Which came first...the chicken or the egg???

I hope everyone enjoyed the week off. I know I did. I have to tell you, last night I couldn't sleep because I was so excited to get back to my students. With only 40 days left of school, these are the days I really get to see all of the hard work we all put in, shine through. And today couldn't have been a better day! All of my STARs (students that are responsible) came back rejuvenated, a little more grown up (insert sad face here), and so ready to get to work. Their enthusiasm for reading, writing, and learning today reminded me what it is I love about teaching!

Well, with that said, I do need to apologize for getting this footage to you so late. I recorded so much of the wonderful Ms. P and her chick presentation with my fantastic Flip video, that I couldn't decide what to put on the blog. Though the students learned SO many new vocabulary words, all about different sized birds and their eggs, and the important parts of the egg, I knew nobody would really sit and watch an hour's worth of information about hens and roosters...and if I'm wrong, simply let me know and I will post the hour of video for you :) So, I just decided to show you a random 11 minutes that I thought would be the most entertaining to everyone.
Below Ms. P's presentation, be sure to check out the video of our chicks running around!
Again...I apologize for my video non-expertise...

Hmmmm...to get it to upload, I had to split them into smaller video segments...let's see if it works.

Well, my videos do not seem to want to upload tonight. I will have to try from my other computer later this week :/

Sorry about that but stay tuned...

Penguins in Progress

So...I was given a FANTASTIC gift from my class...a FipVideo camera! I forgot that I was playing with it and recorded some measuring of the Rockhopper penguin that the kids did for math. Here are a few snippets of them working. Please forgive me as I was experimenting and am still trying to figure out how to use it...


Stay Tuned...

March of the Penguin Experts

I know it's been awhile since my last post and boy do I have some updating! The students in room 107 have been working so hard! I was so incredibly impressed by the students' penguin projects. The amount of interest and work they did in the classroom was amazing. The 3 dimensional penguins were so creative. Thank you, parents, for all of your help in extending their learning experiences. I know it takes a lot of time and patience but they were so excited to present them. One of the ELA standards is that they are able to stand in front of others and present something...even the shyest student met that standard with flying colors :)
Please check out the pictures below of the great projects...and their silly owners...

Stay Tuned for our chick presentation by the amazing Ms. Pavlicek...

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble...

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and is enjoying the few days off!
As you know, last Wednesday was the turkey trot and even though it was drizzly and very wet, we participated and encouraged the fourth graders to run their best. I was extremely surprised at the enthusiasm the first graders had! Many of them ran close to a mile (around the field 4x)! It was certainly a lot of fun.

On Monday we will be sending home a project in place of homework. We are learning about Native American homes and why homes are different in different locations (i.e. weather, climate..) and how homes are built now (purchasing materials at a store). The students will need to build their own home--can be a drawing or 3 dimensional--and complete a writing about their home. These will be due on Tuesday 12/8. Can't wait to see the finished products! If you have any questions, be sure to email or call me.

Stay tuned...

It's Pumpkin Time!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!
On Thursday, I opened Grigway's Shop (name courtesy of a few students) for the children to purchase their pumpkin decorating supplies. Unfortunately, I didn't get much of the amazing lesson on tape but here's what I did get:



Please forgive the the editing skills...I am new to this and hoping to get better :)
The math & social studies skills the children got out of this activity were amazing! By the end of the shopping experience, most students seemed to understand the value of and difference between a penny and nickel and learned about making choices about goods and services people have to buy. Most children took their time and spent their money wisely. We will do a similar activity again in December when they decorate gingerbread houses :)
Here are the finished products:

...And of course, I can't leave out the Halloween party--where the learning did not stop! They learned about spiders and created spider brownies, decorated pumpkin cupcakes, and had fun with animal nose cups.

Stay tuned to continue on our learning voyage...

Connors Farm

Well, everyone had a blast at Connors Farm on Friday! The students led us through a tricky corn maze, went on a hayride, and picked a pumpkin. Though it was quite a chilly, fall day, we enjoyed a picnic lunch.
On Friday, we will be ending the week with a small Halloween party. However, we will not be wearing costumes. Due to our tight schedule, we will just be enjoying some snacks, spooky music, and decorating the pumpkins we picked.
We have been learning about exchanging pennies for nickels. So, in order for the students to decorate their pumpkins, there will be a classroom store set up and they will be given 25 cents or so in pennies and nickels and will have to purchase the materials they want to use for decorating.
I'm sure it will be an exciting week!
Stay tuned...

Digital Wish

Hi everyone!
I just created a wish list at www.digitalwish.com for a flip camera for the classroom. The reason for my wish is to create videos of our classroom learning experiences to share with you--our classroom friends and families!
Right now they are offering them buy 1 get 1 free :)
If you know anyone--people or companies--who would like to make a donation to enrich our classroom experiences, please pass the information along.
Digital Wish is not for profit organization that helps modernize classrooms by providing the technology students need to learn and grow.