art gallery

Thank you for everyone viewing our Art Gallery during student-led conferences. We will be having visitors next Wednesday visiting 1st grade from another school trying to become a PYP school. After they leave I will take down the art and send it home!

Yarn Art

One last fun art activity...it was interesting to see what each child would do with a piece of yarn!

it's back...

We have another reported case of lice in the class. Nurse Felder will be back in the morning to check everyone again and the carpet will be sprayed again tonight. As I have done in class, please talk to your children about not putting their hands in each other's hair, sharing coats, etc.

Fact Families

Today we talked about fact families. We learned that a fact family is a group of related facts that uses the same group of numbers.

WANTED!!!!!!!!!!

Our class is in need of fabric. Mostly reds, greens, Christmas prints, calicos and a bit of blue/white. If you have any around the house or wish to pick some up...I would be most appreciative! I cannot go into details...trust me on this! No questions! :-)

student-led conferences

Our conference day was very successful...thank you for taking the time to come after school and making that happen! The children did a fine job. I saw confident leaders being knowledgeable, reflective risk-takers as they went through their agendas with pride and ease! Well done!

Houston Grand Opera

Today we had a visit from the Houston Grand Opera...Opera on Wheels. We saw a wonderful rendition of Strega Nona...which included Pablo Picasso as one of the characters!

Ellen Leventhal

Today Ellen Leventhal visited Mark Twain and visited with the students. She read parts of her books, talked about being a writer and using our imaginations.

Mark Twain tid bits

We had another presentation from Mrs. Blakeslee's 5th graders today! We learned a lot of neat things about Mark Twain and the era that he lived in. We found out in his lifetime:

• Yellowstone National Park opened
• the telegraph was invented
• the bicycle was invented
• the 1st flight with the Wright brothers
• the Gold Rush
• Ellis Island opened
• fought in the Civil War

Art Portfolios

I know y'all are getting anxious to get your hands on the artwork...but you have to wait a tiny bit longer! The children chose 3 of their masterpieces each to display in our art gallery in the hallway during student-led conferences tomorrow. We sorted the rest today and put them in our portfolios that we water colored. Expect almost 20 pieces of artwork to keep...we've had a lot of fun!

Wednesday Folders!

It wasn't until 4:00 PM that I realized it was Tuesday and I forgot to pass out the red folders! Everything is in their yellow cubbies...I will stuff the folders tomorrow and send them home Wednesday! Please forgive me...we are so busy right now!

Book Fair

Congratulations to PP for winning the 1st grade bookmark contest. I bet the extras will sell at the school store...50 cents well spent! I enjoyed seeing everyone at book fair. It sounds like a lot of great books were purchased and at the same time...helped support our school!

No Homework This Week...

...for no good reason! I just couldn't get it togehter in time! Merry Christmas 4 weeks early!

naked hallway

You may notice that we took all of our artwork down from the hallway and it is looking kinda bare! I passed it all back to the children and they are in the process of choosing 3 pieces to display in our art showing the day of student-led conferences.

Author Visit

Tomorrow we will be having author, Ellen Leventhal come for a visit. The kids will get to meet her during an assembly. I sent home an order form (look for a pink sheet) today if you are interested in ordering any of her books. I believe they will also be available at the book fair. If you are writing a check make them payable to E2 Books. If you have any questions about this even don't hesitate to email our librarian, Mr. Deering at GDEERING@houstonisd.org.

Happy Birthday Mark Twain

Yesterday, November 30, was Mark Twain's (aka Samuel Clemens) birthday. Mrs. Blakeslee's 5th graders have been preparing various ways to celebrate it and today they did a small presentation. One of the things they told us was that Mark Twain did not like bright colors because they depressed him. His favorite color is white...that's why all the pictures of him have him wearing white suits. To honor Mark Twain the 5th graders asked everyone to wear white tomorrow! We ate white sugar cookies to celebrate and colored a fact page delivered by the 5th graders.

Student Led Conferences

Just a reminder...student-led conferences were rescheduled for after school THIS Wednesday, December 3rd. There are 3 times to choose from: 3-3:30, 3:30-4 and 4-4:30. This is a requirement for all students at a PYP-IB school. I will be at school until 5:00 that day to make sure everyone has a chance to participate. I'm not sure if the school sent out new forms or not but I've only gotten 1 back so far. If it is easier, just email me the preferred time or go to the bottom of this post and put it in the comment box. I will also put a sign-up sheet outside our classroom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone and their families a happy Thanksgiving. The children are a joy to teach, we've had a great year so far and I am thrilled to be their teacher! Everyone is extremely helpful and supportive...I truly feel blessed by all of you! Have a restful week. Sincerely, Mrs. Phillips

Something to do

I read an article yesterday in the newspaper called Artist Comes Out of Seclusion, into Triviersi. Artist Leandra Di Buelna Jr. hasn't exhinited his work since the 1960's and at age 73, the self-taught artist finally decided to come out of seclusion with "Leandra's World of Fantasy", an exhibit of 62 of his paintings and dozens more of his toylike sculptures. If you are intersted...the exhibit is showing 11am-3pm Tuesday-Saturday at the Canal Street Gallery (2219 Canal) St. (713) 223-2219. Let me know if anyone decided to go!

art a la carte #3

Thank you to Mrs. Lang for coming to our classroom ALONE and taught the kids a little bit about repetition and patterns. They made beautiful snakes that shows exactly that!