Thank you, United Airlines!

Mr. Ballou, a hard-working Dryden substitute teacher, learned that the children had taken a trip to Australia on United Airlines! Ironically, Mr. Ballou has worked for United, and has been to Australia several times as well! He surprised us with shiny gold "United" wings - enough for all of the children! He also gave the children a series of airplane trading cards! They are small cards that explain the difference between 5 different aircrafts that are used by United Airlines. The children loved reading about each one and comparing them by size. We absolutely enjoyed our surprise from Mr. Ballou and United Airlines! Thank you!! The children can't wait to wear their wings on their flight back home to the U.S.A. next week. You'll have to keep an eye out for them!

A Class Lunch-in!

To celebrate all of the hard work the children did on their endangered animal research projects a few weeks back, we had a luncheon in the classroom! Here are a few pictures of our endangered animal experts having lunch together!

We are iPad explorers!

The iPads visited our classroom again this week! We received a set of 7, and when we combined them with another teacher's set, we were able to have two children work together with one to figure out some really cool things to do with it!

1) We had digital DEAR (drop everything and read!) time. The children chose digital stories to watch, listen to, interact with, of course while following along with the words.

2) We had the opportunity to practice the multiplication facts we have recently begun learning! You might see in the photos that the children were thinking really hard to come up with the correct answers- some used their fingers to count in sets, others used the number line on their desks. There was also a digital number line on the iPad! A few of us have begun memorizing them, and were just zipping through them! It was a very motivating tool that encouraged them to practice!

3) We visited a website together as a class called WolframAlpha.com. I learned about this site a few weeks back in a staff meeting, and this was a really good opportunity to use it! It is a form of a search engine, but it allows you to search two items at a time- and it will compare the two for you! Of course we typed in "United States, Australia" and we were able to see the comparison between the populations, the most common languages used, the flags, the average age, the average salary, and more!

The children grew very comfortable using the iPads (and in such a short time, too!) and they were sad to see them go at the end of the week. This will surely not be the last we see of the iPad at Dryden! It's the way of the future! :)

2nd grade scientists!

Thursday was our Science Olympiad day. Science Olympiad is a fun time for the children to visit a series of science stations that enable them to think, observe, and discover. The station they visited in our own classroom was called, "What Went By?" They looked at a series of items: a bird's nest, snake skin, a deer bone, shark's teeth, a cicada, a hornet's nest, a log that was gnawed on by a beaver, and a branch that was hollowed out by a woodpecker. The children had to think about what the object was, who it belonged to, and what habitat it came from. They were amazing thinkers! The children also visited a graphing station, learned about aerodynamics, and viewed some interesting things (living and non!) under a microscope. Thank you again to Mrs. Pawlik and Mrs. Blake who were able to lead our children to these stations. They really enjoyed this extraordinary experience!!

A Long Distance Connection!

The children and I had a really fascinating experience on Tuesday! We had a Skype video chat with my cousin Robert, who lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Through our chat:

1) The children identified many similarities and differences between Australia and the United States! We found that we listen to some of the same songs on the radio, and watch some of the same shows on TV!

2) We heard an authentic Australian accent, as well as some of the "Aussie" terms we learned during class, including "G'Day" and "jumper." We even noticed a difference in the meaning of words, when one of the children asked Robert what his favorite holiday was, and he told us about a favorite vacation he had taken!

3) We were able to meet Robert's sons, Jasper and Rory. Rory is 8 years old, just like the children in our class! He showed us the green uniform he wears to school each day!

4) We reinforced a lot of our learning, as the children asked Robert questions such as, "Have you been to Uluru?" "Have you been to the Sydney Opera House?" "Have you been hiking in the outback?" "Have you ever seen a kangaroo, or eaten pavlova or lamington?" "Can we see your Australian money?" It was fun to hear every answer!

The kids came up with really thoughtful questions! Everyone had a chance to ask something they were wondering about Australia, the food, landmarks, or what it is like to live there. We especially loved seeing that Robert was wearing a Chicago Blackhawks jersey! Thank you Robert, Jasper, and Rory for your virtual visit to our classroom!

