Friday December 14

Hi everyone!

We had a great day today!  We had two PE activities in the gym.  I was gone in the morning taking care of my sick child.  The guest teacher said the morning went very well.

We had a little treat, and a little movie, a little reading and a little choice time.  It was a nice afternoon.

For all who brought gifts, a big thank you!  They were both unexpected and exceptionally thoughtful!  They will certainly add to a relaxing break at my house.

I did not send home any homework or work packets.  This is such a precious and magical time; keep reading everyday and enjoy your time together.

On a personal note...
I was reminded today of a song from the movie White Christmas:
"When you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep..."
Count your blessings, hug your babies close.  
And during this holiday season, I wish for you all whatever brings you the most joy.
See you in 2013.
Blessings...

December 13

Today we wrapped up our comparative study of eight classic fairy tales.  It was such as treat to watch Peter Pan come to life!  Your children have completed a fairy tale book full of many different projects we worked on to demonstrate our understanding of the stories we studied.

News and Compliments:

"I really liked when Mrs. Robb complimented me when I was getting my table cleaned up. " Sami
"I really enjoyed the Dreidel game." Catalina
"Even though at first Sami didn't know how to play, I appreciated it when he played Dreidels with me because I did not have a partner." Bailey
"I enjoyed the art project!" Zac & Peter & William & Ava & others...
"When I was reading through the Fairy Tale bucket, it was interesting to learn that the Disney princesses come from real fairy tales." Grace
"I enjoyed learning about all of the fairy tales!" Peter

Don't forget, tomorrow library books and homework!  See you then!

12-12-12

Happy Birthday Sami!

We had a short day due to the late opening, but were still quite busy.

News and compliments:

"I liked the new math game "Cover Up". Zac
"It was nice when Della and Catalina played with me at recess." Grace
"Catalina and Kora played "Make the Sum" with me." Maddy
"Ava read So You Want to be an Inventor with me." Hannah
" I enjoyed quiet reading when Grace read Kim Possible with me." Savannah
"I enjoyed reading with Colin during quiet reading." Evan

See you tomorrow!

Tuesday December 11

“I left the fairy tales lying on the floor of the nursery, and I have not found any books so sensible since.”  ― G.K. Chesterton

 Today we experienced the story Rumplestiltskin.  Then we created a pop-up scene showing our favorite event and wrote a description of the event.  The projects look great!

News and Compliments:

" I really liked Grace's rewritten fairy tales!" Catalina
"I enjoyed the book Rumplestiltskin and the project!" Peter, Cole, Sami and others
"Zac was very nice when I was playing "Make the Sum" with him during math." Bailey
"Katie and Ava played "Make the Sum"with me during math" Grace
"Katie and Ava played with me at recess when everybody else was busy." Hannah
"Lainey and Riley played "Make the Sum" with me during math" Savannah
"Thanks Mrs. Robb for playing "Make the Sum" with me!" Teddy

As you can see, "Make the Sum" is a very popular game that allows student to practice mulitple number combinations to 15.  

Just a reminder, school begins at 10:45 tomorrow!  See you then!

Monday December 10

Happy Birthday Grace!

This was a nice start to the week.  During math, we worked on the concept of finding the missing number in any place in an equation.  For example:

2 + 8 = 2 + ___ + 6        OR               10 - 3 =  ____ + 4

This concept is built on the understanding that the equals sign means "the same" not "the answer".  Students also need efficient strategies for solving equations to 20.
If you are writing equations for your child to solve for homework, write a few like this, using multiple digits on each side of the equals sign.  Use both addition and subtraction.  This is a nice challenge for most of the students.


News and compliments:

"I liked it when Della and Kora played with me at recess because we don't get to play that often." Grace
"I liked making holiday cards for art today." Calvin
"I liked it when Cole played with me at recess." Sami
"Grace taught me how to play basketball during recess!" Kora


See you tomorrow!

December 7 -Pearl Harbor Day

I believe it's much better to engage in dialog with children to explain the difference between fantasy and reality. Then they are better equipped to deal with people who might have taken it (fantasy) too far.”
― J.K. Rowling

Today we heard and studied Hansel and Gretel.  They were a very brave brother and sister who had a happy ending after all of their troubles.  We also had some time to reinforce/practice mathematics we had been learning all week.

News and compliments:

"I liked making the witch's house for our Hansel and Gretel project." Ava & Grace
"It was really nice that Hannah showed me the math games that I missed." Grace
"When I finished my math work, Mrs. Robb gave me a nice compliment" Sami

Thanks to all for another great week!  See you Monday!



