FEBRUARY...MY FAVORITE MONTH!

MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY...Friday, February 12 at lunchtime

We will have a Mad Hatter's Tea for our Valentine Party. Children will be invited to create & wear the craziest, wackiest hat they can imagine! (Okay, maybe not too off-the-wall!) We will have a 'tea party' luncheon - mini-sandwiches, bite-sized desserts, a fondue fountain, and plenty of tea to drink!

We will need LOTS of volunteers to pull of this adventure!  Please mark your calendars - we'd love to have you in class!

ACTION PROJECT - BIRTHDAY BAGS!

With my 40th birthday approaching, I have been trying to come up with a cool way to celebrate.  Running the Colorado Marathon just proves that I'm not all together upstairs. :)  Seriously, 26.2 miles is like running halfway to Denver.  That's just nuts.

I have shared with our class my desire to do something to honor my birthday, yet do something that will make a difference.  I have decided that I'd like to model ACTION for my students by creating BIRTHDAY BAGS for homeless students in our community.  IB promotes student-initiated action - and I am hoping that my action idea will help the children realize that action does not  always have to be  about saving an endangered animal or collecting money to send to another country.  Action is needed within our own community - and we can impact those around us.

This idea is borrowed (and modified) from a project the McGraw Student Council participated in when I was a Student Council adviser.

The Coloradoan recently published a statistic that said there are nearly 700 students identified in Poudre School District that are in 'unstable' homes - meaning that they are homeless. 

My goal is to create a minimum of 40 Birthday Bags for homeless elementary school students in PSD.  Each Birthday Bag will consist of items a child would need to have a birthday celebration - a small gift, a coupon for a birthday dessert from local stores, and small 'favors' that the child can share with his/her classmates at school.

I love my birthday and I remember having fond memories of celebrating my birthday as a child.  I was born on George Washington's birthday and always thought I was pretty darn lucky to have a holiday on my birthday to celebrate.  With our current economy and this high number of homeless students in our district, my hope is that these Birthday Bags will help create a special memory for children in our community.

My hope is to have our class assist me every step of the way to achieve my goal.  I would like the children to help me make a plan and execute the various steps to create the birthday bags.  I believe this will allow the children to have a hands-on part in the project, as well as learn how to plan viable steps to reach a goal.

It will feel good to give to those in need.  :)

HAPPY 2010! It's SPEEDY quick from here on out!

I told the children we have less than 5 months left together - and we have lots and lots to accomplish between now and then!  Time has been flying – and we’ve been learning new stuff every step of the way. The kids are at an AMAZING point in the school year.  They are starting to make connections between all academic areas, they are incredibly independent, and they are HILARIOUS!  I laugh all the time at the (inadvertent) one-liners I hear all day!

...UPDATE ON PLANNERS... 

WHO WE ARE - HAPPY, HEALTHY KIDS

CENTRAL IDEA:  People can learn skills to develop their physical well-being.

LINES OF INQUIRY:

        · Developing healthy habits regarding nutrition and exercise

        · Skills that impact health

I believe the children are enjoying this planner because a) we've been outside almost every day, b) we've been running, stretching, singing and 'dancing' (?) to the "Hokey Pokey Aerobics" and "The 12 Days of Fitness" daily, and c) we're always on the move!

Our class has made a pact that we will try to make subtle changes in our daily habits to encourage good physical health.  February is the 'Schools on the Move' Challenge - and we're motivated to have 100% participation from our class.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!  We are hoping to have as many of our classmates as possible join us for the first 'Healthy Kids Run' on Sunday, May 9.  Winners of the 'Schools on the Move' Challenge will be announced and the kids can cheer me on as I finish the Colorado Marathon.  I encourage all families to get out and participate in the Healthy Kids run series.  My son, James, has completed every run series (8-9 runs each year) since Kindergarten.  Now, as a 4th grader, he's determined to run a half-marathon and participate in the PSD Elementary Track Meet.

