Welcome 2013-2014 Students!

 

 

Check back often throughout the school year for pictures, videos, and descriptions of our "school" days!

 

 

 

Last Day of Class!

I honestly cannot believe this year has come to an end.  This has been an amazing year of growth, and of changes.  Each of these children has made huge leaps, not only with their education, but as little blossoming young people.  We have had inspiring discussions about friendship, resposibility, and respecting others.  We have laughed together, we have been sad together, and we have encouraged each other along the way.  The atmosphere that has been in this building for the last 10 months has been exactly what I envisioned it to be:  a place where children can THRIVE.  I am immensely thankful to each and every parent for blessing me with their child this year.  It has been a pleasure!

Science Posters

Winners of the Geography Bee!

The Class with Mr. Dennis

Art!

The Cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream!

Make-Up Day

Last week was a bit of a mess.  There seems to be a stomach bug going around, and instead of continuing to pass it around, we opted to reschedule classes until the germs had subsided.  Instead of working in class, the teachers posted at home assignments for those days last week.  I read the kids' writing journals today, and it seems that they didn't care much for the sick days, and wished that they had been able to come and learn together!

Today's make up day was a fun combo of the older kids and the 1st grade class!  Teachers came in and out, alternating between classrooms (or the picnic table on the deck).  It was a beautiful day! 

Ms. Jennifer is wrapping up math class with lessons on volume.  They have come so far this year, and learned so very much!  They will continue to work with volume through class tomorrow.

We took the final practice tests for both math and language arts today.  We were able to discuss the answers to the language arts section, and will continue working through the rest tomorrow.  Today's big lesson was to read the directions... always!  They also learned that, even if they do not understand a term, or it is a slightly different term than they are used to (such as expanded notation instead of expanded form), they do not NEED to use the exact words that they are familiar with in order to answer the question correctly!  I asked, "What does EXPANDED mean?"  I then explained that it didn't even matter what "notation" meant.  They are looking for an expanded version of the number.  Sometimes, kids can get so stuck on the terminology that they freeze.  I am hoping to teach them some mental flexibility and confidence with test-taking!

We read the rest of "Midsummer Night's Dream" today, and these kids enjoyed it thoroughly!  I loved hearing the laughter and seeing them get completely caught up in the story!

Ms. Gail made cupcakes for the class, to celebrate their last day of class together!  She is going to miss them through the summer, and is thrilled to be coming back to teach Oceanography next year!  After a test over Greek mythology, the students took turns sharing the myths that they wrote.  There was a tale of why chickens lay eggs, where lava came from, and a hero myth about Perseous and his Flying Puppy, Finn.  These students have excellent imaginations! 

The children also brought in their final science poster & cube project on an endangered animal.  We were able to discuss some of them today, and we will talk about the rest tomorrow!  They look great!

In social studies, Mr. Dennis began with a discussion of World War II.  They then reviewed their last test over what they had previously learned of WWII and the New Deal.  Their talks will continue tomorrow, when they come to class and share with Mr. Dennis what they learned at home about the WACs, WAVES, and SPARs.

Finally... The Polar Express!

Water, Water, Everywhere.

Shakespeare-  The kids were in stitches today, as we read on in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"!  What could be funnier than a fairy queen, under a spell, falling in love with a man who has the head of a donkey?!  We stopped each time the plot took a crazy twist, deciphering the prose and discussing it.  They were begging to read more, but they will just have to wait until next week!

Writing-  Some of the students brought in paragraphs that needed editing.  I edited and returned them, so that they can make revisions at home.  Our persuasive essays are due on May 14th.

Math-  The 4B class has been working with data collection and compilation.  They each gave out surveys to 20 people, and brought them to class today.  They will now be creating different graphs and charts to display their results.  The 3B class worked with 3D shapes today.  Ms. Jennifer used paper objects to demonstrate the different types.

Agriculture-  The final video project is almost finished!  The kids absolutely loved making this... and I cannot wait to compile all of the video and show them the final product!

Science-  Today, Ms. Gail talked to the class about the importance of water.  To show them how much of the water on Earth is saltwater versus fresh, they colored in a sheet with 100 squares, coloring each of the squares that represented saltwater.  Once they were able to see that only 3% of the Earth's water is freshwater, she had them color in 2.5 of the squares to represent frozen water.  That only leave .5% that is usable water. She took the lesson a step further, dividing that water into polluted versus clean water.  The grid did a great job of putting things into perspective!  Then, she filled a large container with clear water.  Each of the children were given a film canister, filled with different mixtures or items.  Each represented a pollutant.  As Ms. Gail read about the different pollutants in our water, the students took turns bringing up the correlating canister, dumping it into the water.  It was a great demonstration!  The class ended with the big biology test.  Only one more day of science left in the school year!  I can't believe it!

Literature-  Ms. Gail began class by allowing the students to stand up and share their mythological creations.  Unfortunately, only three of the students completed theirs.  It was disappointing, but the three that did their work did a fantastic job.  Ms. Gail reviewed the kids' at home assignments, discussing the answers as they plugged along.  Then, they read on in their Greek mythology lesson.  Myths were passed along verbally from generation to generation before they were written down.  Therefore, there are many variations to the stories.  To demonstrate this, Ms. Gail used the telephone game. 

