Buckaroo News for April 20th - 24th

Well, it's truly been an exciting week because of Springtacular!  The children have been watching the decorations go up and the huge baskets of goodies delivered.  I hope to see you here tonight at SCE for this annual event!
Instead of giving you a snapshot of our week in MY words, I will let the captions (dictated by the students) and photos speak for themselves:)  

Jes Aldin has graciously taken on the role of Room Coordinator for our final party.  She would like to extend the invitation to any of you who would like to help out with this event on June 2nd.  Her email address is  jesaldin.gmail.com.

Since this is my first year doing a blog instead of a paper newsletter, I'm curious as to your thoughts on how you liked it.  I am open to suggestions!  More pics, less teacher-talk.  Less pics, more teacher-talk.  Shorter?  Length was fine?  You can shoot me an email or include your thoughts in the comment section on this post.

Our Schedule next week:
Monday - Music     Tuesday - Library   Wednesday - P.E.   Thursday - Art   Friday - Music

Upcoming Important Dates:
April 24th - Springtacular at SCE
April 27th - Scholastic Book Orders are due if ordering
April 30th - Art Show at SCE 6:00-7:30
May 7th - Literacy Night at SCE  
May 15th - SuperGames
May 25th - Memorial Day - No School
May 26th - Expected hatch day for our chicks!!!!!!
May 28th - Our Class Musical - Begins at 2:40 - You won't want to miss this!
June 2nd - Last day of school and our End-of-Year celebration

We were getting ready for Market Day.  We had a lot of stuff to do.  L. and B. were holding up something that they made to advertise for face painting.  We were learning about goods and services.  This was a service.

G. is holding a jellyfish that she made for Market Day.  Her team, for Market Day, were called the Splatters and they made lots of art.  Her art was very cute!  They worked really hard on this.  

We all made Contraction Crocodiles.  Contractions are words like I'm, it's, and what's.  We even have a song about Contraction Crocodile.  

She is holding an octopus and she is also holding a bag of fake money.  She is shopping on Market Day.

L. is painting C.'s face.  It is a giraffe.  L.'s team was Art Girls.  

V. and F. are buying art and E. is selling the art.  

T. is holding art that he bought.

S. is doing C.'s hair in a mohawk.  

A. is doing S.'s face painting.  It is a butterfly.

Y. is counting the money and it is $24.00.  This business sold massages.

C. got face paint as a robot by L.  The face paint looks like it is coming off but it really isn't.  

We are planning for making paths for our motion study.  Our inspiration came from a video clip that you can find on ok go rube goldberg vimeo.

A. and A. are making a tube that is coming through the finished work shelf and we tested it and it worked the first time.

F. and A. are making a tunnel that shoots the marble and knocks the Jenga pieces and dominoes down.  If you look real close you will see a family next to the Jenga pieces.  When they tested it, they figured out they needed to take away two Jenga pieces at the front to make it work.

Buckaroo news for April 13th to April 17th

I hope that all of you are able to take advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend!  Great weekend to begin a garden:)  Speaking of gardens, we will be planting our own garden here at SCE and you will be able to come throughout the summer and enjoy it's bounty.  We took a peek at it today and noticed strawberry leaves and runners throughout the garden.  The children were very excited about the prospect of having fresh strawberries!  
Here is a snapshot of our learning this week:
We are learning many songs for our upcoming program.  I can assure you that you are NOT going to want to miss this program of songs at the end of the year (see date below).  In word study, we learned about plurals and how adding /s/ and /e-s/ to the ends of nouns changes the meaning to more than one.  We also learned about silly plurals.  Ask your child about these.  In writer's workshop, we used our facts from our sticky note research to write them in report form.  Next week, we will be learning about another type of informational writing called How-To writing.  Once we've experimented with this type of writing, each child will either choose to write their informational text as a report with sticky notes or as a How-To.  In social studies, we have continued our study of economics by looking at goods, services, producers and consumers.  Next week, we will be applying our knowledge of economics by having a Market Day.  The children have already established teams and we've talked about possible goods and services each team could create or provide.  Next week they will be going into "production" and then we will have a market as they purchase each other's goods and services.  No CREDIT CARDS accepted:)  In Reader's Workshop, we have been exploring nonfiction conventions and how they help the reader.  We've already found examples of title pages, tables of contents and key words.  Having these tools in our "reading arsenal" will help us when it comes to researching a topic of choice in the upcoming weeks.  In Math, we have been working on our graphing skills.  

