Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Holiday Happenings

Ahhhh...the Holidays are here with feasting, singing, crafts, and celebrating our friends and family...what a great time of year! We are hustling and bustling along with our play practice while plowing hard in the fields all day long in our other Workshops to grow and grow! We have had so much fun celebrating what we were thankful for and creating edible and non-edible turkeys! We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break and we look forward to all of our upcoming celebrations including our Holiday Play, next Thursday at 6pm! Hurray for the Holidays :D!

Friday, November 19, 2010

LIquid Races


What are Liquids?

This is the question we have been asking too! We have been observing the properties of soilds and now liquids are our main focus this week. We have looked carefully at three particular liquids, corn syrup, dish soap, and water. We used our five sense to make careful observations, but we had one more property in mind. How can we tell how thick a liquid is? How can we look more closely at this property? Why by having the first ever Sunshine Farm Liquid Race!

Our liquids found their mark on a sheet pan and the race was on!

Race Results, First Place: Water, Second Place: Dish Soap, and Third Place: Corn Syrup!

As one Second Grader so wisely put it, "The thinner the liquid, the faster it goes!"
Stay Tuned for the Liquid Races Movie!

Balances,Rulers,and Measuring Cups..Oh My!

How do you Measure Matter, you might ask?

Why with balances, rulers, and measuring cups of course! Measuring Matter is all about using the right tools and we are learning to measure, record, and read our data.

-Students put solids in order by mass (how much matter a solid has) in grams by using balances





-Students put solids in order by length in centimeters



-Last but not least we looked at how we measure liquids (using a measuring cup)!








Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Our Local Artist


A big Yee-haw to our local artist from the Sunshine Farm! She created an amazing piece that now hangs in the Jacksonville Second Harvest Food Bank here in Jacksonville. Not only is the artwork amazing, but the cause is incredible! Our student created this piece with the guidance of very own art teacher here at Chets and in two days the masterpiece was ready to go. We are so proud of the work done by our growing artist and the heart behind the work!

Check out our Art Teacher's Blog:

We are Wild about Reading!



Here at Sunshine Farm we love to read!!!
Not just one genre, but poetry, non-fiction, historical documents, fables, directions,you name it! This passion for reading is spreading across our school like wild fire and our amazing leadership team has created posters that can be found all over our school to encourage us to read from genres galore! Our principal even volunteered to be slimed if we met our school reading goal and will continue to demonstrate how passionate she is about reading and the reading goals of our students! Yee-haw we just love to read :D!

Check out our amazing principal and our school reading posters!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Alien Video!

Watch how this Alien taught us how to edit our procedurals!

Untitled from Jessica Shaffer on Vimeo.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Compass Odyssey




Our school has recently been gifted an amazing new resource for our students.Please take advantage of this resource at home to practice reading comprehension.We have already have assignments ready for your student and their log-in and password on
their binder gets them into the program :D!

Practice Makes Perfect

Next week, there isn't any homework except...the play!!! On Monday, we will be sending home your student's trial lines to practice and try-out this next week and after the four-day weekend.
Please also take the time to practice the songs and the hand motions using the videos below :).

1 Once on a Housetop from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.


2 Ashes to Ashes from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.


3 Big Red Fella from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.


5 Lotsa Latkes from Antonia Chant on Vimeo.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Matter Begins







What is Matter? Our Second Grade Students are on journey to answer that Essential Question through a series of hands-on labs led by our observations, wonderings, and conclusions. We appreciate your support in this unit with an overwhelming response of supplies in quick fashion!!! Thank you, Thank you!!! Please don't forget to send an empty, clean water bottle with your student as we observe Matter.


At present, we are looking at matter in its solid state and learning to measure its mass with balances. Ask your student what unit of measure we are using with our balances and which item they discovered was the lightest in their group :D!

Aliens and Peanut Butter and Jelly!





Well, this week on the Sunshine Farm,we had a very unusual guest stop by and ask about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! We are right smack dab in the middle of learning about Procedural Text and Writing and this was a great moment to show off!
This alien had never had a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, but requested that we explain how to make one step by step. :)

We took our Martian Friend to meet our neighboring class and the alien gave our instructions for making peanut butter and jelly recipie a try. Unfortunately, she ended up getting more on her than the sandwich. We learned a valuable lesson about what needs to be in our Procedural Writing and went back to our classroom for revisions and continuing our unit.

