October in Review

What a fantastic month it has been!

Wow! The month of October has flown by so quickly.  We have learned so many things and participated in so many wonderful events.  

Read on to find out what's been happening in the Marsen's room!

Class Trip!

Our class took a trip to Queen County Farm Museum, and we had a great time.  We learned all about the farm, took a tour, and even got to go on a hayride.  We loved learning about farm life, which will be extremely helpful, as we begin to learn all about different kinds of communities.  We will be sure to use our background knowledge of the farm when we learn about the rural community.  

Active Citizenship!

We just wrapped our second social studies unit! We were able to reflect on what it means to be an "active citizen".  We were able to learn about rules, consequences ,American Symbols,voting, some recent National Holidays, and the three branches of government.   Our goal this year is to be the most active citizens that we can be!

Round One in Writing.... 
Personal Narrative
Writing in our classroom has been truly impressive so far.  It is clear that the students have a background in Writing Workshop because it shows in their creativity.  We were able to generate ideas, draft, revise, edit, and publish.  The writing was amazing, and we can already see growth in the children's writing from September until now.  We are currently immersing ourselves  in Poetry and began to collect ideas this past week.  The students are excited, and so are we!  We told them, "You're a poet and you didn't even know it!" 

Math! Math! Math!
Addition and Subtraction to 1,000 were two units the class met with success. By using manipulatives, songs, and visual aides, we were able to add and subtract three digit numbers with and without regrouping, up to 1,000.  Next on the agenda, using Bar Models to help us truly understand and solve math real world problems.  Bar models are truly essential in demonstrating an understanding of mathematical concepts. Our class already had a head start because of our knowledge of what's to come next. Everyone will be drawing Bar Models to all words problems in the next unit! GO MARSENS!


PARP 2014

The week long celebration of PARP was an outstanding one.  We kicked off the week with a funny Mad Libs activity about our theme this year, Travel Around the World! On Tuesday, we had fun sharing souvenirs from our own travels and telling about our adventures. Wednesday was BYOD to school, and we had a blast reading on our devices and exploring a variety of texts and apps using technology.   On Thursday, we had our special assembly,  Bob Jackson, and we loved listening to his music and watching the teachers dance on stage.  To culminate a fantastic week, we had PARB. Thank you to the family members that were able to attend this event.  All students had fun reading with an adult, whether it be a teacher, a friend's parent, or a family member of their own.  Room 13 loves PARP!

Halloween 
We had our first class holiday party, and it was truly fantastic.  We decorated bats that were festive and allowed us to get into the spirit of the season.  We also enjoyed delicious fruit and munchkins, and other yummy treats! Thank you to Mrs.Ianniello, Mrs. Kao, Mrs.Lesnick,  Mrs. Campise, Mrs. Grishman, and Mrs. Zeng for organizing the party, preparing the craft and snacks, and helping to make our celebration special and unique.  We can't wait to party again soon!

September in Review

New Beginnings

Wow! We can't believe one month of school has already passed.  We couldn't be happier with our new classroom family. We started out the month establishing important rituals and routines, getting to know each other, and having some serious fun!

Our First Class Picture!

Writing Workshop

Our students are learning what writing workshop in our room looks like and sounds like.  We had so much fun launching our first unit in Writer's Workshop; "How Writer's Work".  We have talked about what can go in a writer's notebook, created a heart map of things we love, and decorated our writer's notebook to reflect who we are and what we love.  We even had a lesson on how writing about nothing can still be SOMETHING! We are excited to build a love of writing in our classroom this year.  

Social Studies

We wrapped up our "All About Me" unit by comparing and contrasting ourselves to a partner using a Venn Diagram.  It was so interesting to find how buddies can be the same and different and still be great friends! We are starting our next unit on Active Citizenship this month.  We are proud to be learning about ways to be an active citizen in our country. For Shared Reading this past week, we analyzed the "Pledge of Allegiance!" Ask your child what the words they say everyday REALLY mean!

Wrapping Up "All About Me!"

Math-Numbers to 1,000

Our first unit of math focused on place value.  We learned the different ways to write a number, as well as how we can compare two, 3 digit numbers, using greater than and less than. We enforced these concepts by using manipulatives and place value mats.  We are looking forward to our next unit....Addition to 1,000!!!!!

Reading Workshop

Our students have been hard at work during our reading block of time. They are learning how to turn and talk to their partner to make learning more meaningful, as well as, practice the reading skills we are currently focusing on in our unit of study. Right now, we are making text-to-self connections.  Students are trying to connect to the text in a meaningful way, so that their connection, can teach him/her something about the text they are reading.  We make connections to see patterns and think about why these patterns are important.  Remember, when a student makes a connection, they need to bring it back the text!

Coming Soon....

Please be on the lookout for a "Genius Hour" alert in your child's folder. The students will be asked to pick a topic to research.  It could be anything they have a strong interest in learning more about.  They will then be asked to think about how they would like to research their topic of interest.  If your student will be bringing a device to school (ie. iPad etc.), we ask that the student come with Apps already loaded, to support their learning.  Other options would be to print out articles, bring books or magazines from the library, or even come with a list of websites on that topic. We are looking forward to our first Genius Hour, coming soon!

We would like to welcome a new 

"Pirate" to Team Marsen. 

We are excited to have Tara join our classroom family. 

Next Blog entry...the end of October!

Welcome to the launch of Team Marsen's blog.  A special place where you and your family (both near and far) can read, learn, and see what is happening in Room 13!  

When our newest blog is complete, we will send you the link in an email. However, you may always view previous newsletters by going into the archives. For example, old posts will be under the newest month's Archives. 

We would LOVE for you to read our blogs with your child.  This a great way to encourage the home-school connection.  Feel free to leave a post about how you feel about the information you read. We would love to hear what you think! Your post will NOT show up immediately, but rest assure, it will be up ASAP. 

In some blogs, you will see pictures, captions, and/or videos.  We will only be using first names, and we ask that you do the same when leaving a comment. 

Stay tuned for our first blog...COMING SOON!In the meantime, don't forget to follow us on Twitter @nrmartin4 and @crosen20!



Mrs. Rosen +Mrs. Martin= Blog Reporters