Star Student: Brianna

Brianna was our star student today and shared her special pictures and a treat with the class. Her Dad even read to our class- the kids just loved it! They also loved asking her Dad lots of questions about himself. :) Brianna loves to read, Justin Bieber and the color pink. Thank you for the yummy treats! Yay Brianna!

Shadow box

This is a shadow box that Ms. McAvoy's Dad built for items that were donated by a student's father from last year. He was deployed to Afghanistan for most of the year last year. Our class visited with him before he left and while he was gone, our class made cards for him and donated items to make a care package for him with all of his favorite things. We also made a special "thank you" video for him (you can find this video on our blog under the tab for February titled "thank you video").

When he came back in April, he returned to the class and gave us some special mementos from his journey. This shadow box will always remain in our class and serve as a special reminder to appreciate the people who fight and make sacrifices for our freedom.

Star Student: Justin!

On Friday, Justin was our star student! He shared his pictures that were displayed in the hallway and shared some treats with the class. Justin loves fast cars and the colors orange and gray. Thank you to Justin and his mom for the Nilla wafers and goldfish snacks! Yay Justin!

Math Unit

These pages describe what our students will be working on in Math. These are examples of questions and problems we will be practicing.

What Cube Comes Next?

The students worked in pairs making a variety of color cube patterns. Partners took turns guessing what colors would come next in the patterns.

First Day of Centers!

The students were all very excited to start working on our centers. Everyone had lots of fun! The centers are great ways to practice a variety of reading skills and are always one of the most favorite parts of our day!

Math Investigation: Missing Numbers

Yesterday, we played the Math game called Missing Numbers where students hid numbers on a 100 chart and each player got a turn guessing which number was missing. We have been working on learning what number comes before, after and in between by exploring the 100 chart in class. The kids have noticed lots of patterns on the 100 chart and really loved playing this game. Hopefully, everyone had a chance to play Missing Numbers at home! Save your 100 chart to work on other Math activities and play this game again at home :)

Flag Raising

One of the things that we love about Alimacani Elementary School is the tradition of having a Flag Raising ceremony at the beginning of every month. It is a special ceremony where everyone in the school gathers in the courtyard to raise the flag and we have special performances by a different grade level each time.

Our Flag Raising ceremony today was to honor the memory of the people who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001. We also recognized any First Responders who were at the ceremony. Flag Raising is very special to our school and we hope that you will be able to join us for our next one on October 7th at 8:30am.

Star Student: Holly!

Holly was our star student this week. Her special pictures were displayed in the hallway all week. She shared about her pictures and friends asked her questions about herself. We all got to write and draw a picture for her Star Student book. Thank you to Holly and her mom for the yummy fruit snacks! Yay Holly!

All About ME!

Students decorated an All About Me Sea Creature keeping with our school theme of Sailing the Seas of Success. Everyone got to share their project with the class. It's so much fun getting to know new friends!

Partner Reading!

This week we began partner reading during Reader's Workshop. Partner reading is when students are paired up to be reading buddies so they can help each other with tough words and discuss and enjoy books together. They are paired up based on similar reading levels and abilities so they can become better readers and learn from each other. We alternate independent reading and partner reading throughout the week and the kids just love it!

Ordering Numbers!

In Math Investigations we have been learning about the different values of numbers and putting them in order. We have also been learning Math vocabulary like greater than, less than and equal to. Students worked together in pairs to order numbers from 1 to 10 and to show this amount using linking cubes. We observed that the cubes got taller and taller by one number.

Star Student: Aiden!

On Friday, we had our first Star Student presentation. Aiden was our star student and got to display his special pictures out in the hallway all week and then present them to class on Friday. Each child in class drew a picture and wrote about Aiden and we gave him a little Star Student book to take home. Aiden's parents joined us for lunch and brought the class a healthy treat of apples. YUM! Congrats Aiden!

Math Investigations!

The kids are having so much fun learning different Math games in class. We have played the game of Compare and Collect 20.
Compare is a game that teaches the kids about greater than, less than and equal to. Partners each draw a card and whoever has the greater number gets to keep both cards.

Collect 20 is a game that teaches them how to make 20. Partners each have a turn rolling the die and collect that many counters to put on the game board. They play until they reach 20. Math can be so much fun!

Independent Reading!

Last week, we began independent reading. Independent Reading is a time during Reader's Workshop where the kids can read and enjoy their books around the room. They really love reading and are looking forward to beginning partner reading soon!