Scientist of the Week 2015 | Forming a Gas

Our second Scientist of the Week demonstrated how to form a gas. The class also learned that even though things might look the same, they can be very different.

Celebrating 100 Days of School!

January 15 was our 100th day of school, and what a fun day it was! Every activity we did revolved around the number one hundred. Here's a fun look at our day in pictures.
 

Great-grandma U greeted the students at the door as they entered the classroom. There was a lot of giggling. :o)

 

The students were great-grandmas and great-grandpas themselves as they were all dressed like 100 year old senior citizens!

When the "greats" arrived, there were 100 blocks waiting at each table, waiting to be created into a masterpiece.

One of the most popular activities of the day was writing down 100 words the "greats" could read.

 

I know for a fact that I could not eat 100 burritos or 100 donuts,
I'd be quite sick. However, I can definitely eat 100 peas!

Age Booth app was perfect for our 100th day celebration. It aged each of our faces giving us a glimpse of what we might really look like as great-grandmas and great-grandpas! Tons of giggling when we saw our 100 year photos. :o)

Last activity of the day - a side by side comparison of our 1st & 2nd great selves
with our future 100 year old selves. What a fantastic 100th day of school we had!

Meeting Moby, Education Superstar!

Last week Mrs. Joseph and I attended FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) in Orlando. The highlight of our trip was meeting Moby of BrainPopJr. and BrainPop. We had to take a picture with this famous robot who is an education superstar! The BrainPop booth was giving out buttons and bookmarks. Unfortuntely, the limit was two so I was unable to bring home one for all my students. Bummer!

Families, please know that BrainPopJr. and BrainPop offers countless educational videos across all subjects and is available to you for free as our school has paid for a subscription. Check your child's STAR folder for login information. Please note that BrainPopJr. has content that is geared towards lower elementary level. However, for those 2nd graders who would like to expand their knowledge, BrainPop has a broader topic base. Apps are also available for your tablets.

Scientist of the Week 2015 | Rock Candy

Our very first Scientist of the Week presented a yummy experiment explaining how rock candy can be made at home. At the end of her experiment, our Scientist gave each student in the class rock candy that they could eat. The kids who couldn't wait to dig into treats got in a few licks before it was time to pack up and go home. I am looking forward to all the rest of our Scientist of the Week experiments!

Historian of the Week 2015 | Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our first Historian of the Week presentation was this past Friday, and the presentation was about Martin Luther King, Jr. For the record, this is my son's presentation and it was entirely his idea to research and present MLK though I have to admit I was quite pleased considering we had a day off of school in honor of Dr. King. The presentation ended up being the perfect introduction to our MLK unit.



Students will each have their turn to be Historian of the Week. They will pick a famous person in history to research. (This part is often time the toughest part of the project!) They can dress up as that person and present the following during their presentation: name of the famous person, date and place of birth, what the person is best known for, one or more interesting facts, and a photograph of the person. Students also have the option of creating a presentation board with their famous person's information.

*Families - I sent home information in your child's STAR folder with Historian of the Week expectations and guidelines as well as grading rubrics. There is also an updated schedule with presentation dates.

Christmas Share

Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year in the classroom! Despite the countless practices that we had to prepare for our school's annual Christmas program at the church, we were able to squeeze in many fun activities. Our activities included a gingerbread unit as well as a virtual field trip around the world to see how other countries celebrate during the holidays. Here are pictures of some of the fun things we did.

We made gingerbread ornaments and decorated gingerbread cookies for part of our gingerbread unit!

 

Before we "traveled" to other countries we took at look at Christmas traditions in the U.S.A.

First international stop: Mexico where we learned about poinsettias and Las Posadas.

While in Europe we visited France, Sweden, England, Italy, and Germany.
We tasted delicious treats that are eaten in these European countries during the holidays.

 

Blowing bubbles - gifts that were left in their shoes, a French holiday tradition.

Wanted to share this cute gift idea that I found on Pinterest. We gave these to our classroom volunteers -
liquid hand soap with a hand tag that says, "Thank you for being a helping hand in the classroom!"

As soon as I get a copy of the video footage of our Nativity play that we performed during our school Christmas program, I will share here.

He's Got the Whole World . . .

Happy 2015!!! As you can see, this poor blog has been neglected over the past few months. The busy-ness of the holidays at school and at home always gets me. Here's to the new year and to the best intentions of sharing more of what we've been up to here on the blog!

My favorite part of the day with the class is when we sing songs together for worship. It's a fantastic way to start the day! This song is currently one of my favorites, an oldie but goodie! I remember how much I loved singing this as a kid.