Veteran's Day

We have officially begun our unit on Algebra! We are using a program called Teaching to Standards: Math. It focuses on using real-life situational word problems to help teach algebraic concepts. Please check it out online if you would like to know more!

On Fridays we have had our academic competitions vs. Mrs. O's class and the classrooms are tied 2-2 after 4 weeks! Our first competition was a scavenger hunt around the school identifying sight words before we could get the clue: Mrs. O's class won. Week 2 was a hide and seek activity where each classroom got to hide the vocabulary words in their classroom and then search the other classroom: most words found won (Mr. P's class). In week 3 we played a Smartboard game identifying sight words (Mr. P's class won). Week 4 was a Smartboard quiz testing students' knowledge of the definitions of the vocabulary words (Mrs. O's class won). They have been close competitions throughout and the students have thoroughly enjoyed them.

Today we learned about Veteran's Day and why we celebrate it. Enjoy the 3 day weekend!

Amerks Visit

I will let Riley and Clint tell you about our special visit today!

October 11th 2013

October is here and that means we have some great events coming up! October 21st is our Open House from 6-8. Please stop in our room and see all of the great things we are doing!

October 21st is also our first CBI to Grandview Farms. Please keep a look out for permission slips coming home. We will be talking about farming and how Native Americans used the land around the area.

We have made our Dream Machines and are on our journey to success this year! Please be sure to check it out in the hallway during Open House. Have a great Columbus Day weekend!

New Year, New Students, New Classroom!

Hi everyone! This year I have moved to a new classroom. I am excited for this opportunity. I have moved from the Senior Life Skills room to the Intermediate I classroom. It has been a big change, but a fun one!

This year we have started a positive reinforcement system called "Money in the Bank." Every time a teacher catches one of our students acting appropriately the student gets a penny. Ten pennies at the end of the day and you get extra free time! For those students who fall short, they can spend some time doing some extra work before getting some extra free time.

The students voted on our Classroom Expectations for the year. We have 5:
Listen to Teachers
Use Nice Words
Keep Hands to Self
Clean Up
Take Turns.

Keep checking back for more news about our upcoming experiments!

3-20-13

This week in science class we are learning about the structure of plants. We are identifying the qualities of living things in plants and their characteristics.

 In math, students are working on solving word problems by using each of the 4 math principles (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division).

We continue to work on and develop our skills in the community and our activities of daily living. On Tuesday we made sandwiches, fruit salad and yogurt parfaits.

Wednesday we enjoyed a half day of school. Students are working hard and looking forward to spring.     

Jellyfish in a bottle!

The class did a pretty cool experiment for science class. All we needed was plastic 2 liters, food coloring, yarn, and a wegmans plastic shopping bag. We filled the 2 liters with water, almost to the brim. Then we cut a square out of the shopping bag and tied the yarn around the middle. After that, tentacles we cut into the bag and food coloring dripped into the middle. Pushed into the water, the jellyfish floated!!!

Sakura Home Japanese Resturant

Mr. P's class finally raised enough money to go out to eat! Since we were learning about Japan, we decided to go to an authentic Japanese resturant this past Tuesday.  Everyone got the hibachi lunch, dramatically cooked right in front of our eyes....

Everyone's ready for the food!



Josh, Noah, Cameron and Carli are all excited to finally eat Japanese food.







YUMMY!!!

WOW! Everything's on fire!



Carli, Ashlee and Jake enjoyed the bridge over the small lake.









Noah listens to Josh explain whats happening.

Catch up

Here is a quick over view of what has been happening:

December:

•  Identified planets and moons in the Solar System and possibilities of life?
• Wrapped up graphing unit in Math
• Practiced using grocery store advertisements to plan a dinner party for friends
• Discussed our IEPs and what our strengths and needs are

January:

• Studied space travel: Moon landings, Mars rovers
• Began geometry and algebra units
• Began our action plan for planning our future: Define the Problem, Outline the Options, Identify the outcome for each option, Take action

February:

• Began unit on Living Things: Characteristics
• Continue geometry and algebra units
• Began discussion of reading advertisements, determining best values
• Began learning about Community Services that are available and how to access them now and after graduation

Amerks visit

Last week the Rochester Americans came to take on the staff of Holy Childhood in a friendly floor hockey game. Mr. P played for Holy Childhood and they beat the Amerks!

