The Water Cycle

We had Four Winds today and we learned all about the Water Cycle. We watched a puppet show that followed a rain drop as it was steam inside a volcano, traveled in the ocean, landed on the back of a duck, was sucked up through tree roots, and evaporating into the air.  We talked about how 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only 3% is fresh water. We did a great experiment about surface tension on the top of water. We added pennies one at a time to a cup of water to see how many pennies the cup could hold before the water spilled over the top. Students also practiced this same principal by putting water droplets on top of a penny.  Here are some pictures from our science fun!

 

February Vacation Reading Challenge

Over February break, the students were given the challenge of reading every night over vacation. They needed to record every chapter or book title and turn it in after break.  We made a school poster of all the  classes and we did a great job!  Eleven students read over 240 chapters!  Here is a picture of the students who participated and their certificates! I also included the school poster! Great job Room 9!

 

Hot Chocolate Party!

We celebrated the end of assessments and the beginning of February break with a hot choloate party! It was delicious and a great way to stay warm as we headed out for the busses.

Conferences and Voting Day

Parent-Teacher Conferences are this Monday, March 2nd and Tuesday, March 3rd.  I sent home 1 reminder last week and I put 1 reminder in with your child's report card. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss the wonderful accomplishments I see every day!

Tuesday is also Voting Day! Voting will take place at Colchester High School from
7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.  Don't forget to get out and vote!

Valentine's Day in Room 9!

We had so much fun today! We read many valentine books, graphed candy hearts, made words out of a valentine sentence, colored our valentine bags, and celebrated the friends we have in Room 9! Here are some photos from our happy day!

100th Day of School!

Thursday was the 100th day of school.  We did lots of activities that centered around the number 100! Some of our activities included writing a class book about the hundredth day, we completed a number grid puzzle, read a few books about the hundredth day, wrote 100 words we knew, flipped a coin 100 times, made a trail mix snack that had 100 pieces, and decorated our 100th day crowns. Here are some pictures from all of our fun!

Biographies and iPads

We have been busy learning about nonfiction texts and today we started to talk about biographies. Biographies are a special kind of nonfiction book that chronicles the life of someone important.  We made a chart and talked about why people might have biographies written about their lives.  Some ideas that we had were that they could be the first to do something like Amelia Earhart or George Washington.  Leaders often have biographies written about them like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.  Many people make new discoveries like Louise Braille and Thomas Edison.  Special talents are also recognized like Mozart, Elvis, and children's author Mo Willems.  Today we read a biography on Betsy Ross and the students used an iPad app called Educreations to illustrate why they thought she was important and how she helped America.  As the kids worked on iPads, it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop!! Everyone agreed that Betsy Ross is believed to have sewn the first American flag, but there were a few different ideas about why she has a biography about her.  Some students felt that Betsy Ross had a special talent which was sewing and some students felt that she was the first to make the first American flag.  We had a great dixcussion and the students can't wait to use the iPads again!  Here are some photos from our hnads-on learning!