Play Ball!

Kristopher, Jack, Noah and Matthew invited me to their baseball game last Friday! It was a beautiful afternoon for a game, and the boys did a fantastic job! They won their game, and it was fun to watch them play! Go, Dodgers! :)

A Secret Star Visitor!

I told the children that we would have a special, top secret star visitor this week! They were making guesses all throughout the week about who they thought it might be. Yesterday, they took a minute to write down one question they might ask a guest in our classroom. Sure enough, our very own Dr. Jares appeared in our doorway this afternoon! He was displaying tons of school spirit, including his stuffed version of Echo the dolphin, and his dolphin slippers, too! He answered all kinds of the children's questions- such as his favorite movie, his favorite food, even his favorite vacation and his favorite part of the day! Dr. Jares read the children one of his favorite stories- ironically it was about a principal who has a colorful collection of ties! We enjoyed our visit very much, it was so much fun for the children to have the chance to interact with our principal in this way! Thank you for stopping by, Dr. Jares!

In other news:

• Your child might have mentioned participating in a “Hard Lock Down” drill this week. In the event of an unsafe situation in the building, the children practiced moving to a place out of the range of sight from the door, and staying quiet until we received an “all clear.” It's good to practice these situations so the children are comfortable with the process and know just what to do in case of an emergency.


• We also enjoyed watching the Spring Orff Concert! The 4th and 5th graders did a wonderful job!

Spelling

The children worked on words spelled with /ar/ /air/ and /are/. Next week we will work with words that follow the pattern of /er/ /eer/ /ear/ and /ere/.

Reading

Our theme this week was all about stories and story telling. The children expanded their oral vocabularies with the words: contemplate, explain, coincidence, scheme and worthy. We reviewed what an autobiography is as we read about the life of Pam Munoz Ryan in our whole group text called, “Stirring up Memories.” The children realized that they have also written an autobiography this year, when they wrote their “ALL ABOUT ME!” books back in September! We enjoyed reading this text , looking at the actual photographs, and using the captions below each photo to pull even more information about the life of the author. Additional vocabulary words we worked with include: creating, familiar, glamorous, imagination, memories, and occasions. The children and I not only analyzed the structure of the text (actual photographs, subtitles, captions,) but we also practiced drawing conclusions about the author. We did this by mixing what we read with what we know!

We also read a few poems this week. The children did a nice job identifying rhyming words in order to determine the poem’s rhyme scheme. We also learned a new word: ONOMATOPEIA! The children learned that onomatopeia is a word that sounds like the object or action it is referring to. Together we determined that juicy words, a clever rhyme scheme, and onomatopeia make writing more fun to read and intriguing.

Writing

The students in our class were very excited to begin writing their own books! They are currently organizing their information into chapters. The children had practice using the iPod touches to research their topic and to add facts to each of their chapters. We are trying to make sure that each paragraph has at least 4-6 sentences. They are now editing, revising, and reorganizing their work. They will be working to publish their books into neat final copies next week. I’ve been so amazed to watch the children transform into authors right before my eyes!

Grammar

The children learned about the articles “a” and “an.” We now know that we use the word “a” before a word that begins with a consonant (ex: a bird) and we use the word “an” before a word that begins with a vowel (ex: an elephant).

Math

This week the children reviewed "trading first" while subtracting two digit numbers that require regrouping. We also reviewed making ballpark estimates before solving these problems. The children also found the total number of items in several groups by multiplying, and we had some experience with solving division number stores, too! They are growing very comfortable identifying the number model that matches these types of problems.

Social Studies

The children are having a blast learning about the "Land Down Under." We learned about some of the different foods in Australia, including lamington, pavlova, Anzac biscuits, and even vegemite! The children are doing a great job comparing Australia with the United States as we go. We noticed that we both have flags that are red, white and blue. Both of our flags also have stars that represent our states! Both countries also have original ties to Great Britain, as we were both British colonies at one time! We’ve also added some new terms to our Australian dictionaries! Now we have zonked, tucker, barbie, lollies, oldies, and crook in our dictionaires... Ask your child what those mean!

