April 26th, 2013- Recycling

Lakeshore Bond Proposal:

• Information can be found outside the office.
• Or on the Lakeshore Public Schools web page. Here are two links:

http://www.lakeshoreschools.k12.mi.us/bond.html

http://lpsvision2013.com/

• Here is a link for frequently asked questions:

http://lpsvision2013.com/?page_id=26

• Here is a link for why a new elementary school is needed:

http://lpsvision2013.com/?page_id=402



Highlights from the Week:

• Special theme of the week: Recycling
• Heart word of the week: with
• In language arts, we practiced making inferences while we read.  We used clues from the book and our brains to come up with answers to questions.  We also practiced rhyming words in the -en family, counting syllables, and substituting different sounds at the beginning of words.
• In writing, we finished up our poetry unit.  We all picked our favorite poem and then published it.
• In math, we were introduced to a variety of new math centers.  One is called count and compare unifix cubes, where we are practicing various counting strategies and comparing quantities.  Another new center is called Beat you to 30 cents.  With this center, we are learning how to exchange 10 pennies for 1 dime.   We were also introduced to a frog center where we are practicing addition and subtraction.
• In social studies, we are learning about recycling and taking care of the earth.  We read the Lorax and talked about what could happen if we don't take care of the earth.  We also had a visit from Princess Wasteful.  We discovered that she was not very kind to the earth and we had to teach her ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
• During community centers, we have a few centers that have a recycling theme.  At our art center, we have a creation station.  We are taking recyclables and turning them into something new.  At another center, we are practicing sorting recyclable materials into categories (paper, plastic, metal).

April 19th, 2013- Plants

Lakeshore Bond Proposal:

• Information can be found outside the office.
• Or on the Lakeshore Public Schools web page. Here are two links:

http://www.lakeshoreschools.k12.mi.us/bond.html

http://lpsvision2013.com/

• Here is a link for frequently asked questions:  

http://lpsvision2013.com/?page_id=26

• Here is a link for why a new elementary school is needed:

http://lpsvision2013.com/?page_id=402

 

Highlights from the Week:

• Special Theme of the Week: Plants
• Heart Word of the Week: look
• In language arts, we practiced the strategy of retelling some of the important elements of a story.  We also practiced coming up with opposites of words, coming up with rhyming words in the -ake family, blending sounds together, and also figuring out words when a sound is taken away.  We have also continued to practice handwriting and writing letters within dotted lines.  Our focus for this week was on the letter "m" and the letter "p".
• In writing, we continued to write poetry.  We are writing some awesome poems!  This week, we learned about pattern poems, descriptive poems, and poems with onomatopoeias in them.
• In math, we did some activities to practice writing numbers and counting quantities.  We practiced counting quantities in as many ways possible.  We are also learning about items that measure what what they measure (E.g. length, weight, time, temperature).
• In science, we have started a variety of experiments to truly understand what plants need.  We are testing to see what type of earth materials seeds grow best in.  We are trying to grow seeds in soil, sand, rocks, and water.  We are also conducting an experiment to see if plants need sun, water, air, and space to grow.
• During community centers, we have continued to have many plant based centers.  This week, we have added a seed sorting center where we are sorting seeds with tweezers into different groups.  We are also making giant flowers out of paper.  These flowers are as tall as we are!

April 5th, 2013- Living and Nonliving

Lakeshore Bond Proposal:

• Information can be our outside the office.
• Or on the Lakeshore Public Schools web page. Here are two links:

http://www.lakeshoreschools.k12.mi.us/bond.html

http://lpsvision2013.com/

 

Highlights from the Week:

• Special Theme of the Week: Living/nonliving and Plants
• Heart Word of the Week: has
• In language arts, we read a nonfiction story.  We practiced retelling the sequence of events and identified some of the nonfiction elements that many nonfiction books have.  We also worked on comparing two Jack and the Beanstalk stories.
• In writing, we started writing kindergarten style poetry!  This week, we learned some of the important elements of poem: title, words, picture, and author.  We learned how to write list poems and poems with an ending thought. 
• In math, we are learning about measurement.  We are learning about different items that can measure and what they measure (E.g. weight, length, temperature, time). 
• In science, we started learning about living and nonliving things.  We learned that living things move, need food and water, grow and change, breathe, and reproduce.  We were not quite sure if plants are living things or not, so we decided to start learning more about plants by reading books and doing some science experiment.  This way, we can see if they need all the things that living things need.  We also went on a plant hunt to identify different types of plants.
• During community centers, we have a bunch of plant based activities.  At our art center, we are labeling parts of a flower and then water color painting the flower.  We are exploring dirt at our science center.  In dramatic play, we have a flower shop where we are practicing writing, reading, exchanging money, taking orders, running a flower shop, etc.  In our construction zone, we are building with blocks and using insects along with the blocks.  Many are building plants or underground structures for the bugs.  We also decorated cups and planted some grass seeds.