Thunder Cake

We read the book Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco this week and LOVED the story! At the end of the book, Polacco included a recipe for thunder cake and we promised the first graders we would post the recipe on our blog! Here it is:

Thunder Cake!
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together one at a time:
1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, separated
( blend yolks in. Beat whites until they are stiff, then fold in.) 
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes
Sift together:
21/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dry cocoa
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture. Bake in two greased and floured 8
1/2 inch pans at 350 degree for
35 to 40 minutes. Frost with chocolate butter frosting. Top with
strawberries.

ENJOY!!! 

PS: Lenore has baked Thunder Cake, and she says it is delicious!

4Rs

This year, our school is implementing the social curriculum "4Rs." (The 4 r's stand for: reading, writing, respect and resolution.)  The program aims to educate kids for hopeful and intelligent engagement with the world.

The 4Rs builds on an engaging, interactive curriculum that uses great children's literature as springboard. In weekly lessons, teachers engage students in reading, writing, discussion, and skills practice aimed at fostering caring, responsible behavior, including:

• building community
• understanding and handling feelings
• listening
• assertiveness
• problem-solving
• dealing well with diversity
• cooperation

Visit http://www.morningsidecenter.org/about for more information.

First Family Friday

We look forward to seeing you all this Friday for our first family friday! Come spend about thirty minutes in our classroom reading with your child and her/his new friends in first grade.

Read Alouds

Here are some of the read alouds we've read over the past two weeks.  Themes include: community building, hopes & dreams, and peace.

The Kissing Hand
It's Okay to Be Different
Reading Makes Me Feel Good
Me.. Jane
The Splot
Big Al
The Curious Garden
The Tin Forest
Ish
The Peace Book
What Does Peace Feel Like?

Reading & Writing Workshop

We are launching our first reading and writing workshops this week in school.  We will focus on establishing rules and routines and sparking a love for literacy in our first graders!

Reading Workshop
Our first reading unit is titled "Readers Build Good Habits."  This unit focuses on sparking students' love for reading and reading routines. Each first grader will also come up with reading goals. Essential questions around this unit include: How do we become more grown up as readers and take charge of our own reading lives?  How can the readers in our class feel secure, safe, and confident that they will become strong readers?

Writing Workshop
This week, we are launching our first writing unit - personal narratives; the first graders will focus on sharing true, small, focused moments about themselves.  

In our Personal Narratives Unit, first graders will write true stories about themselves, sharing stories about summer vacations, family memories, and everyday experiences. We will learn about each other through the stories we share. First graders will storytell both through verbal and written expression.

If something funny, exciting or memorable happens at home, be sure to point out to your child what a wonderful story it would be to share with the class!

This Week in School

We are gearing up for a busy and fun week in school!  Here's what to expect...

This week, we will launch our math curriculum and our word study curriculum. 

• In our first math unit, students count, order, compare quantities and work with the operation of addition.  Students also work on finding addition combinations up to 10 and learn to make sense of and solve story problems.
• In our first word study unit, students review letter formations, alphabetical order, letter names, short vowels and consonants.  

We will also engage in a reading memories project.  We will read the book "Reading Makes Me Feel Good" by Todd Parr and share memories about reading in school and home.  We will think about our favorite books, our favorite spots to read, and at the end of the week, we will set a reading goal for the month.

We will also continue self-portraits, hopes & dreams, and brainstorming classroom rules. 

Our First Week in School

Wondering what we're up to these first couple of weeks? Read on to find out how the first graders are settling into school...

• Community Building Activities     Creating a safe, warm and inclusive classroom environment is crucial these first weeks.  Through getting-to-know-eachother activities, whether a read aloud, project activity, or playing games in the park, we hope to establish a firm foundation for friendships, kindness, and collaboration.  

• Classroom Routines     This week, we are teaching and practicing classroom routines, such as responding to the chime, arrival and dismissal procedures, and transitioning from activity to activity.  Routines are so important in sustaining a self-sufficient and self-directed classroom community. Having routines in place from the beginning of the year only helps us later on as the work load becomes more rigorous!

• Hopes & Dreams     After reading inspirational books such as "The Tin Garden," "Leo the Late Bloomer," and "Me...Jane," students will be asked to decide on their own hopes and dreams for first grade.  After several rough drafts, each student will illustrate and write their hope and dream on a leaf cutout.  The leaf cutouts will hang on our tree mural, reminding us that our hopes and dreams are like a tree; with care and love, our hopes and dreams will grow.

• Classroom Rules     Once the students have finished detailing their hopes and dreams, the class will come together to create rules necessary for making their hopes and dreams come true.  This process spans several days.

• Self Portrait Project     Each student will draw and then paint a self portrait.  We will display our water-color portraits in the hallway, and later hang them in our classroom. 

Whoa - what busy bees we have in room 401!

<3

Folders

Just a friendly reminder to please send your child's home-school folder to school every day!

Thank you!

See you tomorrow!

Can't wait to see you all tomorrow morning in the school yard!

Student Teacher

This semester, we welcome Rebecca, a student teacher from Teachers College, into our classroom.  Rebecca will be with us full days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and half-days on Wednesdays from September through early December.

We are looking forward to collaborating with Rebecca the next few months!