Monday Update

Hi Parents,

Take a look at our delicious cupcakes made with oil patels.  We learned about value (adding white to make something whiter and adding black to make it darker and then added white on our cupcakes to show where the light is hitting it.

Today, I am sending home an order form for class pictures.  Pictures are on Thursday morning at 9:30. 

I am also sending home the spring break fitness form.   It is a fun way for students to keep up with your activity over Spring Break.

Students contnue to work on their animal reports, doing lots of research and writing about their animals.  These are coming along really nicely.

This Thursday is also Suzanna's last day at Sandburg.   We will miss her and her family so much.

Finally, our class blogger this week:

Giraffes and Leprechauns

Happy Monday!  Take a look at these gorgeous giraffes your children made today.  I love the personalities that shine through.

The Leprechaun Traps are arriving!  Make sure to have yours here by Thursday, March 17th (of course, getting it here by Wednesday is even better).   Here are a few that showed up today.  

I think we might catch a leprechaun or two on St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is also the day of our Science Expo.  Students will get a chance to walk through and see all the displays made by Sandburg students.   It should be terrific.

Our class blogger this past week:

Happy March

Look closely.... these are pictures of our 1st graders in their houses looking out their windows at things that inspire them.

Our artwork was inspired by Jacob Lawrence's The Studio.  We read about his artwork and how this painting shows his Seattle studio with him looking out at Harlem (his inspiration).  Then we created our own window scenes.

Our class blogger this week:

Be sure to check our upcoming events on the sidebar.  This month, we will wish Suzanna and her family good luck as they move to their new home all the way on the East Coast.  Suzanna's last day will be Thursday, March 24th.  

Music Concerts are this week.    Stop by either Tuesday at 1:30 or Friday at 11:25 to see what your child has been working on in music.  They are really looking forward to singing for you.

An example of the class calendar we do each month

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish!

We have been having so much fun with Dr. Seuss!  His birthday is Wed., March 2nd.

We made these fish today and on Friday, we made Cat in the Hats with our big buddies from Mrs. Nelson's room.

Buddy Classes and Siblings too!

Busy Big Buddy Work

Mrs. Morissey and Mrs. Nelson during Buddy Time

On March 2nd, we will also be meeting Erik Brooks and throughout the week, the whole school will be stopping everything to STOP, DROP, and READ.

This Friday we will have a READ-IN from 9-10:30.  Bring lots of books for our fun morning of reading, reading, reading!  (We will be sending a note home about this too)

This week we have a science assembly on Thursday, March 3rd which leads us right up to the Science Expo on March 17th for those students who have registered for this.

Be sure to check the upcoming events section on the sidebar for all the March happenings - including the Music Concerts... which re the week of March 8th (a note came home today).

Have a wonderful week!

Our monthly calendar was made today.

Tuesday Update

Happy Tuesday!   I hope everyone had a delightful long weekend.   I heard all about the fun trips and adventures folks had during their mid-winter break - lots of students wrote very elaborate pieces about their vacation during writing time.

In fact, we have been working very hard on elaborating by giving lots of details, using our senses, and describing exactly who, what, where, when, and why.

We also read all about Georgia O'Keefe today and how she mostly painted things found in nature (like shells, flowers, hills, mountains, the sky) instead of people or animals.   Then students created their own landscapes in the style of O'Keefe's Evening Star painting.

Today, your child brought home the Scholastic Newspaper we read about President's Day, their math sheet (how addition can help you with subtraction), and an important note about our Author Visit with Erik Brooks. 

I am really excited about this.  He is a Seattle author who has written, Practically Perfect Pajamas (which I read to the class earlier this year), and has a new book out called, Polar Opposites.   If you would like to purchase a book, please return the order form by this Friday, Feb. 25th.

His books are wonderful.  Here is a link to his webpage:  http://erikbrooks.com/

To top off our day, we also created a new seating arrangement.  Mrs. Morissey and I try to do this once a month... it's a good excuse to clean out the desks, sit by new people, and rotate through the one desk that isn't a 'partner' desk (all of our desks are 2-tops except for one and we have 21 students... so one lucky person gets their own desk every once in awhile... but always connected to a table group of friends.)

Remember that the book rodeo is this Friday and have a wonderful afternoon.