We also finished our Australia ABC's book. The children each studied one particular topic relating to the country of Australia. They typed their facts, added a title, and cut and pasted a matching picture at clip art.com. They were placed in a vimeo file for us, and are linked on the blog. Take a look!

Have a great weekend!

Some Old Friends!

It is so much fun having my "old" students come back to visit me! My 3rd graders popped in (it was almost the entire class from last year!) to have lunch the other day, so I snapped a few photos of them. We had fun remembering the fun moments from last year. Its hard to believe they are almost in 4th grade! Wow!!

G'Day, Cobbers!

This is a picture of Ayer's Rock, also known as Uluru, found in the Australian outback. It is one of the many important landmarks we learned about this week!

We had another full/fun week at school! The days are counting down quickly, and a lot of exciting events are coming up including:

* Science Olympiad on May 26

* Orff Concert on May 20th

* A long Memorial Day Weekend! No student attendance May 27-31

* Australian Barbecue luncheon June 2nd

* Field Day on June 3rd

It looks like this will be our last full week of school of the school year! Wow!

This week, we had fun watching our 5th graders' final Dryden performance during their musical! The children also had the opportunity to visit the "Earth Dome," in which they watched a 3D video entitled "Earth's Wild Ride!" Thank you to the PTA for sponsoring such a unique experience!

Spelling
The children worked on words that end with /ge/ or /dge/. Next week our words will follow the pattern of /ar/, /air,/ or /are/.

Reading
Our theme this week was Celebrations! We enhanced our oral vocabularies with the words annual, festive, cherish, emotion, and anticipate as we read about Native American Pow Wows. The class looked at words with inflected endings and adjectives. We noticed that adjectives often tell “what kind,” or “how many.” As we read our whole group story, “Mice and Beans,” we analyzed story structure and identified the difference between fantasy and reality. The children enjoyed reading this story about a woman preparing a fiesta for her granddaughter, Catalina. As she took the steps to prepare her party, the little mice who lived in her house took little pieces of her party decorations and food in order to have a party of their own! The story had a sweet ending when Rosa Maria forgot to add the dulces to her piñata, so the little mice added the candy themselves one by one to make the party a huge success. It was fun to read the Spanish words infused throughout the story (piñata, dulces, pasteleria, cielos!, no importa, casita, feliz cumpleanos, etc…) and infer their meanings based on the context of their use. Additional vocabulary words we focused on this week included: assembled, devoured, fetch, forgetting, menu, and simmered. We also read a recipe this week, “Rosa Maria’s Rice and Beans,” where the children looked at the measurement terms tablespoon, cup, and ounce. We also looked carefully at the story to classify elements that could be considered reality vs. fantasy!

Writing

The children are now working on a nonfiction writing piece! They brainstormed possible topics and narrowed it down to one they feel they know a lot about. Next they thought of sub-topics that would become their "chapters." They thought of an opening sentence or main idea for each chapter, and now they are working on developing each of their chapters! We will base these books mainly on facts we know, but we will also use the internet and classroom books and magazines to help us add interesting new information as well! The children are excited to become nonfiction authors!

Math
The children reviewed counting by 1s, 10s, and 100s, as well as their understanding of place value by reading, writing, and modeling numbers to the ten-thousands using place value tools. They also learned the order of operations through the use of parenthesis in a number model. swe learned to always solve what is in the parenthesis first! The students took their Unit 10 test this week, and we jumped right into Unit 11!

As we move through Unit 11, the childen will continue working with dollars-and-cents notation. They will complete story problems that involve money and review the concept of estimating. The children will work on subtraction story problems and strengthen their skill of making ball park estimates. We will be working with arrays as we slowly build the foundation for multiplication. We will also explore equal groups as the children deepen their understanding of division, too!