For Tuesday ADL days we have made: sandwiches, pasta, and a chef's salad. The students are enjoying the experience of creating the shopping list, independently shopping, and making their own lunch.

We have gone to the Henrietta Library where some students have received library cards and checked out books. We have also made a trip to AC Moore to shop for materials to use for our Thanksgiving craft.

Here is a picture of our craft and some from when the Amerks came. Enjoy!

1st Quarter

Hello Blog World! Wow is this school year going by extremely fast. Here is a quick recap of what has been happening: we have been spending Tuesdays learning how to budget, create shopping lists, shop, create a meal, clean our mess, search for community activities, go to the public library, and many other activities. In Science class we have been learning about space: the big bang, the creation/make up of Earth, and now the Sun. In Math we have been working on graphing and budgeting. We have a transition class this year where we are learning about how to be involved in planning our IEP. I hope this is a good start to what we have been doing. Have a great week!

A New Beginning

Welcome to the beginning of what I have decided is going to be a great year. If you enter with high expectations and a positive attitude, you will always be rewarded with success. We have a great class and I am looking forward to this year. We are currently working on a few introductory projects, which I will post pictures of when they are completed next week. Here is a picture of our class from the first week!

End of Summer School

This is the end of summer school and it feels like we just started. Thank you to all the parents and students for a great summer. We have gone to a Red Wings game, the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, The Beale restaurant. We have had a science fair, read 7 books, and completed a 5 week in-school work program. Hope everyone has a great 2 weeks off and we are looking forward to another great school year!

Scavenger Hunt

For the second straight year Mr. P's class has won the Holy Childhood Scavenger Hunt! This year the obstacles focused on healthy choices and heart healthy exercise. The students had a blast!

Mardi Gras and a Trip

This week we studied Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) and its traditions in New Orleans. We also took a trip to the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery.

Week 4

Last Thursday we went to the Red Wings game! They were winning when we left, but ended up losing. We all still had a great time at Frontier Field.

This week we are learning about Mardis Gras and its origins. We made King Cakes on Monday, a classic Mardis Gras dessert. We will be making Mardis Gras masks this Friday morning.

Also on Friday we will be going to the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery. While there we will be viewing the exhibit on American artwork depicting America throughout the centuries.

Summer school is almost over. (yikes!)

Don't forget to check out our newsroom blog here: What's New

Week 3

We have studied the history of New Orleans, Jean Lafitte and other pirates of New Orleans. This week we are studying jazz music and Louis Armstrong. We read, "When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat."

Last week we made a map of the New Orleans French Quarter where our Magic Treehouse book takes place. We are going to trace their path through the city and label important sites. So far, they landed on Canal Street, and met Louis Armstrong on Decateur Street shoveling coal. More will be added as they see it in the book.

Picture Request

Cameron and Angel have the same shirt on!

Happy Thursday!

Week 2

We are on our way through week 2 and can't believe how fast this summer is going! Last week we studied the history of New Orleans and this week we are studying pirates! Jean Lafitte is the pirate who worked with Andrew Jackson to win the battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. We will continue to read the Magic Treehouse book along with the companion book about ghosts.

The newsroom published their first news report which can be found at whatsnewhc.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Summer time

Welcome to the new families and friends to Mr. P's classroom! We are excited for this summer and look forward to a great 6 weeks. For the summer I like to give the students fun nicknames to mark their seats: ask your students about his/hers. We read a packet on the history of New Orleans today that the students should be bringing home with them.

Swimming began today, and work groups will start tomorrow. Working in recycling are Mackenzie and Noah, working in food service are Angel and Jennifer, working in the newsroom are Carli and Tyler, working at the car wash is Jake, working at Stepping Stones are Ashlee and Cameron.

Mrs. O will be in charge of the recycling job, Ms. Stephanie Mancini will be in charge of food service, Mr. P will be in charge of the newsroom, Mr. Patrick Singer will be in charge of the car wash, and Mrs. Kari Thompson will be job coaching at Stepping Stones.

We are going to have a great summer!

Conservatory and Zoo

We wrapped up our Science unit with a trip to the Lamberton Conservatory and the Seneca Park Zoo this past week. The students enjoyed the flora and fauna of the desert and rainforest at the conservatory. Then they were able to see the animals that inhabit those ecosystems at the zoo! Enjoy the pictures from both of these trips.