Monday, November 1, 2010

A Relaxing Day on the Farm

Here at the Sunshine Farm, we are as busy as bees growing as Second Graders and getting ready for our holiday festivities. We sang all the way to our field trip location, Sykes and Cooper Farm and entertained our parents and our bus driver with our Holiday Play practice! Our rehearsals start next week :D! Today was a day of relaxing and enjoying a day on a working farm! We enjoyed seeing farm animals up close, walking a trail through a corn maze, eating an outdoor lunch, playing in corn kernels, bouncing around the playground, and picking a pumpkin to bring home. Ask your student about their favorite part of the day and what they learned about corn!
Enjoy some photos from our day :) there will be more to come!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Online Reading!




In Readers Workshop we are talking about different Literary Genres such as folktales and fables. To bring more variety to what you read at home, try the link below to hear stories read aloud!

http://www.speakaboos.com/

Friday, October 8, 2010

Open House Video

Thank you to all the families that visited the Sunshine Farm last night for Open House!
We greatly enjoyed sharing our classroom, our first published narratives, and a look at our day with you! Our Open House Video is below for you to enjoy!

The Sunshine Farm Open House Video from Rachel Bridges on Vimeo.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Spelling City

One great way to practice your weekly words is to use Spelling City.
It is even better when your words are already loaded on!
Please follow the link below to see this week's list for play and practice.
Happy Homework :),
Ms. Correia and Mrs. Bridges

http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=3775297

Sunday, September 26, 2010

That's the Skills Block Rock!

Remember School House Rock? :)
We do!
We have been learning these songs to help us with Prepositional Phrases and Adjectives.
Check it out:






Wednesday is Feed Store Day!


Our students at the Sunshine Farm earn $2.00 for working hard on the farm. Each Wednesday, our Second Graders have the option to rent items to play during Feed Store Time or purchase snacks and items at the Feed Store!


A big "YEE-HAW" to all the families that have donated items for this treat each week. Our students are working hard to produce amazing Grade-A results this year academically and with their behavior. Thank you for supporting our classroom.
Or as our students like to say, "Thank you for shopping at the Feed Store!"


Tilling at the Tech Lab


The Sunshine Farm got to visit the Tech Lab this last week to test out our log-ins and practice our typing skills! Each Second Grade Student was able to use a laptop and some of them for the very first time were able to use the mouse and keypad all by themselves! We learned to use the SHIFT key and not the CAPSLOCK, how to type in our log-ins, and our blog address.

When we got to the classroom blog, we were rewarded with a typing game available where it reads, "Keyboard Practice". Please use this game at home with your student to sharpen their keyboarding skills :).

Also, the log-in address on their planner is also good for Destination Success which we will give out more information regarding this resource in our binder. It is presently under construction :).


The Sensory Safari

This last week was a whirlwind of learning, traveling, exploring, and harvesting fruitful results! The Sunshine Farm visited the Sensory Safari on foot during our first walking field trip. Our Second Graders walked to a nearby Montessori school to view amazing animals up close! We viewed animals who are native to Florida and also amazing African creatures as well! We know that excellent scientists make observations using their five senses, so it was awesome to be able to careful see and touch animals up close that we would never be able to in the wild. It was a wonderful time of observing and learning. One of our very own student's grandparents helped to give us the grand tour!!!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Rocks Rock!

To get in the spirit of Rock..watch these videos :).... And please send in more rocks for our in-class Rock Museum. Thank you to the families that have already sent in their awesome collections!!!



Eggcellent Race!



Farming is hard work, but sometimes we have so much fun we crack up!

Last week, we were asking ourselves, "How we work as Scientists?" and in order to learn our jobs during our Science part of the day, we joined together as teams for the Great Egg Race! A game/lab played by your very own teachers here at the Chets Creek Farm, our Second Graders designed a vehicle to transport an egg the farthest without cracking. Now, they didn't do this without help. Well, there were the Table Farmers (Leaders), Milkmaids (Material Managers), Roosters (Time Keepers), and the Farmhands (Recorders). These important roles helped our tables create the perfect way to transport an egg using only a bandana, tupperware, silly bands, a straw, and clothespins. What a hoedown! The races were fast and furious and some of our passengers, the eggs, were cracked. We found out that the team that worked together the best carried their egg the farthest without a scratch!!! Yee Haw for Science Jobs!!!