I have fantastic news about hatching chicks!  We have someone willing to take our chicks and we even have a back-up person just in case we need them!  Thank you so much for putting out feelers for this upcoming project as it is one that they will never forget.  I've hatched chicks for many years but it's always a miracle and a true test of faith each time to see life spring forth from those little eggs!  

Here is our specials schedule for next week:
Monday - Art   Tuesday - Music  Wednesday - Library  Thursday - P.E.  Friday - Art

Upcoming Important Dates:
April 24th - Springtacular at SCE
April 27th - Scholastic Book Orders are due if ordering
April 30th - Art Show at SCE 6:00-7:30
May 7th - Literacy Night at SCE  
May 15th - SuperGames
May 25th - Memorial Day - No School
May 26th - Expected hatch day for our chicks!!!!!!
May 28th - Our Class Musical - Begins at 2:40 - You won't want to miss this!
June 2nd - Last day of school

On Tuesday, Japanese moms came to do a show for us.  One student said that he didn't know how they put the pictures on so fast.  We think it took practice.  

She told us about these statues but we can't remember the names of them.  They taught us how to count one to nine in Japanese and they told us a glow-in-the-dark story.

This story is about Grandma and Grandpa selling bamboo hats to get money to eat and feast for a new year but he didn't sell the hats for money.  He put them on the Jeso statues.  He had no food for the feast but that night Jeso statues delivered a box of food and a kimono for them.  The hats were for New Year.

These girls are playing a game called Soldiers and General and they are saluting the general and the general is supposed to add the numbers of the cards added up together and they then have to guess what their number is.  They can't peek at their number.  If they guess their number first they get both cards.  Whoever has the most at the end of the game wins the game.  They are not just playing they are learning math too.  

If they get a face card, it equals 11 and that is what you were sending in all of the cards for.

We started Market Day and we are making a list of things we can do or make in the classroom to sell.

Working together as a team to determine if they were have a product or a service:)

We are so excited about this upcoming study!!!

Buckaroo news for April 6th-10th

Believe it or not, we only have about seven and a half weeks of school left!  Where did the time go?  The kiddos know that I don't want to talk about it because it makes me sad that they will be leaving me soon but there are some upcoming events that I want to make you aware of as we end the year.  See the schedule of upcoming events below.
Here is a snapshot of our week of learning!  In word study, we worked hard to learn how to use /tion/ and /sion/ in words.  This was a challenging study but as soon as I say the word "challenge" they perk up!  I've also assessed each student one last time on word features.  It is the same assessment I gave in the fall and again in January to determine word study teams.  Due to this re-evaluation of your child's needs in word study, we've changed teams.  They are very excited!  In writer's workshop, we have begun to study our last form of writing which is informational writing.  We've been singing songs about endangered animals with one of them being the giant panda.  We decided to research this information.  We are doing this as a whole class to learn how to read informational text and to use the internet effectively to learn and record facts onto sticky notes.  We then worked together to organize our notes to then use to write a cohesive report of what we've learned.  Soon, each child will get to self-select a topic of choice in which to research.  In social studies, we have begun our study of economics.  We began by talking about needs and wants and then moved on to consumers and producers.  We will talk more about this next week and then move on to a study about motion.  In math, we finished up telling time to the hour and half-hour today and will begin graphing and using data to answer questions.  In reader's workshop, we will begin to take a closer look at how nonfiction texts differ from fiction texts and the features that nonfiction texts have that help the reader to understand complex information.  
                                 Our Schedule for Next Week:
Monday - P.E.   Tuesday - Art   Wednesday - Music   Thursday - Library   Friday - P.E.
                               Upcoming Events You Don't Want to Miss:
April 24th - Springtacular at SCE
April 30th - Art Show at SCE 6:00-7:30
May 7th - Literacy Night at SCE  
May 15th - SuperGames
May 25th - Memorial Day - No School
May 26th - Expected hatch day for our chicks!!!!!!
May 28th - Our Class Musical - Begins at 2:40 - You won't want to miss this!
June 2nd - Last day of school

This is a Scottish Corners garden on the side of the school but it looked like a big mess.  We cleaned up this garden on Monday, April 6th.  This garden needed help!  We are going to plant vegetable plants in it and on the side so the bugs don't get in we are planting marigolds from last year's seeds.

