Holiday Celebration

What a day of celebrating we had!  Thanks to your generosity, we were able to make five beautiful fleece blankets for the women and children at Jessie's Place.  Thank you so much for your help in purchasing and creating the blankets! 

The food was also delicious!  Thank you so much for helping to make our holiday celebration so much fun and such a success!

Second Nine Weeks, Final Week

Another busy week as we prepare and perform the musical and celebrate the upcoming holidays!

Reading - We will be finishing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this week!  The vocabulary test is on Wednesday!

Language/ Alabama History - Students are typing their expository essays about how Native Americans were impacted by the arrival of European settlers.

Math - Students are doing a great job on division!  We may even be ready for our assessment by the end of the week before we leave for the holidays!

Science - The students will conduct one more experiment about the aerodynamics of a car this week.  Then, students will be assessed on Thursday on what they have learned.  There is a StudyStack to help them prepare.

Ringing the Bell

One of my very favorite holiday traditions is ringing the bell for the Salvation Army's red kettle campaign with my students. We always get such wonderful support from the community, lots of compliments from passersby about the children's cheeriness and countless smiles. I feel our job is not only to raise money for the Salvation Army when we are ringing the bell, but also to spread the spirit of the season. No one does this better than children. What a joy they are to watch in action! I was thrilled that so many students could participate this year. Thank you for your help and support!

Hour of Code

It is believed that computer science, more specifically coding, which is used to program computers, build apps, design video games, etc. is one of the most crucial skills we could teach the next generation. Our school, like many around the world, celebrated computer science this week with an hour of coding. Code.org has some wonderful lessons on coding. They are so much fun and entertaining that the students truly enjoy completing the activities, forgetting what they are learning. Students are invited to explore this website from home and move through the lessons. 

I would encourage you to try some of the activities on code.org. There were amazing feelings of accomplishment as I moved through the levels of the Frozen activity. It not only tested my coding skills, but also my knowledge of angles. It is completely free, and you don't even have to have a login to get started. There is even a Star Wars coding activity! Happy coding!

Second Nine Weeks, Week 8

We've got a busy week with play practice each day as we prepare for the play next Tuesday!

Reading - Our focus this week is on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Students are reading the book in small groups and discussing signposts they notice along the way.

Language - Students will be writing an expository essay about the impact European explorers had on Alabamians.

Math - The students are working on division.  We have discussed remainders in different situations and the differences between sharing and partitioning.  This week, we will also discuss different strategies for division.

Alabama History - We will finish our discussion of the Creek War this week as well as spending some of our Alabama History time writing the essay.

Science - The students will complete another task challenge this week.  Students will also begin investigating air resistance and aerodynamic qualities in our vehicles.

"Bee" Season

This time of year we always have two bees: geography and spelling. To qualify for the geography bee, students took a VERY difficult ten-question geography quiz in the classroom. Arthur will be representing us in the school-wide bee. To qualify for the spelling bee, students participated in a classroom spelling bee. Our winner, Pete, and our runner-up, Florence, will be representing us in the school-wide spelling bee soon. Congratulations to these three and to all those who participated!

Second Nine Weeks, Week 7

I hope you and your family had a wonderful time together thinking about all the things we have to be thankful for.  I am thankful to be here at Shades Cahaba, spending my days with these wonderful children!

Reading - I loved seeing how many students came back today having completed the book they were reading!  We will finish Tiger Rising tomorrow with a test on the vocabulary and parts of the book on Wednesday.  We will then begin The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Language - Our focus this week will be on expository writing.  The students will be writing about the impact that the explorers made on the Native Americans, proving to me not only what great writers they are but what they learned in history as well.

Math - The students will be finishing up this multiplication menu with a test on Thursday before moving on to division.

Alabama History - We are talking about the Creek War this week.  We'll discuss the major battles and the reasons behind the war.

Science - Our focus continues to be on force and motion, specifically the potential, kinetic and transfer of energy involved in collisions of our Hot Wheels cars.

If your child has not yet told you about the new chairs in our classroom, make sure to ask! :)

Grandpal's Day

Grandpal's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I absolutely love how excited the children get as they eagerly await the arrival of their grandparents, friends, and family members. They are so eager to share their school with their loved ones and spend time together. It's a joy to watch as they interact with one another and it is an honor to meet the people that these children hold in such high esteem!