Jack-O-Lantern Jubilee!

We had a lot of fun with pumpkins this week.  We turned five large pumpkins into globes in Social Studies class.  The children had to place the continents in the correct locations using the equator and prime meridian as a guide.  Then they labeled the oceans.

Then we had a fun lesson in math where we estimated the weight, circumference and number of seeds in  several pumpkins.  We worked in cooperative groups to measure and count the seeds in the pumpkins.  We discovered that our smallest pumpkin had more seeds than some of the larger pumpkins.  

Pumpkins were raffled off to the students.   Thank you to Mrs. Snow, Mrs. Pearsall Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Hood for helping out.

More Smart Board Lessons

In this lesson, children clicked on a window in the haunted house that revealed a noun on candy corn.  We then wrote the plural of the noun on the candy.

We played an addition math game on the Smart Board.  The children rolled the die to place a number on the board and create an addition problem that would yield a greater sum than the other team could create.

More Fun With Alliteration

We made silly skeletons out of Q-tips and wrote some very funny alliterative sentences on bone shaped paper.  Some students used "S" word for their skeleton and others chose to use "B" words and name their skeleton _(Bobby)_Bones or something similar.  These Silly Skeletons are Skipping in a Synchronized Sidekick!

Haunted House Stories

The children are working on writing a haunted house story.  We are focusing on writing a good beginning, middle and end and including lots of details using the five senses.  They are doing a great job and we will share our stories next week.

Map Skills

The children worked on their Haunted Hayride Maps for Social Studies.  They made a key and then had to draw the map according to the directions, placing the symbols in the correct places on the map using the compass directions.  We checked our maps by following the directions and creating the map on the Smart Board.

Water As Ice

We have been investigating what happens to water has it heats, cools and freezes.  We measured water and placed it in a vial and syringe and then froze it.  The children discovered that water expands when it freezes

Estimating Sums in Math

We have been working on adding larger numbers in Math.  We have learned how to round numbers to the nearest ten and hundred to estimate a sum.  Here we are using individual whiteboards to practice this skill.

Fun With Words......Alliteration

The children have been having some fun with alliteration, the repeating of a letter or sound throughout the sentence.  (ex.  Peter Piper Picked a Peck........).  We wrote sentences about bats, repeating the letter "b" throughout the sentence.  Several Silly Sentences were Scripted by the Students.  More Halloween alliteration to follow!

The Density of Water

We observed that warm water is less dense than cold water by placing vials of each in room temperature water.  It was exciting to watch the (red) hot water rise to the top and float while the (blue) ice water remained in the vial and sunk to the bottom!

More Fun With Our Smart Board

     We are using the Smart Board for a lot of fun interactive lessons.  We use it in math every day to begin the lesson with an animated introduction to the skill for the day.  Yesterday we used it to add numbers on a 100's chart.  We are using it to practice cursive, too!  We had some fun map lessons in Social Studies and learned about map keys, and compasses.  Ask your child how we take attendance with the Smart Board.  

    I am also having fun with some other technology that I am using with the Smart Board.  I have a Mobi which allows me to operate the Smart Board wirelessly on a small tablet.  This allows me to move away from the board and walk around the room while still operating the Smart Board!  I can even write on the board while standing in the back of the room.  Oh, the wonders of technology!!

Literature Circles in Reading

We are working in literature circles for Reading class.  Three different groups are reading three different Cam Jansen Mysteries.  Each student in the group has a job do before the group gathers for discussion.  The students read a chapter together or silently if they choose.  Then each child in the group chooses a job. They will then respond to the literature through the job they picked.    After all students have completed their jobs, they get back together and discuss the book and present their work.   Then they move on to the next chapter and pick a new job.  Jobs include the Word Wizard, Discussion Director, Connector, Artful Artist, Summarizer and the Passage Picker.  Ask your child what each job requires.

Investigating Water Temperature

We made thermometers in class and observed what happened when we put them in ice water and hot water.  We discovered that water expands when it is heated and contracts when it is cold.  We saw this happen as the water in the straw of our homemade thermometer rose when we placed it in hot water and went down when we place it in ice water.