That's a wrap, April!

It is hard to believe that April has come to an end, and we are now looking ahead to our last full month of school. The children are growing by leaps and bounds! This week, the children took their unit assessments in both reading and math. They are enjoying their investigations of solids, liquids, and gases as well as their first poetry lessons in our new reading unit! Thank you to all who turned in their field trip permission slips so promptly! Those are due next Friday. The children are beyond excited to take a field trip to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum and our local library in a few weeks! Scroll down for a few snapshots of our week at school!

 Gavin achieved his black belt in tae-kwon-doe! He proudly showed us his new belt and trophy. What a terrific accomplishment, Gavin!

 Our lessons in science have us thinking about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases. The children built their understanding of energy and matter as they worked to build and draw a few creations out of unifix cubes. They realized that matter is composed of smaller pieces, and it can often be taken apart and put together in another way!

 In the LMC, Mrs. O'Kelly showed the children how to make the mysterious, non-newtonian substance called "oobleck." This substance is a mystery because it demonstrates properties of both solids AND liquids. The children were amazed that they could pour their oobleck, and it dripped from their fingers, yet when they tapped it with their finger it felt like a solid and their finger bounced off!

Here, the children are reviewing for their Unit 9 math assessment practicing the range of skills we've worked on using their slates before their test. We reviewed finding the median, area, and perimeter, and the children practiced making ballpark estimates, as well as adding and subtracting multidigit numbers- with and without regrouping!

Enjoy the weekend!

A 2-2 update!

The 2nd graders have been having fun and learning a LOT at school!

View photos below from some of our interesting learning experiences!

 We participated in bus evacuation practice. The children learned what to do in case of an emergency while riding the school bus.

 Recent April showers led to a few indoor recess days! The children LOVED building and exploring with Picasso magnetic building tiles!

 During reading workshop, the children learned about tools scientists use to measure the energy and the impact of an earthquake. Here, they are "turning and talking" to their neighbor to process their understanding of seismographs, the Richter Scale, and the Mercalli Scale of Magnitude.

 The 2nd graders were beyond excited to meet author Peter Brown, and listen to him read one of his own stories to us!

 He then demonstrated how he draws Mr. Tiger, from Mr. Tiger Goes Wild!

 Quin was especially excited to meet Peter Brown, he brought in his own copy of the book from home that he had been reading with his family- so he could get an autograph!

 Here are a few of our boys spending quality time with a good book in the LMC!

 The children have begun investigating solids, liquids, and gases. They were measuring, describing, drawing, and comparing the properties of various objects.

 We were so excited to notice the buds forming on our class tree! All of a sudden, there were tiny leaves!

 More building! The kids enjoyed planning and designing together!

 Other children enjoyed drawing during their free time during indoor recess.

 And yet others decided they would like to practice coding!

... and login to Dreambox to practice their math skills in a fun way!

 It's hard to believe we were watching our 5th graders final performance this week! They did a great job!

 In honor or Earth Day, the children practiced synthesizing their learning about earth's systems and ways to help the earth to create "Call to Action" Earth Day posters! The children were challenged to create a title, state their powerful opinion, come up with several ways to make a difference, and to share what will happen if we don't act now!  These posters are turning out great!

 The children thought about why they love our planet. They thought about additional ways they can help the Earth at home!

 We had a bundle of amazing moms come in to help us practice the conservation skill of REUSING. The children brought in old grocery bags, sorted them into groups of 21, and then learned how to braid them together to create a jump rope!

 Riley worked on a "reuse" project on her own at home- she created a TV! With a remote! And she came up with several "channels" to go along with it! What a clever and innovative creation!!

 Our jump rope making activity was inspired by this book, One Plastic Bag that tells how one woman from Gambia made a difference in her community by recycling the bags that were cluttering their village and hurting their animals. She turned these bags into zippered pouches that she sold for a profit, entirely changing the direction and future of her village. The children were inspired to make something new out of their garbage bags too- jump ropes!

We ended the week with the children taking their Math MAP test. It was wonderful to see the children focus and work hard on this assessment, especially at the end of such a busy and fun-filled week. Great job, class!

Enjoy the weekend!
:)