Much to be Thankful For

Thank you so much to all the families who came to visit with us today! The students really enjoyed sharing pumpkin pie and our video with you. Our class does have much to be thankful for and if you weren't able to join us this afternoon, you can still check out the video and today's pictures below. I hope each one of you has a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable break. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Gobble, Gobble!

As the autumn leaves continue to change, so do the students in my classroom. We've only been in school for 63 days, yet these 'superheroes in training' have learned so much! With Thanksgiving just a few days away, we've been participating in several turkey related activities.
Today was no exception as the students were read to by a real author. His name is Chris Francis and he lives in Canada. Through video, the students listened as Chris read us one of his books titled, Mr. Pancake Turkey. It was a great book and inspirational to my class since we just wrapped up Narrative Writing where we learned all about the elements of a good story. It was so nice of Chris to take the time to share the story with our class! You can check out more of Chris' work at http://www.francisart.com/
We also decided to try a bit of turkey drawing ourselves. Check out these super gobblers!

Chocolate Milk!

We have entered into a new genre of writing called Functional Writing. Students are learning how to give directions and create pieces of writing that tell "how to". They use transition words (first, next, then, last) to keep their steps in the correct order and create detailed pictures with labels.
Today the students learned how to make chocolate milk by watching each of the steps expertly demonstrated by their teacher (hahaha). Then the students had a chance to follow the steps and make their own chocolate milk. After they wrote about "How to Make Chocolate Milk", they were able to drink their delicious creations.
Who knew writing could be so yummy?!

Diamond D Ranch

Friday was our first field trip of the 2012-2013 school year. The students excitedly boarded the buses, dressed in their new, blue shirts, bursting with anticipation. Diamond D Ranch held many surprises and adventures for the students. We began with a wagon ride into the cow pasture where the students fed the cows and felt their long, rough, slobbery tongues. Throughout the day we fed goats, took care of a pony, had fun on the bouncy houses, went on a barrel ride, took a lunch break, rode horses, and fed some very hungry fish. The students were exhausted after the long day and the bus ride back to school was quiet as most of the students drifted off to sleep. Check out these pictures of our fun day!

Literacy Pumpkin

Awesome! A big thanks goes to Mrs. Porter who came in and helped create this fantastic fish with the students as well as everyone who came out to Super Learning Night and voted for us. We will be celebrating our first place with a Fall snack party. Yummy!

Fall Festival & Super Learning Night

We can't just learn, learn, learn all the time! :-)


So, once in a while we like to throw some fun into the mix. Last Thursday our school hosted Super Learning Night where students did various activities with Math, Reading, Writing, and Science. They also got to read with a super dog, win books on the book walk, buy pizza and cupcakes, and vote on their favorite literacy pumpkin (we're still waiting to hear who the winners were).

Our class also had a fall festival that Thursday where we let our creativity run wild! The students got to paint a pumpkin with a face like their favorite book character, create a fuzzy spider, decorate (and eat!) a delicious cookie, and practice their sight words while coloring a fall masterpiece.

Thanks to the parents who helped with the activities and who sent in supplies to make our fall festival a success! 

Omega Man

On Friday, October 19, all the students at New Berlin were introduced to Omega Man. A real superhero who uses his powers to stop bullying! Omega Man taught the students to be dream makers, not dream breakers. He showed off some of his strength by lifting up a few students with a rod, bending that same iron rod with his mouth and bare hands, and ripping a phone book in half.
All the students were thoroughly impressed and walked away from the presentation remembering what it means to be a true HERO - Helping Everyone Respect Others.