School Poem
~Author Unknown

Today I hurry off to school,
To work and learn and play
I'm in a brand new grade this year.
What a happy day!

The word of the month is self-acceptance.

In this book, I Like Myself, the main character knows she is different and special and that’s what makes her so wonderful!

Now think about what makes you special and what makes you glad to be who they are. List ten things that you like about yourself.

Sometimes it is difficult to think of positive qualities about oneself. Work with others and point out positive qualities that your classmates show.

Draw a picture of yourself and three special things that make you wonderful. Use this worksheet – I Like Myself

Here is an example:

May's word of the month is empathy. Empathy is the ability to recognize other people's emotions. Once you can identify the person's emotion, you develop sympathy, compassion, or understanding of the person's situation or point of view. Listen to Philip Hoose's story, Hey, Little Ant.

Earth Day is a day to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment.

My Garbology is an interactive game that teaches about sorting garbage for recycling, reusing, and composting. Sort garbage into four bins according to where you think each piece of garbage should go.  Play My Garbology by clicking the picture below.

This month we are exploring the work of Eric Carle. We are reading as many of his books as we can. We have learned he likes to include a pattern in many of his stories. He also enjoys writing about animals and nature. His illustrations are bright and detailed. We are trying out his craft techniques with our own writing. On May 22nd, we will be celebrating with an Author’s Celebration. Hope you can join us! Watch this trailer made by Mr. Carle back in 2009 when The Hungry Caterpillar celebrated its 40th anniversary. He shows how he paints tissue paper with various brushes and uses that in his collages.

This week we will celebrate our school spirit.  Each day different classes will be making morning and afternoon announcements.  Each class will be sharing information about the different reasons we love Schaefer.  We are also participating in daily raffles.  If our class name gets drawn we can win things like extra recess time, lunch with a teacher or extra time in the gym.  Keep your fingers crossed.  We really want to win.  We also will be particiapting in school wide spirit themes.  See Below for the schedule:

Monday- Team Spirit Day

Tuesday- Tropical Day

Wednesday- Crazy Hair Day

Thursday- Mix Match Day

Friday- Wear your school colors

Also, some of you will remember we talked last week about the Rockland Read in.  I am pleased to announce Schaefer students read a total of 30,480 minutes! Great job!  Check back soon for school spirit week pictures.

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This week we participated in the annual Rockland County Read-In. We competed against all other schools in the county for a marathon day of reading. The winner will be the school that reads for the greatest amount of time.The children had a blast coming to school in their pj’s and reading a variety of different materials. Some students chose to read favorite books from home. Others had fun practicing their reading strategies using our classroom library and our just right books. We also enjoyed using Book-Flix and Raz- Kids on the computer. Stay tuned for the results. The rest of the county will compile their minutes of reading on 2/15/13.

We are welcoming fall in to our classroom with the launching of many new units of study. We enjoyed getting to know each other and learning our classroom routines during the month of September.  Now we are ready to get busy and explore the Kindergarten curriculum. In Science, our study of the Five Senses aligns beautifully with the goals for our Writing unit- Looking Closely observing and listing like Scientists.  We will be asking for your help at home with these units in the near future.  Why not get a head start? Check out the green hour link and get outside for some fall fun. 

Welcome to our class blog.  This site will provide an opportunity for you and your child to connect with the classroom at home.  Our first two weeks of school have been very busy.  We have enjoyed getting to know each other and our classroom routines.  Check out the class photos page for some pictures of us in action.  Click one of the links and play a game at home.  It is my goal to update our blog weekly so be sure to check back often.