Poem of the Week: Autumn Leaves

This week's poem is a really fun one! The language is nonsensical and full of whimsy. Look at the words "tumbledown" and "snappety" and "stompy" - what fun the poet must have had creating these words to describe the journey of a leaf as it falls down from the tree!


Autumn Leaves by Eve Merriam
Down
down
down
Red
yellow
brown
Autumn leaves tumble down,
Autumn leaves crumble down,
Autumn leaves bumble down,
Flaking and shaking
Tumbledown leaves.

Skittery
Flittery
Rustle by
Hustle by
Crackle and crunch
In a snappety bunch.

Run and catch,
Run and catch,
Butterfly leaves
Sailboat leaves.
Can you catch them?

Scoop
Swoop
Pile them up
In a stompy pile and
Jump, jump
JUMP.

What makes a 'Good Thinker?'

Today the children and I were discussing the characteristics of a "good thinker." We brainstormed as many things as we could about what people who are 'good thinkers' do. Here is a list we made:
- good thinkers use strategies that we've learned in school (for example S.M.A.R.T. listening skills, Phonetic spelling skills, etc)
- good thinkers use their imagination
- good thinkers have a lot of knowledge: from reading, listening, learning, trying, and doing
- good thinkers are flexible: they are ready to make and try lots of solutions to solve a problem
- good thinkers make decisions using evidence
- good thinkers consider different points of view
- good thinkers ask questions

With such an incredible list of ideas I conclude that we are a classroom of 'Good Thinkers!'
Mrs. J

News for the Week of November 17-21

This week we continue with our unit on Plant Growth and Change. We are discussing and diagramming the Plant Life Cycle. We are also using the Montessori Botany cabinet to learn about the many shapes and varieties of leaves. We are making an art project based on tracings of leaves that we have made. When they are finished I will post pictures on the blog!

Spelling Words

Whole Class (all have a short vowel 'o')
flop cost drop frost romp shod stomp smog flock stock

Challenge Words (all have either 'y' or 'ing')
frisky selecting lucky stamping sloppy depending ornery representing perfectly grumbling

As always, please help your children understand the meanings of the words. We have already reviewed the words in class - but follow up at home is always helpful.

Thanks,
Mrs. Johnson

Big Spelling Quiz on Monday

This Monday we will have a quiz on words chosen from the past several weeks. I will randomly choose 25 words for the test. The only way that you can prepare is to review the words that you have had trouble spelling. All of the words are listed in your spelling books (I hope you remembered to bring them home!) But, if you forgot your spelling books then you can find most of the spelling lists here on the blog.
I recommend that you make some flashcards to practice - you won't need to make flashcards for all the words - just the ones you have had a hard time learning.
Good luck!
Mrs. J

Poem of the week

Parents, our poem this week is called "Leaves" by Elsie N. Brady. Scroll down to see the poem written out (it's below the Halloween photos)

Halloween 2008

Halloween at Garden City began with our first Family Team meeting. This was held in the gym and there we met our buddies and other family team members. We also saw everyone including our teachers dressed up in their Halloween costumes. In the afternoon, we had a tour of the Haunted House across the hall. Mr. Yesaki's class and Mrs. Serrano's class set up their rooms to make them really spooky. After, we had our own Halloween class party with classmates bringing lots of healthy goodies! We also finished up our Halloween art work. Please take a look at the online gallery of photos by clicking the link below.

Halloween Pictures