Winter and Hibernation

Somehow, in the middle of winter, I can't help but think that animals such as bears, snakes, and raccoons got it right.... sleeping (or a form of it) right through it!  Just kidding, really! :) If we did that we would miss out on learning all sorts of cool things about hibernation.   Did you know that bears have their babies in the middle of winter when they're hibernating? Crazy! :-) We have done some really awesome writing about things that we do in winter and we learned how a snowflake is formed. We have really been going full steam ahead with our reading.  The kids are doing great in guided reading.  I love seeing their progress.  In our "Balanced Literacy" we have been working on "connecting."  Basically, we use our background knowledge to make connections about things that we already know about the text or something that the text reminds us of.  :)  We read:

and made some really great connections to it.  I am going to be putting them up outside of our classroom.  Come on down and check them out! :)

In math we have been working on mastering the concept of addition, recognizing and writing numbers 10-15, the sphere and cube, counting by 10's to 100, and we are getting ready to start subtraction next week!  We have been using all sorts of manipulatives to help us with addition, such as cubes and counters.  The kids are really seeming to understand it.  :)

Lastly, the winter MAP testing began last week.  We have taken one test so far, and not everyone is done with it.  From the scores I have seen I am pretty happy with their growth!  I am sure that when we are all done you will get the results, but if you have any questions ahead of time please let me know!  

Here are some pictures of some adorable, precious and smart kids: 

Working on addition with cubes! :)

Sight word work.

Cutting out the cave opening for our hibernating bears. :)

Adorable!

Look at all of those cute hibernators! 

Reading, reading, reading!

The kids LOVE interactive things on the computer!!

We made a really cute hibernation book.  The kids had to use their beginning sound knowledge to fill in the missing letter(s) of the animal's name.  We "buttered" all of the sight words and chunks we knew (this little girl buttered the "silent e" LOVE it!)  

Until next time!