Madeline and the Bad Hat

For the past several days we've been reading the story of Madeline and her relationship with Pepito in Bemelmans classic tales of this Parisian little girl. We explored some interesting vocabulary words in the text such as ambassador, menagerie, molest, and guillotine (they're all in the text...I promise!) So this morning we arrived in downtown Winston Salem at First Presbyterian to see the performance of the story. At first there was a lot of singing and I heard Max murmur, "This is nothing like the book." Then within a short time the story became familiar except for "all that singing and dancing." After we got back to school we wrote about our favorite parts of the play. Later this afternoon we head to Mr. Stori's third grade room to hold our weekly Friday sing. You'll find the Song and Poetry Journal in the bags this afternoon so have a great weekend of singing!

Big Friends

It's been a great day for being a friend. Each student at Summit is paired with an older student throughout the course of their journey here. We get together at least once a month and share...time, books, stories, and even performances. Today our sixth grade Big Friends held a performance for their musical, Annie. It was so good we spent the rest of the day singing "Tomorrow." If you check out our website you can glimpse a picture of each student along with their special friend. We'll be getting together next week to share Halloween costumes...SPOOKY!

After the play we gathered together for a math game and then shared our favorite parts of the play. Everyone seemed to enjoy when the girls kept stomping on the feet of mean old Mrs. Hannigan. (She deserved it!) If we can get a DVD of the movie we'll show it in class and compare the two performances as we did last year for Oliver.

We also colored our map of the United States and will begin posting our postcards as we receive them. We colored each state a different color and will create the map in class tomorrow.

Ordinary Miracles

Ander's mom stayed for a few minutes during our early morning arrivals and left an observation that teachers just love to hear. "I could stay here for a long time...it's so exciting to see all the different kinds of work the kids are doing." (Now as the author, I am taking some liberties with the quotation...but it's the jest of what was communicated!) Some are working on Wake-Up work, usually a worksheet reviewing math or language concepts. Others work at the calender finding ways to make the number 21 with coins. Some record their book for take-home reading while others Bookshop for books to place in their book boxes. It all happens sometimes without realizing it. Thanks Shelley for reminding me...
As I type, Madame Morgan spins a French tale to the children as I sit unnoticed at the computer. She interjects french vocabulary from time to time for the children to learn. We have just returned from our trip to the playground where children enjoyed the beautiful weather and I snapped pictures with a digital camera. Andrew found a feather and moments later lost it to an unexpected breeze. Max and Bobby were chasing each other while Hannah built a "castle of leaves." Just an ordinary miracle of a day...once again...and yes...they do pay people to do this....

Postcard Project

Last week we did some inactive writing and wrote the following message together:

Greetings from our 1st grade class in Winston-Salem, NC!

Our city is in the Piedmont of NC. We live about an hour from Pilot Mountain. It stands about 2,490 feet tall. Our State bird is the cardinal. The dogwood is our State flower.Raleigh, our capital, is where our governor lives. The biggest city in NC is Charlotte.

Carol typed the message onto label paper and we'll have them in the mail this week. We'll be sending them to classrooms in almost every state of the United States and hope to get a response or two in return.  It was a great way to introduce our study of North Carolina by looking at the country as a whole. We have already received cards from Iowa and Connecticut! Stay tuned for further updates.

We also learned our first Word Wall Game called...what else...Word Wall Bingo. Each player places a word in each of the nine boxes and someone calls out the words. The first to fill up their board is the winner. Our cursive writing practice continues with our "Rocket Letters." Today we worked on the letter "p" and from the murmurs I heard this one wasn't so easy! They are getting better each time! Keep up the good work everyone!

Book Fair

On Saturday, November 1st Summit will hold its annual book Fair at Barnes and Noble in Winston Salem. Every year it's a great time not only to support the school but fill our classroom with new and exciting books for children to read. I've been asked to provide some "suggestions" of books we'd like to find on the shelves in our classroom or some you might want to add to your personal libraries at home. So here I bring you Mr. Dahler's first ever TOP TEN list!

10. If I Ran For President by Catherine Stier - With all the conversations about electing a new president how could I pass this one up?

9. Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman - We loved her last wordless book, The Red Book, and this one looks just as thought provoking.

8. Vunce Upon a Time by J. Otto Seibold - With Halloween just around the corner this book tells the tale of a vegetarian vampire who's afraid of humans.

7. Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex - One of my favorite books in college was Mary Shelley's tale with the same lead character. This story big Frank gets married and Dracula shows up as best man.

6. Bats at the Library by Brian Lies - Some bats find there way into a library and read some great classics like Goodnight Moon and Pippi Longstocking.

5. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and illustrated by P.J. Lynch - One of the most profound stories of giving ever written. A classic tale all children should hear again and again.

4. Old Bear by Kevin Henkes - Any book by this author will not stay on your bookshelf very long. Kevin continues to entertain and teach readers again and again. I am confident his new book will continue the tradition.

3. Hansel and Gretel adapted by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Emma Clark - Another classic tale that can at times have dark undertones, this adaptation focuses on the love and relationships siblings have for one another.

2. Fairies and Magical Creatures by Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda - a pop-up book that will invite children in the world of mythology.

1. ABC3D by Marion Bataille - How could I pass up an ABC book? This one is yet another book that springs to life right before your eyes. A engaging feast of the eyes and a continual quest for the answer to the question of, "How did they do that?"

This is merely a taste of the wonder that awaits you and your family as you explore the books and titles at Barnes and Noble. Just take an hour and wander the isles and before you realize it you'll have your own TOP TEN list in no time...and as always...enjoy the journey!