Pete the Cat Event

The Pete the Cat event was this morning at the park by the Highlands Ranch library. It was lots of fun. There were tents with face-painting, crafts (4 stations), refreshments, free goodies and Pete the Cat books for sale. The highlight of the morning was the show put on by Eric Litwin. He sang songs and told 2 Pete the Cat stories. He was very entertaining. After his show you could have him sign your Pete the Cat books. He was very friendly.  A good time was had by all -- in spite of the heat. Pictures are below - thanks to my daughter for taking most of them.

Lulu got her face painted like a cat.

Will got a cool new hat at the grab a prize booth.

Ms. Mary Beth and some students from her crew were there, too.

Dillen was ready for the show.

Zak and his brother made Pete the Cat puppets with 4 groovy buttons.

Meeting up with friends.

Getting ready for the show to start.

Great Pete the Cat hats!

Eric Litwin was a big hit.

Crew News October 28, 2011

 Gifts from Ms. Deborah
Ms. Deborah has been visiting our crew and she noticed how much we all love Elephant and Piggie books and Pete the Cat books. So she surprised us with new books for our classroom. She gave us copies of Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes, Pete the Cat Rocking in my School Shoes and the newest Elephant and Piggie book called Happy Pig Day. We love these books and could read them over and over again. Many of us are also writing books about these characters during Writer's Workshop. Thank you, Ms. Deborah!

Homework
No homework for the weekend. Enjoy a few good books with your child.

IA
Our IA next week is PE. Remember to wear appropriate shoes. It is our week to climb!

Crew News September 1, 2011

Expedition
Today we launched our first Expedition. It is our Social Studies Expedition and we will be spending a little under half of the school year on it. We started today by having a Silent Gallery Walk. A Silent Gallery Walk is where students walk around and look at items that are related to what we will be studying similar to how a social scientist might act. They think about what they are seeing and try to determine what we might be studying. They will be thinking about this overnight. We will let them in on the topic tomorrow. Having them look at items related to our topic and mull ideas over in their minds overnight increases their engagement and interest in the topic. They can't wait to find out what the "big secret" is - so if you know, please don't tell. Let them experience the whole process of discovering it on their own. You can peek at the Expedition page of our crew blog for a hint but I do keep the details there limited to so that I can keep the students wondering and very engaged.

Pete the Cat
You may have heard about one of the pattern books we read at school today. It was called Pete the Cat and there is a short video of the book and song. We LOVED singing the song and dancing along with the video. Check it out below.


Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 2.2 Counting Up and Back