Next up...WHERE WE ARE IN PLACE AND TIME

CENTRAL IDEA:  Communities Develop Over Time

LINES OF INQUIRY: 

     • a study of a local community

     • similarities and differences of two communities

     • changes in the natural environment of a community

This planner is all about HISTORY.  It's my all-time FAVORITE!  Here are some upcoming events to be aware of:

- BOXELDER DAY...February 11

We will reenact life 100 years ago in a one-room schoolhouse.  Children will have the opportunity to do the 3 R's - Reading (from McGuffy Readers), 'Riting (calligraphy & penmanship), and 'Rithmetic (lots of ROTE memorization).  We will learn about the structure of the school day - as well as the games children played.  Children will also be invited to dress in time-period fashion.  It should be a hoot!

- CITY MODEL PROJECT...late February

Once we get back into our history planner, the children will have a month to create a city model project.  They will be required to work on Standard 5: Research - with a presentation to follow.  Once the city models are complete, we will plat out the City of Fort Collins on our classroom floor and use our mapping skills to lay them out.

- SURPRISE HISTORY FINALE...first part of April

As our culminating activity for our history planner, the children will present a finale of instrumental characters and events in Fort Collins' history.  It will be a compilation of Fort Collins' trivia and catchy tunes.  I'm working on the logistics in my head.  I will have some crazy idea, I'm sure! We are aiming to present our finale to you by the FIRST PART OF APRIL.  (We have lots to learn and prepare between now and then!)  If you're planning any vacations for that time of year, please let me know so I can work diligently to plan this event when all children will be at school.

HANGIN' AROUND OUR CLASSROOM

ALLITERATION IN IT'S FINEST

Can you say 'Plethora of Patterns' five times fast?!?

I want to know why I can't pull off an outfit like that and be so cute!

THE WEEK BEFORE WINTER BREAK...

...our teacher managed to contract a 'food-borne illness'.  (Why does that SEEM to sound better than 'food poisoning'?)  We were busy, busy, busy - and loving every minute of it!

VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS

 

After our visit to the Avery House, we had the opportunity to create many of the Victorian treasures that were on display.  We made gilded nut ornaments, pomander balls, paper chains for our classroom tree, angel ornaments, and cones that were used like stockings (to be filled with nuts, candies, and goodies).


CITY HALL WITH LISA POPPAW

We were fortunate to visit City Hall and meet Lisa Poppaw, the Fort Collins City Council member for District 2.  She showed us around City Hall, gave us a private tour of the Council Chambers, taught us about the 'Green Screen', and explained what the City Council does and how each councilperson represents the area in which s/he lives.  The highlight of our visit was being able to sit in the council chairs and pretend that we were leading a City Council meeting!

 

DOWNTOWN FORT COLLINS

POP QUIZ: 

Why was the Opera Galleria built?

What is something interesting about the Opera Galleria?

Can you name the building in the mural?

 AUSTIN'S AMERICAN GRILL

Instead of having a typical holiday party, our class went to Austin's Downtown for lunch.  In preparation for our luncheon, we practiced our best manners and learned how to properly set a table.  We donned our finest apparel and enjoyed the company of our classmates and families.  The Austin's staff was INCREDIBLE.  They served us quickly and efficiently.  We are thankful that they allowed us to invade their restaurant for a leisurely lunch.

GRAHAM CRACKER COMMUNITY

 

 WELCOME TO FORT CAREY!

Where the air smells sweet...

         The homes are edible...

And the citizens who live there know what it means to have a good time!

 

Our summative assessment for our FORT planner (Families Organization Rules Togetherness) was to create our own community.  We created a graham cracker community that had the five areas most common in a community - rural, recreational, residential, commercial, and  industrial.

 

Fort Carey was designed according to the placement of the river.  We learned that communities are dependent upon a water source.  Fort Carey had all the amenities of a 'Choice City' - a hair salon, bakery, museum, zoo, mountains to hike & bike, police station, and shoe factory.

Many thanks to all the parent volunteers who came in to help with our graham cracker community - and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated the items we needed to create our masterpieces!

BUDDIES...We learn while we're having FUN!

 

We are fortunate to have 5th Grade Buddies.  We are paired with Mrs. Babcock's class.  We alternate classrooms to visit each week - and we get to do some great activities together!

