The whole family: Sunny, Buttercup, & Daisy
We begin every morning with journal writing. We pick our own topic: what we did last night, what we are doing today, exciting events, etc. By journaling we have learned: every sentence begins with a capital letter, punctuation goes at the end of every sentence, to space our words, & to independently use a dictionary to look up unknown words. We love to bring our journals to our big carpet. We make two standing groups: an inner circle & outer circle. Mrs. J plays music & the inside circle begins to walk around. When she stops the music, we stop & read our journal writing to the closest person in the outer circle. As the game continues the outer circle might walk & share. It is AWESOME & fun to listen to what our friends wrote about.
We were all smiles as we left for 10 days off! Hope the weather is nice! Buddy Bear is headed to Colorado skiing with Sensational Seth & Colossal Brain Cole's families. Hope he doesn't break a leg! He left wearing a ski hat & sweater.
Will a bar magnet attract a paper clip through a plastic cup?
YES IT WILL!
Will a magnet wand attract a paper clip through a piece of paper & a tissue? Yes it will!
Will a magnet wand move a magnet marble through a 1 inch table? Yes it will!
Will a magnet wand move a magnet ball through a chapter book? Yes it will!
Will a magnet want attract a paper clip through a plastic cup & a book? Yes it will!
Will a magnet wand move a magnet ball inside of a plastic cup if the cup is a top a tissue, piece of paper, 2 small books, & one chapter book? Yes it will! What if you then stick the magnet wand under a 1 inch table? YES IT WILL! Wow!
After visiting the Council House at the Cherokee Heritage Center. The students suggested setting up our own Multiage Council House. We did just that & now it is a special place for students to sit down, talk out problems, & establish solutions. Hanging on the front you will see a heart (symbolizing kind words), a hand (symbolizing gentle touches), & a smiley face (symbolizing smiles). The symbols come from our Great Expectations character program. After working out their conflict, the students then have closure by giving each other one of the 5 H's: handshake, high five, hip bump, Hollywood "air kiss", or a hug. The Council House has been very successful! The students are now resolving conflicts & coming up with solutions on their own. A skill they can use for life. When it is not being used as a place to resolve conflict the students use it as a place to read.
Yesterday was career day. Mrs. J talks to us often about having goals for our future. It is important to have and work towards our goals. We dressed for the day. It was fun to see what everyone wanted to be. Mrs. J wants us all to go to college so we will have more opportunities. We read Oh The Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss. We want to go a lot of places when we grow up.
Our Job & Affirmation chart is located next to our Council House. The students & I use the drop shaped papers to write positive messages or compliments to each other. We have been doing this since school started. Some of the children choose to leave their drops in their clear pocket, while others like to take them home or keep them in their pencil boxes. I occasionally peek at the messages to see what they are saying to each other. I have read many great statements from "Thank you for helping me with my word sort." to "You are such a wonderful friend." I feel it is a great way for the students to let others know how they feel. This idea comes from the book
Mrs. Jones' good friend Melanie Bolding, a retired first grade teacher, came and read 
These are some of the many Dr. Seuss books we have in our library.
We brought a lot of Dr. Seuss books from home to leave in our classroom library for the next two weeks. We have so many and are loving getting to read them all! 
January & February Students of the Month 
