Spring Break Fun Day #2

Sometimes poetry can twist your tongue. Practice reading this poem together and time how long it takes you to read it through without any mistakes!

Betty Botter

Betty Botter
bought some butter.
"But," she said,
"the butter's bitter.
If I put it
in my batter,
it will make
my batter bitter.
But a bit
of better butter--
that would make
my batter better."

So she bought
a bit of butter,
better than
her bitter butter.
And she put it
in her batter,
and the batter
was not bitter.
So 'twas better
Betty Botter
bought a bit
of better butter!

--By Anonymous

Spring Break Fun Day #1

The class has gotten so excited about poetry these last two weeks it seems like a shame we had to take this break just as our creative juices were really starting to flow. I decided for those students who may be hungry for some poetry over break I would post an activity each day. I don’t want it to feel like extra homework or that it is a requirement to check in everyday, but if you’re looking for some productive activities over break you’re in the right place!

To start here’s an easy way for you and your child to practice being a poet. Each of these Newfangled Yankee Doodle Poems is missing a word or two. For a hint, look at the second line of each poem. The missing word or words must rhyme with the last word in the second line. Good luck!

Yankee Doodle went to town
riding on a chicken.
He went into a restaurant
and came out finger .

Yankee Doodle went to town
riding on a monkey.
He had to take a shower quick,
because he smelled so .

Yankee Doodle went to town
riding on a rooster.
His saddle wasn't high enough,
so now he's got a .

Yankee Doodle flew through space
riding on a rocket.
He landed on the moon and brought
some cheese home in his .

Yankee Doodle went to town
with his favorite blankey.
Every time he had to sneeze
he used it as a .

Yankee Doodle went to France
with his golden Visa.
But he could not afford to buy
Da Vinci's Mona .

Mrs. Doodle went to town
riding on a 'gator.
She didn't feed the 'gator
so the hungry 'gator .

Feel free to share your poem below in the comments section so I can see what great work you're doing!

READ TO FEED

Aside from today being Pajama Day at school we had some awesome March is reading month activities taking place. Today was Burns Park Read-A-Thon, and all afternoon we traveled through the school stopping in different locations to have a story read to us. We listened to Big Chickens Fly the Coop By: Lesie HelaKolski, Scaredy Squirrel By: Melanie Watt, Where is the Green Sheep By: Mem Fox, and This is Not My Hat By: Jon Klassen before coming back to our class and having yet another story read to us by a special guest, Ms. Conn.

 

Ms. Conn was our student teacher in the fall and came back for a surprise visit! The kids were ecstatic seeing her back in our room. The rest of the afternoon we lounged in our pj’s and enjoyed silent reading time. Mrs. Ambrosino and myself were so proud of how long or class stayed engaged reading to themselves. As teachers it was wonderful to see how much they have all grown in their love of reading since the fall.






 

Spring Break Fun Day #9

Jack Perlutsky is another one of my favorite poets. Read his poem “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” and make up your own silly ice cream flavor. Feel free to share your flavor in the comment section so we can all see what crazy flavors you have come up with!

Bleezer's Ice Cream

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
there are flavors in my freezer
you have never seen before,
twenty-eight divine creations
too delicious to resist,
why not do yourself a favor,
try the flavors on my list:

COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
taste a flavor from my freezer,
you will surely ask for more.

By: Jack Prelutsky

 

Wednesday Highlights

When I grow up…

This morning I shared with the class a photo of myself in 1^st grade. We next went around the circle and shared what we want to be when we grow up. It was so interesting listening to all the hopes and dreams they have, what a driven bunch we have!

 

March is Reading Month-Guest Readers

Today we had our last guest reader to celebrate March is reading month. It’s so exciting to be able to listen to so many great new stories. Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, and godparents who came to read to the class!

 

Walk n’ Talk

With the warmer weather this week came Walk n’ Talk. The playground and the field are still very muddy so please keep sending boots with your child to school!

 

As we continue to study poetry, each day we learn something new about what poets do. Today we learned that good poets show us what they are feeling, they don’t just tell us. As a teacher I love teaching this lesson because it is rather higher level thinking for first grade and it is amazing how easily students perceive this when given examples. We read an example poem (shown below) and talked about what feelings she was trying to explain in her poem. She really likes this crab, and one student suggested that they became friends. We also discussed the actions she was showing us and how that showed feeling. We then decided that we really liked the way she told us because it didn’t sound like ordinary writing, it sounded like poetry! Right then it was decided we need to add to our chart. Today you can see we added “Poets…Show don’t just tell”

Found a Little Crab

By: Sabrina

 

Digging, digging through

the sand.

Then I see something

crawling, crawling, crawling. I pick

it up with my hands

it tickles me.

 

In math today we finished our unit on geometry with a Unit 7 test. Everyone did a great job remembering what they have learned about shapes! Unit 8 is about money and fractions. Remember to play the Coin Counting Game after your child finishes his or her home link each night instead of a number story.This quick practice in the evening will really help support the material being presented each day in school.

The Coin Counting Game:
Grab a handful of change (50-90 cents made with a variety of coins)
Have your child guess the amount of change in your hand then count the coins

*As a challenge activity take away a few coins, have your child count again  and determine how much money is in your other hand.

We have begun our study of plants in science and today we compared plants and animals. The class made collages from old magazines and really enjoyed hunting through the pages looking for pictures to add to their table's collage. Mrs. Ambrosino and I agree, if you're ever looking for something to do on a rainy day make a collage!!! The class would have spent hours on this if we had let them...

 

 

A Visit From Bubba!

Each day of March we have been challenged to answer a Read to Feed trivia question during our morning announcements. On Friday our class correctly answered the trivia question and as a prize had a special visitor spend the afternoon in our class.

Bubba happily listened as Mrs. Ambrosino read the final pages of The Indian in the Cupboard, and while the class was at music I caught Bubba browsing the poetry books in our library.