Reading Buddies

Today was our first day reading with our 4th grade reading buddies! Students were introduced to their buddy and then enjoyed as their buddy read a story to them. Ms Sanchez and I are super excited to continue this program bi-monthly.

Check out our class Shutterfly page for more pictures!

No Bake Pumpkin Pie

For our Fun Foodie Friday this past week we made (and enjoyed) No Bake Pumpkin Pie. Per request of one of the parents, I am sharing the recipe for you to make and enjoy with your family and friends.

Mini No Bake Pumpkin Pies

Ingredients:

2 packages of mini shortbread pie shells (16 shells each)
1 (8oz) package cream cheese (or dairy free cream cheese), softened
1 (15oz) can pumpkin
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie seasoning
whipped cream, optional

In a medium mixing bowl combine cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, and cinnamon. Use a wooden mixing spoon to thoroughly incorporate ingredients. Taste and adjust spices and sugar if needed.

Fill a pastry bag or a ziptop bag with a small cut out of one corner and gently pipe pumpkin mixture into shortbread shells. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and cinnamon.

Happy (no) baking!

In Our Class This Week...

Wow what a week! I hope your kiddos shared their excitement but also some new information they learned this past week. Thank you to all the families that were able to donate items towards our pumpkin pies; all of this could not be done with out you!

REACH News:

Our class will be having a small celebration following the festival. Flyers went home Thursday and there is a sign up sheet on our door if you can bring anything. You can contact me or one of our wonderful room moms Mrs. Hua or Mrs. Cash for more information.

Classroom News:

Our class will be partnering with Ms. Sanchez's 4th graders to begin a reading buddy program. This  will be a great opportunity for the kiddos to increase their reading fluency and skills. 

Language Arts:

Unit 2-Week 2 "Nature Spy"

Weekly Test: Comprehension- Setting

Math:

Finish up Chapter 4 (Count and order numbers 0-10)
Students will understand the meaning of less
Students will use more and less to compare number values
Chapter 4 Test: Wednesday
Spooky Math 

Science:

Spiders, Bats, Skeletons, Oh My!

Social Studies:

Continue with Halloween Around the World

Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Mexico

Leadership:

Famous leaders

Please feel free to email me, or stop by the classroom with any questions or concerns you may have. 

I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you all once again for always donating items to our classroom and helping in any way possible. OUR classroom would not be what it is without your support!

Thank you!

B.Y.O.T

B. Y. O. T (Bring Your Own Technology)

If you attended the meeting and signed the proper paperwork, students may begin to bring their devices. Check the Educational Websites and Apps link at the top of the blog for some fun apps. 

For now, please download a QR reader. I have many stories that are linked to QR codes. If students bring their own headphones they can scan the code and sit quietly anywhere in the room to listen to a story. 

In Our Class This Week...

First, I'd like to thank you for all the donations for our Fun Foodie Friday. The kids made their own pumpkin dip to enjoy with vanilla wafers and apple slices. I have some fun activities planned for this week! 

School News:

Language Arts:

Unit 2 Week 1: "Flowers"

Weekly comprehension exam: Compare and Contrast

Math:

Continue with Chapter 4
Students will be able to compose and decompose numbers to 5.
Counting and ordering up to 10
Students will order numbers 0-10
Using fingers and toes to count on
Same number and more
Students will show and understand the meaning of same and more

Science:

All About Pumpkins!
Parts of a pumpkin
Life cycle of a pumpkin
Fun Foodie Friday- Pumpkin Pies!

We have plenty of pumpkin pie mix, however, if you can donate individual graham cracker pie crusts, cream cheese and whip cream that would be greatly appreciated. 

Social Studies:

Halloween Around the World
Places covered this week:
Ireland, Australia, Canada and China

Leadership:

Safety with products and medicine

Please feel free to email me or stop by the room with any questions or concerns; I would be more than happy to help! 

Thank you for all that you do, my class would not be what it is without YOU! 

In Our Class This Week...

Let's take a took at some REACH news:

Great California Shake Out
October 16th at 10:16am

Our Week in the Classroom

Language Arts:

Unit 1-Week 6 

Unit 1 test

Student will be taking their first unit test this week

The test will cover most of the skills learned these past 6 weeks:

Letters sounds
Sight words (I, am , the, little, a, to)
Comprehension skills (character, setting, sequence, classify and categorize)

Math:

Finish up chapter 3 and test

Students will order objects by size, length or weight

Begin Chapter 4

Composing and decomposing numbers (5)

Science:

Staying healthy

With the Jog-a-thon around the corner I thought it would be great to teach the kiddos ways to stay healthy:

Exercise
Staying clean: brushing teeth, washing hands, coughing/sneezing on arm
Food: healthy vs. junk food

Foody-Fun-Friday

For this week's activity students will be creating a fun healthy snack with a halloween twist!

***Please let me know if you can donate any of the following items: red apple slices, vanilla wafers, lite cool whip, instant vanilla pudding mix, small cans of pumpkin

Next week we will start our pumpkin unit so please let me know if you can donate small pumpkins (one for each student), 1 medium and 1 large pumpkin

Social Studies:

Celebrate Christopher Columbus Day: make hats

Leadership:

Listening to others
Keeping our hands to ourselves
Being great friends

Classroom News:

Please continue to talk to your student about the importance of school behavior: using kind words, sharing, using the bathroom at the appropriate times, and following our school rules:

1. Listen while the teacher is talking

2. Follow directions quickly

3. Respect others, respect yourself, respect your school

4. Raise your hand to speak or stand

5. Keep your hands to yourself

6. Keep your dear teacher happy

As always, please feel free to send me an email or stop by the room with any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!

In Our Class This Week...

Can you believe our first month of school has come and gone?! October is going to be filled with lots of learning and fun activities, just like the month of September. October is also the month we begin Kindergarten leveled rotations and school wide rotations for ELD, RTI and second language. Students last week were sent home with a letter stating where they will be going. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

Lets begin with some school news:

Bring Your Own Technology Meeting: Monday, October 13 @ 5:30PM

Also, coming soon to REACH:

This Week:

Language Arts:

Math:

Finish up Chapter 2 and test

Numbers 0-9 (write and compare numbers)

We pushed back the date to accommodate the leveled rotations starting this week

Begin Chapter 3
Students will order objects by size.
Students will use comparing words and pair up sets of objects.
Students will order objects by length

Social Studies:

Christopher Columbus

Science:

Boats:
How are different kinds of boats made
What makes boats float?

Experiment (FRIDAY)
Students will make their own boats out of straws, tape, aluminum paper, styrofoam plates, Popsicle sticks

*If you are able to donate any of these items please feel free to email me :)

Leadership:

Leading by example

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me or stop by my classroom.

Johnny Appleseed Celebration

Friday, September 26th was a day for the books! The students got to taste different (delicious) apple products- from apple juice, apple slices, an apple muffin, apple pie, and applesauce. They even got to watch apples being pressed into juice (and taste real apple juice) thanks to Mrs. Votruba. Here are a few pictures from our celebration:

A special thank you to those parents who volunteered and those who donated. THANK YOU!