2014_09_30 Tuesday

From Elise's school: In the morning, they played a Match It Mathematics game where they added objects together and found the number that goes with it. Today we talked about icicles and made icicle art with glue and salt. We also worked on recognizing numbers and coloring numbers to make a snowflake image. We worked in our journals on the letter Ff. We made a seasons tree and added snow for winter. We will finish the tree by adding things as we learn each season. They had Spanish today. We also did a math activity where we rolled dice and took turns counting the dots and coloring that number on a graph. I asked questions such as which number did we roll the most? Least? Same of? They all did great! 

What did you like doing today? 
Elise -my favorite part of today was when we played on the playground 

2014_09_29 Monday

From Elise's school: Hello, In October we will be talking about the 4 seasons. This week will be about winter. We talked about winter clothes today. We talked about different winter holidays that people celebrate around the world such as Hanukkah and New Years. We read Go! Go! Go! again and talked about words that end in -ad such as Dad, mad, sad, pad. We had a new letter of the week F. We discussed words that start with F and the sound it makes. They had Mandarin today. We pretended to be snowflakes and danced around twirling and falling during music. Some friends had their picture taken today. Reminder tomorrow is also Picture Day. 

What season are you excited to learn about this month? 

Elise- I'm excited to learn about winter. 

2014_09_26 Friday

From Elise's school: Good afternoon! Today we talked about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Ms Chiara told them the words yesterday in Italian. We discussed that it is a bell tower, has 8 stories, is leaning because of the soft soil. We made a leaning tower picture with little square papers. We made towers with play-doh. Friends took turns learning sight words on my kindle. We also started reading the reader Go! Go! Go! They had German. They learned the color words and some words for veggies and fruit. 

What is something you learned about the Leaning Tower of Pisa today?

Elise- I learned that it has 8 floors. 

From Elise's Reading Club: Hello, On Monday, we worked on the words and, for. We also made patterns with Lego blocks for some math practice. On Tuesday, we worked on beginning sounds. We also played with flipbook Spelling + Counting. We wine over sight words flash cards. On Wednesday , we worked on reviewing some sight words. We worked on beginning sounds and ending sounds of CVC words. On Thursday, we learned the color word gray. We completed a Barnyard

Colors sheet. We rolled some dice and wrote the numbers that came up and did some adding.

Jonathan had a rough day yesterday, and beyond my expectations, he apparently pulled himself together to get back in to good graces in class today. I may owe him a lunch date at school!

2014_09_25 Thursday

From Elise's school: Hello 

Today we talked about the Great Wall of China. We talked about how it was built to keep out intruders. We talked about how long and tall it is. For art, we sponge painted bricks to make our own great wall. We also painted an elephant with our hands to learn about the letter E.  We've been practicing counting our numbers to 30. We wrote numbers 5,6,7 in our journals. They had Italian today. 

Show and tell shares: 

Elise- For my show and tell, I brought an elephant that is glass that is fired up in the oven and it got smoother

2014_09_24 Wednesday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about Machu Picchu.  We discussed where it is located. We talked about alpacas and how they are like llamas. We also had fun finger-painting and made a fall owl picture. We discussed graphs and practiced counting on our Piggy graph. They had French today. We also had a Mystery Reader at the end of the day! It was Alex's big sister and she read the class Pete the Cat and his 4 groovy buttons and If you Take a Mouse to School. They enjoyed here visit! 

Ellse- I learned about Machu Picchu that is foggy at the top of the mtns 

2014_09_23 Tuesday

I just got the nicest surprise: Amanda called and we chatted for about 30 mins. made my day.

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about the first day of fall during calendar time. We reviewed letter sounds A-E. We practiced our days of the week song. I read What Happens to Leaves in Fall? and What do People do in Fall? We learned about the Stonehenge today. We discussed how heavy the stones were. We discussed where it is located and why it was made. They had Spanish. 

What is something you learned today about the Stonehenge? 

Elise- I learned that the circle fell apart because it was really really old. 

From Jonathan's teacher: He is a very healthy second grade boy.  However, I sometimes have to remind him not to play/fiddle inside his desk.  At times he requires a reminder or two to sit on his bottom because he likes to lean over his desk to chat with his neighbors.  But, overall he is doing well.

2014_09_22 Monday

Well, something went awry with my car. It's making terrible grinding noises in low gear and when I turn. Can't wait to hear what's wrong.

Happy Fall!! It's officially here, and Jonathan and I were welcomed into fall at the bus stop with a morning rain sprinkle...without our umbrellas.

