Thank you very much!

Thank you so much for all the cards and gestures of appreciation...I'm just happy to know that your children are happy...because I sure am!! We had another great week...full of science, fractions, and dramatic plays...read on for details! But first...a word about our WAX MUSEUM!!

WAX MUSEUM
Next week is our Wax Museum. Here are the details...
Monday - practice in the cafeteria 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Tuesday - practice in the cafeteria 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Wednesday - DRESS REHEARSAL for the 2nd grade magnet classes 9:15 am
Friday - WAX MUSEUM for parents 9:15 am in the cafeteria

It is very obvious the children have been practicing their speeches at home...please keep it up. The more they look up at their audience, the more believable it is that they are TRULY their famous person!!

SCIENCE
We have had so much fun in science this week...last week we asked the question "Will a soaked fava bean grow faster than an unsoaked fava bean?"...and now we know the answer!! Ask your young scientist what he/she observed today!! This week we conducted an experiment where the students were given two organisms, a seed and an egg. They were told that one lived in fresh water and one lived in salt water. They had to design an experiment to test the hypothesis they made about the organisms. Well, as many experiments go...not all of the "things" that were supposed to happen, happened! But luckily, the experiment went much better in Mr. Clutz's room, so we were able to observe his vials and make some definite conclusions! Most kids had made a hypothesis that the "Bigs" were the plants and the "Littles" were the animals, and they were correct in their predictions! There were vials full of brine shrimp swimming in salt water, and there were vials with clover seeds that had roots in fresh water! (Of course in our room, most of the brine shrimp never hatched and the clover grew roots in salt water...go figure!!) :-) These kids just love science and I love teaching them!!

FRACTIONS
This week we have been doing lots of work with dry erase boards...working with equivalent fractions, simplifying fractions by finding the greatest common factor, and adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators...all of these skills require excellent recall of multiplication facts...without it, it's like building a clubhouse without nails...REALLY hard! Please continue to work on math facts at home...they should be spitting them at you at a fast pace by now...so if they're not...make it a daily practice, please!!!

LANGUAGE ARTS
The students are working on three different scripts in our classroom. Ask your child the title of his/her play...the titles alone let you know how funny these plays are!! We have been analyzing the elements of a play and learning how stage directions and voice are key to knowing your character...the kids have all been assigned their parts and we are starting to use the separate plays to teach all of the elements and their importance. They love being dramatic (I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know!) so they are enjoying this unit a lot!

FROGS
Thanks to Brooke Hersey and her Mom for buying a dozen small crickets to feed our Fire Bellied Toads that Mr. Esko lent to us...we had SO much fun moving the frog container from table to table this morning and watching the frogs have their breakfast!! We are finished our study of frogs...and if you get a chance to stop by the classroom, your child made a Synthesis Pyramid about frogs and it is hanging on the wall! Feel free to just drop by...or make sure to walk down to the classroom next Friday after the Wax Museum.

Last week we went outside and played "Word Study Hopscotch"...this week we played "Toss a Word"...28 kids, on the blacktop, 14 small balls, and a whole lot of correct spelling...what could be more fun!?!? :-) Have a great weekend!