Mrs. Murphy- Master Quilter!

Mrs. Murphy one of our RtI tutors took some time to show us some of the quilts she has made for herself and her family members. We just completed our Quilt, Blanket and Afghan unit, so this special visit really brought quilt making to life for our students. Mrs. Murphy went through the steps of quilt making from choosing the fabrics, cutting the pieces for the quilt, sewing the pieces together, adding the batting and backing and then sewing the quilt together. Mrs. Murphy told us it takes many months to complete a quilt.  THANK YOU Mrs. Murphy for sharing your expertise with us!

GLOBAL SCHOOL PLAY DAY- Tomorrow!

The Kindergarten Students at Pine Glen will be participating in the Global School Play Day tomorrow. We are very excited to be participating in this AWESOME day!  

The important thing is your kids and colleagues need to be freed from thinking that play is a waste of time and begin to see the value in it.  Let's spread the word about the benefits of unstructured play. Together we can reverse the downward trend in childhood play that many nations have experienced since the 1950's.

Dear Parents,

On February 1st, our class will be participating in Global School Play Day 2017 (GSPD.) GSPD has been promoted by Psychology Today and is being celebrated at schools around the world. You can learn more about the benefits of unstructured play by visiting the official GSPD website: www.globalschoolplayday.com.  I am inviting all of our students to bring in things to play with on this very special day. Here are some examples of things your child may bring in (be sure your child’s name is clearly marked on all items):

• Non-Violent Toys (no weapons)
• Legos, blocks, cardboard boxes, etc.
• Puppets
• Stuffed Animals
• Board Games
• Puzzles

*no electronic devices*

We do request that students are able to manage transporting their toys independently.  (Make sure it fits in their backpack or can be carried separately)

Though our play day will be unstructured, it will still be supervised by teachers. We will be supporting and fostering the many social skills involved in play.  Turn taking, cooperation and mutual respect will be modeled and practiced.  In addition our mathematical skills of counting and recognizing greater than, less than and same and different will be reinforced along with our ELA communication skills.

It is our hope that this day of play will inspire all of us to plan for more unstructured play time in our lives.

Sincerely,

Melissa Parnell

Kathleen Kearney

Morning Meeting with Mrs. Hoyt's Class!

On Monday morning we started off our week by having a Morning Meeting with Mrs. Hoyt's kindergarten class! The students in Room 101 made space in our morning circle so that a new friend from Room 103 could sit on either side of them. Mrs. Parnell and Mrs. Hoyt modeled how to introduce yourself and that is what we did for our morning greeting. After the introductions were made Room 101 became the audience for Mrs. Hoyt's students when they shared their expert kindergarten "How to" writing.  Room 101 was impressed with Room 103's writing! Room 103 students shared with Room 101 students the steps and process they went through to do their writing. 

Mrs. Parnell challenged Room 101 students to create their own "How to" writing.  Mrs. Hoyt then  invited us back to her classroom for another Morning Meeting for students in Room 101 to share their writing with the students in Room 103! Today Room 101 students completed their "How to" writing and tomorrow we will go to Mrs. Hoyt's room to participate and share at their Morning Meeting.  It has been a busy week already and it is only Tuesday! It is very exciting to have a audience for our writing. The students were very engaged and excited to be able to share their writing with a classmate!

It's a Wrap on Our Blankets!

We have completed our blanket, quilt and afghan unit. The students really enjoyed this unit! They loved sharing their special blankets, quilts and afghans. During this unit the students practiced their oral language by asking complete questions about their special items. They practiced math skills when figuring out the length, width and area of their special items and when we used our knowledge of geometry to cut squares into triangles to create the pinwheel pattern on our paper quilts. The students had to work in cooperative groups to help each other make these paper quits. The finished products are beautiful. Please see pictures below! 

Ella and her blanket.

Ella chose to have her classmates lie down to find out the area.

Ethan and his blanket.

Ethan asked Natalia to help him measure his blanket.

Annabella and her afghan.

Annabella chose to have the students stand on her afghan to figure out the area.

Will and his blanket.

Will asked Owen to help him measure his blanket.

Steven brought in his quilt.

Steven had his friend lie on his quits to figure out the area.

Mrs. Parnell taught a mini-lesson on how to make the paper quilt. This is an example of procedural poster. She had the students actually perform each step so they would be ready to make the quilts the next morning. We referred to this poster each of the three weeks before having the students create their own paper quilts. This proceed was very successful and the quilts came out beautiful.

making the quilts

Mila and her quilt.

Natalia and her quilt.

Will and his quilt.

Owen and his quilt.

Our quilts are being displayed in the hallway outside our classroom. Many visitors have stopped by to see our beautiful work and learn more about the students in our classroom.

The students love looking at the quilts. They will be sent home some time next month for families to treasure!

Be Safe!

Safety is of the utmost importance for teachers and students. Since the beginning of the year we have talked and learned about being safe in the classroom, in the cafeteria and on the playground.  

We have practiced bus safety and what to do in 

case of a fire.

Today we read a booklet that will be sent home to all 

Pine Glen families.  How I Can Stay Safe at School!  

guides us through what to do in an emergency.  After 

reading we practice how do line up and react to directions

 the teachers give us in case of an emergency.

A school-wide drill is planned for tomorrow, January 20.  

Students are aware that we are practicing and that 

teachers keep them safe.

Further information about our drill and safety can be found 

on Mr. Lyon's blog.

Blanket Update

The students in Room 101 have been working hard on their blanket, quilt and afghan news. They are enjoying playing the 20 questions game, measuring the items and creating paper quilts! We are working hard but having a lot of fun in the process!

Natalia and Emma were measuring the length and width of Natalia's baby blanket.

Natalia chose for the students to stand on her blanket to measure the area of the blanket. 9 Kindergartners fit on the blanket- but there was standing room only! 

Harrison chose to figure out the area of his blanket by having classmates lie on his blanket. 6 Kindergartners lying down fit on Harrison's blanket.

Owen brought in our first afghan. His grandmother made it! It was beautiful.

Owen and Evan measured the length and width of the afghan.

Owen also chose to have the student lie on his afghan to figure out the area. 6 Kindergartners lying down was the area of Owen's blanket too!

Evan brought in his special frog blanket.

Evan chose to have the students lie on his blanket too. Only 3 kindergartners lying down fit on the blanket.

Mila had her classmates sit on her blanket to figure out the area. 12 students sitting on the blanket was the area!

Rocco brought in his quilt. We made comparisons between his quilt and the paper quilts that we are making. The students saw that within the quilt square on Rocco's quilt are 6 rectangles. On the paper quilt squares we are making there are many triangles!

Rocco chose to have students lie on his quilt. There was a bit more room on the quilt, but the students decided another student lying down would not fit.

Rocco and Ethan worked together to figure out the length and width of Rocco's quilt. 

On Friday's during the month of January the students are working in cooperative groups creating paper quilts for each other. Watching the collaboration and group effort on these creations is so nice to see. We have made 9 quilts so far, so we are more than half done now. We will post the completed projects soon, so please stay tuned!