Week in Review: May 26-29

We are wrapping up some big projects this week and next. In math, students have been working with a partner to work through a lengthy vacation scenario called "Paradise Island." They are using all of the basic skills they have learned this year to solve multi-step word problems built around an imaginary vacation plan.

In science, they have been learning about planets.

We also got the chance to use the Lego Robotic kits this week. 

In language arts, students are meeting in book clubs. We are hoping to finish these novels up by Tuesday or Wednesday! We are also continuing to learn cursive, and they are still just as engaged in the lessons as they were in the beginning.

There are so many fun things to look forward to next week: a final visit with our kindergarten buddies, field day, the third grade end of school party, and choir and talent show performances. I will be out on Monday, and Mrs. Howard will be the substitute. I imagine it will be a hectic week, but I will still have high expectations for my students' behavior, so please remind your child over the weekend that there are still 5 days of school and our social contract still applies. Have a great weekend!

Week in Review: May 18-23

We started our week off with a 14 day countdown! Ask your child about the special things we have done this week as we count down to the last day of school.

In science, we took one last look at our composting project that has gone on all year. The students were not surprised to find that the plastic did not break down at all!

Our next unit in science in the solar system, and we began with a fact hunt around the room, working in partners.

We had a midweek visit from my son John, when he came in for kindergarten testing. He got to enjoy recess with the big kids and just loved being the center of attention!

On Friday, we were disappointed that field day had to be rescheduled, but we made the most of our day and had fun anyways! We started prepping the 2 liter soda bottles for our vertical garden. Now Mr. Lipe gets the pleasure of drilling them onto a garden trellis this weekend! We also started working on our end of year memory books...these are always a big hit with my class!

I love this photo...it's going on the cover of their memory books! I will miss these faces next year!

Have a great weekend! Remember, it's a three day weekend for Memorial Day, so I will see everyone on Tuesday.

Week in Review - May 11-15

This was a busy week, but will be a brief update, and I apologize for the shortage of pictures. I feel like the last few weeks of the school year slip by so fast and I have a hard time keeping up! :)

This week in science we have been learning about inherited traits and learned behaviors. The students did a scavenger hunt trying to find classmates with particular traits.

In math, we wrapped up our Financial Literacy unit with a common assessment on Friday. As a review, they played a game called Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

And in language arts, we did a lot of writing! We sent thank-you letters to our guest speakers from last week, wrote persuasive letters to Ms. Stowe for extra recess time, and wrote letters to parents about Spotlight Night. Speaking of that...thanks to all who came out for Spotlight Night - I hope you enjoyed seeing some samples of your child's work. 

The countdown is on - only 14 school days remain. Friday June 5 is the last day of class, but keep in mind that Monday May 25 there is no school for Memorial Day. Have a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day

We hope you enjoy this video of the kids telling what they love about their special moms. Happy Mother's Day!

Week In Review: May 4-8

What a hectic, busy week we have had! Monday and Tuesday were filled with math, science and grammar lessons. We are continuing our lessons in financial literacy for math by learning about different methods of payment, such as cash, credit, debit, or checks. In science, we dissected a real owl pellet in follow up to last week's online dissection. And in language arts, we studied the proper usage of pronouns.

On Tuesday we had a visit from the architects who designed our school. They did a great presentation comparing the building of our school to the building of a plastic bottle school in Guatemala. They enjoyed seeing the sample of a plastic water bottle wall that the TAG enrichment group has been working on.

On Wednesday, our early release day, we enjoyed visiting with our kindergarten buddies, checking out books from the library (for the last time this year), rehearsing for Friday's assembly, and Skyping with Adam Flores from Hug It Forward. The kids had great questions for him, and really learned a lot.

Of course, Thursday was our field trip and thank goodness the rain held off. We picked up trash along the Brushy Creek Trail, had a picnic lunch, and then did a nature scavenger hunt. It was a great trip, but wore us all out! Special thanks to Mrs. McQuillen, Mrs. Kyriazis, and Mrs. Cockreham for chaperoning.

Friday's assembly went perfectly, I was so proud of all of the participants. I think we really got our message across about reducing plastic waste!

I was so spoiled for Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you to my whole class for the beautiful thumbprint tree, I will treasure it always!! And I will certainly enjoy using all of my gift cards in the weeks to come. But the best part of the entire week were the sweet notes from my students. Thanks are never expected for a teacher, because I would do this job without it, but it sure feels great to be so appreciated!

Whew - I am worn our from this busy week! Next week should be back to normal...well, as normal as we can be with only 4 weeks left of school! Have a great weekend, and Happy Mother's Day.