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

Poem of the Week: Leaves by Elsie N. Brady

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colours gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow.

In the Forest!

Everybody Smile! What a beautiful day for a field trip to the forest. We are all excited to be at UBC and learn about the Temperate Rain Forest habitat.

Our naturalist taught us about how insects slow down in the winter because the cold air cools their bodies. She made a bug oven to heat one up and demonstrate how insects become much more active when they are warm. Cool!

We played a game called "Meet a Tree". We covered our eyes with a blind fold and a friend lead us to a tree. We used our hands to feel the bark, the lichen, and the moss. We tried to remember all the things we were touching. Then, our partner lead us away from the tree and took off the blind fold. Our challenge was to find the tree that we had just been touching! This was hard to do!

We learned that as plants and animals in a habitat die they decompose and provide food for the new growing plants and animals. Mushrooms are an important decomposer in a forest. We saw so many different kinds! Our favourites were the: Poison Pie, the Coral Mushroom, the Dead Man's Finger, and the cute little tiny brown mushrooms that were smaller than the tip of a pencil!
Another one of the beautiful plants we saw was called a 'sword fern'. It makes a great place for the small little animals of the forest, such as squirrels and mice, to hide under when they are in danger of being hunted. We played a game called "Owl Hunting", it was such fun - we hid like the little animals behind trees and rocks while the 'owl' tried to spot us by using only his or her eyes.

Week of October 27 - 31

Our field trip to UBC is tomorrow! Remember to dress the kids nice and warm for the chilly weather. The entire field trip is outdoors.
With Halloween just around the corner we are planning a small party for Friday. Healthy snacks are welcome! Ms. Santiago will post a sign-up sheet by the classroom door - or you can send an email to let us know what you'd like to bring. Kids are welcome to come to school dressed in their costumes on Friday if they'd like!

Have a great week!


This week's spelling words are:
Grade Two and Three Words:(all words contain the short vowel 'i')
drift
think
clip
list
clink
lick
thing
spring
bring
stick

Grade Three and Challenge Words: (all words end with 'y')
handy
dusty
foolishly
perfectly
fondly
softly
enemy
costly
only
candy
grumpy

As always, please review the words together and check for understanding! Thanks, Mrs. J