October/November Wrap-up

Happy Halloween ~ Happy Thanksgiving!

I think that we would all agree that the past couple months have just flown by!! We have been pretty busy in Room 220. In October, we finished up the Global Read Aloud activities and had fun at our Fall Festival Parties. We were very excited to be able to 'skype' with another classroom, Room 7, from a school in Cleveland where a friend of mine teaches. To say that the students enjoyed the activity would be an understatement....they LOVED it. The students were excited to see into another classroom and were very attentive when those students were sharing their 'mixed up chameleon' creations. We created our own mixed up chameleons too and some of the students were able to share them as well. 


In addition to 'skyping' with Room 7, we also had the opportunity to skype with a college children's literacy class from Arizona. Again, the students amazed me with their attention as a couple of the college students and the professor read a couple Eric Carle books. Some of the students even shared their mixed up chameleons again. I will be working on more 'skyping' opportunities for after the first of the year. 


The students have been working really hard in reading these past couple months. We really have been focusing on the standards of listening to text and being able to answer questions about the text. Please reinforce this skill at home as you read with your child. I often send home visuals for each of the books/themes which you can use to give your child choices or help support their verbal answers. If there is a book your child really enjoys and you would like visual to go along with it, let me know and I can send them home.



I will be posting the December newsletter this week. I will also send a hard copy home as well. There are going to be some changes ofter the first of the year. We will be starting a new curriculum. I will create a separate post about what that will look like and how our classroom might look a little different after the first of the year.

~ Melanie

A busy end to September.....

And what??? It is almost the end of October!!

We have been very busy in Room 220!! To conclude September, we learned a little bit about Johnny Appleseed, discussed apples, and made applesauce with the help of Ms. Morris. This time of year is always my favorite because there are so many fun activities to do and the students are so motivated and engaged during the cooking activities. Ms. Morris and I have been doing this unit together for over 10 years and each year we are amazed at the students and how much they enjoying participating in the recipe process....and of course, enjoying the yummy treat at the end.

Here are a couple pictures from our applesauce afternoon! I will be printing and send additional ones home with the students soon.

Z wearing his Johnny Appleseed hat.

D showing H the picture of honey.

D helping peel the apples.

M running the blender with the switch.

October brought us into the Global Read Aloud author study of Eric Carle. We started with the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar where we focused on the vocabulary: caterpillar, butterfly, apple, pear, plums, strawberries. The students enjoyed participating in various sequencing activities and using the 'talker' to help tell the story. All the students agreed that they liked this book.

Here are a couple pictures of our creations relating to The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

matching the fruit to days of the week

our own very hungry caterpillars

string fruit beads

helping our friends string fruit beads

The next week, we read the book Have You Seen My Cat? It was a great story for predictive text and we were able to learn about different types of cats, but the excitement for this book wasn't there as with other books. The did many group readings of the story using a variety of AAC devices. The best part of the week was when the students created their cat masks. Although the loved the masks, it was almost unanimous that the students DID NOT like the book.

Here are a couple of our favorite 'cats'!

Keep a look out this weekend for another update! We have some exciting new to share!!

~Melanie