Week of January 27th

We started reading new books this week in Language Arts.  The students are reading one of three nonfiction books on an ancient civilization.  Instead of writing summaries for their book, with which the students have become experts, they are working in a small group to write skits for small sections of their book that will educate others who aren't reading their books.  They created and presented their first skits this week, and what a great job they did in such a short amount of time.  The students are very excited about their books and the skits.  Below are some pictures of the teams with some of their props from their first skit.  We expect to present some of their skits in Gathering on our next sharing day.  We will keep you posted about that. 

 

The Groovy Greeks!

The Rotten Romans!

Julius Caesar from the front (with a knife tip)

Julius Caesar from behind with the hilt of the knife!

The Awesome Egyptians!

 

Students in the "green" math group have been very successful multiplying multi-digit numbers (problems like 368x37). They have been so successful, in fact, that we had to celebrate. At the end of math class, we had a quick dance party! Here are some pictures from that! Excitement about math...I LOVE IT!

Week of January 21

Swim continues to go well for the students.  What a great opportunity we are giving our students!

Perseverance, that is something that is imperative to teach children these days.  Since many of our students find things come easily to them, the need to struggle and get praise for their effort is important.  The need to learn from mistakes and develop a mindset of growth is imperative.  We are trying to instill this in our students through a variety of challenging activities.  Our goal is that by the end of the year, doing something that is especially difficult will not be so daunting to the students. 

Every Friday, we are asking the students to complete a challenging math activity.  For the first activity, the students were able to work in small groups, but today's activity asked them to work on their own.  The task was to use 1 continuous piece of 3 cm paper to create a bookshelf with 4 shelves, having 4 cm between each shelf.  They could use tape to hold it together, but could not tape any extra parts to it.  We had 12 students in the 3-5th grade classes who were able to complete it in some way, with many others who put forth a good effort.  Here are some pictures of the students as they worked through the problem and some of the finished products. 

 

Week of January 13

In Gathering this week, the students shared a poem they wrote in the style of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Here are some pictures of the students and what they wrote.

'Twas the night of Halloween and all through the house,
There were spookies and spiders that ate a little mouse. 
All the children were filled with Halloween fun,
And couldn't wait for the monsters to come. 
They were so excited for the big party feast,
Because they loved the ghouly monstrous treats.
The big bash had just begun,
And every little monster was having fun.
They danced and danced till the party was done,
The kids love their Halloween fun. 
by A.M.

 

'Twas the day before my B-day
I was sleeping sound asleep
When I heard my doll
Fall in a ball
That lived in a sweet
Beet.
She knew it was my b-day
Then bought some bread
Then she got her meds
And went back to bed.
When it was my b-day
Next morning instead she read.
by L.R.

 

'Twas the day of Easter and all though the house,
All the kids were excited even the mouse.
All the kids found eggs,
Except Meg.
But then Meg
Found the golden egg.
Whoever found the gold,
Was very very bold.
Easter is through,
What do we do?
by G.H.

 

 

'Twas the day before St. Patrick's Day and all through the house,
Every creature had microscopes including the mouse.
All their hopes of finding went up in smoke.
They were so surprised they almost had a choke.
But they did not lose hope.
They even stuck bait on a rope.
Alas they found him the Leprechaun.
He was in the green lawn.
Their parents said to go to bed.
To rest their sleepy heads. 
They went to sleep without delay,
And were happy the next day,
St. Patrick's Day. 

 

 

'Twas the day before tax day and all through the house,

All the parents were stirring even the mouse's;

They were all preparing for tax day,

For it would be the next day.

They were getting their wallets ready to pay,

Whatever taxes came their way.

They were going truly crazy,

And the visions were hazy

That they didn't have to pay next year,

So they could just sit on the couch with some beer.

by A.C.

 

 

 

'Twas the night of the defense and all through the land,

Everyone was in command.

Fog came from the smoggy bog and people were scared.

People heard boats

And floats.

People hid and people ran

And then the floats were on land.

People heard footsteps on sand

And on the land.

Sentinels were on guard,

Kids did not play in their yards.

Finally the bad men ran away.

by D.F.

 

 

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the city,

Something was burning, it was a pity.

Santa's got his head stuck in a jam jar with some of it left,

When someone threw it, he was so deft.

Santa flew to a mountain, so quickly indeed,

He was thrown so high that the reindeer were freed. 

Santa sent all his elves off one by one,

Sending them all until he was done.

Santa was so sad that he lost his sleigh,

And that is the story I tell you today.

by J.T.

 

 

 

'Twas the night after Christmas and all through the house,

Every creature was stirring, playing with the mouse.

The stockings were taken down with care,

And not a scrap of wrapping paper was there.

The parents tried to get the children to bed,

And lay down their heads.

But the children stayed up late

And finished off Santa's plate. 

Finally the parents took charge and turned out the light,

And the mouse said, "Good Night."

by K.M.

 

 

 

'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring not even the mouse.

The small little mice lay in their beds

As visions of gingerbread men danced in their heads.

Then outside the hole their was such a clatter.

It was a sleigh made of batter.

St. Nick got out and filled all the stockings and then he got back in and flew out of sight,

"Happy cheese to all and to all a good night."

by S.B.

 

 

 

 

'Twas the night before Easter and all through the house,

The Easter Bunny was putting eggs in her blouse.

The candy was made with very fine care,

In hope that Snickers won't melt in there.

10 hours later the children awoke,

They put on their slippers and went down with their cloaks.

And me with a basket and mom with a hat,

We didn't find any eggs even under the mat.

Even through we wanted to check the blouse,

We didn't, instead we checked the whole house.

Then I went up the stairs, found the eggs in the blouse,

All very safe as a mouse. 

by Q.B.

 

 

 

'Twas the day before the birthday and all through the house,

Every creature was sleeping, including the mouse.

All the presents were not wrapped

And the parents had a long nap.

They had to get it done,

It was two hours before the fun.

They woke up.

There was a cup.

When the guests came,

They all said their names.

When the party was finished,

The parents were diminished. 

by A.P.

 

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town,

Everything was covered in a snow white gown.

Every chimney was tarnished with ashes and soot,

And the owls were ready to go hoot-hoot-hoot.

Then Santa, he came,

As he shouted (not lame)

To that house!

To that house!

To apartment and store!
To that house!

To that house!

We've got so much more!

So he got down

Every chimney in town.

Away did he zoom

As he flew out of sight,

His voice boomed through the night,

"Don't be naughty till the next blue moon!"

by J.L.

 



  

 

 

 

 



Week of January 6th

Students began learning about simple machines this week.  We started our study with the lever, discussing how it works, as well as examples in real life where a lever can be found.  We also did a science experiment, using the Scientific Method, to hypothesize and test which length of lever would be the most effective way to launch an item.  Here are some pictures of the students exploring this.

 

 

 

 

Pirate Day was also lots of fun.  We spoke in pirate-eze, made pirate snacks, heard some pirate jokes, created a pirate flag, and worked as a group to make a treasure map.