Thursday, September 2, 2010

Vote for our Media Specialist!

Here at the Chets Creek Farm, we have a fairy, The Book Fairy. Most of us here know her as Ms. KK and we know she makes the magic happen! Every grade is touched by her spell and we are always charmed to love reading and learning more. KK Cherney has opened many doors and provided learning opportunites for our school that are unbelievable and amazing! Just take our first day, Ms. KK was the power behind the scenes. If you have never met this incredible Book Fairy, please take a chance to read this article highlighting her work at our school and in our community. You can vote to award this amazing Librarian the Alferd Williams Literacy Award. Please vote for our Ms. KK, she deserves this award and so much more!!! What would we do without her magic :D! Please follow the link below. You are able to vote once each day here until the deadline, September 30th.

Monday, August 30, 2010

First Week of Sunshine!




What a great first week here on the Sunshine Farm! We were introduced to a whole field of farmers, their tools, animals, and even started our own crop of vegetables in our classroom! Our Second Graders bloomed during the week as we learned the rituals and routines of our classroom. We have started our workshops, Reader's, Writer's ,Skills Block, Math, and Science! All of our students tried something new as we read, "Picky Ms. Pickle" and learned that Second Grade Farming might be different, but we can't be worried about new things, we just need to try them and we will like them! Please enjoy photos from our first farming week.


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Farmin' Friday in Room 205!

We'll be seeing you bright and early on the Sunshine Farm at 8am this Friday .
We are so excited to meet our future crop :D! Below you will find some Farming Tools that you will need to gather for your student. This should be just a reminder :D. We will have some baskets outside of our classroom to gather these tools. Please feel free to drop them off as you arrive. Also below is a Farmer's Wish List. We would appreciate any of these tools that you could donate.
We'll be seeing ya'll soon,
Mrs. Bridges and Ms. Correia

Supplies:
● 1 pack of wide-ruled notebook paper
● 3 packs of sharpened pencils-24 count per pack
● 2 packs of cap erasers-at least 24 per pack
● 6 plastic duo tang folders with three prongs and pockets in solid colors (orange, red, green,
yellow, purple, and blue) They are difficult to find at the end of summer.
● 1 two inch binder with plastic sleeve on front
● 1 package of divider sheets with write-on tabs-8 per pack
● 1 package of page protectors-25 per pack
● 2 packs of white copy paper
● 4 black composition notebooks
● 3 packs of glue sticks
● 1 pack of Crayola Markers
● 16 or 24 pack of crayons
● 1 container of disinfectant wipes
● One fabric recycle bag with long handles to fit on back of a student chair
Boys – box of tissues, hand sanitizer, large ziploc baggies, Avery 8163 labels
Girls –liquid hand soap, index cards, small ziploc baggies, Avery 8160 labels



The Farmers' Wish List:
Check out our Amazon Book Wish List
http://amzn.com/w/2MBNIE1QX9UYF
Office Max Gift Cards
A Volunteer to help with Friday Folders
A Volunteer to help with Math Clubs
Card stock
Post-It notes
Velcro Dots
Dry Erase Markers
Black sharpies

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Expecting a Grade A Year!!!



Dear Parents and Students,
Here at the Sunshine Farm, we are tilling the ground and preparing our field for our fruitful year to begin! We are so excited to welcome back our Sunshine Band as well as some new faces as we start our Sunshine Farm with cultivating a community of success :D! We hope that you have kept up your reading and are ready to hit the ground plowing as we start Second Grade. We are going to have a fantastic time learning and growing as we dig deeper to grow more fruitful results. Please enjoy a Welcome Video for Kindergartners that includes some of our former Sunshine Band Members :P.
Ya'll come back soon to check out some more information about Orientation this coming week!

Your Farmers,
Ms. Correia and Mrs. Bridges





Welcome to Kindergarten at Chets Creek from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Destination Success Summer!!!



