Classroom updates

Wow!  It has been a while.  Sorry for the delay in posts lately.  We have all been recovering from some form of sickness in here and some even getting sick more than once as have my own family and myself.  I am definitely ready for warmer weather so we can go outside and get away from indoor recess.

We have lots of great things happening at CE in Room A these days.  We have been reading as many leprechaun stories as we can to help us learn about that tricky little fellow.  We are writing about being a leprechaun, making a trap to catch one, and even learning about shamrocks.  We will continue to work on this topic next week as well.

Our writing focus these past few days has been trying to write stories using the key words "first, next, then, and last."  We are using these words to help us include details in our stories and to have more to talk about.  We have also been using our "COPS" rules when checking stories.  These are C=capitals, O=organization (spacing), P=punctuation, and S=spelling.  If we notice an error, then the writer receives a "ticket".  The goal is to write a story without any tickets after you have proof read it before passing it on to someone else to read.  It has become a fun competition in the room to see who can get the least amount of tickets.

During shared reading we have really been working on identifying the main idea in stories.  We have also use the sentence starter, "This story is about..." to help us remember what the main idea is in a story.  We have also been working on identifying non-fiction vs. fiction stories in class.  I have noticed that when I use that vocabulary, a good number of children are getting confused on what I am asking.  This would be something to work on at home when you read a story.  Finally, we are starting to discuss the setting in a story.  We have talked about how it describes where and when a story takes place.  This is a difficult skill and we will continue to work on it as the month goes along.

Next Wednesday we will be taking a field trip to the high school planetarium to learn about the planets and stars.  This is a free trip for us and a very short bus ride.  :)  A permission slip will be sent home soon.

Hope everyone has a great week!