Harvest Arts Festival

WHAT FUN!!

We kicked off the morning with a wonderful show from a portion of the 8th grade band. 

When we got back to the classroom Mr. Bard was here and ready for pancake art!! What better art is there than art you can eat?! Our group was patient waiting their turn and helping stirring the batter. We saw baseball, smiling faces, starfish, a snail from the creative mind of Levi and even a MINION from Jordan! It was so much fun thinking outside if the box.

Levi was most certainly not a snail when
it came to eating his pancake :)

While we waited for our turn with the pancakes, we painted one of our ceiling tiles! It will be so nice to have as a reminder to a great year. Each student picked what color they wanted, then stuck their handprint onto the tile. Once the prints are good and dry everyone will sign their name on their hand.

How to: Carve a Pumpkin

You wouldn't believe the work every single student did this week!

On Monday we wrapped up our rainy day pieces and in light of the upcoming festivities, I wanted to have a fun activity for all! 

Connor's illustration of each step in the
pumpkin carving process

In order to keep with the season, I brought in a pumpkin of our own in order to help in our planning process. We also had two great mentors: Jacqueline Farmer's Pumpkins (a narrative) and Dana Meachen Rau's How to Library: Carving Pumpkins. Each student got a chance to reach into the pumpkin in order to really feel what they would be writing about. After they washed their hands, they brainstormed descriptive words. We did a quick turn and talk to share words!

On Wednesday we wrapped up our planning process and our first draft! Some students sketched each step of the process of carving  a pumpkin. I love how Connor even showed the candle he uses in his own pumpkin!

Today the students paired off and spent 15 minutes helping each other edit their pieces. Student's were grabbing dictionaries, fixing high frequency words and adding words that our fast moving brains skip over sometimes! I was so impressed with the buzzing around the room!! After our pair work, we transitioned quickly into our final drafting phase. 

Ben D. did a great job!

Now these are just tidbit's of Oceanna and Ari's work. However both are wonderful examples of the products that we can create when we slow down and really take our time!

By Oceanna T. 

By Ari M.
One of my favorite parts of this piece is the story
behind the illustration!

Using all our tools!

 Normally we discourage using calculators after all our BRAINS are our calculators!! BUT we were practicing Number Change stories in our math boxes today with three and four digit numbers so we used our calculator skills to find how we changed the numbers. 

This unit has us focusing on building our skills with tools that help us measure! The girls chose to measure the height of the door which is a great transitions because we will soon be learning how to calculate area and perimeter!

Once we finished our math boxes, some students chose to make designs with pattern blocks. Owen started making models and it was Ben's job to recreate Owen's design! They were both really enjoying themselves. I missed an opportunity to take a photo BUT Ari made a mermaid and Lily made a swan! I love having opportunities to give the students time to be creative. :) 

SOCK it to 'em!

Today was crazy sock day! Some of our class even wore crazy PANTS

Toe socks, tall socks, dad socks, MISMATCHED socks- we saw it all! 

The Writing Process

Last week we really focused on planning our writing! We used the rainy days to motivate our ideas. Our jumping off point was a group brainstorm to get the ideas flowing of things we like to do on rainy days e.g. do puzzles, bake or cook, do art projects. 

We used a "hamburger" planning page to layer our writing much like a sandwich is layered. Once students were "finished" with their planning they flipped their page over and recorded some rainy day descriptive words! 

When we write our paragraphs we try and focus on the 5W's- WHO are we doing our activity with? WHAT is it we're doing? WHERE are we? WHEN was this? WHY did I pick this particular activity? 

When your student is working on their Wednesday night sentences, please make sure they have proper capitals and punctuation! That is one thing we are working very hard to maintain in our writing. 

Homework folders

There are a great many things coming home this evening! Apologies because it seems like too much, but the completion of Unit 2 led to the timing!

In addition to the spelling list, spelling homework and math homework there is

- a coupon for book orders (read the fine print... there are loop holes unfortunately)

- a Unit 3 family letter that can be a great guide with homework

- new reading logs (old ones can ALWAYS be sent later)

Have a GREAT week :) 

This weekend

Feel free, if you want, to get a jump start on practicing your spelling words for next week! We will be moving to Unit 9 on Monday. Don't get started on the activities until you listen to your words! Get a good feel for what the words are before moving forward. 