Social Studies

The children continue to learn about the land Down Under. They have added several new terms to their Australian Dictionaries, including: lollies, cobber, ice blocks, oldies, and sunnies. (Ask them to tell you what they mean!) We have learned about the states/territories that make up Australia: Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. We also learned about and labeled the various bodies of water that surround this island continent. We learned about the history of the country, as well as its ties to Great Britain. Did you know that aside from the native Aborigines, the convicts from Britain were the first people to live there? The children also discovered a bit about the rural/urban family life in Australia! We read a story called "Are We There Yet?" in which a family takes a 3 month holiday all around their country, visiting sites such as Uluru, The Pinnacles, the Great Barrier Reef, the Head of Bight, the 3 Sisters, and even a visit to Sydney! We learned that Uluru (a great rock in the center of the Outback) seems to change colors throughout the day with the setting of the sun! The children are eager to learn as much as they possibly can about Australia!

To celebrate our studies and add to the excitement of our learning, we are going to have an Australian themed barbecue/luncheon on Thursday, June 2nd. It will be in the courtyard during our regular lunch hour. The children can bring a towel to sit on if they'd like! Please return the permission slip by this upcoming Friday (5/20) so we can give our food services department a preliminary count. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

The children enjoyed making a Mother’s Day card for their moms in the computer lab on Friday! They took the pictures of themselves using their computer, and they typed their card entirely on their own. (I only helped shrink the text if they needed more room!) I found that the notes they wrote were very endearing, I hope you did too! They also asked if they could make a tissue-paper flower for their moms… We hope you enjoyed them!

Additional items to note:

* I can't thank you enough for the wonderful words, cards, flowers, (and upcoming lunch!) I received in honor of Teacher Appreciation week! My desk converted into a miniature garden over the course of a few days! It feels so great to be appreciated, and I absolutely felt it 10-fold this week. As I mentioned in my email, my real treat is working with your children!

* The children participated in an oil spill simulation as we wrapped up our 'Save the Earth' unit!

* The children finished their Junior Achievement lessons with Ms. Younan. They each received a certificate of participation!

* * We prepared for our trip to Australia!

* * The children took their Unit 5 Reading Assessment on Friday. We begin our last unit of the year on Monday!

Spelling

This week was a review week, so again the children chose their own spelling words to work on. I was pleasantly surprised to see the level of words the children chose for themselves! Many of them chose words that came right out of our science/social studies units, which was an excellent way to build their understanding and bridge their learning between science and spelling! They are such intuitive kids!

Reading/Writing

The children completed another week of the 6-minute solution! Look for their reading graphs from the last three weeks to come home on Monday. You will notice that their fluency scores started lower (in blue) at the beginning of each week, but grew higher after practicing! I also noticed that their overall graphs seemed to be taller at the end of the 3 weeks than they were at the start! It was perfect practice before the children completed their last fluency assessment with me this week, known as their “CBM!” We also met with our reading groups, and we put finishing touches on our fairy tales! Finally, the children took their Treasures reading assessment for Unit 5. It covers the large range of skills we have been working on over the last 5 weeks of school. We begin our new unit on Monday!

Math

We spent the week working on: making change by counting up to $1.00, $5.00, and $10.00, exploring the area of several shapes, and working on place value, practicing numbers up to the ten thousands place! Next week the children will also be exposed to solving problems with parentheses, and will begin to think about the order of operations! Our Unit 10 assessment will be next week.

Science

The children had such a fun and engaging time during our science lessons! We wrapped up our Save the Earth lessons by reading a book called Oil Spill! and then simulating an oil spill using water, oil, cinnamon, and marshmallows. The children noticed how the oil covered the bowl and the marshmallows, and when they were asked to attempt to remove it from the bowl, they realized just what a difficult task it was. The children really seemed to develop a strong understanding of just how much our planet needs us to protect it!

Social Studies

After creating our suitcases, assembling our passports, and packing for our trip, the children “flew” to Australia! Now that we have arrived, the children will be learning all about how life “Down Under” is similar, and different, to life here in the United States.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Mother’s Day!