Johnny Appleseed and National Apple Day

Although Johnny Appleseed day is celebrated on the month of September, October 21st is National Apple Day, and what is Apple Day without the mention of Johnny Appleseed? Johnny Appleseed was not a fictional character, as some people might believe him to be. His kind and gentle nature along with his love for animals and plants teaches us a lot about the way we should see our environment.

Click here to see a clip about Johnny Appleseed from BrainPopJr.

                      

    

Columbus Day

Let's learn about Christopher Columbus and his journey to find a shorter route to Asia. BrainPopJr has a free lesson this week that teaches about Christopher's visions as well as his errors.

As you can see, Columbus never quite made it to the continent that is now North America even though he made several voyages. As a result of his error, he was able to find land that was already inhabited and had been discovered years back by the Vikings. Learn about this interesting journey here and here. If you need a password, type in your campus' username and password. If you are from our campus, send me an email, and I will forward you the login information.

Click here for a cartoon that teaches about some of Columbus' experiences as an explorer.

Books to read:                                    Click on the picture below for awesome ideas from Happy

Brown House                                                                    

 

Fire Safety Adventure

This week our lower grade levels will read Fire Truck Adventure story about a class' adventure with their city Fire Department crew. Follow along with us. I love the narration for this story. Students will work on creating their own individualized fire hats and watch an actual Fire Safety presentation by our city's very own Fire Department!

Here's a link to download The Fire Truck Adventure app!

Your homework is to discuss with your family what you would do if there was a fire in your home and come up with an emergency evacuation plan!

Note: Pre-Kinder and Kinder also worked on Dolch & Sight words this week & will continue until students show mastery.

Falling for Autumn

Autumn is here, the skies are grey, and wind is starting to blow harder in our city. Pretty soon we'll start to see the leaves change color and fall from the trees. We kicked off Autumn with the end of Summer's 1st 6 weeks and welcoming Fall with our 2nd 6 week period.

This week, students worked on learning about Fall/Autumn season and did some great works of art by coloring their own Autumn tree.

Click on the photo above to get a view of BrainPopJr's mini clip on Autumn season. Here are some things to look for as the season matures:

• Leaves change color
• Animals start to gather and store food for the winter
• The day is shorter
• Leaves start to fall from the trees
• Certain fruits and vegetables like apples and pumpkins are ready to be picked
• We celebrate holidays such as Halloween, Reformation Day, Thanksgiving among others.

Constitution Day

Did you know that the U.S. Constitution is the oldest constitution in the world to be actively used? September 17, 1787 marks the day that the U.S. Constitution was founded, thanks to the the Father of the Constitution, James Madison.

(Preamble) 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the 

common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves 

and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.



Read We the Kids illustrations and foreword by David Catrow. Students will read the book and learn about the historical event that took place that essentially changed the face of our country.

Afterwards, they will work on various activities, to matching games, crossword puzzles, as well as Constitution hats.

Here are some word find activities and a Constitution quiz.

Some more crossword puzzles here.

Constitution matching game.

James Madison coloring sheet.

National Hispanic Heritage Month

Tomorrow is 16th of September, known as Mexico's Independence Day, and we are also taking the opportunity to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. Our community is comprised mainly of Hispanic culture, so students this week are learning about their heritage, culture, customs, traditions, food, and language.

Pre-K students will read Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and then view BrainPopJr's mini lesson on Mexico's traditions.

After reading our story, we had students make their own pretend tamales with raisins, beef, and red peppers.

Here's an excellent lesson plan for the elementary classroom!

Lift to Literacy!

Five, Four, Three, Two, One ... LIFT OFF!!!

This Monday we began NASA's Lift Off To Literacy Program aimed to promote literacy across the nation. For the next 60 days, schools all of the U.S. will be working on 60 second activities and countdown towards the big day! Some of these activities can be:
         
ù Short story quick write for 60 seconds; students    
         complete their story at the end of the 60 days.
ù Write a Haiku poem. Click here for activity.
ù Jot down a description of NASA's Photo of the Day.
ù Create a poem using Word Mover.

You can find more ideas HERE on their official flyer.
Also, Day by Day Family Literacy website has daily activities that can be done in the classroom, in the library, or even at home. This is an excellent resource. Just click on the date and begin the countdown with countless activities and fun.

Pre-Kinder, Kinder and LifeSkills worked on Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes story and colored a pair of shoes to practice tying their shoe laces.

Here are some storybook activities on Pinterest!

Welcome Back!

We are so glad to see everyone back in school and ready for a new year. This week we will review Library Rules & changes in the library. Check them out!

Library Rules:

1. Eating and drinking are not permitted in the library. Food and drinks must be left on the front counter or thrown away.
2. Maintain a quiet study atmosphere.
3. Students must present their hall pass at the circulation desk when they enter the library, unless they are part of a scheduled class.
4. Handle materials and equipment carefully.
5. Check out all materials before taking them out of the library.
6. Library computers should be used for educational purposes.

Please note:

• The library is open M-F from 7:45-3:30.
• 1st & 2nd grade students may check out one book at a time.
• 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students may check out two books at a time.
• Books are checked out for a period of one week.
• Students may return books early before school or between 11:30-12:10.
• Reference books, magazines, and tablets are not available for checkout.
• Overdue fines are not charged, but students are not allowed to check out additional books if they have an overdue item.
• Students will be charged the replacement cost of damaged or lost books.

