Art for Uganda

Guest Blogger: JW (and a little help from Ms. Schimel)

Here are some pictures of the third and second graders drawings. We are creating art to go on our cards and letters for our buddies in Uganda.
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Baleen or Toothed Whale?

After reading, Big Blue Whale, story in our reading series, I posed the question, "Which whale do you think has an easier life, a baleen whale or a toothed whale? Why?"

Avatars

Today our guest blogger is AG.

Today we made avatars in the computer lab to use in some of our projects.
We could put elephant trunks,wings,animal armes and some of us
even put funny faces on them.

Awards

At the Awards Assembly Friday, we won the Golden Whistle Award for our behavior in P.E.

AG and MC got so many good green slips, that their names got drawn out of the "Making Good Choices" barrel. This is what they chose out of the toy chest.

Celebrating 100 Years Old

I spent much of the day wiping away tears of laughter as the kids put a twist on our 100th day of school by dressing up as 100 years olds.
Here are some quick sentences about what we looked like or what our day was like. I cried with laughter today as the kids were hilarious!

1. CK- I especially liked how KL dressed up because she stands out with a robe, hair curlers, coffee cup and glasses.

2. AO wore suspenders and had a big belly and a cane.

3.TP(girl)-Allmost everyone dressed up as a hunderd year old person.

4. CK-I loved how BB looked because she has big perals and a walker.

5.BB_It was a lot of fun this morning because we took a lot of picturs.

6. AG-I liked how AO had a big belly and his cane.

7.GP-Today is the 100th day of school and every buty dressed up like 100 year old peapel.

8. AB- KL wore a rob with pink flowers

9. Ts-I like how AG has a cane, suspenders, and glasses.

11. GR- TS has a pair of glasses, A cane, a hat, and a necktie.

12. KL-I like how CK dressed up because she wore long socks, a pink shirt and a brown skirt.

13. RD- Some perople have
mustashis.

15. ZM- today we got to dress up like a old person.

16. AO -AG wore sespenders with a cane.

17.DW-BB had a walker and probably 5 neclases.

18.TP(girl)-I liked ZM's cane because it had a puppy on it.

19.CG- today is the 100th day of school!

20.Jw-I liked how TP had a mustach.

21. AB-today is the 100 day of scool.

22.TP(boy)_ I put on a cowboy shirt a pair of sespenders,mutsash,jeans and my glasses.

23. NB-I like good wig.

24.Ef-Everybody dressed up like a old person and they look funny.

25.MC- I like how TS wore a hat, glasses, tie and a walking stick.

26. cf-I like dresing up like I am old.

27. JQ I like the 100th day of school.

Some of us had a little trouble with our hearing.

This sweet ole' lady kept passing sweets out to anyone who wanted some.

This was the wise ole' gentleman who spoke very little, but did introduce himself so we could see his dry, peeling skin.

And this fellow kept nodding off to sleep if we held still at all.

Our Garbage Clean Up

Guest Blogger: MC
Today there was a lot of garbage outside so we decided that we should go out and pick up the garbage that was outside, so Mrs.Schimel got a plastic bag and we went outside to pick it up. All our kids got little hand fulls of garbage and put it in Mrs.Schimel`s bag.

Reading Oaks

Guest Blogger: CK

Today we had our last Oaks test, it was Reading Oaks. We had it at 8:30 in the morning. When you do Reading Oaks, you have to answer 44 questions that you get from stories, glossary's, and charts. You have to get a 211 to pass it. All of us did really well on Reading Oaks.

QR Codes

Guest Blogger: TP (girl)

Mrs. Schimel put some more QR codes on a board so we can learn about new things!

We call the QR code activities, Read to Learn. One of the QR codes are different because its about Presedents. You need to go on the Ipad to learn about Presidents, and then make a letter about a President, so Mrs. Schimel can score your letter.

And you will get a badge for getting a 100% on each QR Code activity. Lots of people in our classroom like KL, TS, And CK have four or more badges because they have been getting 100% on their work.

That is why about three kids in our classroom have lots of badges.

100 Year Old Students

Dear Parents,
On Wednesday, February 22nd, it will be our 100th day of school. We are going to do a variety of activities on this day, one of which will be to come to school looking like we are 100 years old. Students are encouraged to dress up in slacks, blazers, jackets, ties, sweaters, jewelry, glasses, hats, wigs, basically anything that would help them look elderly.
If students have access to walkers or canes, they may bring them also. We are not going to bring wheelchairs though. To make our hair look gray, student may sprinkle their hair with baby powder.
Thank you so much for your help in creating our “100 year old “Style”.

