Wk 25 Spelling Bee

Congratulations to this week's Spelling Bee winners!
1st Place - Alexis Keown
2nd Place - Chyanne Avans
3rd Place - Connor McFall

Book-It News

Congratulations to the following students for
meeting their goal for February's Book It program.

Isaiah Harris

Bailey Noles

March will be the last month for Pizza Hut's Book It program. Our goal for March is to read 10 books by March 31st. Keep up the great work, everyone!

Alliteration w/ Mrs. Massey

On Friday, February 20, we visited the Media Center for our weekly story time with Mrs. Massey. She taught us about alliteration. Do you know what alliteration is? Well, alliteration is the repeated occurrence of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words in the same phrase. You may know them as "tongue twisters". An example is the Mother Goose rhyme, "Peter Piper."

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Mrs. Massey shared Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Smirking and self-important, the slug keeps slithering his way up a highly suspect slope. Will the slug stop? Are the sparrow, the spider, and the swallowtail simply trying to sabotage the slug's progress? Why is everyone screaming at the slug? This book has a special treat! In each picture the illustrator hid the letter S, much like the "I Spy" series. Students loved searching for it on each page!

Mrs. Massey challenged each student to come up with their own silly sentence as an example of alliteration. Students enjoyed the task and did quite well. Here are a few examples:

Caring Camden can catch caterpillars.
Eli eats eleven eggs.
Bailey bought big buttons.
Alexis always acts angelic.
Trystan tries tricks and treats.

Wk 25 Learning Menu

This week, we're learning...

Phonics
Long and short vowel review,
oi, wr, ph, long u

Spelling
-ake
-ue
-aw

Writer’s Workshop
Interrogative Sentences
Declarative Sentences
Learning Link: HMS Sweet Tooth

Reader’s Workshop
Story Elements
Characters

Math Workshop
Weight, Capacity,
Tools of Measurement
Learning Link: Poddle Measuring

Fluency Passages
The Fox and the Bird
A Fun Lake
A Birthday Party
A Good Friend

Word Wall Words
Individualized Lists
Learning Link: Sight Words with Sampson

Math Skills Review
Numeration

A Note about Homework

Please notice the addition of a math homework page on this week’s homework calendar. Only complete the section for each night’s homework. Math sheet should remain in folders throughout the week. I will remove the page on Friday to grade and record.

AR Update

Wow! These kids are really reading! They have read and taken quizzes on more than 2262 books. Students have earned 886.7 points. 73% of the books read have been fiction, with the remaining 27% nonfiction. They have read over 1 million words! I am so proud of the diligent work student are putting into our Accelerated Reading program. Way to go, everyone! Keep Reading!

AR Congratulations!

Camden Neal - 50 Point Club
Alexis Keown - 125 Point Club
Kai Lucas - 75 Point Club

Way to go, guys! Keep reading!

Measuring Keepers

This week, we are continuing our unit on measurement. On Tuesday, we used one-inch tiles as our standard measuring tool. We completed an activity called Measuring Keepers. Students were given a set of paper fish to measure. We had three types of fish: mackeral, alewife, and perch. Each type of fish had a different keeper measurement. For example, the perch was considered a keeper if it was 6 inches or longer. Students measured the fish and recorded the measurements on a recording sheet along with the decision of whether or not the fish was a keeper. We had so much fun doing this activity. Check out our photos!

Today, students were given a 12X18 inch sheet of construction paper. Their task for the day was to design a fish that would meet the criteria they had to set for a "keeper". I was amazed at the creativity and hard work students exhibited today. Look at our fish!

Happy Valentine's Day!

How do we measure up?

In Math this week, we are exploring the answer to this and other questions about measurement. We began our unit with an activity called How Many Hearts. Each student was asked to cut out a construction paper heart and use it to measure various items found in the classroom. When we got back together to discuss our findings, we discovered a huge problem! None of our answers were the same. I measured the crayon box to be two hearts long. However when Eli measured it, he got 12. How can that be right? After much discussion, we came to the conclusion that hearts are not good measuring tools. Why, you might ask. Our hearts were not the same size. Therefore, all our measurements were different. Hearts were a non-standard unit of measurement.



On Tuesday, we explored measurement again. Due to Monday's discovery of differing measurements, we decided we would all use the same thing. We chose paper clips. All the paper clips were the same size. It was a standard measurement because each tool used to measure was the same length. Here are a few photos of our measuring adventure.