We found a rabbit's nest in our garden.  

G. is holding up last year's tomato plant.

The green plants are called strawberry plants.  It looks a little like poison ivy because it has three leaves but it's not!  The green stuff is called chlorophyl.  We didn't pull up the strawberry plants because they were already growing.

If you're wondering what that big purple thing is by C. it is her dress.  We cleaned the garden.  This is after we pulled out all of the weeds and tomato plants.  That big wooden thing is called a bed but not the kind of bed you sleep in.  This summer, you are more than welcome to walk over to our garden and help yourself to all of the goodies that are growing there.  

Y. is holding our poster with needs on it.  Needs are something you need to survive.  Needs are things that you need to live like food and water.

This poster has all of our wants on it.  Some wants are Shopkins and stuffed animals.  B. is blocking the poster.  Wants are toys, doughnuts, and candy.  They are things we can live without.  

S. made a 100 out of triangles and squares.  This is a new math game and you have to use pattern blocks to solve the pattern that is on the paper.  S. did the hardest way to do it with triangles.  There are other ones you can do like lovebirds, George Washington's hat and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s two fingers that mean "peace."

Hello Families,

Unfortunately there are not photos for the blog this week.  Lots of learning going on at Camp Buckaroo but I just didn't have my camera ready when those photo opportunities present themselves:).  I have a few big things to start off with first before I share our learning for this past week.

The first is that you may, or may not, have heard that in our final month of school we really immerse ourselves in the life sciences and nonfiction.  The biggest part of that is studying the life of chickens.  I happen to own seven beautiful hens and sharing about their hilarious antics is one of the highlights of the year.  In the past, we have hatched chicks right here in our classroom and then the chicks have gone to a wonderful friend to live out their days.  However, this year they will not be able to take the chicks and I need to always be a responsible pet owner and make sure the chicks have homes before we hatch them.  That being said, if you know of anyone that would be willing to take our week-old chicks when they hatch please let me know right away.  If we don't have anyone by late April, we won't be able to hatch them.  

The second item is that of the upcoming Springtacular.  If you are new to SCE, you won't want to miss this night.  It is CRAZY FUN!!!  Each year, each classroom has a theme basket with goodies inside as part of a raffle.  We are in need of some creative Mom or Dad to create our class basket.  If you are that person, please email Jes Aldin at jesaldin.gmail.com

The last item is pretty exciting.  There is now a parent math resource that is online!  It was created by some of our amazing math coaches.  To access this site, go to https://dcsparentresourcesmath.wiki.dublinschools.net/Home

In word study, we worked on the vowel patterns of /aw/ and /au/.  In writer's workshop, we will begin our study of nonfiction writing next week.  In science, we finished up our study of matter and how matter changes.  I have put your child's assessment score in Progress Book.  Our next study will be life sciences.  In social studies, we will be studying economics, landforms, and mapping.  In reader's workshop, we studied story elements using Bartholomew and the Oobleck as our mentor text.   In math, we finished up our study of measurement using nonstandard units and are moving on to telling time to the hour and half-hour.

