Mrs. Patricia Bresnahan Seablom

Oct. 26 - Oct. 30

Happy Halloween! 

ELA: We now have 3 published authors in our class!  Kate, Ryan, and Erika have all completed their first books about their Halloween memories.  Kate and Erika read their memoirs to our class, and Ryan will get his chance on Monday.  Good job, guys!!

 

On Friday, we listened to not-so-scary stories from the book “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”.  Ask your kids about ‘The Viper,’ ‘The Attic,’ and my personal favorite ‘Bloody Fingers.’  They are all a scream!

Math: We finished up Topic 2 with a test on Tuesday, and have already moved on to Topic 3.  In this unit we will be working on subtracting with LOTS of borrowing, so the students need to brush up on those facts!!  Be sure to practice at home! 

Social Studies: The kids had a Social Studies Quiz on the landforms….you’ll get the results next week!

Science: The halls are more colorful now that our class has hung up our wonderful flower diagrams.  Each child illustrated a flower and then labeled the part and function with a hidden flap.  They look great!

Our classroom garden is in full bloom!  The lima beans are about 7 inches tall, and the corn, peas, and holly hock have sprouted.  We literally watch them grow throughout the day.  It is fascinating.

We continue to check the lima bean plants that we are keeping in the closet.  They are very tall, but yellow and sickly looking.  We will keep a close watch on them!

The snack garden is slightly disappointing. So far only the sunflower and corn has sprouted, and nothing looks like it is in the works. L  

 

Red Ribbon Week:

We finally met our buddy class!!  We went into Miss Sullivan’s 1^st grade class to help decorate our candy bags for the VIP parade.  Our class was great at helping come up with anti-drug slogans.

 

 

On Wednesday, the students looked very patriotic in Red, White, and Blue.

On Thursday, it was great to see everyone supporting their favorite team.

After special, our Room Moms threw us a great party!  There was lots of yummy food…..

And plenty of fun games….

What a wonderful week!

I hope everyone has a super fun and safe Halloween, and REMEMBER TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH AFTER ALL THAT CANDY!!!

-Mrs. Seablom

Math: Our topic this week was adding 2 and 3 digit numbers with carrying.  This is the last topic we will cover before the topic 2 test that is scheduled for Tuesday. 

Social Studies: The children made a great visuals to help remember the different types of landforms.  We displayed them in the halls to show off the great illustrations.

Science: The kids got to see the inside workings of a flower as they dissected flowers.  They pulled apart lilies to find: pedals, stamens, anthers, pistols, stigmas, and even eggs/seeds!

Our lima beans have sprouted!  We will start measuring their growth next week.  In addition to lima beans, we have planted field corn, hollyhock, and peas. 

So far we have planted the following seeds in our snack garden: apple, plum, cucumber, concord grape, banana, orange, pumpkin, green bean, pomegranate, sunflower, grape, a mystery seed, pear, and even a few others I can’t remember.  We were excited to see that Kate's sunflower has sprouted! I wonder what our garden will look like on Monday?

The extra credit projects came out amazing!  Thank you to all the parents who helped their children gain a bit more passion for our science unit.

Fire Safety: On Friday, the Fishkill Fire Department was generous enough to visit our school with their fire trucks!  The kids went through a fire safety obstacle course….call 911, check the door for heat, crawl through the smoke, go out the available exit…door or window!  It was a lot of fun.  After that, the kids got to try out a real fire hose, and then watch a fireman climb to the top of a HUGE ladder.  THANK YOU FISHKILL FIRE DEPARTMENT!

Oct. 13 - Oct. 16

This was a short but busy week! 

ELA: One of the most fun read alouds we did this week was 'The Best Halloween of All'.  This book has inspired us to make our own Halloween memories into our first published books.  Some kids will be revising their writing next week, while others are all ready to publish!   I can't wait to see how the books turn out!

Math: We had a rounding quiz this week.  The children have demonstrated that they are grasping the concept very well.  We will round to the nearest hundred next week.

Social Studies: The continent and ocean quiz was a great success.  The kids proved that they can study for a quiz....and get wonderful results!  We will now move on to landforms.

Science: Our classroom is practically a greenhouse at the moment, as we begin our plant unit.  This unit will teach the kids how scientists observe, record findings, and create their own experiments.  The children have planted lima beans in soil as well as in plastic bags taped to the window.  The plastic bags will allow us to see the exact moment of germination and how the root system extends.

One of the most exciting plant experiments we are conducting is our snack garden.  Every time a child brings in a 'seeded' snack, we plant the seeds!  We can not wait to see if anything will grow! 

So far we have planted the following seeds in our snack garden: apple, plum, cucumber, concord grape, banana, orange, pumpkin, green bean, and pear.

Your children have brought home their first extra credit project.....a seed collection.  I am sure they will all find some interesting seeds!

-Mrs. Seablom

Oct. 5 - Oct. 9

This week we had 2 substitutes! The kids kept busy while I was at my conferences, and we had lots of learning fun when I returned. Our first monthly 'Fish Race' was a blast.  K.W. was the winner with her thoughtful design for her fish.  I can't wait to see what the kids will come up with for November!

ELA: In our read alouds we have focused on memoirs.  The kids have been writing about their own memories in their writing journals.  We have begun our work on story elements by thinking about a story's setting.  Ask your children about Uncle Jed's Barbershop.
In fundations/spelling we continued our work with syllables.

The students have loved using shaving cream to practice their cursive handwriting, so we have dubbed the last day of the week 'Foamy Friday'.  We can look forward to getting messy every Friday.

Math: Our 1st math test is behind us, and I am very happy with how well the students did! This week we started the challenging subject of rounding.  We jumped up and down number lines while reciting the rounding poem: 0-4 Stay on the floor.
                        5-9 Climb the vine.

Social Studies: We worked more with cardinal directions this week by navigating each other through the classroom to a destination.....blindfolded!  The kids had a blast! We have a quiz on the Continents and Oceans next week, so be sure to study!!!

Science: Slime!  We created and slime and gak this week in Science.  It was so much fun!  But the real purpose was to observe how scientists conduct experiments, how to name properties, to foster curiosity, and to help the students continue their investigations by thinking about ideas for further experiments.  I will try to get the recipe for Gak out to you all soon!

Have a great loooooooooooong weekend!!

-Mrs. Seablom

Sept. 28 - Oct. 2

Another fun and productive week behind us!  Here are a few things we have been working on:

ELA: In our read alouds we have focused on the comprehension strategy of visualizing.  The kids have been drawing pictures and discussing what they 'see' while they read.  We have also been spending some time reading and writing memoirs.  The students have rich memories that they are sharing in their Writer's Workshop Journal.
In fundations/spelling we are starting our work with syllables.

The students have loved using shaving cream to practice their cursive handwriting.  We learned quite a few new letters this week.

Math: Our topic one test is scheduled for next week. (Tuesday)  I hope everyone is studying and working on their packets! 
Counting money on the Smartboard was a LOT of fun!

Social Studies: We have moved our desk into the 7 continents.  Ask your child at which one they sit!  The students have been working on longitude and latitude as well as other map skills such as map keys and the compass rose.  They enjoyed jumping North, South, East, and West in our latest activity.

Science: I am excited to begin the Science Unit next week.

Have a great weekend!!