Ahhh Break!!

HELLO Bloggers and Teacher Friends!!!

I am visiting my sister and her family in Crest Hills, Illinois!  Yes, I have decided to "get away" for a few days!
We have had an active few days!  Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, Rainforest Cafe, Christmas lights touring, Zumba, Just Dance ( Wii rhythm video offered on Amazon) , and much more excitement!  GUESS WHO DOES NOT WANT TO LEAVE-me!

How has your break been?

First time on Ice Skates

Navy Pier

Here is a link to Navy Pier 

Downtown Chicago

Rainforest Cafe

Cheery smiles,

CONGRATS...THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL!!

1 more day to break bloggers (or are you on break).

Good news to share with you!!! Ready???  Our K-5th Grade Teaching Staff have all been nominated for the Golden Apple Award!  I am proud and honored to teach with this collaborative, creative, caring, and flexible teaching team!  Here is a link of information Golden Apple Awards



Golden smiles,

MERRY iPAD CHRISTMAS!

GOOD WEDNESDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!

GUESS WHAT???  Nope, am not retiring- not even close!  Nope, it is not a snow day!  Nope, I did not win endless coffee at Starbucks!  Our Home/School Committee donated three iPad's!  GUESS WHO IS HAPPY???  Me and our entire staff!  They are working on securing more donations!  Very blessed, my friends!!!  (many wonderful break tasks ahead of me)....

Electronic smiles,

Little Books-but BIG TREASURES!!!

Happy Friday-it's the 13th!  WOOT...we got outside for recess (we needed to remind ourselves how to put on our snowpants!  YAH!!!

One of my little charmers left me a hand-made book on my desk!  Here's a peek!

Sorry-tried to rotate...

One of the lines...She is the Best with a capital B. :-)

No teacher award needed just this!!!

Smiles!!

It' Concert Time-the Best Gift of All!!!

BRRR!!! Folks we have had indoor recess since Tuesday!  Got 70's?  Send them our way, please.

This week has been a singing and dancing great time!  We are preparing our vocal cords and syncing our dance moves for tonight's concert!

Here is a picture from yesterday's dress rehearsal.  Theme:  The Best Gift of All:  Jesus

Sorry it's a little fuzzy!!!  Our wonderful music teacher is in the middle-SHE ROCKS!!

Packaged smiles your way,

Visit to the Bank and St. Nicholas Eve!

BRRRR!!!  Recess duty with a strong north wind that makes one's cheeks look redder thank Rudolph's nose  makes me thankful for 98 degree weather!

Today we took a small local field trip to the bank.  Santa was there to greet us (as well as hot chocolate, reindeer food, and snacks).

St. Nicholas comes tonight...below is my gift to my students!

Red and white smiles,

Streak Test!

HAPPY CYBER MONDAY!

What did you buy?

Me, only one thing but it wasn't marketed as a Cyber Deal!  Did get to make an offer, though and won!!!

Our Rock and Mineral Unit is over half way done.  (I know, that is hard to grasp and makes my lip sink like a bag of granite).  Today we learned how to streak a mineral to identify it's true color.  We used a black plate and one that was white.  Do you think both plates indicated the same streak color?  A resounding, no. Additionally, although some minerals to the eye were black or speckled, they might leave a red or brown spot.  Do you know what some of those minerals are?  Streak a piece of Hematite and let me know the results.

And what are we doing tomorrow-so glad you asked-the light test!!

Rocky smiles,

Take 1, 2, Final Wrap!!

Happy Tuesday!

My Multi-agers are all about ACTING!  Man, if I could only send them all to Hollywood!   Each Friday, we read 2-3 poems.  We highlight parts of speech, text features, lines, stanzas, etc.  We also rank the poems and finally organize production groups and act out the poem.  A few pictures follow:

SMILES,

Little Notes!

Little Notes...say and mean so much!!!!!!!!!

Smiles,

50's Day Party-Let's Rock!!!

Hello!  It's the 50th Day of school and we are celebrating by having a 50's flashback!  Phones, clothes, cars, gum, dancing, and language oh my!!

We started by drawing a picture of what we would look like when we are 50.   Of course, they did need to write what would happen too!  One wrote he "would be 50 and retire another student wrote she "would be fifty and have a wrinkle or two."

