It's Friday!

In Room 8, we are REALLY excited that it is Friday.

Quote of the Day 3/29

"Where do ants go to the bathroom?"

Surprise Science: POLYMERS!

As I've mentioned before, every Friday morning the first and second grades split into groups and rotate around to every first and second grade teacher to do a different science experiment every Friday morning for five weeks. Last rotation, we did "Glowing Germs", this rotation is "Bouncing Balls"! With an introductory knowledge of matter and polymers, along with warm water, Elmer's glue, Borax, cornstarch, and food coloring (for fun), the first and second graders each made their own bouncing ball! Here are some of our kiddos and their creations:

Quote of the Day 3/27

Student 1: "It smells like tuna fish. Is someone eating tuna fish?"
Student 2: "I think it might be me."
Me: "Are you having a sandwich for your snack?"
Student 2: "No, a rice cake."
Me: "A tuna flavored rice cake?"
Student 2: "Nope. Cinnamon."

Wrapping Up Our Dr. Seuss Unit!

I must say that I was definitely not expecting two snow days in a row this week! It was a nice little midweek break, but it definitely shortened our last week of the Dr. Seuss unit.
Our last book that we studied was "Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!" We learned about how this book would never have been published without the help of Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith. Before Dr. Seuss passed away in 1991, he had only some rough sketches and outlines. These sketches are actually published in the back of the book! It was really interesting to see how Lane Smith, the illustrator, and Jack Prelutsky, the poet, elaborated on Dr. Seuss's original ideas.
To celebrate the ideas in "Diffendoofer Day", we discussed what makes a school special and different. A lot of the students agreed that it was the teachers and staff in the school that makes it special!! Using this, we created our own teachers and staff for our own school. We used a combination of collage and art supplies to create our own illustrations in the style of Dr. Seuss and Lane Smith.
It was a lot of fun and we were able to listen to the audio book of "The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories" while we worked.

Kiddos using magazine clippings for their collage!

We Love Visitors in Room 8!

Yesterday afternoon, Room 8 had some visitors all way from Fort Kent, Maine! My parents, along with my five year old brother, came to see our classroom and read to us. My mom chose to read "Daisy Head Mayzie", her favorite Dr. Seuss book, and I was surprised to see how many kiddos had never read it before. It was so nice to have my parents see for themselves where I spend most of my time every week! :)

Inside Recess in Room 8

Since today was pretty rainy and glum, we are staying in for lunch recess. A popular recess activity is building what they like to call, "The Cheese Tower" made with base ten blocks. Today was a momentous occasion because they have made it the tallest it has ever been! They are still in the building process as we speak!

Dr. Seuss Treasure Hunt

Here are the clues and trivia questions from the Dr. Seuss Treasure Hunt.  They needed to answer the Dr. Seuss trivia question before getting their next clue.

Given before they leave:

For your first question you must go

To the place where you did show

Off your Meet Me’s and your hats

Morning Meeting’s where it’s at

(Open area)

Question #1:

What is Dr. Seuss’s real name?

(Theodor Seuss Geisel or Ted)

In clue #1:

If you want the next clue

You should know just what to do

Find the place where you get books

And gave China quite the look

(Library)

Question #2:

When is his birthday?

March 2, 1904

In clue #2:

Twice a week and most times more

You come here, it’s quite a chore

Move your bodies round and round

Work your muscles up and down

(Gym)

Question #3:

Where did he grow up?

Springfield, Massachusetts or Fairfield Street

In clue #3:

In room 8 you like to blog

But the computers there are sometimes hogged

Here’s a place where there’s many more

Computers for you to explore

(Computer Lab)

Question #4:

How old would he be if he were still alive?

109

In clue #4:

I know you all like to make noise

And be loud, you girls and boys

Here’s the place that you can sing

And learn songs and other things

(Music Room)

Question #5:

What languages did he speak?

English and German

In clue #5:

Sometimes things get lost, I know

And there’s a place that these things go

Mittens and hats and gloves and pants

Go to the place near the room with plants

(Lost and Found)

Question #6:
What does being an immigrant mean?

It means moving to America from another country to live and work.

In clue #6:

This lady is cool and you can tell

And some of you know her really well

She teaches us about zones and speaking

At the start of every morning meeting

(Mrs. Mellor’s room)

Question #7:

True or false - Dr. Seuss was a boy scout.

True!

In clue #7:

Congrats, kids! You’re halfway done!

