We are certified....

to write in CURSIVE!

After months of hard work and daily practice, the class was ready to take their cursive test! Good news! Everyone passed the test, and now the kids have their very own cursive license to prove it! Licenses are non-transferrable. :) Way to go, gang!

Gone Fishing

The children went fishing this week! First we discussed food chains and how each part of the food chain plays an important role, usually beginning with plants. In our fishing activity, we used a large paper plate to represent the ocean. We used rainbow goldfish crackers to represent sharks, redfish, clownfish, and seaweed. The children used plastic spoons as fishing poles, and a tissue as their fishing boat.

 We "fished" for 30 seconds at a time. The rules were: no touching fish with your hands, one fish per pole a a time, and if a fish drops before landing in your boat, it has to go back into the ocean.

 They fished for 4 years, or 4 30 second cycles. At the end of each cycle, I came around to "re-populate" their oceans. The children grouped their fish for me by color. For every two that remained of each color, I gave them one more fish.

 During our first rounds. the children's self-appointed goal was to get as many fish as they could. I've never seen plastic spoons move so fast! They quickly realized that their oceans were completely out of fish.

 We talked about why this happened. The children realized that they took too many fish, causing them to become extinct. We talked about how commercial fishermen may take more fish from the ocean than what they really need in order to make more money. This causes the food chain to become negatively impacted.

 We connected this activity to our natural resources (water, trees, energy). The children were able to recognize that if we use more than what we need, the resources will simply run out. If we use only what we need, are careful not to pollute, and are mindful of animals who are already endangered, our resources will be conserved, and natural elements will be better able to naturally replenish.

 The children were ready to go fishing again. This time, they fished much differently.

 I heard phrases such as "Slow down! You are taking too many fish!" And "If you take that red fish, it won't re-populate! Don't take any more red!"

One student said, "I don't want to fish this round, Miss O." Other groups put down their fishing poles before the time was even up, leaving plenty of fish in the ocean and only a few in their boats. They waited with their arms crossed until the timer ran out. They noticed that soon their oceans were FULL of fish!

Mission accomplished! The children did an AMAZING job learning about conservation during this activity! Proud teacher moment!! Way to go, class!

Goodbye, Butterflies!

Our butterflies were so hungry! Here, you can see a butterfly drinking from an orange with its proboscis!

Look at the beautiful black and orange colors on the wings of our Painted Lady! If you look closely, you can also see some small blue circles!

After observing the butterflies carefully, we headed into the courtyard to let them free to explore a more natural environment.

I think they liked us, they didn't want to leave! :)

Another wonderful visit from our Dryden duck!

Gertrude 2013 from Dryden School on Vimeo.

Junior Achievement this week

 The children were very excited to have another visit from Ms. Younan this week! They were even more excited that they were going to earn Junior Achievement MONEY for their hard work making donuts in the "Sweet-O Donut Shop last week!All of the children received $5.00 in JA money.

THEN the children reviewed the services that we need in the community, such as: firefighters, policemen, librarians, teachers, and postal workers. The children remembered that these service workers are paid with taxes! The children had to pay back some of their newly earned JA wages to the government to make sure these services are present and functioning in our town. This was not only a great review from our citizenship unit about why we pay taxes, but it was a wonderful lesson that allowed the kids to see how people need to 1) go to work to earn wages 2) receive earnings 3) pay taxes to the government for services that benefit everyone in the community. You should have seen their little disappointed faces when the tax collector snatched $2 of their $5.00! That's real life, kids!! :)

Thank you!

Thank you SO MUCH for making me feel so very appreciated during Teacher Appreciation Week! This is a picture of the beautiful bouquet of flowers I received Friday from the class. The heartfelt notes, cards, gifts, and flowers I received throughout the week were such wonderful surprises. Thank you so much for appreciating the work of your teacher! I am rewarded every day by working with such thoughtful, hard working, and supportive parents and kids! Thank you!

OIL SPILL!

As we are learning about life cycles in science, we are also discussing the earth and the environment we live in- these topics go together so nicely! We have been learning about the 3 R's - Reduce, reuse, and recycle. We've also opened our eyes to the fact that people share this earth with countless amazing animals, who don't have a voice! It's our responsibility to take good care of the earth we live in by keeping it clean, reducing the amount of electricity and resources we use, recycle everything we can, and ultimately make less garbage- and less landfills!

 On Friday we read a story called "Oil Spill" by Melvin Berger. It was a book about the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989. We learned that 11 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean in this accident. It affected countless birds and animals, as well as 1300 miles of Alaska's shoreline. The children then simulated an oil spill with their small group.

 We poured vegetable into our "ocean." The children were quick to notice that it sat right on top of the water. It didn't mix. We thought about the ducks and birds that might be sitting in that oil, or the dolphins or whales that might need to come up to breathe- and would find thick black oil instead.

 We add some cinnamon to represent the "sludge" that forms when oil, dirt, and sand mix. We imagined what it might be like to be covered in that. We blew on top of the oceans to add wind and see how it all came together and thickened. Ick.

 We dropped in some marshmallows to represent the animals that live in the ocean. They were quickly covered entirely in oil and sludge. We also viewed a few real photos of animals covered in oil.

The kids did their best to remove the oil with spoons. After many spoonfuls, the oil was still everywhere. Unfortunately, they didn't make much progress in the removal process. The children thought about other ways to fix the problem of an oil spill that they learned in the story- use of chemicals, fire/burning the oil,  or the use of a "boom" to contain the spill. This showed great application of what they had learned! Unfortunately, oil spills are very difficult to correct and damage is done. We realized that if we use less electric energy, there will be less of a need for oil and oil transportation across the ocean. Using solar or wind energy would also help us to use less oil. We also decided that the companies transporting the oil need to be very responsible and should create double hulls in their ships to better protect the oil, and they need to communicate more carefully with other ships to prevent accidents. These oil spills happen due to human error, and the ocean and its animals are affected. The children learned so much during this activity!