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about pyramids. We discussed pharaohs and the country Egypt. We looked at pictures of pyramids including the great pyramid of Giza. Then we made a pyramid with sugar cubes in 2 groups. We then made triangles to represent pyramids for art. I read books- Look What Came From Egypt and Pyramids of Egypt.We talked about graphs today and made a favorite food graph. They had Mandarin today. 

What is something you learned about pyramids or Egypt today?

Elise- I learned that pyramids are built by bigger stones not mud bricks 

And, not to be outdone, from Jonathan's teacher: Parents, We had a great Monday!

2014_09_20 Saturday

kids, Mrs Calloway, and her dog?

Dave needed some time this weekend to catch up on work after being a 'single dad' for most of the week, so I took the kids on a roadtrip to Callaway Gardens.

It's a huge camp site and nature preserve in southwestern GA. We walked through a neat butterfly house; the butterflies were huge, and we saw them in various stages of metamorphosis. We went to large veggie and azalea gardens.

We picnic-ed with some snacks (not a good lunch, though). We visited their Discovery Center and sat in on a very cool raptor program. They had 4 raptors that flew loose directly overhead of the audience. So much so, that the director asked us not to stand up, and now I know why. I actually felt the feathers of some of them flying immediately overhead. It was really cool. We also learned that one hawk (of course, I've forgotten the name), actually eats all types of snakes by baiting them to bite his wings and then using his claws to decapitate it. Love nature!

Then, we rounded out the day with a swing by their beachfront. The kids played in the water and sand for a few minutes -- until Elise got her lower 1/2 soaking wet. ugh.  But, it was a really nice day, and (until we were driving home) the kids did great!!

2014_09_19 Friday

From Elise's teacher: Good afternoon, Today we had a fun Friday. We did small centers. They made quilt patterns with paper and did a great job weaving the paper through. They played Starfall on the computer. Then they played a phonics game on my Kindle. They had German today. We talked about engineering jobs that we could have and the names of the different types. We sang an Engineer Jobs song. They also played with instruments such as triangles and drum sticks. 

What engineering job is interesting to you?

Elise- I want to be a electrical engineer. I want to do the lights

From Elise's reading group: Hello, On Monday,we worked on the color word brown. We also worked on word 'in. Everyone took turns playing on my Kindle. They played some phonics games or handwriting games. On Tuesday, we worked on color words. We did different things to learn them. We also went over sight words flash cards.  On Wednesday, we worked on the word 'in' some more. We also read sentences with words my, to. We went over flash cards. We also worked on beginning sounds of words.  On Thursday, the girls worked on a color word robot sheet. We also went over flash cards. Elise read Go! Go! Go! to me (emergent reader booklet). 

2014_09_18 Thursday

Sorry for all my loyal readers; I've been on a work trip (backfilling entries now). Immediately after I got home, I went to the local middle school to accept a large grant on behalf of Jonathan's school that I wrote. That was pretty exciting!!

From Elise's school: Today we talked about dams. We did an experiment where we put sand in a plastic container. We made a little bed in the middle as our river. Then we took turns adding the rocks and even Popsicle sticks to make it strong. I then put water on one side of the dam and we made predictions on whether water would come out the side and it didn't. I then added all the water and explained that if there was a flood the water would go through. We worked on the letter E. They had Italian today. We made a dam with Popsicle sticks for art and added a river. 

What was your favorite part of today?

Elise- My favorite part of today was playing on the playground 

2014_09_17 Wednesday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about tunnels. We read Tunnels. We discussed why we need tunnels and how hard they are to build. We talked about places tunnels can be built. We made a mountain out of play-doh and made a tunnel through it. We drew pictures that start with E in our folders. We played the game London Bridge since we talked about bridges earlier this week. We made an obstacle course outside and did the course along with Ms Ann's class. 

What is something you learned about tunnels today?

Elise- I learned that if there is stone in front then you can't get through you have to turn around 

2014_09_16 Tuesday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we discussed roads. We talked about ancient Roman roads. We also talked more about bridges such as stone bridges and arches. We looked at pictures of arches. We made a big city scene with roads and bridges. They decided to do Atlanta. We learned about road safety rules. We also talked about the continents and I showed them a globe. We worked in our journals on the letter Ee. We used playdoh to make shapes such as triangles and squares. They had Spanish today.

Why are roads important to us?
Elise- because you need to drive on them. Because they help cars drive

2014_09_15 Monday

From Elise's school: Hello, We spent the most of today making awesome suspension bridges. I gave 2 groups different materials and helped each group design their bridge. X and X made one with 2 chairs. X, Elise, and X made a stand alone one with pillars and poles. Then they add water below their bridges and we all used toys from the classroom to add on the bridge to play. We went over some facts about bridges. We talked about what engineering is.  We worked on the letter E and the sound it makes. They had Mandarin today. 