Writing Process

Writing is hard for many of us because it is so personal and it takes a great deal of effort and thought to communicate in written form. Teaching children how to write in a variety of forms (Expository, Narrative) often starts with a prompt. That is when the teacher provides the students with a little background and then asks the child to write about one of their life experiences. Here is how I like to break down the writing process for my students.

Day 1 (Pre- write) Decide what I want to write about. Make this a small blip in time. Let's use going to Disneyland as an example. Going to Disneyland is too huge of a topic to write about all that happened and still give enough detail to interest your readers. Think of one little part of the trip that stands out and write about it. Usually I try to think of something that is about 5 minutes in real time. Like what it felt like standing in line for a ride, or when the gal handed me the frozen banana treat....
If you keep it small, it is much more manageable.

Day 2 (Drafting) I like to use the 4 square writing model. This is when I decide on 3 things I want to make sure I talk about in my writing. This is where sensory writing comes in. Each square can talk about how I was feeling, what I was smelling, what is sounded like, what was running through my mind..... I write very short phrases in each section. Sometimes even a single word works. I need just enough to help me remember what I wanted to include in my writing.

Day 3 (More Drafting) Now that I have a plan, I start writing sentences that explain the simple phrases in my 4 square. The more I can "Paint a picture" for my audience, the better they will understand me. I try to use a lot of descriptive words as I write. The more my readers "see", "hear", "taste", "feel"... the more they are going to understand what I am writing about.

Day 4 (Revise) I have my story done....I think. Now it is time to share it with a friend and read it aloud or have them read it. If they have comments or questions, this is when I want to know so I can clarify my writing. This part is fun because I usually feel really good about my writing on this day and will receive very helpful information from my friend that I share it with.

Day 5 (Publishing) Now it is time to re-write my draft so that it will be easy for my audience to read and enjoy it.

For those of you looking for ways to help your child with the writing process, I hope this helps.

Cindy

and

OAKS

All content created by our Guest Blogger: AO

Today was OAKS. The 3rd graders went to the computer lab. Mrs Schimel handed out the itouches to the second graders. Then the second graders went to the computer lab. The second graders shared a itouch with a partner. After OAKS we went back to our room.

These are some 3rd graders that took the test.

Valentine Party

Guest Blogger, TP, did the whole post today!

Today we had our Valentine's party. Thank you to the parents who singed up to give us treats.

The second graders started a new topic. They are learning to tell time.

Learning to Revise

Today I taught the kids the difference between revising and editing. Revising is making changes to make it better and having a friend go over it with you. It is the time to clarify what you mean.

Many have started to type up their final draft. I can't wait to hear them.

Helping each other revise.

Giving good ideas.

Guest Blogger: GR

Today we finished are Valentina's bas cits Thea look amazing hers Owen of them that's t.s. made it looks like this.

Special Substitute

Guess Blogger: BB

Today we had a substitute named mrs. S

Our Valentine Party will be on Tuesday, February 14th. Students may bring a Valentine card for each student on Monday.

OAKS testing will be on Wednesday and Friday this week. Please make sure your child gets a full night of sleep and a good breakfast.

Perfect Attendance Awards for 3 awesome, dedicated students.

Guest Blogger: TS

About a week ago the 2nd grade finished there reading book this is there book.

Perimeter is our newest math concept. We used our Geo boards and created a shape. Leave a comment and tell us what the perimeter is on the big square, and the little square.

(Hint: You find the perimeter by counting around the outside of the shape).3rd graders will take their OAKS test (state test) Wednesday and Friday next week. Please make sure your child gets a good night of sleep and a healthy breakfast. Oregon 3rd graders need a score of 211 to "meet" benchmark in reading and math.

Valentine Holders

Guest Blogger: CG
Today we made some valentines holders. These are some.

Students may bring Valentine's to school on Monday to fill these wonderful hats. (Just like Abe Lincoln, we are keeping our important letters in our hats).

Awesome Math and Walking

Guest Blogger: AB
Today the 3 graders did there testing next week the 3 graders or doing OAKS test.

AB took the picture above. 3rd graders did so well on their fraction test that we celebrated with a snack.
Look at these amazing students! They have joined the 50 mile club.
They have walked,jogged, or ran 50 miles during their recess this year.
MC asked if we were 1/2 way through the school year.....what do you think he is thinking? Please tell us in a comment.