What a busy week!

Since our return from vacation, we have not missed a beat! We've begun a new unit in opinion writing, don't be surprised if you start being talked into getting a pet. All the students are getting very good at starting their opinion then supporting with reasons why. 

As a school, we are celebrating community and friendship through literacy. Each classroom has read a variety of books within those themes and voted on the class favorite. Ours is Enemy Pie! Each student created a creepy, crawly to add to the pie! 

In science, we've begun a new topic looking at Social and Group behavior. We had a great discussion on Wednesday about animals and the benefits of those that live in groups. Tomorrow we will be playing a game that will help us gain a deeper understanding the benefit of living in a group and why there is only one leader! 

Math has us continuing to learn multiplication and division. We will be testing topic 5 by the end of next week! Be sure to continue practicing multiplication facts at home. The students have been introduced to multiplication grids in class, but I want to see what they can do without a grid come test time. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!

We do have a field trip to Orono Commons coming up so be on the look out for a permission slip next week. We will only be going for an hour and a half. Students will have lunch at school as usual! 

Enjoy your weekends! 

Life Cycle Dioramas

We have been working so hard on the research of our Maine animal Life Cycle! The students started their research in the lab. Mrs. Mayer joined us to model good research habits and showed us that it is necessary to use multiple resources in order to gather all information! It's also important to remember that not all information will stare us in the face, some hides and we have to make connections with what we've already read and already know. 

Our next steps involved a variety of books from our own library to get our research started. Students worked in groups and shared information back and forth. I particularly loved the way Mackenzie and Kylee broke up the workload. Mackenzie focused on diet and habitat while Kylee worked on appearance and life cycle facts.  

Old Town Tour 2015

Old Town/Orono Rec Center hosted us for lunch! It was a nice break, but we also got to hear about all the activities the Rec Center offers for sports and after school activities! Coach McPhee  recognized so many of our students, hopefully he'll see some new faces soon as many students brought home the activity packet!

Our final stop was to Old Town City Hall! Mr. Roy showed us around the building and shared with the students all the business parents do with City Hall- registering cars and pets or hunting and building permits to name a few! 

We were able to upstairs and meet the City Manager! Like Dr. Tuell, he wears many hats and meets the needs of so many people. We wrapped up our visit with a mock council meeting. Students determined the needs vs. wants of the city in order to meet the budget requirements and the council members voted on what to pass and what to veto. 

Scholastic Reading Club

We're two book orders in so far for the year! 

I wanted to let you all know about advantages of using our online Classroom Club to place orders! Not only is payment easier- no sending money in with the potential to get lost in a backpack, you're able to pay directly online. I have also created a list of book recommendations of value packs and books that have caught the student's attention in the classroom and are also appropriate for our grade!  

Finally, there is much more variety in books available for purchase. For example, many of our class read aloud are available online, where not necessarily in the flyers. Gabe and his mom happened to be reading Because of Winn Dixie at home as we read it in school and he had so much fun having a sneak peek at the adventures! It would be a great way to stay in touch with our classroom with your student!

Miss Farrell's Classroom Club

If you do check out the Classroom Club and connect to our class with our code: N9XLX, stop by our Class Wish list! 

Happy reading!! 

Old Town Tour 2015

We have an amazing time on our tour of Old Town! There is so much history in the town that is so easy to just go through without realizing it. In the library alone, learning about Andrew Carnegie from Mr. and Mrs. Lucas and his contribution to, not only, our town but libraries around the state and nation. 

The culture and history of the Penobscot Nation Museum captured all of our attention. We heard Mr. Neptune play from a beautiful hand carved pine and walnut flute. He spoke beautifully about not being able to write music, but to play what made him happy and brought happiness. 

At Old Town's Forestry Department we saw and got to ask questions about the kinds of tools necessary in order to keep our forests safe and what's used to find people who get lost! 

This year we got to see their Crisis Response RV and get behind the wheel. 

They had amazing technology on board that only helps
them communicate with their team faster!

Inside the hanger we saw where rescue helicopters and planes are repaired. We got to see the tools they use to rescue people and that are used for dropping large amounts of water on forest fires! 

Check back for more pictures later this weekend! :) 

Fabulous Friday!

There are SO many fun things happening at school today! We started off in yet another great, healthy way with W2S take 2! A few different friends joined Jaxon and I this time, we were bummed when we figured out there were a few more of us in the crowd! 

It was also Wear your Community color today, so many of us (again) rocked some red attire! 

The 3rd grade classrooms received a popcorn treat from Dr. Tuell, Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Clark for having awesome door decorations for Red Ribbon week! We have all done so many healthy things this week and have so many things to "pay forward" as we go into November! 

We ALSO had an amazing visit with April Pulley Sayre. We skyped with her in the loft of the library with Mrs. Jackson's 4th graders. She told us where she get her inspiration, all the places she has traveled around the globe and, as a writer, that things aren't always right the first time!! 

Fallon won a book drawing for a signed copy of one of Mrs. Sayre's newest books, Woodpecker Wham! It was just a bonus that today we're also celebrating her birthday! 

Mrs. Curtis visited us and shared a Halloween favorite Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pie. Another book with a great lesson about getting past what something, or someone, looks like and thinking about who they are underneath! 

Put a CAP on it!

So many of us supported a local charity today by wearing hats! Each hat showed me so much about each student; it was fun to see what they each came in with! Thank you, also, to a mystery donor who sent it an additional donation! It was turned in to the homework tray so I'm not sure where it came from but that was amazing of you! A great way for us to pay it forward and find something great WE can do for someone else! 

Team up Wednesday!