Our specials schedule:  Monday - Library   Tuesday - P.E.  Wednesday - Art  Thursday - Music      Friday - Library

Buckaroo news for March 23rd to March 27th

Welcome back from Spring Break!  I hope it was restful and enjoyable for everyone.  I caught up on my sleep in between training so even though I don't get away to a warm place I still feel like I had a restful break:).  Here is a snapshot of what we learned this week.  I hope that you use this snapshot as a way to encourage conversations about your child's school life.  In word study, well…they explained it best below:).  In writer's workshop, we are in-between studies so the children wrote on topics of choice.  Honestly, this is my favorite way to write because their creativity runs wild and the stories produced are amazing!  I get the great privilege of listening in on their conversations with each other and I can hear them making great suggestions to each other like "are you going to add more detail to your illustration" or " what about this for your character's problem…"  They also compliment and encourage each other and several have started a different genre simply because another peer shared that type of writing.  In science, again, you can read all about it below.  One picture that didn't make it on was of a balloon that is filled with carbon dioxide from mixing vinegar with baking soda.  Simple experiment to demonstrate using a mixture to make a gas.  In math, we are continuing with measurement and then moving on to telling time to the hour and half-hour.  In Reader's Workshop, we took a a literacy approach to matter and read two Dr. Seuss books that were not only enjoyable but a good look at when matter runs amok:).  We used these stories to talk about problems and solutions, making connections and story elements such as characters, setting, problem, events and solution.
Mrs. Kachinka wants you to know that the Art Show is fast approaching.  A flyer will go home on Monday with details but if you want to put it on your calendars it will be Thursday, April 30th from 6:00 to 7:30 at SCE.
Spring Pictures will be taken on April 1st.  
Mrs. Aldin is our new room coordinator for our end-of-year celebration and the Springtacular basket.  She would LOVE to have a volunteer to create our theme basket for Springtacular.  If you are interested, please let her know by emailing her at jesaldin@gmail.com.  She looks forward to hearing from you.

Our schedule for next week:  Monday - Library   Tuesday - P.E.  Wednesday - Art  Thursday - Music   Friday - NO SCHOOL!  Monday - Library

We are measuring in math.  This girl is measuring C. with cubes.  We are learning about measurement in math and on that day we were measuring big things.

A. is measuring the table that holds our mailboxes.  

A. is pointing at the words we learned during word study.  We are bracketing the root words.  We are learning about /ed/.  We learned that one of them says /d/.  One of them says /t/ and one of them says /ed/.  We are also underlining the blends.  We circled the /ed/ and put a /t/ or a /d/ on top of it.  We also circle our old hunk-and-chunks and /ed/ we underline instead of circling it.  

This is after Reader's Workshop when you can share a book, your favorite part of a book or a connection from it.  If you have something like a writing piece or a picture and you really want to share, you can.  When Mrs. McNeal says, "Would you like to share?" you say "yes please" or "yes thank you" if you want to share.

We are learning about matter.  Scissors are solid.  Water is a liquid.  Oxygen is a gas.  The three states of matter are solids, liquids and gasses and today we learned how to make Jello and change matter.  We changed solids into liquids by using hot water.  We turned liquids into solid by adding cold temperature.  Solids can turn into liquids and liquids can turn into gasses.  

J. is enjoying his Jello.  He is eating his science experiment.  It is J. versus Jello!  J. won!

This is our friend K.  Here are some things we'd like you to know.  We want you to know that we miss you!    We think you are very creative and a really, really good friend of ours!  You are very kind!  We think you are really great!  We care about you and we love you!  We hope that you are still reading this blog!  We hope that you can come back and visit us.  We hope that you are making new friends there and we hope that you still remember us and won't ever forget us.  We hope that you still keep your bucket fillers to remember us.  We hope that you have fun at your new school.  Will you send us messages too?  I hope that you like your new teacher too.  

Buckaroo news for March 2nd to March 13th

Hello Families,  I apologize for no blog entry last week but this one should more than make up for it:).  When your child comes home from school totally worn out, you will understand why when you look at these photographs.  Here is a snapshot of the learning in Camp Buckaroo for the past two weeks.