Mrs. Babcock planned for us to learn about CHROMOTOGRAPHY.  We made these ultra-cool holiday lights out of coffee filters.

 

Mrs. Carey showed us how to make 3-D snowflakes using symmetrical cuts on a triangle.

FIELD TRIP TO THE AVERY HOUSE

Two years running, we've had a MAJOR snowstorm right before our field trip to the Avery House. Luckily for us, the temperatures were hovering just above 14 degrees when we left school - and we were blessed with a balmy 20 degree day. :)  Had it been any colder, we would have had to cancel. 

Our city's public bus system, TRANSFORT, is an incredible resource to our community.  We are fortunate that our school is minutes away from a bus stop.  Children under 17 ride free - so we use every opportunity we can to take field trips on Transfort!

 

This is one of those moments we'll be able to tell our grandchildren that we had to walk MILES (HA!) in deep snow and frigid temperatures to get to our field trip destination.

 

We toured the C&S Freight Depot.  C&S stood for 'Colorado & Southern'.  Mrs. Carey told us all about the depot and most importantly, she shared the story of Annie, the Railroad Dog.

 

We had two retired PSD teachers as our docents at the Avery House.  We learned all about Franklin Avery, his family, and the impact the Avery's had on Fort Collins as it was establishing itself as a community.  Our teachers wanted us to visit in December because the Avery House is decorated in traditional Victorian style - complete with a sugar plum tree!

POP QUIZ: 

Why are the streets so wide in Old Town?

How did Mr. Avery name the streets?

Where is the Avery House located?

What business did Mr. Avery start?

Mrs. Carey had a proud teacher moment on our way back to McGraw.  A bus rider AND the bus driver complimented our class (on separate occasions) for being respectful and quiet on the bus. :)

TETRAHEDRON KITES

ENGAGING in an activity is far better than passively learning a new concept.  Here we are making our tetrahedron kites in conjunction with our unit on 2-D & 3-D shapes.  Our focus was not only understanding the differences between 2-D and 3-D - but to focus in on the academic vocabulary of Geometry.  Our tetrahedron kites provided us ample opportunity to acquire new vocabulary words and APPLY them to our learning.

Here we are blowing the wrapper off of our straws. 

We were allowed to do this ONE TIME - just to get it out of our systems.

A sample of vocabulary we used to create our tetrahedrons:

• line segments
• polygons
• non-polygon
• 2-dimensional
• plane figure
• equilateral triangle
• rhombus
• 3-dimensional
• space figure
• polyhedron
• tetrahedron
• acute angle
• obtuse angle
• right angle
• vertex
• vertice
• sides/faces/planes
• triangular prism 

We started with a simple line segment.

 

The frame of our tetrahedron!

 

Tissue paper represented the faces/planes of our 3-D models.

 

Each friend made 4 individual tetrahedrons. 

We decided to connect our individual kites together to make a larger tetrahedron.

Mrs. Carey challenged us to 'do the math' to determine how many tetrahedrons we would need to create a monster class tetrahedron kite.  We figured it out - and hung it up in our classroom.

MCGRAW ACTION

Oops!  I forgot to post this back in December!

Three of our classmates were featured on the McGraw News Show.  They talked about our class action project to write letters to Santa to support the Macy's 'I Believe' campaign to donate $1 per letter up to $1 million to the "Make A Wish" Foundation.

They also talked about our participation counting Morning Fresh Dairy milk caps for the McGraw PTSO.

KIDS SAY THE FUNNIEST THINGS...

I was preparing a lesson about health & exercise for our class - and testing out the "12 Days of Fitness" on the kids I carpool with. I started to sing, "On the 1st day of fitness, my trainer said to me..."

And the kindergarten boy chimes in, "Ten smokers smoking..." I had to laugh.

We played 'JeopEARTHY' today!

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science came to McGraw today for an assembly. Game show presenter Lynn told all the children they would win a prize - and the prize was KNOWLEDGE. We learned about the systems of the earth, played 'Energy Plinko', and got to watch our friends participate in some FUNNY skits.

