Happy Halloween 2013

Hi everyone!  Today was filled with excitement and many opportunities to use our math skills as we graphed, added, subtracted, and tallied up pieces of CANDY!  (um...I think they ate some too!)
Here are a few pictures...have a great night and try to get some sleep!

Very nice pumpkin patch!

Busy mathematicians!

Looks like alot to count!

Very festive shirts!

Happy Halloween shirt!  I'm told it glows in the dark!

Do they celebrate Halloween in Australia?

Wednesday October 30

There was an excitement in the air today as the countdown to CandyFest 2013!  At least half of the students informed me this morning that tomorrow was Halloween!   Good thing they reminded me!

Today we learned by:
 individual reading and writing assignments,
 solving more story problems written by other students,
hearing facts about the history of Halloween,
reading books of our own choosing,
writing down observations about the ants in our science journals,
and completing part 2 of our clay creations by adding the mineral paint!

It was a fun, busy day!
A reminder about tomorrow:
No costumes please, but it might be fun to wear black and orange! 
See you then! 

Tuesday October 29

Hi everyone!

This month has flown by and it hardly seems possible that November is just around the corner.  I think it's this amazing weather...it just doesn't seem like fall yet (but this chilly morning was a reminder!)

Here are some ideas from the students today:
"I enjoyed writing with Jasper because we are getting ready to publish our story!" Beckett
"I really like quiet reading because I am reading a chapter book." Cassidy
"I liked the ant project about ant jobs because it was fun to make!"  Cooper, Jasper, & many others
"Matthew helped me figure out a math program on the computer." Alex
"I like the new ant farm!" Dah
"I liked choice time because Anders and Drew were very nice!" Thomas
"I enjoyed reading to Alex during choice time."  Matthew
"I was very nice when Evelyn taught me how to climb really fast on the play structure." Norah

Here is a picture of the busy ants in the new ant farm:

See you tomorrow, ant scientists!!!

Monday October 28

We had another busy day.  We began by reading the book "Two Bad Ants", then learning a poem about army ants, then we solved the ant story problems that we wrote!  Later in the day, we created Halloween themed books using adjectives, verbs, and nouns. I will try to display these in the cafeteria!  Here are a few pictures of our creation time.  Have a great day and enjoy the last few moments of sun!

Thursday October 24

Happy Birthday Olivia!!!  :)

Here are the ideas from the students about our day:

"It was kind when Norah made me something nice during choice time." Lola
"I really liked the ant project." Olivia
"My favorite thing from today was when Lauren made me something during choice time." Cassidy
"I liked watching and helping Alex us the computer.  We were learning from Magic School Bus goes to Mars." Matthew
"I really liked music because we learned a fun game and I liked making the ant flip books" Norah
"I liked quiet reading because it is just a good time of the day." Cooper
"I like the story  'The Kitten in the Pumpkin Patch' that we heard during read aloud" Beckett & Jasper


Please bring library books and homework tomorrow and have a GREAT sunny afternoon!

Wednesday October 23-

Today our learning continued as we read and researched more about ants.  Today we created a flip book about ant anatomy and the students made a poster about the information they found.  Did you know that ants had two stomachs?  They would also be lost without their feelers.   Wow...

Please Help if you can!

We are very fortunate to have four iPads in the room, but I have written a mini-grant to receive two more for the classroom.  If you feel comfortable, post this link on your Facebook page or send it to your extended family.  All donations are tax-deductible and can be given from anywhere in the country.  We are very close to fulfilling the grant!  Thanks for helping!  Please click below to find the details of the grant!

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/ipads-to-learn-and-inspire/1084046/

Have a great day!  See you tomorrow!

Tuesday October 22

Today we kept busy learning, as usual!
 
During literacy block, the students were reading and writing many different things including a poem about Harvester ants, a diagram of an ant, and non-fiction books about ants. 

During math, we looked at and solved ant story problems. 

During writing, we wrote words we could use to describe the ants observations we have made by watching the anthill, and received a small observation journal to write our ideas in.

During science, we researched and wrote information about ant anatomy.

Of course, we also enjoyed music, lunch, and recess out in this beautiful weather!

Here are some ideas from the students:

"I liked quiet reading because Matthew and I read together." Alex
"I liked the new ant observation journal." Olivia
"I enjoyed making a building using only triangular prisms during math." Matthew
"I enjoyed learning new ant facts from the Magic School Bus video." Ezra and Anders
"I liked reading and solving clues on the ISpy game on the computer." Cooper
"I liked having a partner to read and write about ants with." Norah & Beckett
"I liked creating with Magnaforms during choice time." Miles
"I enjoyed solving the ant story problems during math." Jasper

Great ideas everyone!  See you tomorrow