Summer FUN!

The last few days of school were great! We designed insect habitats, had "movie day" and cleaned the classroom (which was surprisingly the kids' favorite activity). On the last day, the kids got back a lot of the writing they have done over the year, poetry and math journals and of course, their memory book. They worked on the memory book all year and it is very special. I hope you will see it as a keepsake and read it years and years from now!

Its only been a few days, but I hope you got summer started with a bang! I just finished compiling a list of things to do to keep your child reading/writing/practicing math. I hope that you will consider these ideas so that your little one will be ready for second grade!

1. Please look in your child's BEE folder for the summer reading log. If you have any questions, please let me know. Send it back in August for a special treat from me!


2. Fun web sites for the summer:


http://pbskids.org/read/

http://www.starfall.com/

http://www.funbrain.com/


http://www.professorgarfield.com/pgf_home.html


http://www.abcya.com/


http://www.spellingcity.com/


http://www.seussville.com/

3. Fun, educational apps for your ipod! http://www.smartappsforkids.com/

4. Here are some local events you might consider:


http://www.bcslibrary.org/?page_id=6620


http://www.cstx.gov/index.aspx?page=3083&returnURL=%2findex.aspx


Had to put this one on :) Its still a work in progress... http://www.athletesprime.com

5. If you haven't discovered www.pinterest.com you need to! You can search for anything, and I mean anything. There are lots of fun ideas for summer fun, and everything else you enjoy!


6. I told all the kids that they are free to e-mail me anytime this summer. Some of them even said they have their own e-mail address-very cool! I will check my e-mail maybe once or twice a week in the summer. I would love to hear from them.

Anything to add to the list? Feel free to comment or e-mail me!

Have a fun and safe summer and see you in August!

Estimation Olympics

We had been discussing time duration, like what is a second, minute, hour, day or year feel like? To conclude our study, we had the Second Annual Estimation Olympics! Each team estimated the number of seconds it would take to complete several different activities, then we timed ourselves to find out the actual amount of time it took. This was a blast! 

 Walk to the door and back with a paper on your head!

 Looking at the timer to get the right time

 Arm windmills

Science Outdoors!

We had been discussing living, non-living and once living all week. As a final fun day, we went outside and observed things in nature. The kids really loved this one!

Economics 101... What a Lesson We Learned!

I want to start out by thanking all of you who sent things for our economics project. This was a week long project that the kids participated in and I think they learned a very valuable lesson.

The week before the project, we discussed good vs. service and need vs. want. We sorted pictures and had discussions that were really great!

The first day of the project, the kids got to earn classroom fake money to buy things in the store later on in the week. They earned money for doing their classroom job (like line leader, library helper, teaching assistant, etc.) They also earned money for doing the right thing in the classroom, like completing work correctly, working quietly or walking in the hallway safely. Finally they could earn money for doing random acts of kindness that were genuine, not just doing them because they wanted money, but because it was the right thing to do.

On the following day, the kids got to choose a good to make and sell. All the goods were considered wants-necklaces, bookmarks, pom pom creatures and more! The kids bought supplies needed from the "warehouse" and then proceeded to create their good to sell. They had to come up with a reasonable price and an advertisement that was sure to get them some good customers. 

The final day was our selling day! The kids set up their shops around the room and got to buy from each other. They also got to buy from my store. My store had all the needs for student survival-crayons, scissors, glue, erasers... even a chair!!!! I explained to the students that we would be doing an important activity immediately after the store that involved cutting, gluing and coloring. I was shocked to see how most of them ignored my store! Many kids continued to only buy wants, even after several times of reminding them to get what they NEED! 

After the stores closed we passed out the activity and lots of kids struggled because they had forgotten to buy their needs! The few that had taken the time to purchase their needs did not have difficulty at all. This brought up some great discussion! We concluded that we are thankful that our parents provide for all of our needs first, and save the extra money for wants!

I felt like the learning during this project was so meaningful and so deep. It incorporated so many subjects-economics, money and a life long lesson!

 Ready to sell!

 Mrs. Stagg's kids helped run the "needs" store

 Trying the advertise the needs!

 Loves his pom pom creature!

 And now for the cut/glue/color activity...

 No scissors? Problem solve!

 No glue? Be a thinker!

 Coloring with colored Popsicle sticks...

Edible Dirt?

Ms. Bosley has been teach the kids all about rocks and soil the past 2 weeks. We even had a "Rock Day" and devoted a whole day to the study of rocks. To review the parts and layers of the soil, she reviewed in such a fun way! The kids got to layer a cup with fun things to represent layers of the soil. Ask them if they know what each layer stands for!

 A layer of pudding, then crushed graham crackers, oreos and a worm to top it off!

 It got a little messy!

Small Moment Stories with About the Author Blurbs

A few weeks ago we concluded a unit on using authors as mentors. We studied authors like Angela Johnson, Kevin Henkes and Donald Crews to see what techniques they used in their writing, that we could use too. The kids really enjoyed this unit, and we concluded with learning how to write "About the Author" blurbs on the back cover. Here are some pictures from our celebration!