Saturday, September 13, 2014

Take A Peek At Our Past Week.

First Grade's Character Education Day!

This week in the library we celebrated our first Character Education Day. What fun! We worked on the character trait of  Respect. We shared the book Enemy Pie By Derek Munson.



What should have been a perfect summer for one young boy is ruined when Jeremy Ross moves in and becomes number one on the narrator's enemy list. Fortunately, his father has a secret recipe for a pie that is known to get rid of  one's enemies. While Dad works on making and baking the pie, he explains his son's part in the plan: "you need to spend a day with your enemy. Even worse, you have to be nice to him."  the boy decides to give it a try. Predictably, between throwing water balloons at the girls, playing basketball, and hiding out in the tree house, he decides that Jeremy is not so bad after all. There's still the problem, the pie. When his father serves up the dessert, the young boy decides to warn Jeremy that it is "poisonous or something." However, it seems that both his father and his new friend are just fine, and  the pie is delicious. This is an inviting tale with an effective message about how to handle relationships and conflict. A great story about how to  respect others and find friendships in the process.

We then created an anchor chart on what it looks like and sounds like to be respectful.

Kindergarten Lesson

 Kindergarten and I shared an author study on Janet Morgan Stoeke. What a fun lesson.  Sharing stories about Minerva Louise are some of my most favorite stories to share with Kindergarten. These stories help with developing vocabulary and are simply fun and funny. 
We used a story board to retell the stories after we read them.






















 David showing what it looks like to read in the library.
 What a great example!













Constitution Lesson 

Kindergarten and First Grade heard 2 books about the Constitution. We read The U.S. Constitution by Kathy Allen,  We The Kid's  By David Catrow.

After reading about the Constitution we began making connections of the things we knew or had learned through our reading. We discussed; That the Constitution was our country's basic law. That it was a list of rules and our promise to follow those rules. We also discussed President Barack Obama, Our 1st President, George Washington, where the president lives and where the White House is located. We discussed having 3 branches of government (in terms our kiddo's could understand) and
 how long ago the Constitution was written and much more.

See the anchor chart we created for our lesson:


Kindergarten classes created a "Classroom Constitution" in the library.
We discussed how just like our country has three branches so does our school. We have the students, our teacher and our principal and each one of them signed the Classroom Constitution. Which meant that they understood and agreed with the rules listed and by signing they promise to follow those rules.

Mrs. Willey's Class and Mr. H. with their Classroom Constitution.

First Grade classes worked on a "Family Constitution" which I love to do each and every year. 
It is so much fun and such a great project to involve the families in. I love to listen to the students share their Family Constitutions, they are as unique and different as we all are. It is so neat to see how proud our kiddo's are of what they've created, with their families. Constitutions are due back on Monday the 15th, so that we can share them on Constitution Day September 17th.
Here is a picture of my Family Constitutiion:

Fact Of The Week

Wow Book!


Blogiversary Giveaway

I am pleased to announce, that my basket filled with books and bookish things was raffled off and the winner is Kayleigh K. and her daughter Ryleigh. Congratulations!

Book Review

Hurricane season starts early and rumbles all summer long. Sometimes people's lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just that story.

This story takes us to South Carolina, Lowcountry, on a journey filled with disappointment and longing.   We meet three generations of women buried in secrets.  Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in being middle-aged and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose  ambitions of her future keeps things at odds.

 Ashley and Mary Beth feel their prospects seem bleak.  They placate themselves with a hare-brained scheme to make money but one that threatens to land them in huge trouble with the authorities.
Clayton, Liz's mostly, absent husband, seems more distracted than usual. Ashley desperately needs her father's love. He fails miserably at hiding his indiscretions? And Liz, who's an expert in the field of troubled domestic life, refuses to acknowledge Ashley's precarious situation. "Who's in charge of this family?" I kept asking this resounding question throughout this book.

This is a wonderful easy beach read that transports you directly to the south. You will love it.

Fall Swaps

I am involved with several swaps this fall and I absolutely love meeting new teachers and bloggers from all over the U.S. In this fall swap it is brought to us by the lovely ladies at Chaotic Goddess Swaps.

Chaotic Goddess Swapoween

I am also involved in a fall swap through Slant Box Swaps
I am thrilled to be getting to know my partners in each swap.
It is a lot of fun.

