Sparkleberry Fair

We will be performing on Stage 2 from 10:45 - 11:05. Please be there by 10:35 or so. Our plan is to have our class come up first and perform The Plant Song and Reading is Thinking (It's Good for You). Then Mr. O's class will join us and we will all sing two songs together. We will then exit the stage and Mr. O's class will sing a couple of songs. If our numbers are not real strong on Saturday morning our class may shorten our "set" from two songs to one. We'll just play it by ear.

Homework: April 25 - 29

1. Read each night
2. Finish number pattern worksheet that we started in class Monday (due Friday)
3. Each morning we will have a short review sheet. Anyone not finishing their sheet needs to take it home that evening and bring it back the next morning.
4. Social Studies Weekly with sheet of questions created by the kids

PASS Test Coming Soon

We are using some time this week to begin preparations for the PASS test. We'll first look at some sample questions to see what we notice about the format and language of these tests. Then we'll move on to working through the questions and developing strategies for test-taking. We'll be reviewing much of the material we've learned this year as well.

States of Matter

We will be spending the next week or two exploring the qualities of solids, liquids, and gases. We started this today by heading outdoors to melt ice in the sun. The kids worked in small groups to develop a question they wanted to explore. Some included:

Will ice melt faster on a metal surface or a concrete surface?
Will ice melt faster when surrounded by water or air?
Which of our shoes will make the ice melt faster? (Or, which holds heat more?)
Will the ice melt faster on concrete or asphalt?
Will ice melt faster in direct sun?

Everyone really enjoyed these mini-experiments. We found that some surfaces do, in fact, absorb heat more than others. Introducing heat to a solid to turn it into a liquid is called melting. As we all know, ice melts rather easily. Other solids require a much more intense heat source to melt - think rocks!

Funny Video

Here is the link to the fun video we watched with Mrs. Mayer on her last day with us. The kids really loved it and asked if I would share it so they could see it again at home.

http://www.wimp.com/animalvoiceovers/

Homework: April 18 - 21

(1) Read each night

(2) Social Studies Weekly w/questions due on Wednesday

(3) Math Sheet due on Thursday

Important Dates

Please add these dates to your calendars.

Thursday, April 21 - Gathering, 2pm

Saturday, April 30 - Sparkleberry Fair (Our time is somewhere in the AM. I'll let you know.)

Friday, May 27 - Class Party at Saluda Shoals, 5-8pm. (More information to come.)

We're also planning a 5k walk and lunch. However, this may happen during the school day. I'm still playing around with this. If you have any questions please pass them along.

Playing Catch-Up

I apologize for getting a bit behind on updates from the classroom. I would like to take this opportunity to share some fun highlights...

* It's a Grand Day was a lot of fun. The kids shared poems they had been writing with Mrs. Mayer and then had an opportunity to co-write a two-voice poem with their grandparents.

* Mrs. Mayer finished up her two weeks of solo teaching just before Spring Break. She did a fantastic job and really enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with the kids. Sadly, on Thursday we will be saying goodbye. She has a few courses to finish up this summer and then she will be graduating. We hope she finds a classroom home for next year. She's going to be an outstanding teacher!


* We've been studying about the Civil War this past week. Our focus has been on slavery and the different perspectives surrounding the issues leading us to war. We've read of many heroes you never hear about - the ones who were brave enough to either run from slavery or help others to escape.


* In math we've been working to find the perimeter and area of various shapes. We started by creating one foot by one foot grids on our tables to find the area of our work surfaces. We've also been creating graphs and working to find the mean, median, mode, and range.

* Mrs. Mayer is helping the kids to write fables, tall tales, and fairy tales. This is her final unit of study with the kids and it's been going really well. Her enthusiasm for these genres has been key.

That's it for now. I hope everyone has a great week!

Chris

Homework for April 11 - 15

1. Read each night. 2. Complete the homework survey with a parent. 3. Complete the Slavery/Civil War survey with a grandparent. You may call them of the phone. If there are any questions they do not have a response for just leave it blank or write "They are not sure." You do not need to give their name anywhere on the sheet. These surveys are anonymous. If a grandparent is not available to do this then complete it with a parent.