May and June...can you believe we're winding down?!?!

We had to say goodbye to Ms. Runkles...she was such a wonderful intern!!  The kids adored and so did I!  She is headed to Salisbury University to study education!  We had a fun send off and she was so appreciative of our gifts.  We gave her a Dr. Suess book and each student put their fingerprint in a picture of a tree (that Mrs. Briest drew in the book) and we thanked her for "helping us grow."  Then we gave her cash so she could buy things she will need to go off to college!  Thanks to your generosity...she was so touched!

I'm sure you've heard all about our field trip...what fun!!  I have to admit...I didn't take many pictures...I was so enthralled with the information we were receiving.  At the FNP we saw production, specialization, and interdependence at work!  Then we headed to Mt. Olivet Cemetery where we were treated to a history lesson, learning about Francis Scott Key and other important Marylanders who are buried there.  And our last stop was the Frederick Keys stadium where we, once again, saw how specialization and interdependence play a part in production...production of a baseball game!  The pictures I made sure to capture were those cute smiling faces as they went round and round on the carousel at the stadium!!  Take a look!

Did YOU  know there are FOUR stanzas to the Star Spangled Banner...and we only sing ONE!?

We are so lucky because we continue to learn from Mr. Kidd, our environmental/agriculture expert!  Our class has been studying soil and we have done quite a few experiments that focus on erosion and soil saturation.  We went to the Great Heron Wetlands to test soil erosion and the effect of plants and plant roots in the soil.  Then we tested the soil saturation outside of our classroom windows to see if it was prime for planting...we found out our soil had a lot of clay, and as the kids would tell you, that means it holds too much water, so we (Mr. Kidd) had to work with it before it was ready to plant.  This past week we planted a vegetable garden outside of our classroom.  The garden will begin to produce vegetables mid July and we will donate the food to the Urbana Food Bank.  Miss Runkles came to visit this same afternoon and joined our planting endeavor!

Erosion experiment...

Testing the soil...

Planting our garden...

I need to take a picture of the finished product...I took kids in the classroom while he and Ms. Runkles worked with small groups, so I didn't get one...to be continued....

Hope the rest of your week is AWESOME!

Wills' Wax Museum 2015

I just finished the Animoto movie about our Wax Museum...I'm so bummed because I am missing some pictures...but I've spent over an hour searching my computer and now I give up...the one thing I wanted you to see was the timelines the kids built with their note cards...that was the coolest part of this project.  After writing all of their facts on note cards, they built an actual time line of their famous person's life...then they numbered the cards and drafted from that!  The kids did such a wonderful job drafting their biographies, practicing their biographies, and then PRESENTING their biographies...I couldn't be more proud.



This post will be closely followed by another FULL of pictures...we have been super busy and I can't believe we are winding down!



Enjoy the movie...just click on Wills' Wax Museum 2015 below!

Wills' Wax Museum 2015

Happy May! Can you believe it's MAY!?!?

I have so many pictures to post, info for you to read, and thoughts to share....

OUR BUDDIES!

We visited with our buddies recently...we brought a favorite picture book to share with them and they read the books they've been practicing to us!  Then we all took a walk to the wetlands to see what signs of spring we could find. We have so much fun when we're all together!!  Take a look....

OUR PEN PALS!

So...we have been exchanging letters with our pen pals all year...they are the high school students involved in the Future Educators of America club at UHS.  Our very own, Ms. Runkles, is President of this club and served as the liaison between the high school students and our class.  Just last week, we finally got to meet our pen pals...using FACETIME!!  Wow...where technology has taken us....  I couldn't get everyone talking to their pen pals because we were using three devices and I was passing them back and forth to all the different kids...but I caught some on camera...here's a peek...

Way cool, right??  The kids thought it was awesome and have written one last letter to their pen pals. We should be receiving our replies within the next two weeks!

CULTURAL PROJECTS

The kids did a FABULOUS job on their cultural projects!  We got to tasted foods from different countries, we saw beautiful clothing, fun games/toys, and many other interesting props the kids shared with us.  I was trying to fill out rubrics while listening and watching, so I only captured a couple pictures...sorry about that!  The posters are hanging in the hallway of the media center and are SO much fun to look at.  Feel free to pop by and take a look!

WAX MUSEUM UPDATE....

Grab your calendars!!  We have a Wills' Wax Museum date and time! The Parent Presentation will be Friday, May 29th at 9:15 in the cafeteria.  Your children have been working SUPER hard on their biographies (written from the first person) and are now starting to put on the polishing touches.  I have tons of pictures, but will save them for a movie once the entire project comes to a close.  We will have a dress rehearsal the day before the Parent Presentation, so your child will need an outfit or prop to represent their famous person on May 28th and 29th.  They will begin bringing their biographies home to practice the two weeks prior to their performance.  Helping them practice and helping them with an outfit or prop are your only two jobs...your children are taking care of the rest of it themselves!!  I'm so proud of their perseverance with this project and cannot wait for you to see them!!

FIELD TRIP!

On Monday, June 1, our class will take our last field trip...it is a ton of fun!  Any and all parents are invited...there are two important things to note if you are planning to come....1. You must drive yourself.  2.  You must be a trained volunteer.  If you have not gone through our training, you can do it online from the UES website.  Email me if you have questions.

MATH

We are in a Unit written especially for gifted children called "What's the ME in MEasurement All About?"  We spent the past week measuring to the nearest centimeter using decimals.  This unit covers third grade standards and exposes the kids to fourth and fifth grade math standards as well.  There is a lot of verbal discourse and a lot of thinking outside the box with this unit.  They will also be doing a fair amount of writing.  I LOVE these units!!

My Thoughts....

As this year is starting to rush past us, I want to take a minute to tell you how much your kids have grown up!  They are creative thinkers...who are confident.  They know how to defend their ideas and have learned that seeking knowledge and taking your learning into your own hands is both important and completely doable.  They are opinionated.  (Not new news to you, I'm guessing..)  But they recognize their opinions matter and can only be considered if backed up by reasons and evidence.  They are strong readers and need to continue to read EVERY day even over the summer.  One of the things you as parents can do to continue this growth is to continue to make your kids accountable in their thinking and their actions.   They are old enough to remember to pack their backpacks.  They are old enough to remember to charge their devices.  They are old enough to remember to bring their recorders.  And if they forget...they are old enough to learn there are consequences.  We have to stop spoon feeding our youth.  They will only become responsible big people if we make them responsible little people.  I hope no one is offended by my advice...I have to take my own advice and its not easy and I'm in no way, shape, or form perfect at following it.  But I see lots of kids not having to be responsible...and it's our job to help them.  So thanks for allowing me to jump up on my soapbox...I'm off now and planning to grade some papers and then head to bed.  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend...Mother Nature sure was good to us!  Good night.