"Happiness never decreases by being shared." -Buddha

Monday, November 19, 2012

Flat Class is Packing Up!!


Today we addressed envelopes and finished writing our letters. Everyone is so excited about going on this adventure that we could hardly do our other work today!!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

I wonder....an IDIOM

 At Wonderopolis.com they have a "wonder" a day. Have you ever wondered about:

When Should You Come Out of Your Shell?

 Did you know?

"Have you ever been told to come out of your shell? People sometimes use this phrase to refer to kids who are shy. If you’re shy, sometimes you keep to yourself and don’t interact much with others.
Keeping to yourself is kind of like a turtle hiding inside its shell. Turtles feel safe inside their shells. Likewise, you might feel safe from the outside world when you keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself.
However, we believe most turtles would tell you — if they could talk — that you need to come out of your shell every once in a while. When you do, you encounter the world and meet new friends that make life more enjoyable." From Wonderopolis: Wonder # 776

Reading Class number 2 has been working on idioms. 
What is your favorite idiom? or
Is there an idiom that you use all the time?

Monday, November 12, 2012

Writing Workshop Goes Flat

Today reading group 1 and reading group 2 read the book, Flat Stanley. As we read, students created a flat version of themselves. We will be working on the following skills while we send our flat selves on an extended field trip around the world:
  • letter writing
  • sentence structure
  • addressing envelopes
  • geography
  • map reading
  • reading skills 
  • understanding cultural differences
  • computer based research

Monday, November 5, 2012

Check out our "Tricky Word Wall"


Here are some of our "Tricky" Word Wall words. The kids find words while they are reading and post them for practice. Students have to read the tricky word wall on their way out the classroom door, as their exit ticket. Most of these tricky words are no longer tricky at all.

The students loved creating the wordle (at wordle.net) and being able to read the words while we made this. In fact, they were so excited by creating the wordle that they didn't even realize they were reading!!!

Wordle: Taylor Word Wall