And I hope you’re having fun

Now go somewhere you can start

To learn about many kinds of art

(Art Room)

Question #8:

What is a pen name?

A pen name is a name some authors use instead of their own name.

In clue #8:

Now, this lady is the boss

But you’ll see she’s hardly cross

She helps us to follow rules

You will learn she’s pretty cool

(Mrs. Fournier’s office)

Question #9:

Who encouraged Dr. Seuss’s nonsense?

His mom Henrietta Seuss Geisel!

In clue #9:

I heard that this place is the best

A place some took a certain test

A musical one, it wasn’t teeny

With the lovely Miss Marchini

(Greenhouse)

Question #10:

Where did Dr. Seuss get his interest in animals?

His dad Theodor Geisel!

In clue #10:

Let us see if I can trick ya

Another place where you can pick a

Couple different books for groups

On a wall. Stumped now? Oops.

(Book wall)

Question #11:

What are some things Dr. Seuss really liked as a kid?

Animals, reading, sledding, doodling, trying on costumes, singing around the piano with his family, and exploring.

In clue #11:

You stop here if you are late

To grab a note with the date

And give it to Mrs. White to know

That you are here now, we missed you so!

(Office)

Question #12:

True or false - He didn’t like sports and wasn’t very athletic.

True!

 

In clue #12:

Here’s a secret you might know

Where all the teachers go

To copy work and tests, a lot

Tiptoe there and you won’t get caught

(Copy room)

Question #13:

True or false - Before Dr. Seuss became famous, a lot of people loved his work.

False! A lot of people hated it. Even his friends and teachers.

In clue #13:

You can talk to her if you are sad

Happy, excited, confused, or mad

She has lots of games you can bet

And snacks for snack time if you forget

(Mrs. Erhardt’s room)

Question #14:

What was his best friend’s name?

Bill

 

In clue #14:

You’re getting close! The end is near!

Your prize is pretty sweet, I hear.

To get your next clue you must do

20 jumping jacks, woo hoo!

(Do jumping jacks)

Question #15:

What colors were used in “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins”?

White, black, and red

In clue #15:

Each day you bring in lots of stuff

As if your backpack was not enough

Here’s the place you hang your coat

On the hook where your name was wrote

(Coat hooks)

Question #16:

What was the big message from “Horton Hears a Who”?

“A person’s a person no matter how small.”

 

In clue #16:

You are done! Congratulations!

I can sense all your elation!

Your prize is red and white and blue

Sticky, sweet, and yummy, too!

(Cupcakes)

Dr. Seuss on YouTube!

Green Eggs and Ham, The Sneetches, and the Zax - 24 minutes

 

 The Cat in the Hat - 25 minutes

 

The Lorax - 25 minutes

 

Dr. Seuss's Birthday Celebration!

Yertle the Turtle and Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

What a day Friday was!  Not only did we celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday in the afternoon, but we also had a birthday party and a going-away party for two students in the morning. As you'll see by our pictures, we all dressed up as our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, had some guest readers, a rhyming Dr. Seuss treasure hunt, and some fun Dr. Seuss themed snacks. It made for a great midway point of the Dr. Seuss unit and reviewed what we've learned about Dr. Seuss and his style so far.

The Star Belly Sneetches, plus Mrs. Fournier, our principal!

The Onceler and the Lorax

Some Sneetches and "Things" decided they wanted to be the Lorax, too!

The "Things"

Cindy Lou Who and Sally

Cat in the Hat!

Layered Dr. Seuss cupcakes!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish on top!

My Advice to Pre-K is...

Wow! I feel like I've been neglecting my blog! Well, I have, but we've been so busy with Dr. Seuss-y things that I haven't had time to sit and share what we've been up to. Recap: Each day I read a different Dr. Seuss book or two and we connect the message or elements of the story to our own lives and our reading and writing. For this assignment, we read "Do You Know How Lucky You Are?" and "What Was I Scared Of?" We talked about how Dr. Seuss takes events from his life and lessons that he learned growing up to write about.  We did an activity where we thought about all the things we were thankful for and then used that brainstorm to develop advice to Pre-K kids. The result was really great and the conversation was astounding! These kiddos are such generous geniuses. :)

My advice to Pre-K is... I am thankful for swimming and here is some advice.  When you swim underwater you weigh nothing at all so don't be afraid because I've done something scary in the water. Before, I jumped into the pool and almost landed on my face but I took my pinkie finger and held myself up.

My advice to pre-K is to be thankful for what you have.