The good news: We have brand new books, magazines, and tables to use in the library! We'll continue to train students in the next few weeks on how to read e-books and e-magazines using the tablets. I look forward to a brand new year with everyone!!

Dr. Seuss Week

March 2nd is the official birthday of Theodore Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. Weekly activities are as follows:

Monday: Silly Socks Day (Fox in Socks)

Tuesday: Pajama Day (Dr. Seuss Sleep Book)

Wednesday: Wacky Clothes Day (Wacky Wednesday)

Thursday: Crazy Hat Day (Cat in the Hat)

Friday: Character Day (All Dr. Seuss Characters are welcome!)

Due to district benchmarking, students will not have library class until Friday, so our Dr. Seuss Reading Restaurant will take place until then. In the meantime, students may stop by the library to pick up a Reading Waiter/Waitress application, so that they may participate in reading to the lower grade levels.

Click here for some activities to use in the classroom or at home:

Charro Days Festivities

Brownsville culture is unique being that it is a border town sharing in customs and traditions that our neighbors in Matamoros, Mexico have. Our population is mostly comprised of Hispanics, making it rich in Mexican values.

***

Students will learn about Mexican history and culture as well as the origin of the first Charro Day celebration between Brownsville and Matamoros. Our book for the week is: Mexico!: 40 activities to experience Mexico past & present.

This book has lots of information about Mexican tribes, foods, customs, traditions, and includes easy do-it-yourself activities for all ages. Our students today learned how to make their own pinata, Mexican flag decorations, as well as the origin of their heritage. Check this book out from your library today and enjoy the festivities at home!

Charlie Goes to School

We had countless books and school supplies to choose from these two weeks at our Scholastic Book Fair. This week, our students took advantage of reading our books for sale as they browsed the shelves. For story time, we read Charlie Goes to School, written by Ree Drummond. It's an amazing tale of a real-life dog and his role inside the homestead of his famous momma, Ree.

Students had a chance to read this book and enjoy the story line as well as looking in the illustrations for a little hidden critter (a squirrel). Below are some activities for students after they finish reading this awesome book. Take a look inside the book and see for yourself!



For activities, click here.

Winter Olympics

Winter Olympics have arrived at our school campus, and we have prepared countless lessons and activities that tie in with the 2014 Winter Olympic games! Each grade level is representing a different country and will be learning about traditions, food, history, mathematical calculations and statistics of specific sports, etc throughout the week.

Pre-Kinder:     China
Kindergaren:   Germany
1st:                  Australia
2nd:                 Canada
3rd:                  Italy
4th:                  U.S.A.
5th:                  France
Phys. Ed:          Russia

 


  



                       


The library will be hosting an Olympic Book Fair for the next two weeks: February 3rd - 14th. During that time, students will have the opportunity to purchase books/items at our book fair as well as learning and working on activities pertaining to their individual country.

Since we are currently on a poetry unit, Upper Grades will get a chance to work on Acrostic poems.
Lower Grades will work on various crafts and help decorate the library with their work.

Click here to play Winter Olympic Games online!

Weather

This week's poetry theme is weather. We have poetry for grades Kindergarten through 5th grade in various tones and moods, from serious to humorous. Join us on a poetic journey from various poets.

Kinder: Teddy Wear by Graham Denton
1st gr: My Dog by Charles Waters
2nd gr: Why Does Weather? by Mary Quattlebaum
3rd gr: Wondering by Cynthia Cotten
4th gr: When the Rain Falls by Susan Taylor Brown
5th gr: Apprehension by Autumn by Kristy Dempsey

Pre-Kinder, Kindergarten, & LifeSkills: Students will read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

Activity: Use cotton balls to decorate a snowy landscape from the book The Snowy Day.

Remembrance Day: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This week we remember and honor a very important figure in our country's history, none other than Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who serves as a great example of the courage it entails to reach your dreams, despite the obstacles.

Click here to learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pre-Kinder - Kindergarten: We will be reading Happy Birthday Martin Luther King! together and watching a brief video on Martin Luther King Jr. via BrainPopJr.com. Afterwards, students will work on an interactive activity, putting events from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life in chronological order.

1st - 5th: Students will view the video of Martin Luther King Jr. via Brainpop.com. Some classes will be conducting research using our biographies and encyclopedias.

Winter Time Together

We're back from Christmas and New Year break and are ready to talk about the time we've spent with our family and friends!

Kinder - 5th grade: We will read a poem from Poetry Anthology according to grade level. This week's theme is "Time Together." Students will read and analyze their poem and discuss and draw inferences as well as identify poetic devices. The poems we're covering this week are listed below:

Kinder: Stormy Day by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
1st gr: Watching Football by Janet Wong
2nd gr: After Sledding by Betsy Franco
3rd gr: My Noisy Family by Michael Salinger
4th gr: Bailes by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
5th gr: Greetings by Leslea Newman

PreKinder, Kindergarten, & Life Skills: Students will learn about the winter season at the changes in weather. Story time reading is The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.
Activity: Make a Snowman garland. Click here.