Happy Halloween!

It was a dark and rainy afternoon...

Our Halloween party and parade day began like that of a spooky story, but we made the best of it! The costumes looked fantastic, the party activities were engaging, and the indoor parade was a rousing success! The children were grinning from ear to ear at their moment to shine as they marched down the hall. They thoroughly enjoyed watching the other classes parade by. Thank you so very much to ALL the parents that made our day a success! :)

From Miss C.'s Blog

Our first art appreciation venture...

This week the children in room 116 were treated to an amazing art appreciation activity! Mr. Gale with the assistance of Mrs. Robbins and Mrs. Gale, helped the children to discover their inner artist. First, the children were given a brief introduction of Picasso and his works, in print and plate sculpture. Then, the children completed a four square drawing. In each square, the children sketched a different face. Next, the young artists were shown a piece and encouraged to sketch each of the four faces depicted. Finally, they took their art to scuplture, and drew their own four faces sculpture. A BIG thank you to the parents that made this activity such a success! Enjoy the slideshow below of the artistic venture we took!

Is that pink in your hair?

I have a surprise in my hair. If you do not know you are looking for it you miss it. It is a teeny sliver of a dark pink hair extension in the back, on my left. The color pink is my favorite, but I would never put it in my hair...that is until this opportunity came about that I couldn't pass up.

I was at a local salon and spa with friends getting manicures and pedicures. The discussion came up that it was the month of October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of this, the salon was offering pink hair extensions, with all the procedees going towards a breast cancer charity. I couldn't pass the opportunity up!

So if you look closely, you might see a sliver of dark pink in my hair, but know that while I am nothing but the professional, I couldn't pass up the chance to give a little bit for the fight against the devastating disease that is cancer.

From pink

October Skills Checklist...

I just adore this time of year! Apple picking and pumpkin carving, world series and football, hoodies and scarves! The school year is moving right along. It is already mid-October! The children are diligently working in room 116. We have already tackled two units of Everyday Math and Open Court Reading. I look forward to sitting down with you face-to-face at upcoming conference time to discuss in detail your child's academic and social progress for the beginning months of 1st grade.

As I sit here drinking my pumpkin spice latte and snacking on a taffy apple, I have some suggestions of things you can work on at home through the month of October.

• tell time on an analog clock to the hour/half hour
• count 1-100
• write a complete sentence using correct punctuation and capitalization
• add or subtract using a number line or hundreds chart (no finger counting or calculators)
• knows phone number with area code
• knows street address
• knows birthday month, day, and year
• knows city and state (and how to spell them with correct capitalization)
• can write first and last name (with correct capitalization)
• can count by 2's to 50
• can count by 5's to 50
• can sort the same objects into two different groups using and identifying different sorting criteria
• can find and name dates on the calendar
• name places in a local community
• can identify main idea and details of a story
• recognizes an antonym and a synonym
• can identify a noun, proper noun, and adjective
• calculates the values of combinations of pennies and nickels
• finds compliments of 10 (6+4,5+5,9+1, etc.)
• solves simple addition and subtraction story problems

Walk to school week!

It is once again time for walk to school week! This year's theme is WALKtoberfest! Walking to school is good for your health and good for the enviornment! Did you know that the average car produces 5.5 tons of pollution (carbon dioxide) a year?! To absorb that pollution caused by a single car, a forest of about 4.5 acres is required! That is bigger than the size of Field Park, right next to Mann School!

There are a whole host of activities going on at Mann Elementary this week. I encourage everyone to take part! One way to show your support for this event is to wear a specific color each day. Here is our schedule...

Monday: Students (and staff!) wear RED for transportation safety and receive a hand stamp if they walk to school.

Tuesday: Students wear BLUE for water conservation and receive a book mark if they walk to school. (Perfect for our practice books in our desks!)

Wednesday: (The official international walk to school day!) Students wear GREEN and come to school in "walking school buses." The children will also receive a treat from Active Transportation Alliance and Whole Foods. Additionally, a 6 foot evergreen tree will be planted behind the school during lunch.

Thursday: Students wear YELLOW for energy conservation and will receive a Mann Moolah for smoothies served after school. Additionally, students will receive a hand stamp at lunch if they have a ZERO waste lunch. This means using recyclable containers and nothing ends up in a landfill!

Friday: Students wear their favorite sports team attire and receive a special reusable container with a treat inside for walking to school.

Math and Science...

We have started our new science unit! I hope your child came home this week with perhaps some soil under their finger nails, a huge grin on their face, and filled with excitement that we planted seeds in our terrariums! I am excited about our new science series. We had extensive training in the district and now it's time to get our hands dirty...literally! We will be working with two publishers: Houghton Mifflin and Carolina's STC. I have created a link in this post in addition to adding these websites in my "useful websites" section of this blog. Feel free to explore the websites. Our units of study in first grade will be solids and liquids, weather, and organisms.

Mrs. Picciotti shared a fantastic article with me about young women and the importance of encouraging them to pursue math and science. Mrs. Picciotti coordinates the math lab that runs here at Mann Elementary during the children's lunch hour. I encourage you to take a peek at the article. I know that my fasination with math and science stems from an accountant mother and a father who was active in the boy scouts and always encouraging me to study science. I was very fortunate and hope my passion for math and science (and writing and literature too, after all I did major in English Literature in college) comes out in my teaching! :)

Mustang Motto Day!

We had our first Mustang Motto day of the school year! If the children could state the mustang motto (be respectful, be responsible, be compassionate!) they received a delicious popsicle treat. The children have been working hard since the beginning of the school year to understand what the motto means and how it applies to them.

Here are some pictures of our yummy day!