To the Orchard and Park We Go!

ELA went to Reid's Ochard and Yellowcreek Park last Friday. We had a great day and kiddos were so good. We saw smiles from ear to ear all day!!

The Harralson Blog

Ch - Cha, cha, cha!
It’s amazing how new vocabulary words open up our room to a discussion on ‘ch’ and how it sounds like cha, cha, cha.  Our first word was chilly, as I introduced the 4 seasons of the year.  Check out our student led song we created:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy4D63QxU-s&feature=youtu.be
As we learned our vocabulary words, the students got to play a game where they looked for their partner (word and picture) of each of the 5 vocabulary words:  bare, collect, chilly, cozy, and bud.  Here is some footage of your children having a ball:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aspg_m4aijE&feature=youtu.be and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWWGCahcyz8&feature=youtu.be
This week we built our reading stamina to 10 whole minutes.  You should have received a pizza coupon in your child’s folder for meeting our goal.  You may use it starting October 1st. 
Your 5 and 6 year olds became authors of their first book this week, a complete narrative (a story about me that has a beginning, a middle, and an end).  We got to go to Mrs. Lusk’s room and see-saw (one person reads while the other person listens) read our stories to each other!  Finally, we enjoyed a trip to the park! 
Just a reminder there is no school this coming Friday, September 30th.  Have a great week!

Finding Key Words

Ms. Lusk's class loves finding keywords in their favorite books!

Pirates Invaded Estes

Ms. Vincent's 3rd graders have been working on building powerful reading lives! One of the things you can do to make your reading life more powerful is to share a great book! This past week, we fell in love with a hilarious book called, "The Pirate Substitute." In honor of National Pirate Day, which was on Monday, we teamed up with Mrs. Harralson's kindergarten students! The 3rd graders worked in pairs or alone to read to small groups of kindergartners - they also asked question such as, "What was your favorite part?" to check for comprehension! Mrs. Harralson and I are so proud of our readers and leaders!
Watch the video here

Grit, Growth Mindset and KPREP

This week we worked on our first KPREP SCRIMMAGE! Ms. Coomes' class worked extremely hard to prepare for this scrimmage. We didn't just prepare by learning reading skills- we worked on our mindset before we take a test! We have been learning how to have a growth mindset when working on difficult things. This has impacted many students in a positive way and one student even made a reminder for himself to look at as he were taking the test! This student scored a Distinguished on this test and it wasn't because of how smart he was- it's because of the effort he put forth in class every day and how he pushed himself to to do his best on hard questions on this test! We are getting rid of our fixed mindsets and learning how to stay positive and work through difficult things instead of giving up! As you can see, having a positive mindset makes a huge difference!

A Skyler Terry Report

Mrs. Ruth's class learning force and energy by using gutters as a ramp, a tennis ball as a rolling ball, and ping pong balls a target ball. We measured how far the target ball went. we learned that the more mass the rolling ball has, the farther the target ball goes. That's how we used force and energy.
Written by Skyler Terry-class photographer and reporter

ELA Eats Healthy

Friday our friend Melissa Webb came to teach us about making healthy food choices and eating a balanced diet using the "my plate" curriculum. She shared several handouts, recipes, and books with our ELA students. The kiddos really enjoyed preparing or "cooking" their healthy snacks. Pita pockets stuffed with turkey, spinach, and cheese :)

The Harralson Blog

Crazy for Apples!
Our theme this week was apples.  I promise you that your child will be able to tell you all you need to know about apples including; the life cycle, what to make out of apples, what an orchard is and looks like, and all the vocabulary words that come along with the unit (bloom, dribble, rot, thud)!  We became scientists and observed, recorded, tested, and experimented with yellow, red, and green apples this week.  Each child got to taste all three kinds of apples and then test to see if their apple would sink or float.  We also made home-made applesauce with a crockpot.
STEAM your engines was a hit this week!  Your super scientists found out what the embryo of a seed looks like and planted their very own seeds for our garden.  This week we will be planting outside.
Friday was National Playdough Day and we celebrated by writing our individual letters or words we are working on in the homeade koolaid play dough with paint brushes.
Reminder: 
Monday night (19th) – Kindergarten Technology Night (free dinner) 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Tuesday (20th) - Pajama Day (wear your favorite jammies to school)
Friday (23rd) - Field trip to the park (wear your tennis shoes)