Monday...where does the weekend go?

So...here's the thing...I know it's not an excuse, but just to give you a snapshot into my life...I had EIGHT games to attend or get kids to this weekend, a dance rehearsal, a baby shower, 2 religious ed classes (one of which I'm teaching), and then there's just regular old housework, my kids, my husband, and my dog...
I don't say any of this because I want you to feel sorry for me...just know that when I leave on Friday, I seriously think I'm going to blog...and then when I get to school on Monday, it's the very next time I've thought of the blog again!!
ANYWAY...we had a wonderful week...let me tell you about it!

Social Studies

This past week we were learning about Frederick County landmarks. Instead of ME teaching the class about the five important landmarks, we developed expert groups. These groups used different print resources (brochures, articles) and electronic resources to research the importance of their landmark. Each student did their own research and then the group got together to share what they found and decide what was most important to teach. THEN the groups had to decide HOW they would teach the rest of the class about their landmarks. They were given total control of the product, as long as it included the important information: the location, the year it was made/found/built, and most of all, the importance to Frederick County. We had posters, written reports, rap songs...and all of the groups made a visual for their presentation, too! Below are our five expert groups...we all learned a lot and had a lot of fun...take a look!

The Schifferstadt House

The Beatty-Craemer House

The Museum of Civil War Medicine


The Catoctin Furnace

The Community Bridge

Science

Well, as I asked the kids...would you like the good news or the bad news? They chose bad first, too! The bad news is...all of our daphnia and guppies died within a couple days of arriving at our school. This definitely made studying the population of minute organisms difficult!! The good news is that we were able to continue with another experiment we were working on while awaiting NEW organisms. One of the experiments we did was one involving evaporation. I had six aquariums filled with water and asked the kids if they thought putting one in the sunlight and one in the dark would create two different results. We discussed the possibilities at length and then decided to see for ourselves. We measured the depth of the water in centimeters to the tenths (a lesson in itself!) and then put three of our aquariums in the dark science closet and three of them outside. We waited three days and then measured (in tenths) again...and what do you know...we were able to verify our hypothesis...the water left in sunlight evaporated more than the water in the dark. We then followed up with a fun weather video clip done by the county that reinforces the concepts of the water cycle and helps the kids see that the amount of water on earth is actually always the same...over half our earth is water and the sun is the energy source that changes the state of the water...but not the amount. It was a great lesson with some awesome data to analyze...take a look!!

Math

We are going to leave operations of numbers for a little while and focus on area and perimeter...and we're going to do it in a unit we like to call, "Chocolate Creations"...and that's all I'm going to say, because I know some of the kids read the blog and I don't want to give away anything that we're doing. HOWEVER...make sure your child is working on basic math facts at home...they should know their addition and subtraction facts by heart...so if they don't...you have my permission to make them practice NIGHTLY!! And then once those are mastered, or possibly simultaneously, they should be working on multiplication and division facts...these should be memorized...no two ways about it! We can discuss this more at conferences if you'd like. Speaking of conferences...

Conferences

Next week is a CRAZY schedule due to conferences...please refer to the FCPS calendar and the UES News for details. I will be sending home a paper that I would appreciate you sending back ASAP...this paper allows you to jot down questions/topics that you'd like discussed during our very short 15 minute conference. This way I can plan our conference so that the time is used most efficiently. Thank you for your help with this!

Fall Festival Party

Hopefully by now you've seen an email from our home room parents by now...but I heard some of the email addresses didn't work and a few hard copies will need to be sent...I have copied the note into the text below so you can see it...

Dear Excellent Parents of the Wonderful Wills' Class Kids,

Maile Beers-Arthur here (Sophie's mom). I am sending this letter to you on behalf of Mrs. Wills. Our Fall Festival will be Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. The party will be from 1:15-2:20 p.m. If your student would like to wear a costume, they certainly may, but please make sure they can walk easily in it. Also, please – no masks, no elaborate hair spray or make-up and no weapons.

For safety reasons, it is a school policy that no younger siblings attend the party.

Kim Sweeney (Emma’s mom) and Maile Beers-Arthur are our Room Parents. Please direct communication to Maile.

I am collecting optional donations of $3.00 that I will pass along to Maile for the purchase of party materials, snacks, and supplies.

Please send in your donations by Monday, October 24th. You can put them in an envelope marked “Fall Festival Donations” on the front.

We also need about 5 parents total to help with the Festival. We’ll have crafts, decorate something to eat, and some games. Please let Maile know if your child has any food allergies.

If you would like to help, or have any questions, please contact Maile Beers-Arthur at 301-874-2558 or maile@apmediation.com.

Thanks for making this Fall Festival a success!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Wills