Today, we used a ruler to measure. Our unit of measurement was inches. Students commented that using a ruler was easier than paper clips. The paper clips moved around a bit and were hard to keep straight when measuring.

What will tomorrow bring?

Informational Writing

We have been working on our nonfiction unit in Writer's Workshop. Last week, we learned where to look for information if we had questions or just wanted to learn more. On Monday, students were asked to choose an animal or insect for their informational report. We completed a K-W-L chart to help us prepare for researching our topic. In the K column, we recorded the information we already knew about our topic. In the W column, we recorded what we wanted to know about our animal/ insect. The L column would be used to record the things we learn about our topic.

Our next step was to put what we've learned into action. We visited Mrs. Massey in our Media Center on Tuesday and Wednesday. She and Ms. Jennifer helped us locate books about our topic (animal or an insect). If a book was not available, we knew to use the Internet or an Encyclopedia. Several of us used all three sources to gather our information and answer the questions we posed in our W(want to know) column. As we gathered information, we recorded our findings on our K-W-L chart.

On Thursday and Friday, we continued to research our topics in the classroom. We needed to make sure we could tell what our animal looked like, what they eat, where they live, and how they are born. Once all information was gathered, we used a web graphic organizer to group like information together and make a plan for writing.

I am amazed at how quickly students picked up the idea and practice of research. It was fascinating to watch as they poured over books, encyclopedias, and used the Internet. I cannot wait to read the final products. They have learn so much. Take a look at these photos...

First Grade Goes Green

First Graders at Gilbert Elementary are kicking off a new recycling project. Mrs. Eager had the idea to recycle paper after seeing so much waste at school. We agreed and decided to take action. Some of our first grade classes decorated paper boxes, rescued from the trash of course, with recycling messages. Other classes made posters to encourage everyone's involvement. Each first grade teacher chose one to two students from her class to do a short presentation on Friday's Morning News Show, which is shown over closed circuit to the entire school. Mrs. Epperson composed a wonderful song for these students to sing and for all first graders to learn. Following the news, boxes were distributed to each classroom.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mrs. Eager took our first load of paper to be recycled. She discovered the recycling center will take all paper as long as it is free of staples. Magazines, catalogs, and old phone books can be recycled. Newspapers are also accepted. So, if you would like to help or clean out your old magazines and such, send them to school with your child. Every little bit helps! It's up to us to help take care of our planet!

Recycling Song

We are the Gilbert Gators.
We recycle every day.
We take back all our paper
And crush our cans this way.
We will make our Earth better
for us and everyone!
We are the Gilbert Gators
and recycling is FUN!

GO GREEN!

Wk 23 Newsletter

Valentine’s Snack & Cards

Our party will be Friday, February 13th at 11:45. A note was sent home last Friday with details as to what we need for the event. Our class will exchange Valentine’s cards with our classmates on Friday. Each student must make a card for everyone.

Important Reminders

• We have P.E. on Monday and Wednesday of this week. Be sure to wear tennis shoes on these days!

• Send in Box Tops and Campbell’s Soup labels. We would love to win the contest again!

• New Pizza Hut Book-It forms are in folders today! February’s goal is to read 10 books.

• We will have ice cream on Friday. Please send $0.50.

• The Six Flag’s Six Hour Club forms are due February 24th. Be sure to write down your books and time spent reading. If you have misplaced your form, you may record titles and time read on a sheet of notebook paper.

Box Top Challenge

We need BOX TOPS! Coach Neal challenged the school to bring in lots of Box Tops so that we can raise money for our playground. This month’s reward is a “movie and popcorn” party. Please send in BOX TOPS by February 28th.

This Week at a Glance
Here’s a peek at what we will be learning this week!

Math Workshop
Measurement
Inches
Centimeters

Writer’s Workshop
Report Writing

Reader’s Workshop
ABC Order
Pronouns

Phonics
/ew/ spelled oo
ue, u_e, _ew
/ow/ spelled ow and ou

Spelling
-ob
-ide
-age & -ace

Fluency Passages
The Rabbit and the Turtle
Jeans
The White House
Basketballs on Wheels

Word Wall Words
Individualize lists

Clipart courtesy of Cute Colors

Spelling Bee Winners 2-5-09

Today's Spelling Bee Winners

First Place - Alexis Keown
Second Place - Chyanne Avans
Third Place - Kai Lucas

Way to go guys!

S-N-O-W!