DR. SEUSS THEME! This week we kicked off our author study of the remarkable Dr. Seuss. We have been keeping track of the Seuss books we have read in class by adding to a list displayed in the hallway. The students love having the opportunity to write the book titles on the list. We began the theme by reading his first published book, And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street. For several days during writer’s workshop, we wrote like Dr. Seuss by creating our own version of this book, titled: And to think that I saw it on Pin Oak Parkway. The children wrote about the fantastical things they could see on their way home. Some of my favorite examples include: King Kong, tightrope walkers, elephants, and animals with pythons for a leash!

We created a Cat in the Hat find in the classroom. We began by making tally marks for each hat that was found. Then we collected all the hats and wrote numbers 1-30 on the hats. On a search and find recording sheet, the children crossed off the number they found. Following the story of Bartholomew and the Oobleck, we made oobleck in our science center. (Oobleck can be made from 2 parts cornstarch, and 1 part water.) We had a wonderful class discussion about whether or not oobleck was a liquid or solid. This will lead us into our upcoming science study on solids and liquids. After reading Horton Hears a Who, we made our own clovers complete with a speck of dust containing “Whoville.”

The Dr. Seuss theme has given us an exciting way to strengthen our phonemic awareness. Using the common word families in some of the Dr. Seuss books, we have been doing word family sorts. Working with Seuss stories, we have been isolating the onset and rimes within a word.

On Friday, we celebrated Dr. Seuss with a Green Eggs and Ham party. We made green jello (eggs) and green pancakes (ham) to eat while we watched a cartoon of Green Eggs and Ham. All of the children helped to make the food, and tried a bite of each. We were all quite surprised by how well the food turned out. We took a class vote after the party to see which food they liked better. The green pancakes won! The children were also excited to watch the cartoon of The Sneetches. After making our own stars in art from this story, the students liked seeing this important story about acceptance of others.

Coming up in our Seuss theme, we will be creating a Seussville in the block area by building common Seuss landmarks from his stories. We will be working with more rhyming words and writing like Dr. Seuss. We will also be making a paper mache Cat in the Hat.

For some additional Seuss games at home, help your child log onto the computer at www.seussville.com to play exciting Seuss games!

THE 100th DAY OF SCHOOL: This past Thursday was our 100th day of school. We celebrated with a 100 themed math workshop, and a 100 themed writing lesson. During centers, we set up a variety of 100 day activities. They includes tallying colors on 100 skittles, making a 100 crown, counting to 100, writing our names in 100 spaces, and making a picture using the number 100.

HOMEWORK: Please remember to have your child bring in their homework every Friday in their homework folder. I am beginning to keep track of homework coming back in, as many children are not bringing their work back in. Please help your child to be responsible.

RESPONSIBILITY: To encourage your child’s independence, please say good bye to your child at the classroom door and let them carry in their own belongings. They need to be held accountable for hanging up their own bookbags, lunch bags, and coats. They also need to get into the habit of turning papers and homework in. If you would like to drop your child off at the door (to prepare for 1st grade) please contact Steve and Andrea. We would be happy to watch your child walk down the hall and make sure they get to their class.

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