ECO HAS BEEN CANCELED FOR TOMORROW.   Our leader is injured and unable to join us.  However, we were lucky to have a good chunk of time outside this morning before the rain came.  Needless to say, the children really enjoyed the snow!  

Each Friday we meet with third grade partners.  We work on a variety of different things together.   It is amazing to see how responsive kindergarteners are to their partners, and in turn how responsible the third graders are in their role.  Today we played a variety of math games together.

We had another great ECO morning. The children are mastering the routine of getting ready for a day in the forest.  While some of us were a little hot on the bus, I think we were all glad to have our warm clothing as  the temperature dropped through the morning.  When we  first arrived at the forest we played a running game and sang a song before splitting into three groups.  Each group followed a different route to our established meeting spot.  Children immediately ran to check on their mouse houses and many began working on repairs while some built new houses.  Soon we constructed a fire circle and gathered around to hear a story about the different kinds of wood needed to build a fire.  Ask your children if they remember the three kinds we gathered today.  Then we set out in groups again to collect the wood. We had snack around our fire, which proved to be too small for making tea!  We will try again next time, Wednesday, December 19th, which will be our last ECO morning until March.  Please let me know if you'd like to join us.

Making mouse house repairs.

Constructing a new mouse village!

Creating a safety circle around our fire.

Listening to a story about different kinds of wood for a fire.

Gathering fire materials.

Enjoying snack outside the safety circle.

Finishing snack by the fire.

ECO tomorrow!  The temperature looks to be quite a bit chillier than today- please send your child with   warm socks, warm winter boots, snow pants, winter jacket, hat and mittens.  Also please send a snack and water bottle.

Below are some pictures of children during math stations.  This week we have been working on creating patterns with number or arrangement instead of color.  We have also continued working on breaking patterns into their units and sequencing numbers.

Making a 1-3 pattern

Breaking a pattern into units

Playing a pattern guessing game

Sequencing numbers

Today Hannah shared her new baby sister with us.  She is almost two weeks old and we were amazed at how tiny and delicate she is!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  I spent time with my family in New Hampshire and had a couple of quiet days at home as well.  My own children were very appreciative of not having to get up quite so early!

Now that we are back in school we have been quite busy.  In math we are well into a unit on patterns and have been spending lots of time identifying, creating, and continuing various patterns.  This week we have worked on breaking patterns into their individual units (red, orange or AB).   We are also continuing our work with numbers, identifying, counting, representing and sequencing numbers greater than 10.  For many children moving from one decade to another is challenging (29 to 30 etc.)  To reinforce this skill we have been playing a game called POP that my son taught me.  We count a given sequence around the circle over and over, for example 18-23.  The last number is the POP number and that person gets to line up, get ready for lunch etc.  We keep playing until one or two students are left.  The children really enjoy this game and are getting good counting practice as well.  We have also been playing Rocket to practice sequencing numbers.  This game was included in the packet I sent home earlier in the year.  We began playing with a 12 sided die and have moved on to a 20 sided die, which is a bit more challenging.

I have started meeting with small groups during reading time.  I generally meet with four students at a time and the groups are flexible and constantly changing.  While I am meeting with groups the other children are quietly reading, either predictable books from their book bags or books from our classroom library.  We are continuing to work on sight words in a variety of ways:  spelling them with our bodies, writing them, finding them in the morning message or in songs or chants, and reading them on sight word rings.  I am amazed by the progress of this group.  They are extremely motivated!

In science we have continued to talk about rocks and so many children have brought in wonderful rocks to share, spurring more conversation.  Yesterday pairs of rocks were passed out to the class.  Each child drew his or her rock with as much detail as possible and chose three words to describe it.   They then took turns sharing their descriptions and trying to find the person who had the same rock.    Today we used clay to explore the ways that rocks are constantly changing.

Winter is here and we still go outside twice a day.  Please make sure your child comes with warm boots, jacket, hat and mittens every day. I also strongly encourage snow pants- the playground is much more fun when children are warm and dry.

Today Michael's mom, Amy Denis, came in to teach the class about gun safety.  We discussed different reasons people may have guns at their houses and the importance of treating guns seriously.  Because guns can be so harmful, she cautioned us about pretending to use guns in a way that is threatening to others.  Most importantly she talked to the children about what to do if they ever come across a gun:  stop, don't touch the gun, walk away, and tell an adult.  Amy shared the addresses of two valuable websites that people may be interested in.  The first, http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/house/gun_safety.html#  came in gives a little more information about gun safety, and the second,  www.projectchildsafe.org   explains how parents can get free gun locks from local police departments.

Thank you to everyone for attending conferences.  I hope you all have a peaceful and relaxing holiday!