Happy Reading,
Mrs. Shamhart
Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human.”
Once again we are in the hot and steamy Low Country of South Carolina and are now presented with three generations of strong and determined women. Eighty-year-old Maisie Pringle is the matriarch who rules the roost, always having the last say, whether it's right or wrong.
Middle-aged daughter Liz Walker, a fierce opponent against domestic violence, works tirelessly on this agenda looking to fill the empty days while her husband Clayton travels to New York every week for his job.
Twenty-three-year-old Ashley is desperately trying to make her way in the art world as a painter, much to her parents' chagrin. She lives with her best friend in the family's beach house on Sullivans Island.
This dysfunctional family spans the generations, each woman along with Clayton telling their own story in the first person.
Maisie has taken up with Skipper, the man Liz and Clayton hired to chauffeur her around, considering she is too old and too "senile" to drive herself. Although Skipper is 15 years younger than she, she flaunts their affair and is having the time of her life, which only embarrasses Liz.
Liz is constantly offended by Maisie's continual reminders of her dead sister Juliet, and as often as she tries to get into her mother's good graces, she determines she will never be loved as much as Juliet. Add to that her suspicion that Clayton is being unfaithful, and trying to accept that her son Ivy is gay, she buries herself in her work to assuage her unhappiness.
Ashley wants nothing more than to be recognized for her talent as an artist, something her parents do not believe is a worthy occupation. And although Ashley and her friend Mary Beth are subsiding on meager incomes, they start an enterprise to make money, which leads them to dire circumstances.
When Ashley meets and begins dating Senator Porter Galloway, everyone is concerned. Porter is well known for being brash and offensive, using women then tossing them aside, but Ashley is in blindly in love to the point where she allows him to dictate her outfits and way she lives her life.
Clayton leaves New York to return to Charleston, repentant and begging Liz’s forgiveness for his misdeeds, though she refuses to allow him in the house. He turns to Maisie then goes to the island to Ashley, hoping she will be an ally and help him get Liz to see him. Porter arrives to take Ashley to dinner, and upon their return, Clayton is gone.
A hurricane is headed to the area, so Mary Beth leaves the cottage to go into town to stay with Liz. Waiting for Ashley to arrive, she suddenly fears for her. The unspeakable happens, resulting in them rallying round Ashley, bringing a new closeness and acceptance they all need.
The Low Country with some of its fascinating history is interspersed amid family trials and tribulations, offering color and giving the tale more authenticity of its residents and their way of life.
Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human. Plagued by instability, unwilling to show their deepest emotions for fear of rejection, they are yet bound to one another. Through the turmoil, they accept differences to connect and build new and closer relationships.
- See more at: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/hurricane-sisters#sthash.qMCzUtvz.dpuf
Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human.”
Once again we are in the hot and steamy Low Country of South Carolina and are now presented with three generations of strong and determined women. Eighty-year-old Maisie Pringle is the matriarch who rules the roost, always having the last say, whether it's right or wrong.
Middle-aged daughter Liz Walker, a fierce opponent against domestic violence, works tirelessly on this agenda looking to fill the empty days while her husband Clayton travels to New York every week for his job.
Twenty-three-year-old Ashley is desperately trying to make her way in the art world as a painter, much to her parents' chagrin. She lives with her best friend in the family's beach house on Sullivans Island.
This dysfunctional family spans the generations, each woman along with Clayton telling their own story in the first person.
Maisie has taken up with Skipper, the man Liz and Clayton hired to chauffeur her around, considering she is too old and too "senile" to drive herself. Although Skipper is 15 years younger than she, she flaunts their affair and is having the time of her life, which only embarrasses Liz.
Liz is constantly offended by Maisie's continual reminders of her dead sister Juliet, and as often as she tries to get into her mother's good graces, she determines she will never be loved as much as Juliet. Add to that her suspicion that Clayton is being unfaithful, and trying to accept that her son Ivy is gay, she buries herself in her work to assuage her unhappiness.
Ashley wants nothing more than to be recognized for her talent as an artist, something her parents do not believe is a worthy occupation. And although Ashley and her friend Mary Beth are subsiding on meager incomes, they start an enterprise to make money, which leads them to dire circumstances.
When Ashley meets and begins dating Senator Porter Galloway, everyone is concerned. Porter is well known for being brash and offensive, using women then tossing them aside, but Ashley is in blindly in love to the point where she allows him to dictate her outfits and way she lives her life.
Clayton leaves New York to return to Charleston, repentant and begging Liz’s forgiveness for his misdeeds, though she refuses to allow him in the house. He turns to Maisie then goes to the island to Ashley, hoping she will be an ally and help him get Liz to see him. Porter arrives to take Ashley to dinner, and upon their return, Clayton is gone.
A hurricane is headed to the area, so Mary Beth leaves the cottage to go into town to stay with Liz. Waiting for Ashley to arrive, she suddenly fears for her. The unspeakable happens, resulting in them rallying round Ashley, bringing a new closeness and acceptance they all need.
The Low Country with some of its fascinating history is interspersed amid family trials and tribulations, offering color and giving the tale more authenticity of its residents and their way of life.
Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human. Plagued by instability, unwilling to show their deepest emotions for fear of rejection, they are yet bound to one another. Through the turmoil, they accept differences to connect and build new and closer relationships.
- See more at: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/hurricane-sisters#sthash.qMCzUtvz.dpuf

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