What you didn't know is that we have our own WATER MOLECULE dancer in class. He's got quite the moves, don't you think?

'Tis the season that we're busy...

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! As a reminder, THE CHLDREN DO NOT HAVE SCHOOL ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30! It is a Teacher Collaboration Day.

We are in the midst of probably one of the busiest times in our school year – I cringe to think of everything I’d like to accomplish between now and December 18. In this posting, I’ve tried to let you know about the major projects and activities that will be going on in our classroom. We have lots to learn about in relation to F.O.R.T. and FORT COLLINS’ HISTORY! There are several opportunities for you to spend time with our class and help...we’d love to have you!

With this holiday season, if there is any reason you that you would prefer for your child not to participate in an activity, please let me know. I’d be happy to work with you. As always, please feel free to contact me by phone, note, or email if you have any questions or comments.

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FIELD TRIPS PLANNED…PERMISSION SLIPS DUE BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4!

o  Thursday, December 10 – Avery House

We’ll have a guided tour of the Avery House – and learn who Franklin Avery was and how he was an integral part of Fort Collins’ history. The Avery House is a classic Victorian style home that is decorated for the holidays.

o Thursday, 12/17 – City Hall & Austin's American Grill

Our plan is to visit City Hall in the morning.  We will meet with one of the Fort Collins' City Council members.  In years' past, the children have been able to tour the council chambers, as well as have an opportunity to sit (and speak) from the council bench.  It's a rather cool for the children to see where the City Council does their work for our community!

Lunch at Austin's (downtown) will be our Holiday Luncheon in lieu of a party on Friday afternoon. (We’ll still have fun on Friday!) Children are invited to dress their best – we’ll review what it means to use our best manners and basic etiquette for eating in a nice restaurant.  More information to come...

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!  If you are able to come in to help, please let me know!

o Wednesday, December 2
   Tetrahedron Kites (9:10am - 12noon)

We will be making tetrahedron kites in class.  They are rather complex (as creating them forces the children to use almost EVERY geometry vocabulary word we've learned!) - and the children LOVE them.  If are are able to help at any time during that morning, please let me know.  PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD PRACTICE TYING TIGHT KNOTS (Just a plain old knot!) AT HOME! 

o Wednesday, December 9
   Graham Cracker Community (9:10am - 12noon)

As our summative assessment, we're having the children create a graham cracker community in class.  We will address the needs of having  residential, rural, recreational, industrial, and commercial areas within our community.  We will then 'build' the City of Fort Carey in our classroom!

We are also in need of some materials for the graham cracker houses. If you are able to donate graham crackers, white frosting, or assorted small candies – we would be grateful!  Some candy ideas...small candy canes, gum drops, red hots, candy corn, M&M’s, jelly beans, etc...or anything leftover from Halloween!

PLEASE SEND MATERIALS TO SCHOOL BY MONDAY, DECEMBER 7 - Then I'll have time to run out and get anything else we may need.  Thank you.

o Wednesday, December 16
   Victorian Christmas (ALL DAY!)

We are going to recreate some of the items that will be on display at the Avery House.  Our Victorian Christmas will include POMANDER BALLS, CORNUCOPIAS, NUT ORNAMENTS, SOLDIERS & ANGELS.

We are in need of the following supplies:
   - small oranges
   - lemons
   - thin ribbon
   - cinnamon
   - whole cloves (LOTS!)
   - used holiday cards
   - wrapping paper scraps
   - assorted small candies
   - walnuts (IN SHELLS!)
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WE ARE THANKFUL...

 ...for the GOLDEN PLUNGER! New to our school this year - the Golden Plunger is awarded to the cleanest classroom.  When a class carries the Golden Plunger through the school - folks are supposed to stop and salute them.We are proud to say we are the first class to have earned the right to carry it TWO WEEKS IN A ROW! Our City Manager is our line leader and gets to carry the plunger proudly.  (We are also thankful that Mrs. Flemister let us spruce up the GP.  Creativity runs rampant in our room!)