Social Studies-  Mr. Dennis taught the class about Roosevelt and the New Deal today.  They learned about the different in Roosevelt's policies in comparison to the three previous Republican Presidents.  They discussed his famous First Hundred Days, Alphabet Agencies, and his Fireside Chats.  The class ended with a test that covered Post WWI through the New Deal.  They will be learning about WWII soon, and at least a few of them were so excited they couldn't stand it!

Bottle Babies

Test Prep- Today, we finished reviewing the 4th grade math section.  We worked each and every problem that was missed on the board, which benefited each student!  We talked about how you handle decimal points differently in multiplication problems than addition or subtraction ones.  Although we had already learned this skill, some did not remember... or it just didn't make sense.  I demonstrated the reason for this, with a simple word problem which divided .5 by 10.  Of course, it made sense to the class that a faucet could leak 1/2 a gallon a day for 10 days, and the result would be an answer that is LESS THAN 10.  I transitioned that knowledge to the fact that decimal points in multiplication problems are not simply "brought down".  We reviewed many other math topics, and finally completed the section.  We will begin working on the social studies section, in class.

Agriculture-  Today was a super fun agriculture day!  The class and I walked around Inman, working on video for our music production.  We only have two more scenes to shoot!  In addition, we took a trip to visit the new baby goats, which are playful and full of energy!  We talked about their birth, which a lot of the class had viewed the day they were born, in the online video updates.

The class broke into two groups and rotated between giving the kids their bottle and milking the does.  I explained the use of a "hobble", and why it is so helpful.  I hobble is a simple velcro strap, which puts a little pressure on the tendon at the back of the does' legs.  This pressure does not hurt, but prevents them from kicking.  There's nothing worse than trying to milk a kicky goat!  Everyone was able to get a chance to milk and to spend time with the new babies!
Science-  Today, Ms. Gail began with a review of the students' at home assignments.  They talked about mollusks, their classification, characteristics, and types (gastropod, bivalve, and cephalopod).  Ms. Gail then had the class complete an animal classification exercise.  The students worked in small groups to sort and classify animal figures.  They will all have a big test next week, over material from our biology unit.  At home, they will need to study all of the information in their science folders!

Literature-  After reviewing the students' mythology assignments, Ms. Gail and the class read other hero and nature myths.  Through the stories, they learned about different mythological creatures.  Afterward, the students each drew two noun cards and one adjective card from a box.  At home, they will be combining these words in order to create their own mythological creature!

Social Studies- Today's lesson was on The Great Depression.  The class learned about the vicious circle of failing banks and crashing stock markets, sales falling, and unemployment rising.  They also learned about the Dust Bowl of the early 1930's, and its impact.

We will be leaving for our field trip to Rock Eagle on Monday morning, and will return on Tuesday.  Classes will resume on Thursday.

Probability, Politics, and a Sprite Named Puck

 Spelling- Today, we began a new list.  This list is comprised of many words that contain silent letters, especially a silent "t", as in "whistle".  I will be posting another list of lists to online study cards, games, and quizzes to use for this list.  The students can use the aids to help them prepare and assess their knowledge of the spelling and vocabulary words. 

Math- In math class, Ms Jennifer continued her lesson with probability.  The class is working with data collection and compilation.  They are also beginning to introduce the idea of surveying.  At home, they will have to survey 20 people, asking a simple question.  The class will use this information in an activity next week!

Test Prep- Today, the 3B class worked through another section in the social studies portion of the test booklet.  We checked and discussed the answers.  One great lesson that was learned to today is to always read the passage BEFORE trying to answer the questions!  This was such an important lesson, that I made sure to share it with the 4B class.  The 4B class continued to discuss issues with the math portion of the booklet.  We worked many problems on the board, especially with setting up word problems.  I will be posting some links for the kids to work with at home!

Writing- In writing, I read and edited the paragraphs that the kids had completed to this point.  This is such a tough assignment, and I know it is well above their grade level.  However, I know that they will learn more from striving to meet this expectation than they would if I had given them a simpler project!  There were two papers that, as I put it, "nailed" the art of a persuasive essay.   I asked the class if they had ever tried to learn something, or try something new, and needed to watch a video on it first.  Whether it is an instructional DVD, or an example of someone else doing the activity on YouTube, it is helpful to see and hear the correct result.  We can then model our actions and hopefully succeed!  I explained that, by reading the two papers out loud, I am helping them all to hear and take note of the way that the papers clearly expressed points, incorporated research, and used some of the strategies for persuasive writing that we had previously discussed.  Hopefully, it will help the class to get a better understanding of how a research-based paper should "sound"!

Shakespeare- We continued to read through "A Midsummer Night's Dream" today, much to the enjoyment of the class!  They are eating this up!  I had to quiet them down quite a few times, as they were desperate to share their thoughts on what was about to happen... and how the plot of Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena would intertwine with the plot of Quince and the actors.

Social Studies- In social studies, Mr. Dennis taught the class about the Roaring Twenties!  They talked about the roles of Isolationism, the republican presidents, Laissez-Faire, prohibition, and mass media. Further, they discussed the difference in life for those below the poverty line, industrial workers, and farmers.

Art- The kids were thrilled to hear that art class and our Shakespeare lesson has overlapped!  Each student was given a character from "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  They then created stick puppets, using photographs of their own faces!  Later, we will be using these puppets for a fun "wrap-up" of our Shakespeare unit!