How do you change an ice cube?

I tasked the students with changing and icecube. 
One group used breath, another their hands, salt, and last flashlights.
Through this experimenting and observing they all discovered that in order to change a solid into a liquid you needed to have heat.  They also learned that to change the solid into a gas you must heat it up alot!
Ask your child about their experimenting.
I encouraged the students to observe what happens to ice in a cup at home or steam in the bathroom when taking a shower or bath, or their breath on a cold day.

"WOW!" "Did you hear that guys?"  "Salt causes a chemical reaction and makes ice melt!"

"This gives I'm a little teapot a whole new meaning!"



Melting with the heat of our hands. The kids discovered that if they warm their hands by rubbing them together it gets them even warmer!



We are breathing out to make ice melt.  One student said, "Mrs. Chiaverotti look at my puddle it's huge!"

THANK YOU!

I want to extend a BIG thank you to all of our Mystery Readers.  I also want to thank everyone who has signed up to be a reader. We will make sure if you volunteered to read that you will have your day. We continue readers until the last week of school. :)
The kids look forward to this every Wednesday. Every reader brings such joy to our classroom.

Book Fair

Parents,
Feb. 6th-10th the book fair will be held in the library.
It will be open for our class from 7:45-8:10AM.  You are welcome to come to school with your child and go shopping during that time. We will not be taking them during instructional time to the book fair.
Please refrain from sending your child in with money to go to the fair instead join them and shop together February 6th-10th from 7:45-8:10AM.  We host it this way so that money is not lost and goods are safely purchased and taken home by our Rainbow Valley parents. :)

H2O OH!

Today we started our unit on water.  
The students learned about the 3 phases of water. 
Solid, liquid, and gas.  We talked about the direction water flows and what is water.
We will be doing some experiments where students will change water from a liquid to a solid and gas. As well as creating their own way to change a solid to a liquid. 
In about a week we will be going to the science lab to review and apply all that we have learned. 
Stay tuned! 
As always ask your child about their day and what they have learned about H2O.  

Parent Conference

Mark your calendar and plan to attend the fourth annual Parent Connection Saturday Conference! On January 28, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Landstown High School, Dr. Katharine Kersey will deliver a compelling keynote address followed by your choice of breakout sessions. Sessions will include a variety of choices for parents of gifted students along with workshops covering topics such as college planning, stress and the family, financial literacy, special education, and much more! Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit the Reading Bus and a variety of community resource tables. 
Come join the fun! Registration is not required but more information can be requested by calling 263-1936.

IPAD FUN

We have been really enjoying IPADs this week.

The students have enjoyed using various different apps.
We love using the IPads in our class, and I wanted to let all of you know which Apps we were using so you can use them at home if you would like. I have used all of these apps in class  Math magic, math bingo, ABC word families, ABC pocket phonics, and word magic. The anaologies for kids and sentence builder are apps we use for students who are ready for something a little more challenging.
Gus has even enjoyed his new IPAD. :)  Mommy just can't stop teaching once she gets home!

Gus practicing his sight words! :)

Writing Practice

Some of you have asked about the 2nd Quarter Writing Rubric.
Here are some helpful tools to help you reinforce what is being done at school.
In writing the following skills have or will be taught and will be practiced daily:

drawing pictures that are life like (the person should look like a person)


labeling pictures


writing the code date- numbers should be written the school way


spelling words by using beginning and ending sounds (if you see that your child needs extra help with identifying medial sounds, please review those as well) Your child should be applying in their writing what he or she is learning in word study.
We have all learned that vowels are found inside of words.

sightwords should be spelled correctly (the word wall is in the room for all students to see and use)
uppercase letter at the beginning of a sentence


finger spaces


stretching their words


punctuation at end of a sentence


When using the word I it needs to be uppercase

Details, details, details.
For example: I read to my mom. 
A better more detailed sentence would be I read Froggy Goes Swimming to my mom and it was really fun. I knew all of the words. 

Please practice at home as often as possible:


-writing first and last name


-forming letters the school way

The Animals Appreciate Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley was featured on Evelyn's Wildlife Facebook Page. If you have a facebook account become a friend of Evelyn's Wildlife Refuge and check out the "shout out" to Rainbow Valley.
Gus and I enjoyed delivering the donations to Evelyn and her wildlife friends.
Currently, they have the cutest raccoon who thinks he is a dog. He came right up to us. :)
Remember you can always give Evelyn a call and set up a visit and bring some more donations.  Sooooo worth it!

Happy Happenings In Rainbow Valley!

The children are really enjoying learning about new skills and topics through song and dance during calendar time.

The students have also really enjoyed some new songs. Check out these links to use them as practice at home when writing words and reading words.

We are really working very hard on reminding our kindergarten friends that words contain vowels and that is what makes them words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g43EfOXvpG8

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnVhx3vk1Jg&feature=related

A Time To Review

Hello Rainbow Valley Families,
I hope everyone had a restful break.  We have alot going on in our classroom.
Even though it is a four day week, we DO have word study this week. 
I recently assessed all of the children for their mid-year word study. Students may be moved around into different groups.  You may see some of the same features coming home and you may see new word features coming home.  Remember word study meets a child at their developmental level.  A step back in word study sometimes is a step forward. 
We have also done our second graded writing prompt.  These along with the rubric will be coming home soon. Please review any areas that need attention.
Some of our kindergarten friends received a note where I highlighted areas in writing that need to be practiced at home as often as possible. I sent  that home today.
In the areas of math please continue to have your child work on creating and solving addtion number stories.  If you child is ready let them work on subtraction number stories.
The children have enjoyed learning about measurement.  Ask them about it.
Please allow them to measure things at home. Tonight you will see a practice page for them to do at home. :)
SIGHT WORDS-  WOW!!! I was soooooooooooooooo impressed to see how many WORD MASTERS we have.  Way to go! If your child has not learned all of their flashcard sightwords please, please, practice daily until learned.
Retelling, retelling, reading strategies...
We are working daily on these especially retelling.
Please do you best to have your child read nightly and allow them to SHOW OFF how they can apply their strategies. :)
As always, thank you for ALL you do!
Mrs. Chiaverotti

Our Dream

We have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King JR.
The children shared what their dreams are for their futures.

Assessments

This week we will be assessing our Rainbow Valley Friends on all of their sightwords.  We will be sending home enrichment work and reinforcement work for student who I feel need it.
You will also see this week a writing assessment come home. Please review your child's work with them.
Please provide reinforment at home by having your child write and apply writing strategies as often as possible.

Writing About Our Friends

The students enjoyed listening to the story My Friends. 
After hearing the story they practiced turning and talking about their own friends.
Then, they wrote about their friends in their journals.
We practiced using our writing strategies.
Please make sure your child is practicing their writing at home as often as possible.

Attention Parents

Wow! Check out this great opportunity sponsored by VBCPS.
The Social Butterflies Parent Series: What Are Social Skills and Why Are They Important?


Thursday, January 12, 2012, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Advanced Technology Center Theater

1800 College Crescent, Virginia Beach



Have you ever wished your child could “get along” better with other children? Do you want to help him/her to be at ease in a group? Attend the “Social Butterflies Series” and find out how to help your little one foster successful relationships, navigate social settings, and feel comfortable with peers. This workshop is free but registration is required by calling 263-1936.



Melissa T. McQuarrie

Director of Community Relations

Virginia Beach City Public Schools

2512 George Mason Drive

Virginia Beach, Virginia 2345

757-263-1936 (phone) 757-263-1009 (fax)

melissa.mcquarrie@vbschools.com