Pumpkin Palooza {A Super Long Post About Our Week}

PUMPKINS, PuMpKiNs, pumpkins…everywhere.  This week we started learning about pumpkins in science for our unit on plants and animals.  In addition, we began reading literature on pumpkins.  Wednesday was our annual pumpkin investigations.  What a fun day!  This is the third year we have had an investigations day and it is always a blast.  For the investigations day we set up several stations that the students rotate to.  The stations consist of weighing, force/motion, sink/float, measurement (circumference and height), and counting.  In the morning, the students made predictions about each of the pumpkin rotations.  Later in the afternoon, we actually began our investigations.

Today was our second trip to The Peach Tree Farm and can you believe it…it rained again!!!!!!  This has never happened.  But…we made it!  It rained on the way there.  Once we got there, it continued for a short while…very light.  Then, it stopped for the majority of the trip.  It rained slightly towards the end of our hayride.  The Peach Tree Farm was so accommodating and we thank them very much for working with us.  They were so nice today to pop popcorn for all the students, parents, and teachers since we weren’t going to be eating lunch at their facilities.  So, before we left, we all enjoyed popcorn in the barn.  We didn’t go into the patches to pick the pumpkins today either.  We tried to save time…just incase it began to rain hard and we’d have to leave.  We wanted to ensure that everyone was able to grab a pumpkin to take home.  The kids did get to walk through the patches and look at the vines, flowers, and pumpkins.  It was cloudy and a little chilly, but overall it was a great day.  Thank you to everyone!  Thank you for allowing your child to go on the trip again!  Thank you to those parents and grandparents that attended the trip again!  We certainly couldn’t have done it without you.  Here are some pictures of our day…

When we returned from the pumpkin patch, we ate our lunches.  Afterwards, we prepared our room and ourselves for our fall party.  To say we had a busy day is an understatement.  The party was a huge success.  Thank you to all of the parents that donated treats for our party.  Also a special thank you to the parents that came and helped out at the party and brought a game for the students to play.  They loved it and had so much fun. 

After the party game, we snacked on our treats and watched the movie Spookley the Square Pumpkin.  The kids enjoyed it.  I’m so glad this day was such a a success, but as I mentioned earlier, it couldn’t have happened without all of you.  So…THANK YOU!

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

11/10 – NO SCHOOl…PD day

11/11 – Family Literacy Night 5-7pm

11/11-11/14 – Book Fair Week (we will visit the book fair as a class)

11/14 – PTO Movie Night (doors open at 6:30)

11/18 – PTO Member Meeting 6:30 pm (cafeteria)

11/25 – First Grade Thanksgiving Feast and Midterms go home today

11/26- 11/28 – NO SCHOOL…Thanksgiving Break

*Be on the lookout for more information pertaining to our annual first grade thanksgiving feast.  This is a fantastic event that we do every year in first grade.  Just a heads up, we will need your help once again in making this happen.  We will ask for parent volunteers to help server our thanksgiving meal and clean up.  We would love to have your help.  We’ll be sending home information soon about this event.  In advance, we thank you for everything you do to help make your child’s first grade year a memorable one. 

Red Ribbon Week

Thank you to all of my parents who attended parent teacher conferences last week.  I was so delighted to speak to you all about your child's progress thus far in first grade.  I am so pleased to be partnering with you this year to help your child reach their fullest potential.  I am gearing up for a second round of parent teacher conferences.  I will send home reminders tomorrow for those of you that have conferences this week.

In the busy scheme of things....I went and forgot to send home the red ribbon week dress up themes.  I am so sorry.  But, hopefully most of you will see this post or the post I made on our class Facebook page.   Below is the information about red ribbon week.

RED RIBBON WEEK
October 27TH – 30TH 2014
RED RIBBON WEEK IS HELD EVERY OCTOBER AND IS ONE OF THE OLDEST AND LARGEST DRUG PREVENTION CAMPAIGNS IN THE COUNTRY. IT PROVIDES A TIME TO PLEDGE TO LIVE A SAFE AND DRUG-FREE LIFE, CELEBRATE THOSE WHO DO NOT USE DRUGS, REMEMBER THOSE WHOM WE HAVE LOST IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS, AND HONOR THOSE WHO WORK TO PROMOTE LIVING A LIFE FREE FROM DRUG USE AND ADDICTION. THE CALIFORNIA ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AND STAFF WILL BE DRESSING UP DURING RED RIBBON WEEK. OUR 5TH GRADE STUDENTS VOTED ON OUR RED RIBBON SPIRIT DRESS UP DAYS. THEIR TOP FOUR CHOICES ARE LISTED BELOW.
 

MONDAY OCT 27 – DON’T DOZE OFF ON DRUGS!
Wear your pajamas (no slippers).
 

TUESDAY OCT 28 – SCARE AWAY DRUGS!
Wear crazy hair (no hair color).
 

WEDNESDAY OCT 29 – DOUBLE OR TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE AND STICK TOGETHER AGAINST DRUGS!
Multiplicity Day – Wear exactly the same clothes as your friend/s.
 

THURSDAY OCT 30 – PINTOS PLEDGE TO BE DRUG FREE!
Wear clothes with USA colors.
 

FRIDAY OCT 31 – HAPPY HALLOWEEN NO SCHOOL

Learning about Setting....

This week the students learned about setting.  We learned that setting is not just where the story takes place.  Setting is the place, time, and environment of the story.  Place means where the story is taking place.  Time means when the story takes place.  Environment means what the environment is like...for example what is it like outside.  Was it hot, cold, snowy, or rainy?  We started our lesson off my discussing each of these words and what they mean.  I gave them examples of places, times, and environments.  Then, I read the book The Napping House by Audrey Wood.  Together we created an anchor chart that listed the setting of the book.  Afterwards, they had the chance to try this on their on.  We did a cooperative learning activity called carousel.  The students rotated around the classroom to posters that displayed pictures from a variety of picture books.  Together as a group, they were asked to brainstorm the setting that each of these pictures showed.  We then came together as a class and discussed the answers that were written on each of the posters.  We also added anything else to the setting description that we thought needed to be added.  This was a great introduction to setting.  Next week, we will continue our study on setting.  Afterwards, we will begin our unit on characters. 

Thank you all for your understanding on the movie change for movie night.  Originally when we looked at the movie release dates, Maleficent was scheduled to come out this week.  We never checked the dates again and apparently the release date was pushed back to November 4th.  After checking with the PTO president on the movies that were already scheduled to be shown, we chose Mr. Peabody and Sherman.  We hope that movie night was still enjoyable for you and your family.  Thank you so much to everyone that came to movie night.  Also, thank you to all the parents that volunteered your time at the movie night.  We couldn't have done it without your help.  Also, a huge thank you to all the parents that donated money and items for raffles.  We appreciate all of the generosity shown to our grade level data team.