PLEASE SEND READING LOGS BACK ON MONDAY

Have a great weekend :) 

Spelling City Success!!

We got to spend some time practicing our words today!

Some thought the assignments were easy. When I followed up I discovered they hadn't finished to score. What that tells me is that they didn't get practice on all the words- YIKES!

If they practice at home, please make sure the stick with the same game until they get a score for the activity!

Fables, Myths and Fairytales

Over the last couple days we have spent ample time browsing letting our imagination guide our book choices! Fables, myths and fairytales extend our thinking into worlds of possibilities. They also help us to see how stories have changed as they are passed down over time.

Some of us have already started noticing that an author turned Jack, of Jack and the Beanstalk, to Kate or the Gingerbread man into a Tortilla... WHAT?! 

We've even made some text to media connections between some of these texts and the ever popular 'Once Upon a Time'! Seeing a reflection of their own life or something the students recognize from their lives increases the interest in their books. When you read with your student point out things that YOU connect with, as long as they don't beat you to it :)

Happy reading!

After School Program!

Placements for the ASP were sent home last week, but I wanted to post a quick 

reminder that they start next week!!!

Baseball, Art, Biking, Newspaper and Cheerleading Clubs will be Monday: Oct 20, 27, Nov 3, 10, 17

Sports Club will be Wednesday: Oct 22, 29, Nov 5, 12, 19

I will remind them to stay after.

Keep an eye on the ASP Blog for photos and updates!

Please remember that pickup is promptly at 3:30

TTL4 at home!

Mrs. Mayer has set up a wonderful resource to assist with getting the program set up at home! Just follow the link and it's pretty step by step!

Setting up TTL4 at home

If your student seems like they're having challenges, remind them of their:

1) Posture

2) Pace- it's not a race!! We're looking for ACCURACY not speed :)

3) Focus- saying the letters aloud helps so much!

There is also a letter from Mrs. Mayer in their backpacks for "homework"

(just to make sure you get it at home)!

VOLCANIC ERUPTION

WHAT a perfect way to end a week.

We had so much fun with our REACTIVE experiment, the students really got into it when I pulled out my lab coat and safety goggles for everyone! Even though baking soda and vinegar aren't exactly "explosive", experiment safety is an important bell to ring. 

After all all scientists practice safe science :)

Next week we'll be jumping head first into Rocks and Minerals!

Fire Safety Week

Old Town Fire Department did such a great job all week! They shared their ambulance and fire truck with the younger students; in addition to a presentation in each of the schools communities. 

Along side Mrs. Reesman's class, we identified and discussed what is safe in a home. We also made adjustments to the test home in order to make it as safe as possible.  All the students were such great listeners :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH OTFD for keeping us safe! 

Our excitement is EXPLOSIVE

It was great fun getting our volcanoes started today!

We started with a group discussion in order to remind ourselves that making the clay Earth's was very challenging, and that this was going to be an even bigger challenge. The discussion was also to remind each of us that we are all able to meet the difficulties head on!! 

          FIRST things first we had to get our "skeleton" prepared. The problem to keep in mind: how thin will we have to pinch our clay to cover ALL of the cup? 

          After taping their cups students secured their skeleton further using a small portion of gray. This gray put our first of the clay battles; very hard! Everyone was able to press their portion out to piece it around the base REMEMBERING that this layer didn't have to be pretty as it would soon be covered.  Lily worked incredibly hard, even pulled out her pencil to use for 

a make-shift rolling pin!

    CREATIVE MINDS AT WORK HERE FOLKS :)

The gray clay each of the students next received provided ample challenge for each of us to work through. It was much harder than the clay we used for the Earth's so it took more time to warm each portion up.  Knowing that this part didn't have to be "pretty" was helpful, it will ultimately be covered with brown clay.

Finally, each student got a more sizable portion of white clay to give their volcano a unique shape! The result was wonderful :) Levi reminded us that some volcanoes have side vents and that it was a option while shaping our own.

We'll have some explosive reactions in no time!

September Students of the Month

CONGRATULATIONS to our three Students of September!

These students have been incredibly hard workers- always looking for extra practice to do independently, so respectful and SUCH kind, amazing friends. 

Keep up the good work and you could earn this honor next month!!

REMEMBER- 21 days until we pick the students of October!!

Keep in mind that everyone is always watching :) Teachers in the hallways, specialists, ANYONE