Mrs. Kranzlein's Koalas

...and then we "Feast"!!!

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One little, two little, three little indians...
        

First we cook...

A big koala thank you to Ben's mom, Megan's mom, and Harrison's mom for helping us prepare the food for our feast.  Also, thank you to Gavin's mom for doing our grocery shopping.

    

Week 14 in Review...and Looking Ahead

Week 14
Wow, what a full week!  The koalas really enjoyed our field trip, which nicely set the stage for learning about the historical significance of Thanksgiving. 

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On Thursday, we learned about gravity and motion in the Science Lab.  Thank you to Gabriel's  grandmother, Ben's grandmother, and Clemens' mom for helping us with all the experiments that Mrs. Kauffman and Mrs. Peck had assembled for us. 

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Another highlight of our week was using Indian symbols to write sentences, make patterns and adorn our Indian vests and dresses.  We completed our headbands, medallions and napkin rings in preparation for our "feast" on Thursday. 

Looking Ahead...
We will be finishing preparations, cooking and enjoying our Harvest Feast this week.  In math, we are combining and decomposing shapes.  In Social Studies, we are learning about how pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated Thanksgiving.  Our Reading and Writing groups are meeting daily.  Please make sure that Guided Reading folders are returned daily so that your student can participate fully in his or her reading group.

We will be going to the library for a story and to return books.  We will not be able to check out a book over the Thanksgiving break. 

Please note...all county computer systems will be shut down during the Thanksgiving break including the web site and teacher email.

We hope all parents are planning to come to our Writer's Workshop on December 2nd from 11:30-12:30.  Our koalas have been working hard and are excited to show off their writing for you.  Formal invitations will be sent home this week.

Thank you for all your support.  Mrs. Nolan, Mrs. Pepe and I are very thankful for you and for your koala.

Week 13 in Review...and Looking Ahead

Week 13
We had a fun week exploring rocks.  Our guided reading groups are up and going strong.  Please make sure to return the guided reading folders every day.  We have had several koalas earn a mini-bag of popcorn for learning their popcorn words.  Keep popping those words out.

Indian shirts
A huge koala thank you goes to Mrs. Beck and Mrs. Rezendes for tea-staining and beading our t-shirts.  We will not need to send them home to be beaded after all.  Also, thank you to Mrs. Edwards for helping us with our headbands.

Looking Ahead...
We will be covering a lot of material this week as we celebrate Veterans Day, finish up our science units on Rocks and Soil and on Force and Motion, continue preparing for our Harvest Celebration, and finish our math unit on Shapes.

Field Trip
On Tuesday, we will be going to our field trip to the Cherokee YMCA.  Your students needs to wear their koala shirts but you may want to add a long sleeve shirt underneath.  If you send a lunch, it needs to be completely disposable. 

Library and Science Lab
We will be going to the library on Thursday this week.  We will also go to the Science Lab on Thursday to learn more about gravity.

Week 12 in Review...and Looking Ahead

Week 12
October ended with a flurry of spooktacular learning activities (see the Mining Adventure and Happy Halloween posts for pictures).  In Math, we ordered objects based on height including ourselves.  In Phonics, we listened for the long vowel sounds and giggled as we sang I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas.  In Writing, we are working on using lower case letters.

Looking Ahead...
We will spend more time investigating rocks and soil next week.  Our writing focus will be informational text and we will begin preparations for our Harvest Celebration.  Since Tuesday is a day off for students, we will be going to the library on Thursday. 

To Do's
Please be diligent to return writing and reading folders (and their contents) daily as we use these in class.  We also need you to be working with your child on the popcorn words on the back of the blue folder.  If you have not sent in a dad-sized undershirt or a rock yet, please send it in as soon as possible.  Note: These shirts and rocks will not be returned in their original condition.