...for MRS. LAMONT

We are fortunate to have Mrs. Lamont working with our class during our Literacy block.  Mrs. Lamont teaches 1st grade in the afternoon.  She helps me do small group instruction - so all of our children have direct instructon in reading 1-2 times per day, everyday.  We are able to accomplish A LOT with Mrs. Lamont's help.  She recently celebrated her birthday. We munched on chips & salsa (Her favorite snack!) and shared a birthday book that we made for her.  Talk about HILARIOUS!  The kids had some hysterical things to say.

...for MR.KULOVANY & THE THANKSGIVING POTATOES

Mr. Kulovany (aka as 'Uncle Bob' to short members of my family) came to read Big Bob and the Thanksgiving Potatoes to our class.  It's a silly little book about some 2nd graders who question their teacher about making turkeys as a class project. 

We used the story to help us learn how to do PERSUASIVE writing.  I posed the question - 'Should turkeys be eaten for Thanksgiving?' The children were invited to choose 'yes' or 'no'. We also learned the word of the week - MNEUMONIC.  Our mneumonic was a hand.  Each appendage represented a part of the writing.  We learned it this way:

      - Take A Stand (State your position)

      - Reason 1

      - Reason 2

      - Reason 3

      - Final Plea

It was fascinating to observe the children think through their position.  Many of them changed their minds (one way or the other) when talking through their reasons.  I had a proud teacher moment. :)  We also made our own Thanksgiving potatoes - just to give us a little incentive to do a great job on our writing!

...for EDIBLE TURKEYS

In our quest to learn while having fun - we also made some edible turkeys out of crackers, candy corn, caramels, chocolate kisses, and frosting.  We used this project to help us learn to do EXPOSITORY writing (How-To's).  The children wrote how-to make an edible turkey. Our mneumonic was a staircase - each step is critical or you fall down!   

                                                         

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS & FAMILIES... Everyday I count my blessings for having such incredible volunteers! This is an extremely busy time of the year – and I am grateful for all of you who have been able to spend some time with us to help us with projects and activities in class!

While I know that it is not possible for all families to volunteer their time (I feel that way with my own son, since I am a teacher and cannot easily leave my classroom to go to his!) – I also appreciate the support many of you give to our class by sending in items needed for our projects! I value your contributions because you help to make it possible for us to have unique experiences that I might not otherwise be able to afford (since we have to multiply everything by 24)! Contrary to popular belief, we have minimal budgets at school ($200 for the entire year!) - and most of the 'extra' materials/resources we need come out of teacher's own pockets.

Every family in our class has really made a difference! Thank you sooooo much for your constant support! I appreciate you!

A Visit from a Spellbinder

Moose Shattuck, a member of the Spellbinder storytelling group, came to visit the 2nd grade today. The children were entertained with riddles and two stories. One story was about a boy from Japan named Goji. There was a moment in the story that Mr. Moose used tension in his voice to build suspense - and if you could have seen how the ENTIRE group of children jumped - you would have had to laugh. I know I did. :) Maybe it was that I was so startled I couldn't do anything but laugh myself?

Joke of the day? What is black and white and read all over? (The answer is SUPPOSED to be 'the newspaper') Answer from the Peanut Gallery? A zebra with a sunburn. :)

In case you weren't sure...

I have a serious soft-spot for thoughtfulness.  When sharing his TTM (Totally Terrific Me) board - Jacob mentioned his mom helped him choose a picture of himself as a little person sitting in a bed of bluebonnets.  It was supposed to remind me of the time that I called Texas home. :)  It was a very sweet moment in his presentation.   (For the record...My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE time in Texas was when the wildflowers were in bloom!)

My daughter and I were FOLSOM PEOPLE for Halloween (Not the Flintsones!).  The Folsom folks were the first inhabitants in the area - at the Lindenmeier site which was slightly north of town.

My 2nd grade teammates and I had a theme going.  We were depicting our history planner - 'COMMUNITIES DEVELOP OVER TIME'.  I was the prehistoric model, then came 'Auntie Stone' from the Boxelder Days (early 1900's), and finally a Birney Car 21 Trolley Conductor from the present time.  Okay, it's true.  We're a little too academic. :)