November 9th, 2012- Signs of Fall

Highlights from the Week:

• Special Theme of the Week: Signs of Fall/Leaves
• Heart word of the Week: go
• In language arts, we practiced the strategies of identifying characters and asking ourselves questions while we read.
• In writing, we wrote about an American Flag on election day.  We also used our creativity and turned a leaf into something different (E.g. car, boat, etc.).  We then wrote about what we changed it in to.  
• In math, we were introduced to a couple new math centers that deal with manipulating shapes in order to explore and discover how to manipulate shapes and make them fit together.
• In social studies, we talked about the election on Tuesday.  We also decided to come up with a class "stuffed animal" president.  To do this, each animal told the class what he/she would do if he/she was president.  Chester the Racoon said that he would give them a movie and let them eat popcorn.  Jazzy the Giraffe said that she would give extra recess and a popsicle if they voted for her.  Then, we worked in groups of two to make a campaign poster for our candidates.  We then stood in front of the class and tried to convince our classmates to vote for a particular stuffed animal.  Next we voted and tallied the votes on the smartboard.  Jazzy the Giraffe won.
• In science, we learned about fall and leaves.  We used our senses to explore how the seasons are changing.
• Some highlights from community centers include: at our science center, we are exploring leaves.  We are measuring how big they are and identifying parts.  At our dramatic play, we still have our puppet theater and have really been expanding our creativity.  We have been making signs and programs.  We have also been making things like "lights" that we feel we need to put on a show.