In Phys Ed, Ms. R uses "Be a PE STAR" to motivate our students. Will is the first of our class to earn that honor by: 

Staying focused and safe

Trying your best!

Always following the rules

Respecting others and equipment

Sportsmanship! 

His name has been entered in a drawing for a mystery prize! 

Great work Will! 

Abby got the ball rolling for student read alouds! Emma asked if she could read her new favorite today! I asked her to read it a couple of times before reading out loud. It was clear that she had a question mark on her face, wondering why I was asking her to do that. After she read, I asked "Emma, do you understand why I asked you to read it twice now?" "Oh yeah!" It's different reading out loud, it's a great practice to do at home! Even reading to a stuffie, hearing your voice out loud makes a big difference! 

Mix it up Tuesday!

Yesterday we had our first in a series of visits from Mrs. Neptune. She works at the University of Maine and is teaching us about making healthy snack choices! We got to try parsnips for the first time. They smelled surprisingly sweet, but tasted (and felt) just like a carrot! It was a fun way to MIX UP our afternoon in our jammies! 

So many of us have been responsible with our pencils and have been earning special pencils. We a student has 5 special pencils they earn a bonus card. The card Abby happened to pull a card that asked her to read a book to the class! She did an amazing job! It is really hard to read out loud, but she did it and everyone was so respectful! 

Red Ribbon Week: Day 1

We saw red today!! We started our Monday by showing our stand against drugs and for a healthy life! Everyone made a handprint to add to the door then wrote in the journals about what they do that is healthy and why being healthy is important. 

Kallie and I were so perfectly opposite, I couldn't resist sharing! I was actually a little jealous of her sparkly pants! 

Tomorrow- PAJAMAS and Mix it up Lunch!

Testing our tracks!

We are wrapping up our Magnetic and Electric Forces scope along with our Magnetic Racetracks. Mrs. Mitchell joined us to see if our vehicles could complete the task of circling the track in under 30 seconds and without any direct contact! 

The groups went through many trials attempting to get their vehicle, which was not attracted to magnets in any way, around a track without any direct contact! Not only did the students have to make the vehicle magnetic, but they also had to find a way to get it to move without flipping over. Many students, at first, tried to use the magnet's repelling force to get the vehicle to move, but unfortunately all the cars would do is flip! No one quit though despite this challenge! We all persevered! 

Not only are we learning about magnets, but we are also working on our collaboration skills. Being able to communicate in a group is a lifelong skill. These Scopes have been very challenging with a lot of opinions being shared. Listening and making fair decisions is something we all can improve on. Talk with your student about how we can come to an agreement and talk through a challenge! 

Friday Readers

We read at least one book out loud every day. The chapter book we're working on right now is Because of Winn Dixie. Sometimes it's nice to hear someone other than me read! Mrs. Mitchell has been reading to many classrooms to continue getting to know the students and whose class they are in. She was our first Friday Reader! Ms. R has also made an appearance, but the book we read was so short there wasn't even time to snap a picture! 

Abby's mom joined us this week! She read one of Abby's bedtime favorite, Time for Bed, and I was so excited to see that it was a Golden Book! I practically grew up on those, it was so great to see they are still being read. 

Thank you for reading with us Mrs. Davis!

Walk to School Day 2.0!

The W2S Day we had earlier this month was a roaring success!!

 So much so OTES has decided to host ANOTHER!! 

Same time, same place- 

Perkins Street Park at 7:20 am. 

We had such a great day after the last W2S. I would love to see more of our classmates faces there! 

What's the force?

We have spent quite some time working through Magnetic and Electric Forces! I am so pleased with the time we did spend because each of the students learned so much from this scope. I loved seeing the students teach each other and lead their friends to see each of the forces- repel and attract.  Kylee had some great things to say about her groups project!    

So  we  made  a  racetrack.  The forces  that  we  used  are  repel.   We  put  a  magnet  on  one  side  of  a  paper  and  put  a  car  on  the  other  side  that's  how  the car  moved.

Kameron and his group (above and below pictures) worked so hard to figure out which sides of the wand would attract other magnets or metal and which would repel. Not having magnets with labeled poles made this project more challenging. It really showed how students understood these properties of magnets through their discovery!  

Group D is pictured below, unfortunately incomplete, and they were pumped to finally find a way to get their car around the track without touching it. They had some problems creating their vehicle and really had to persevere and collaborate to solve the problem!

National Walk to School Day

Wednesday was a great hit! So many people came together to create this awesome day for the students. It was an added bonus that it was awesome and a great way to start the day with a little exercise! I even was able to find two fabulous walking buddies! 

The OTES Facebook page has a few more photos of the entire group. Make sure to check it out! 

New faces!

We at OTES were lucky enough to gain many new faces over the summer time. One being Ms Robichaud, or Ms R as the students have come to know her! She shared with us her blog link; if you would like to check out what activities we have going in gym take a peek! 

PE Blog

You can also find her link in the Helpful Links and Handy Tips off to the right side of my blog! 

Fall University Student

We are lucky enough to have a University 100- hour student with us for this semester! Mr. Andrews is working towards his student teaching and has been an amazing resource for the students. He has already done a couple read alouds to the class and supported students during math and writing times. 

I asked him if he wouldn't mind doing a quick introduction of himself! 

My name is Max Andrews. I am a student athlete at the University of Maine studying Elementary Education. I got into this field after working local UMaine football camps and coaching young kids on techniques in the game of football. Ever since, I have always loved working and watching children develop before my eyes and taking the skills you give them and using them to benefit themselves. Giving these students the abilities they need in order to be successful is what every teacher strives for and I hope to do the same at the best of my ability.