What is something you learned about engineering or bridges today?
Elise - To make a bridge you use wood, paper, string. 

2014_09_12 Friday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about demolition and I read a kids book called Demolition. We worked on writing our numbers 1-10 on dry erase boards. We also worked on counting objects to 5 on a worksheet. We had some fun playing with Play-doh. We discussed our 5 senses.

What is something you will do this weekend?

Elise- I am going to play with my babysitter. 

From her reading club: Hello, On Monday, we all worked on the word is. X worked on the word it from last Thursday. We all learned the color words white. X played with the beginning sounds picture cards with sorting. The girls and I played the game 'I have__ Who has__'  where you recognize the sight words on your set of cards and keep going until you come back to the first word. On Tuesday, we all worked on the word we and practiced our cutting skills. We also reviewed the color word white from yesterday by drawing a picture with a white crayon. I wrote down what they told me they drew. We also worked on our flash cards. They also played with their construction tools while we took turns counting 1-30 or 1-50. They took home the word 'see' wkst with sentences. On Wednesday, they took turns putting puzzle pieces in correct sequence. We read the word we worksheet. X worked on matching pictures cards to the letter they started with. They all started another sheet on recognizing color words. We did some flash cards. We played the game 'I have__ Who has__'. On Thursday, the girls finished the flower petal color words picture. We also did flash cards. Elise read CVC words on little flip booklet things that I made.

2014_09_11 Thursday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about cranes. We discussed the parts such as the boom, cab and hooks and cables. We watched a video (Things That Go) on cranes and watched them pick up really heavy things. We practiced writing the letter D. We made a construction sign. We counted pictures of construction tools and circled the correct number. 

If you had a crane what would you pick up?

Elise- I want it to pick up a piano at Carson's house 

2014_09_10 Wednesday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we discussed a dump truck and how construction workers use them. We made a dump truck for art. We also talked about the foundation of buildings and how it is important for the buildings or homes. I read the book Hard Hat Area which was about an apprentice learning the ropes of a construction site. We also practiced drawing pictures that start with the letter D. We drew a donut, dog, dots. They had French today. 

Name a word that starts with letter D: 
elise- dot 

Tonight, we got a call from some friends, who had hired goats to mow their yard. They invited friends to come watch and play...

2014_09_09 Tuesday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today, we talked about hydraulic excavators.We discussed the parts of it such as the arm and bucket.  We discussed tools and we made a tool belt. I showed the class a toolbox and we got to see real tools. We also measured objects found around the classroom with tape measures. They had a great time playing with everyone's toys that they brought in today. They had Spanish today. 

Show and tell shares: 

Elise- for my show and tell I brought a toolbox. One is a wrench, a hammer, one is saw, One are safety goggles. 

2014_09_08 Monday

From Elise's school: Today we talked about construction and safety signs. We talked about bulldozers and I read the book B is for Bulldozer. We talked about different building materials that people have used over the years such as stone, bricks, wood, concrete. We talked about how glass and concrete are made by mixing materials and either adding water or heating up till it gets hard. We then made a structure out of popsicle sticks for art. They had Mandarin today. They also built a construction site in the classroom with cones and tools and boxes. 

Why is it important to look at signs on the road/street? or what is something you learned today?

Elise- I learned about a bicycle sign. it was yellow. that means you can cross on your bike. 

As for Jonathan, I nearly had a coronary when I saw the amount of homework for this week. Based on the past few weeks (and certainly last year), I was blown over. We easily spent 2 hrs doing math, spelling, and English work...and then there's extra credit that sure looks way above a 2nd grade level to me. yikes.

2014_09_07 Sunday

Dave left unexpectedly early today. So, Jonathan suggested we go to All Fired Up and make some pottery. He chose a dino, and E chose an elephant. They got to paint, and the store will fire it for us. I'll pick them up on Thursday. The rest of the day was pretty lazy. But, we did seal the day with some froyo.

2014_09_06 Saturday

We went to a really cool parade tonight. It was a lantern parade along the Beltline, which is a refurbished rail line. The neatest part for me is that it reminded me so much of St Martin's Nacht. In fact, we took along the lantern Jonathan and I made in his 1st grade class that I shared St Martin's Tag with! so cool. It was all local citizens who had made their own lanterns. Some were clearly the balls from Ikea, but others were 6+ feet tall, very intricate, and required multiple people to operate (e.g. an astronaut). I'm not sure where or how the parade ended, but I sort of doubt it's a bonfire where they throw in their lanterns!

