Trusted Adults

Students from Amherst High School visited the first and second grades to talk about Internet safety and trusted adults.  They gave a fun, interactive presentation and invited the kids to participate a lot.  They talked about the importance of not sharing personal information (address, telephone number, parents' names, siblings' names, pets' names) or opening pictures from people they do not know.

After the presentation students brainstormed a list of adults in their lives they could trust.  The list included:

• parents
• teachers
• nurse
• librarian
• police officer
• firefighter
• coaches
• adult cousins
• aunts and uncles
• grandparents

After generating the list kids chose a person to draw on a quilt square. These were later attached together into a quilt of trusted adults, which now hangs on the wall in our cozy reading corner.  Students also received certificates from the Amherst High students for participating in the program.

Pumpkin Painting

Before Halloween we decided to have a pumpkin painting party to celebrate the season!  Many generous parents donated pumpkins, treats, and their valuable time to help with the painting, prep and clean-up. Each child got to bring their own pumpkin home and extra pumpkins were given as gifts to classrooms in the school.  A huge thanks to the parents who volunteered to help out. It was a really fun end to our week leading up to Halloween.

Word Wall

I am introducing students to sight words they can use often in writing and which they will come across often as they read.  We have been practicing them and posting them to our word wall. So far we have added the following words.

are
a
and
had
is
in
on
of
the

I will keep you updated as we add more.

It's Getting Buggy Around Here!

We introduced the insect unit with a video meant to grab the kids' curiosity and get them thinking about what they already know about insects.  They decided that insects have eyes, many have wings, and that they have legs. They also noted that many of them are colorful or can camouflage into their environments.  We read parts of What is an Insect?, by Jennifer W. Day and learned about the parts of an insect.  Then I taught the students a version of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes with the parts replaced with insect parts. Ask your child to teach it to you!

Later, we went on an insect collecting mission in back of the woodsy part of the playground dubbed cinderblock city by the students.  Turning over the cinderblocks revealed some worms, salamanders, and centipedes, though few insects. We did collect a squash bug and a couple of tiny flying insects. I plan on bringing in crickets for the children to observe and draw. 

Here are some photos of the collection mission outside: