We have a new access code for the students to view our Scholastic News.  These issues supplement our Social Studies and Science curriculum and the website offers videos and games to go along with the issues.  We usually visit the site in school but the students really enjoy the activities that the site offers so you may want to view it again at home.  Go to:
www.scholastic.com/sn2 and click on "Student Access".  Our password is: crofts1


We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast in lunch on Friday.  We decided to eat in the room so that we could really enjoy the food and each other.  Mr. Will, our cafeteria manager, really outdid himself!

 We have been practicing our Thanksgiving plays this week which we are putting on for some of the other classes.  It is a great way to practice reading fluency and public speaking.  One of our plays, The Meal Must Go On, is a lesson of cooperation and the other, The Ugly Turkey, is based on The Ugly Duckling.  These performances are just for the students but I promise, we have plays at the end of the year that the parents will be invited to.

There will be NO spelling, vocabulary, or reading test this week!  The week is too short and we have more fun things to do.  On Monday we make the Friendship Snack for the Outreach Center, on Tuesday we are experimenting with magnets, and on Wednesday we make corn muffins and butter.  We are looking forward to a low stress week- no studying allowed (except maybe those math facts)!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Today we read an article that described a butterfly with clear spots.  I told the students that I would try to pull up a picture of one but we ran out of time.  Please show your child this beautiful photo of a butterfly with clear wings. Before last year I didn't know that was possible!

Every year I am amazed by the creativity shown in the decorated turkeys.  I hope it was a fun, family project for you.  I love hearing from my veteran parents, "We still have my daughter's turkey from when she was in 2nd grade."  Enjoy the turkey show below:

Only at DeSales:

We hosted our 5th grade reading buddies today and one of our families happens to have a child in my class and in Mrs. Rosenberg's (the 5th grade teacher) class ; so the siblings were both in my class reading with their buddies.  Well, in walks the third sibling, an eighth grader who empties my recycling.  She exclaimed, "Hey both my siblings are in here!"  I HAD to take a picture!                                                                             We jumped from adding two double digit numbers to adding 3 or more.  Though it was a little more difficult, it taught us that neatness counts and that we have to be very, very careful when adding so many numbers.  I really think the students are enjoying the challenge.                    
Thanks to everyone who has already sent in their donation for our Friendship Snack.  We will be making it on Monday the 25th so I would appreciate it if all the items were in by the 22nd.                                                   
Report cards go home on Thursday, 11/14.  Remember, we are no longer using alphabetic grades.  Refer to the key on the report card to determine what the numbers mean.  The numbers indicate to what degree the student has mastered the skill being assessed.  A "2" means the student has shown competency in the skill but more practice is needed before the student is considered proficient. I look forward to discussing this at our conference.

    

Friends

     Our latest writing project was to write a description about a friend.  I was so happy that some of the children chose someone from the class to describe and touched that a few chose to describe their dads.  We work so hard to complete these projects; the process takes weeks.  They are hanging on the lockers now and I see many students from the other classes stopping to read the paragraphs.  Below are some photos.

Before I took the "Fractured Pumpkins" down I wanted to get a photo of our "pumpkin patch".  The pumpkin project wasn't just a fun art activity, the students had to read and follow written directions in order to complete them.  They cut them apart and then glued them back together like a puzzle.  I think they have great personalities!

In ELA we learned about sequencing events,  proper nouns, abbreviations, and homophones.  We also practiced writing skills by matching topic sentences with details. 
In Math we've dived right into double digit addition with regrouping.  I know the first day was frustrating for some but I was elated to hear one student say today, "This is lots of fun now that I know how to do it!"  Music to a teacher's ears!  Heads up: our +9's test will be on Tuesday.
Social Studies was a lot of fun this week.  We've been learning about belonging to a community and being a good citizen with our Jr. Achievement volunteer and by reading our S.S. text.  This week we had a second visitor to talk to us about being a good citizen by voting and running for office.  Ken Genewick, City of Lockport 5th ward alderman, came in to talk to the students on Election Day.  It was a great way to kick off our own voting at DeSales.  Each student was able to cast a ballot to select a lunch and his/her favorite saint.  It was a close race but pizza and St. Nicholas won out.

Mr. Genewick talking to the class.

We invited Alderman Genewick to cast his own ballot.

We are finishing up the week with Fun Friday.  We will view a ppt. about Veteran's Day and make Christmas cards for veterans that are overseas.  We will also practice math facts with Mathmagician and Mathlines.  If you haven't used those sites to help your child learn the math facts, I encourage you to.  We are going to practice using adjectives with a leaf project and start a cornucopia fashioned with ripped paper.  You will see photos on a future blog. :-)

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween day.  Thanks to everyone who sent in treats and/or came to the party.  Below are some photos.

Playing Pass the Pumpkin

For a little fun I showed the kids a youtube video of a singer performing the "Dynamite" song acapella.  He imitates all of the instruments with his mouth.  They loved singing along.  Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjCLQaTFXx0

As you know, in Math we have moved onto double digit addition with regrouping (or "carrying" if you are over age 30).  It is a difficult concept for some so we will be spending most of next week on it as well.

We sent home the Turkey Project today.  Most of the students remember seeing the decorated turkeys in the hall and are excited to try their hand at it.  Be sure to glue the turkey onto the construction paper for added sturdiness.  Please don't make them too heavy for me to hang on the wall with tape.

Enjoy the weekend!