Dear Parent(s),

Please take the time to visit Destination Success this summer!
There are so many valuable resources for your student to take advantage of to maintain and grow in their learning. We have assigned many standard-level and above-level activities for your student to complete. You will also see lessons assigned weekly by our county :D! As a reminder, your student's log-in and password is as follows:

Log-in: FIRSTNAMELASTNAME264 (all caps and our school number:264)

Password: MMDD (birth month and day, eg. June 16th=0616)

Our students will be rewarded at the Sunshine Farm for their progress on Destination during the summer :). Thank you for all you do to keep your student reading and learning!

Happy summer,
Mrs. Bridges and Ms.Correia

http://duval.riverdeep.net

p.s. Leave us a comment or a question on this blog post for extra credit!

Monday, June 14, 2010

New Theme..New Name..New Dreams!

Here at the Sunshine Band...we mean Sunshine Farm, we hope you are kicking back and relaxing during your first days of summer vacation. Your farmers, Mrs. Bridges and Ms. Correia have already dusted off their tractors and plows and are getting ready to cultivate a Second Grade community of learning excellence. We have a new room, a new theme, and a new name, The Sunshine Farm :D!
Check it out:

Chets Creek Elementary School - Cultivating a Community of Excellence from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Sunshine Band is going to Second Grade!


The show must go on and we are taking it to Second Grade! Our band members are so thrilled that we will moving on up to Second Grade together :). Yesterday, the Sunshine Band got a sneak preview of what Second Grade will be like and they even got to see their new room!

We chatted with a Second Grade teacher and heard from second graders just what second grade was really like. They gave us helpful tips and advice and even showed us a Second Grade Reader's Theater from their Author Study, Tomie dePaola. It was a great visit and We feel less nervous about our new venture.

We are so excited to boogie into a new year with old friends!

Monday, May 24, 2010

How Do Living Things Grow and Change?



The Sunshine Band has been working on the essential question, "How Do Living Things Grow and Change?" We have studied the life cycle of a frog and of plants in detail. We have also paired this study with revisiting Report Writing to share our research of living things. In celebration of our efforts, our student were to create a representation of any life cycle they would like (except a butterfly) and present it to out class. Our students and teachers watched in awe today as what can be only described as "super scientists" presented their Life Cycle Presentations. Our students took great ownership with this assignment and we are so pleased with all the hard work! Students are presenting their research with pride as they explain the stages in a life cycle. We even had one student bring frogs in their different stages of growth; live for viewing!!! Thank you parents and students for taking the time to learn more about life cycles and sharing your schema with our class :D! We all learned something new today and look forward to hearing from all of our Sunshine Scientists :). Take a look at what was shared so far..












-Watch a video presentation of the Life Cycle of a Ladybug




Celebrate Reading!



As we near the end of the year, the Sunshine Band is reading chapter books! Instead of responding to literature during Literacy Stations, the Sunshine Band is meeting in chapter club book clubs :)! Right after their own individual reading time with on-level and Literacy Station books, our almost second graders gather in groups around a chapter book. One student will read, the group listens, and then they decide as a group how to respond to the pages read that day. The Sunshine Band is having amazing conversations about their chapter books and supporting each other with comprehension all the way to Second Grade!!!

As almost second graders, our Sunshine Band is supporting almost First Graders with their comprehension and fluency. Last week, band members read with a kindergarten friend and modeled intonation and fluent reading of text. Our Kindergarten Students amazed us with their desire to read higher level text and the room was buzzing with book talk!

Friday, May 7, 2010

A Week Full of Life!

Our students have challenged themselves to observe the trends in how living things grow and change. We have observed the beginning stages of a frog and birds in our classroom and during a nature walk. Our visit the Jacksonville Zoo was also a fabulous opportunity to observe living things up close! If you were with us you know how crazy about creatures our students are!

In your student's planner, you will find a letter concerning a Life Cycle Project. Your student will be able to choose any living thing they would like and represent its life cycle with a poster, puppets, etc. Our students will also re-visit Report Writing next week and will be able to choose their topic.

Please enjoy some of our First Grade Schema for the following living things that we been observing. Please encourage your student to continue his/her research.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Digging Deeper in our Books :)

Inferring: Good readers think about, search the text, and sometimes use personal knowledge to construct meaning beyond what is stated in the text.