If you ever play violin watch out for your chin.

My advice is follow your dreams because it will make you feel good.

When you're jumping off the diving board close your eyes and jump or ask a grown-up for help.

My advice to pre-K is not to play ball in the house.

To put your listening ear on: twist half your ear.

My advice is wear gloves. Kitten sitting hurts!

My advice to Pre-K is...be nice to your teacher.

My advice is wear gloves because it will keep you Pre-Ks warm.

My advice to Pre-K is when you're feeling sad remember what you have.

My advice for you is don't be afraid of everything that is big.

 My advice to Pre-K is do not be scared of your teacher.

If I Ran the Zoo...

Last week we read a bunch of Dr. Seuss books and have made some observations and comparisons between some of his early work. As we go along, Room 8 has noticed that with every book he is starting to use more silly words and a lot more color. We also have been working on a "Meet Me" chart that will be displayed in the hallway to help us discover how we are similar to Dr. Seuss when he was just a kid growing up on Fairfield Street! Last Thursday in Room 8, we read "If I Ran the Zoo" by Dr. Seuss and created our own nonsensical zoo animals. We made up a name and some facts about our creatures to make up the Room 8 Zoo!

This is Meat Tooth. It is from Black Heart Bay. It eats teachers. Its skin looks like scales. It moves by wings. It sounds like, "Coooooo cooooooooooo!"

My creature is extinct and he is from Maine. He is from the Ice Age. He is a double teeth tiger. His real name is Deago. The name of my zoo would be Crazy Animal Zoo.

My animals are the Foon or the Foom. They come from New Jersey. It eats hay, apples, and clementines. It's skin color is gold, red, pink, blue, purple, and green.  It sounds like, "Foom!" It moves by walking. The name of my zoo is AE Cozoo.

My animal's name is Red Tooth. Stand back! It eats people. Red Tooth is from Kalamazoo. Its scales are electric lime! It moves faster than sound. My zoo's name is IM Zoo.

My animal is the Giant Vacuum Fly. It is from Africa. 

My animal is the Snakeosaurous. It is from Australia. It eats schools. It's skin color is red and green. It moves 125 MPH! It sounds like a rhinoceros bouncing.  My zoo is the Zip Zap Zoo.

My animal is the Allacorn. It lives in the clouds. It sounds like a horse. It flies. It is magical. It eats grass. It feels like a horse.

My animal is called the Farnham. It is from York, Maine. It eats humans. Its skin is red and smooth. It walks around. It does not make noise.

My animal is the Fizzer-Fuzz-Fizz. It is from Gezzel-Guzz-Gizz-Geeley-Guzzoo. It eats strawberry lemonade flavored pineapple. Its fur is fuzzy. It moves like a bunny. It says, "Fizz fuzz!" The name of my zoo is KK Coo Zoo.

I made a bunch of different creatures like the Moov, the Augi, the Tigusor, the Poo Coo, the Coo Bole, the Qwii, and the Pat Moo. The Augi is from Poomooville. It flies. Welcome to Boozoo!

My animal is named LuLu. It is from Brazil. It eats cheese but only cheddar. It has brown skin. It moves like a cat. It sounds like a cat. My zoo is the LuLu Zoo.

My animal is the Zee Cie Boo and it is in the Zee Beecoo Kee Boo Zoo. It is from Africa. It eats every single human. It moves like a zombie.

My animal is the Bibopsimancolatotamacalatapooarkalookemo! It is a bottle sucker. It is from Canada. It eats teachers. It is in the Bad Zoo.

My animal is the long necked Pigindog! It is in the Giglpop Zoo.  It is from New Canmexico Land. It eats pinkish pineapple kabobs. It moves like a snail. Its skin looks like a blanket. It sounds like, "Burp!"

My animal is the Zoogor. It is from Doop. It eats orange goop. It waddles. It sounds like, "Coo coo!" The name of my zoo is GooZoo.

My animal is the Giraffeadoneyababa. He can bounce 10,000 miles with only 3 jumps. He can jump into space! He comes from Germafricka. He eats Oreos. He bounces and flies. He sounds like an elephant. My zoo is called the Jazz-a-mookoo Zoo! His legs can go up and touch an airplane.

My animal's name is Zeeboobop Beebooboobop. My animal is from Zebra Forest. It eats people and fish.  Its skin looks like a metal bar. It moves like a dinosaur. It sounds like a mouse. The name of my zoo is the Cool Zoo.