And, then, I actually bumped into a girl I went to OTHS with (I think she was a year behind me). Whaaaat in the world!? she and I played on the tennis team. We chatted for a few seconds. how bizzare!?

2014_09_05 Friday

From Elise's teacher: Good afternoon, Today we talked about Earth's materials- mainly rocks and we talked about living things v. Non living things. We made the letter C with playdoh. We practiced writing letter Cc. We used our yoga book to do some yoga moves. We played a Season Sort game where they had to sort out activity/object cards that happen in summer and things that do not happen in the summer. I read the book Goodnight Atlanta that Elise shared with us. We took turns on the computer playing Starfall (practice letter C) and a habitats game on PBSkids.

Name a living thing or a nonliving thing and tell us why it is living or nonliving.
Elise- A non living thing is a board because it doesn't grow.

Next Tuesday is show and tell -Bring a toy tool or construction vehicle to share or pictures

From Elise's reading club: Hello, On Tuesday, we all worked on the word yellow. X worked on the word the. Then we all practiced reading sentences with a focus on the words the, go. We added the color yellow to our coloring sheets. On Wednesday, we worked on the words see, my. We all did sight words flash cards. We watched and sang the vowel song. On Thursday, the girls worked on the word it. They also practiced coloring sight words in sentences to practice recognizing them. We listened to the vowel song again. They also practice 'high-fiving' sight words on the door. 

Today's be insane for me! I'm covering W/C AF and EUR, and between writing my (?)5th paper on Ebola and working a very special invitation to my presentation in November, I'm completely BEAT! I sure hope Jonathan had a good week, so we can go out to celebrate...or I might fall asleep.

2014_09_04 Thursday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about skyscrapers. We talked about the Atlanta skyline. We looked at pictures of the buildings in Atlanta and some pointed out the Bank of America building.  We talked about the world's tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa. We made the skyline at night for art. We talked about where skyscrapers are located. We practiced writing the letter Cc in our journals. We decorated some boxes and made skyscrapers or house out of them. We danced and listened to some songs at the end of the day. They had Italian today.  

Where is somewhere you would like to visit or have visited?

Elise- I would like to visit California

Enough with the rains! may need to get out our ark soon.

2014_09_03 Wednesday

From Elise's school: Hello, Today we talked about the parts of a house and blueprints. We made blueprints of our own house. We talked about needs v. wants. Things that we need to live and things that we like to have. Also about the rooms we need v. want at home like a bathroom v. playroom. We talked about how we need computers and phones even though they can be used to play games. I started reading the book Oliver Pig and The Best Fort Ever. I also read I Will Never Not Eat a tomato- a book about trying new foods. We drew 3 pictures for our letters folders for letter C. We drew carrot, car, circle. They created towers with cups during French. Our surprise Mystery Reader was Ms. T! (She's a babysitter for some families at IPS) She read Nanny Key and Me. She read construction books such as Digger and Tom and Wow, City!

Name a part of a house:

Elise-  kitchen 

Elise also came home singing a cute vowel song and could recite the whole thing (A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y). Buggy French braided her hair -- and E left it in for most of the afternoon!!

Beyond that excitement, I went into Jonathan's class today to teach a lesson on mealworms. I got the biggest suckers you've ever seen so that the kids could investigate and see the little legs and antennae and eyeballs, etc. Even his Principal came in and messed with (and touched!) them; she's so good. We talked about life cycle and being part of an ecosystem and how they are both a benefit and a pest. I guess the loud voices, rubber gloves, plastic spoons, and the sweaty bodies scared them to death (or maybe they play dead?), but a good handful of the 50 I bought were not doing so well by the end.

Minutes after everyone got home, the sky opened up with a massive thunder storm that shook the house. It was pretty terrific.

Dave and I had a date at the cutest bistro-type place. Had a great outdoor garden area. Food was great too. 

2014_09_02 Tuesday

From Elise's school: Hello, I hope everyone had a great weekend! We discussed the new month in the morning. Today we talked about castles. This week we are talking about architecture. We discussed what architects do. We talked about the parts of a castle and what was inside of castles and how they were different from houses and buildings today( no electricity). We made a big class castle and everyone got to add a part on the castle or trees around it, etc. This week's letter is C so we talked about words that start with C such as castle, crocodile, circle. 

What is something you learned about castles today? 

Elise- inside the castle it is drippy (damp) 

We will have a surprise Mystery Reader tomorrow afternoon! :)