Adventures in Italy!

I am continuing to have fun traveling and exploring with my family.

This is the Pantheon building. It is almost 2,000 years old and has a whole in the top of ceiling.

Buon Natalie is what Italians say for Merry Christmas. This is a Pinocchio in front of a wood doll store. The story of Pinocchio is from Italy. 

This is the Trevi fountain. Mrs. G threw a coin into the fountain and made a wish. 

This is a view of Rome and the smallest country, Vatican City, from the top of a castle. 

Mrs. G and her sisters have enjoyed eating lots of gelato ice cream on this trip. 

Italy!!! Merry Christmas

Flying over the Swiss Alps.

Mr. & Mrs. G under the lights.

Mrs. G and her family. 

The Spanish Steps.

Seeing the Pope in the Vatican on Christmas morning.

Rufus in California enjoying the sunshine. Mrs. G misses him.

Technology time with Mr. Wood!!
Students are learning how do coding on the computers. Students have been going to the computer lab and working on typing, google documents, and doing biome research. We also have been talking about what makes a "good" digital citizen.
Discuss what makes a good digital citizen with your child. Ask them about the digital superhero they made in class and what power(s) theirs had. 

Buddy Reading with Ms. Kirk's class:

This one of the students and mine favorite events of the week. Ms. Kirk, the kindergarten teacher, and myself have teamed up together. Our class is reading to her class. They love it and are setting such great examples for the kindergarteners. We have read with them twice now. We are going to continue reading with them in 2014 for thirty minutes every two weeks. . The students are very excited about this!! Thank you Ms. Kirk's class for giving us this opportunity!

We have been busy learning multiplication and practicing many strategies! 

 Making arrays with chocolate chips

 Walking laps around the classroom. Getting our bodies to move while stating one fact about multiplication and reciting the 2's and 5's tables.

 The four strategies that we have discussed to help us figure out the product.
1. Area Model
2. Array Model
3. Equal Groups Model
4. Number line Model

 A book we have been reading by Greg Tang. This book is great to help teach us and remember our times tables. The author has fun little songs and rhymes for each factor.

Working with partners to answer multiplication problems. We are using beans to solve the problems. 

Brainstorming items that come in groups. This was a long but fun process to create!
Put in the comment section items that come in groups. For example, a tricycle belongs in the group of three. How creative can you be?

Mrs. Gauthier's favorite moments of the last two weeks:

 Doing push-pin holiday art on the carpet. Taking a break from all our hard work.

 Class photo with Tina the Tooth at the dental presentations. Students learned why it is important to keep your teeth clean and healthy. Students were given a goody bag with a toothbrush and toothpaste.

 The Christmas tree my class made me for my birthday.  I loved it. I took it home and it is sitting under my big tree. Thank you!!

P.E. with Ms. Fraser's class. Students did relay races with putting on winter clothes (a scarf, mittens and a hat). 

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Our Class Report:

The happenings in Mrs. G's class:

What did you enjoy this week?

Phil Tulga performing his musical instruments at the assembly- Madelyn

Buddy reading with Ms. Kirk’s class- Lily

Playing musical chairs multiplication math- Aadit

Desert Art Project with Ms. Fraser's class- Allie

Phil Tulga reading the story with music- Parker

Caldecott book ranking- Isabella

Relay races with winter clothes were fun- Marek

Buddy reading with Ms. Kirk’s class- Connor

Relay races in PE with Mrs. G- Daniel

Gift writing- Saniya

Desert art with Ms. Fraser’s class- Katie

Biome sort- Kayli

P.E with Mrs. G- Desiree

All of Phil Tulga assembly - Jack

Learning a new song on piano in enrichment after school music class- Kiana

P.E.- kickball and relay races- Jeremy

Relay races- Matthew

Making technology heros- Zerlan

Buddy reading- Mihir

Desert art- Lara

Learning the ocean and desert - Joey

Electronic Trumphet played by Phil Tulga- Kylie

Multiplication musical chairs- Ari

Cinquain poems- Ethan

Digital Citizenship/Electronic heros- Allie

Choclate Chip arrays- Nareg

Learning about being responsible on the computer- Gabe

Scholastic News Article- Saniya

If your favorite book character was stuck on a desert island, what would they bring? Answer this in the comment section please. We hope you leave a comment. 

Some of the authors we have been reading over the last few months. Students have been finding more books by these authors. Every time we read multiple books by an author they want me to add their name onto this list. Recently, we added Shel Silverstein, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Patricia MacLachlan.

We love to read!!!! 

 Sharing a "mini book review". I hope to see a bunch in January! Make sure to read over winter break.

 Lynn Ploudre's book Snow Day. Students loved this book. It was great because we were able to visualize, find examples of alliteration and onomatopeias.

Check out her website at:  http://www.lynnplourde.com/

 Reading back to back with one another. Listening to one another reading. Working on our fluency and expression. 

A sweet moment: Checking out books from the library 

Phil Tulga visits: 

Phil Tulga came to STAR academy on 12/13. He is a professor from Sacramento State. Phil Tulga spoke with the students about "Reading for Meaning". He highlighted these three strategies: inferencing, predicting, and sequencing. He taught them about these reading strategies through musical instruments from around the world, retelling a classic story by Rudyard Kipling, and using sound stories. 

Students loved this assembly!! The energy in the room was amazing! So many smiles, laughs and engagement!! 

Check out his website at http://www.philtulga.com/resources.html.

It has lots of great resources and games for your children!