In other words, we use clues to figure out what it means!

Sometimes, there is meaning hidden in our stories that we have to really take the time to stop and think about! We used a parody of the cartoon"Blues Clues" to solve reading mysteries as a class to help with Inferring. With our schema and the clues in the text..no book stands a chance for our reading detectives! Ask your reading detective how they "Stop and Think" about what they are reading. When doing your nightly reading or chapter with your student, have them stop and tell you what is happening in the story so far. They should include details that you would have to use the clues of the story to understand or "infer". This kind of detective work is just what good readers like to do!

Inferring: Book Clues from Rachel Bridges on Vimeo.

Ah the Theater!

What fun to go to the theater! Today, we had a literary adventure at the Alhambra right down the street from Chets! It is amazing what a treasure we have right around the corner.
The Alhambra's performance of Snow White was interactive and exciting. It was a great connection to the work that we have been doing in Reader's Workshop with our Reader's Theater! Our students marveled at the way the actors and actresses moved and spoke on the stage. They even invited some of our First Grade students to join the cast as the Seven Dwarfs :D. Please enjoy some snapshots of our experience at the Alhambra.

Welcome Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole!





Our school was honored to be visited by renown author and illustrator, Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole! Their presence was absolutely magical and our students watched in awe as they retold their stories and illustrated our ideas during a grade-level assembly yesterday. What fun it is to meet published authors!

Our growing authors marveled at the creativity and wordplay demonstrated by these two in our latest Book of the Month. We are working on replicating the types of wordplay found in "Princess Pigtoria and the Pea" by Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole. Please enjoy this read-aloud by the author and illustrator themselves!

Untitled from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Bravo Sunshine Band Bravo!

Well, to summarize the Sunshine Band's presentation of Kevin Henkes Reader's Theater....AMAZING! Our students read with intonation, many of them knew all of their lines, and their costumes were priceless! Each play was applauded as the cast took a bow at the curtain call. Our presentations of "Lilly's Big Day", "A Weekend with Wendell", "Wemberly Worried" and "Shelia Rae the Brave" was enjoyed not only by parents, but also our 3rd grade FCAT friends, a First Grade, and Kindergarten Class. The Sunshine Band shone as they presented their Reader's Theater and hopefully have been an inspiration to each other and our audiences :D. Here is a sneak preview of our theatric presentation.."Lilly's Big Day"!

Lilly's Big Day from Rachel Bridges on Vimeo.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Magic Pyramid Game


As our students journey closer to Second Grade.. Combinations of Ten are apart of our schema! Students played a game during Choice Time over the last few weeks that was plain magic! Our students were given a deck of number cards to use with a partner. They were to create a pyramid with 4 rows with the cards and keep a "Mystery Card" on the side. Each time they removed a combination of ten (e.g. 6+4 or 8+2) they were to replace it with cards from their deck. When they only had one card remaining in their pyramid, our First Graders would predict what the "Mystery Card" might be... Game after game..it will always be your missing number for a combination of ten! For example, if your last card is "1" the "Mystery Card" will be..."9"!

Ask your student about the Magic Pyramid Game and about Combinations of Ten!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Retelling with Kevin Henkes

Our students have journeyed through their Kevin Henkes Author Study with retelling style! We have been "WOWed" by our students' retelling of Owen. We hope you enjoyed the puppet presentation your student performed for you at home :o)!

The Sunshine Band's in-class presentations knocked our socks off! Our students were absolutely perfect in their retellings of our Henkes tales. Students showed off in front of their classmates individually as they presented their retelling with puppets! Thank you for working so hard on creating these masterpieces. Many of them are displayed on our bulletin board.

This week, we would love to entertain you with four delightful Kevin Henkes tales in our very own classroom. This Friday at 9:15 am, we are proud to present, "A Weekend With Wendell", "Wemberly Worried", "Lilly's Big Day", and "Shelia Rae the Brave"! Our students have worked in groups over the last two weeks during their Literacy Station time to present their Reader's Theater for all of their families :). Please join us for cheesy treats and mouse tales :D!

See you there and enjoy some of our Kevin Henkes Memories :D!!!!