 

December 6

“For most of human history, 'literature,' both fiction and poetry, has been narrated, not written — heard, not read. So fairy tales, folk tales, stories from the oral tradition, are all of them the most vital connection we have with the imaginations of the ordinary men and women whose labor created our world.”
― Angela Carter

Today we read and talked about "The Emperor's New Clothes."  Why did all of those people lie to the Emperor?  Why was a child the only one who told him the truth?

Here are news "bites" and compliments from the class:

 " I enjoyed today's fairy tale." Catalina

 "I liked it when Sami played "Make the Sum" with me during math." Colin
"It was nice when Hannah played "Cats and Mice" with me during math." William
"Thanks to Mrs. Robb for helping me when I got stuck during math.  After she helped, I understood what to do!" Seth
"Evan played a math game with me." Cole
" Madeline played "Make the Sum" with me during math." Della
"Bailey played a math game with me when everyone else was busy working." Riley
"It was nice of Kora to play a math game with me." Savannah

As you can tell from reading their compliments, we have been spending much of math working on individual and partner "games" to increase our fluency and strategies for adding and subtracting to 20.
The time we spend on math Work Places can be a little bit loud, but the students are engaged in important learning.  This is an important time of learning each day and I encourage each student to use their time well.

Remember homework and library books tomorrow!
 

Peter Pan! December 5

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan


As you can imagine, the only thing we really had on our minds today was Peter Pan!  It was a GREAT show, great costumes, staging, and songs. If you have younger siblings at home, you might want to get tickets for yourself and your family.  A special thanks to all of the parents who drove and supervised!  I mentioned that it might be fun to dress up a bit for the performance...

A little blurry, but here are some of the snazzy outfits...

Me, in purple velvet and Zac in his tie!  :)

Of course we also had math and reading time today after lunch.  We wrote "fact families" for numbers, for example, 4+5=9, 5+4=9, 9-4=5, 9-5=4.  When looking at addition and subtraction facts this way, mathematicians can make connections between operations and see how numbers relate to each other.

Thanks again for all the help today!  See you tomorrow!
 

December 4

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.”
― Albert Einstein

 Today our fairy tale study was Peter Pan.  There was much magic, sword fights, good and evil characters.  We can't to see the interpretation on the stage tomorrow!

A few things about tomorrow:
If your child uses a booster seat, please bring it tomorrow. 
Also, tomorrow it might be nice to dress up a little nicer since we will be at the theater.  We do not have PE on Wednesday, so nicer clothes would be ok.  We do sit on the carpet though, so keep that in mind.  This is not a requirement, just a thought...

News and compliments:

Sami liked the new math game, "Numberline Showdown"!
"It was nice when Della and Riley played "Make the Sum" with me during math." Savannah
"I appreciated it when Aoife played "Shake, Reach, and Record" with me." Hannah
"I liked it when Mrs. Robb played the new math game with me." Cole


I really enjoy working one-on-one with your children, particularly during math.  Until just recently, I have not been able to sit and enjoy a math game with a student because I have had to monitor distracted/distracting behavior during independent and partner work time.

In order to free up my time to give students more individual attention, our class has been working hard to be "self-managers" during school hours. We drew and talked about what that meant:  basically, each student should be able to manage their own behavior during school so that I can teach, not manage.  If this can happen, we can get much more learning accomplished.   As a group, there are good and not so good moments of self-managing.  I really enjoy the good moments because I can really get to know the learners in this class- one of my favorite things!  This is a learning goal we are all working to achieve.

See you all tomorrow!  Yeah field trips!

Monday December 3

Hi everyone!  It is December, and we have been learning together for 56 school days!

Today we read a story called Amazing Grace about a girl who has a wonderful imagination and never gives up her dreams.  We also learned a new math game to give us practice working with number lines, and created some festive holiday art!

If you are driving on Wednesday, I have either spoken with you personally or sent you an email with details...

News and compliments:

"I enjoyed the holiday art project!" Zac
"When I asked Maddy to read a book with me during quiet reading time, it was very friendly when she said yes." Savannah
"I enjoyed having Ava as a partner when we played a Math Work Place." Sami
"Peter is a good friend because he made me an amazing paper airplane during choice time." Evan

Don't forget, we are having a canned food drive to benefit families in need this season.  Please give if you are able.