In Word Study, we have worked on the hunk-and-chunks of /oi/ and /oy/ and the "bossy r's" of /ir/, /ur/, and /er/.  In Writer's Workshop, the children have been writing on topics of choice as we are in between studies.  It's amazing to see what and how they choose to write.  Some are writing their own sequels to the graphic novels of Lunch Lady and Baby Mouse.  Some are creating dress designs with shoes and jewelry to match.  They are labeling the parts of each and at what event each dress should be worn.  A few are still enjoying writing letters to each other and others are writing fantastic stories with engaging characters and lots of details to draw all of us in.  Our final study will be nonfiction writing.  In science, we have been learning about the three states of matter and the properties of each.  When we return from break, we will be engaging in many science experiments to help us better understand solids, liquids and gasses and how they change.  In math, we have finished up our very lengthy study of tens and ones.  I am so proud of each and every child for persevering through this study to gain a better understanding of our base-10 system.  We are now moving on to measurement and then geometry to finish the year.  In Reader's Workshop, the children have continued how to make strong predictions based upon what was read to a certain point and to also make meaningful connections to help them to better understand the story.  

I hope that all of you have a very relaxing and enjoyable break and I will see your little ones again on March 23rd.  When we return, here is our schedule:  
Monday - Music   Tuesday - Library   Wednesday - P.E.  Thursday - Art  Friday - Music again

It was a snow day and we made snow angels.  The boys in the background are playing a snowball fight but we couldn't do snowball fights close to where other people in our class were building a snowman.  When we were done with the snow angels we looked at them and they actually looked liked real snow angels.

This girl is making a little snowball to make it into a big snowball to make it into a snowman.  

This is the picture that Mrs. McNeal took of all of us with our sleds, saucers, and snowmen.  The snowmen in the background have already melted.  One of the girls in our class brought snow dye to put colors on our snow people.  

These boys are kind of laying in a couch in the snow.  It was a giant hole.  They are in the snow.  

This girl is holding a bottle of water from our science experiment about matter that we are learning about.  Matter is solid, liquids, and gasses.  Solids have a shape and only force can break it.  Liquids take up the space of whatever container they are in.  Gasses are invisible and they float around us.

Mac Barnett came to our school!  He came on Monday and taught us about a lot of things about some of his books.  He was really funny.  Mac Barnett is super cool!!!  He is one of the first graders' favorite authors.  In this picture, Mac Barnett is reading one of his books called Oh No!

When he comes down from his sleep he sees a white paper in front of his face and it says, "FEED ME!" and it scares him.  The paper wants WORDS which is food to the paper!  Everytime he said, "FEED ME!" he rips off the paper.  Some kids asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?" and he said, "Yes, her name is Taylor."  Everybody laughed like crazy.  

On Thursday, we celebrated Snowmen's Birthdays.  We are scooping up snowballs from a basket of them and putting them into a basket on the other side and if they dropped their snowball on the way they were disqualified (DQed) but they got to get back in line.  P.S. They weren't snowballs.  They were cotton balls.

This girl is trying to make the cutest snow fort instead of the tallest.  The rest of the class tried to make the tallest snow fort.

This boy won fourth place in the tallest snow fort contest and someone else tied with him.

This is a snow fort but it doesn't look like a fort.  Table 5 won first place and came in 1st.  Some of our friends said that it looks like a big blob of marshmallows and toothpicks.  We tried to make it squares and then connect them together but that didn't work because it fell over so we just made it a blob.  

This girl won second place so she got two tickets.  Her fort looks like a dog standing on a cloud.  

This fort fell over five times but she got third place in the snow fort contest anyway!

This boy won fourth place and he used a lot of marshmallows.

This boy is getting wrapped up in toilet paper to make a snowman.  It was really funny!  We were wrapping one person at our table with toilet paper.

This is a picture of all of the snow people wrapped up in the toilet paper and they are all decorated.  The middle one is the funniest one because it has huge eyes and a funny nose.

I haven't sent book orders home all year so I will be making up for that by sending a few for this last part of the school year.  It is vital that your child read over the summer months.  This is one way to stock your child's home library if you choose to.  Please know that this is purely optional but I wanted to extend the offer.  Your child will be bringing home the order form as well as directions on how to order online if you choose to.  There are many other forms on this site as well if you choose to order from another Scholastic form.  This is also a great way to restock our classroom library as our class gets points that can be used to order books for our room.  If you decide to order, try to have your order in by March 23rd.  I will send the final order in on Wednesday, March 25th.