Reading Celebration

Many of you have been asking about the Reading Celebration that will be held on May 30th. Ms. Messer will be giving us the certificates and medals the week of the celebration. They will be sent home with your child. Their certificate will be their ticket into the Celebration, so please put it in a safe place!
Please have your child continue to log books each week. New books have been loaded for their reading group on the Houghton-Mifflin reading website.
Remember, their Username is : kinnacostelloclass and their password is : student

Busy, Busy Days!

We apologize for not keeping up with our posts lately..these past few weeks have been so busy!
We have begun our end of the year DRA (Developmental Reading Assessments) testing, while continuing with our reading series and guided reading groups. We have two more main selection stories in our core reading series and then we will begin an author study on Mem Fox. In Writer's Workshop we have been working on persuasive writing. In this genre the students are stating their opinion about a topic that they have strong feelings about. They will try to persuade, or convince the reader to agree with them by giving detailed reasons for their opinion. The students have been enjoying our Math Investigations unit because we have been learning a variety of math games. They are working with combinations of 10, 20 and other numbers. They are also learning a variety of ways to solve addition and subtraction story problems. In science we have completed our assessment on the parts of a flower and we will now begin making observations and recording data on the growth of the seeds that we have planted in the classroom.

Invention Convention

Congratulations to the First Grade Winner from Parkwood!! The Cuddle Condo will keep your outdoor pet warm in the winter and cool in the summer!

Hope you are all enjoying your Spring Break! Remember Monday, April 13th will be the last day to turn in book logs for the Reading Celebration in the Park Invitations and reading awards. It would be a good time to visit the library during these rainy days we are having. Don't forget to look for some books by our favorite authors that we have studied this year too. I have been pretty much confined to the house trying to teach the new puppy some manners! Thought you might enjoy a picture of him. Don't let that cute face deceive you....he is a handful!!
-Mrs. Costello

On Tuesday we had a special visit from Christine Parker, who works with Animal Care and Control of Jacksonville. She brought her dog, Maggie too! Ms. Parker taught us about how to care for a dog so that they stay happy and healthy. We also learned how to safely pet a dog that belongs to someone else.

Play Day Pics!

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Space Shuttle Discovery

It was a beautiful evening to watch the space shuttle Discovery take off on it's mission to the space station. They are carrying the final set of solar wings for the space station. NASA is planning to double the size of the space station crew to 6 by the end of May.

Thank You! Thank You!

Thanks so much to Nicole, Johnathan and Megan for bringing in frisbees, hula hoops, jumpropes and other recess equipment.....like we said before, our parents are GREAT!!!

Read and Win a Disney Vacation!

For a second year, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and US Airways are working together to help children nationwide discover the joy of reading. Starting in April, adults are invited to join the 2009 Read with Kids Challenge and help collectively log five million minutes spent reading with kids. You’ll have the chance of winning a family vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort® and more great prizes. Get on board!

Response To Literature

Last week we began our new writing genre, Response to Literature. Our first lessons focused on responding by retelling the main events of a story. It is helpful for the students to begin learning how to retell by reenacting the story. Making characters seem real by giving them voices and by showing their movements can be a powerful aid to story comprehension, especially for struggling readers. Experiencing characters in such a concrete way helps young children make a personal connection to the literature. The students had a great time reenacting some of their favorite stories. Another lesson taught us how to effectively retell a story by drawing the events sequentially and putting them into a mural.