Fall Session Week 1

Kindergarten Spanish:
With our new Fall session, it was time to talk about otonoFall) along with the other seasons--verano(Summer),invierno(Winter), and primavera(Spring). We watched a Lyric Language song video about the seasons and then reviewed our colors in Spanish by talking about the colors we see in otono. Next, we were ready for our color bingo game! After the game, we learned another spanish word for something we see in otono--calabazas(pumpkins). We read a book about the most grande calabaza ever, and then colored a calabaza picture.

B1-2 Technology:
Since the B1-2 classroom theme this session is "Don't Worry-Be Healthy," we discussed how to be safe and healthy(no viruses!) when using the internet. We went to the great netsmartzkids.org site to learn all about the Webville Outlaws. We took care of those bad guys with the Webville Roundup game and listened to an internet safety song. We'll be coming back to some of the other games and activities at this wonderful site in the future. We finished up class offline coloring in our Webville Outlaw coloring book and taking the internet safety pledge. I hope your child has shared it with you!

3-4 Technology:
October is Monster Month! Halloween, the release of "Where the Wild Things Are," our school author visit next week of Marcia Thornton Jones and her wonderful collection of monster (and other)books--the perfect time to join in the collaborative web activity called Monster Exchange!Monster Exchange is designed to encourage the development of reading and writing skills while integrating Internet technology into the classroom curriculum. Classrooms from a variety of schools worldwide are paired together; the students in each classroom are split into groups, each of which designs an original picture of a monster. The students must then write a description of the monster. The partnered classes then exchange their descriptions via e-mail and the Internet. These students are then challenged to use reading comprehension skills to read the descriptions and translate them into a monster picture. The true challenge involves creating a redrawn picture as close to the original picture as possible without looking at the original and using only the written description of the monster.(From website) This week we made our monster pictures and tried to describe them--the students realized this is harder than they thought! For practice, we redrew some monsters based on other students' descriptions. Next week, we will type and upload everything to the website. We'll get out partners' drawings after Thanksgiving.