bird beaks and why birds have different beaks to help them get food.

Today we had John Porcino visit our classroom.  He is here at LES through the STARS Grant, and will be doing a Storytelling Residency with all classes.  He will be teaching us how to be storytellers, using folktales from all around the world.  On our first day with him today, he taught us how to tell the world’s shortest story:  a joke!  The kids loved it!  Your child should be coming home today with a good joke to tell at the dinner table.  🙂

Our expert block builders of the week came up with quite a design!

Today we also read books about Martin Luther King, Jr. and watched part of his “I Have A Dream” speech on Pebble Go.  Ask your child to show it to you.  Then we traced our shoes and wrote on them ways we can “walk in his footsteps” by working for freedom and justice in our own lives.  We will tape them on the floor in our classroom as a reminder of this great man.  More photos later when our “Justice Walk” is complete!

Have a great weekend!

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