Next, the good ole tacky pink bubble gum-you got it right a bubble blowing contest.  Remember a double bubble!  A student ran to get a ruler so we could measure the distance traveled out of our mouths :-)

Then Hand Jive, Twist, Hulla Hooping, and Limbo time!  How low can you go!  Born to Hand Jive, Baby!!!

Finally, Coke Floats.  Does icecream float or sink?  Try it and find out!!!

Rockin smiles,

Rock, Minerals, and Gems Oh My!!!

Happy Sunday!  We are now in the 2nd Quarter.  It's hard to believe....

We are now two weeks into our Rocks and Minerals Kit.  On Friday we compared and contrasted 12 rocks with 3 minerals.  We asked: is this mineral in all the rocks or just one?  What rock has all three minerals?  What are the properties of minerals?  How are rocks and minerals different?  They were awed by the Quartz-"This looks like a Diamond."  

We have 9 more minerals to be introduced to and learn about.  They are going to be Rock Stars!

Rocky smiles,

The View Out My Classroom Window

HELLO!
November 4th; right!!!

I wanted to share with you the beautiful view I have out my west classroom window.

Fall smiles,

Day at a Local Nature Facility!

HELLO!
It's the eve of Halloween!!!

Today we spent the day at Barkhausen Nature Preserve.  MUD, MUD, MUD, and of course more mud.  We were head over heals in nature-man, did we love it.  The big questions for the day:  "Will I catch a fish, Where is the Tarantula  What time is lunch  What's this?"  All I can say, is I am exhausted; fresh air is nature's best sleepless night remedy!!!

Start of our day!

Sharing our items that smell.

I guessed what was behind my back!

Nature smiles,

When Was The Last Time You Were Inspired?

HELLO!
THE SUN IS OUT!!! Ahh...can you feel it by you?  If not, think summer and 85 degrees.  That's what it feels like in WI when one is blessed with 50 degrees and sun in late Oct.

Yesterday I was INSPIRED!  I must share this 22 and some odd second video with you.  It was shared with a group of us at a certification class yesterday, and now you get the chance to give it your attention.

Let me know your thoughts/reactions...

Celebrate...

Puffballs

Inspirational smiles,

Seed Dispersal!

Happy Monday.
Need to vent-it is COLD here-alright perhaps because last week it was in the 60's and now it is in the low 30's.  We even saw a few crystals flying through the air...aka...snowflakes.

Last week me made seeds that travel by air, water, and humans.  We tested them out by using a fan for the wind and a bucket of water for the water.   Many were amazed at the flight of their seeds and how they needed to transform their seeds to have them travel further. A few tried to make Shooting seeds-plants that disperse of their seeds by shooting them!

Brr smiles,

School Store

HELLO!
Yes, I am still here!  Anyone else a little overwhelmed-if you are like me you need 3 pairs of roller skates on to keep up with the speed of paperwork, testing, meetings, etc.

Yesterday we had our first 2013-14 school year, school store!  WOW, was it a great turnout!  K-3rd grade had just about 100% shopping!  The items were clearing out quickly!!!  Bubbles, glow sticks, bouncy balls, and stickers were top sellers!

This is our 3rd year for the school store!  We hope this year to donate a percentage of our proceeds to a local charity.

Now, to find another basketful of hot ticket items!

Chilly, but sunny smiles,

Pollination Time!!

Hello!
Yesterday we did an activity my Multi-agers have been awaiting-POLLINATION with Cheetos and a juice box.  Can you guess who the bees were?  You are right...we were!  My Mutli's got a die cut flower, a juice box, and Cheetos.  They put the flower on top of the juice box and drank the juice-the NECTAR.  While doing this, they "accidentally" rubbed their hairy bee body on the Cheetos-the POLLEN.  Next they flew to other flowers and rubbed their pollen onto to them.  When they were done, 16 bees had pollinated 16 flowers.  So, each flower was pollinated by 16 different bees!  Here is a link to the WONDERFUL teacher who shared this activity with her fellow blog followers:  THANK YOU 2nd GRADE SHENANIGANS!

Yellow smiles,

Lights! Camera! Amelia Bedelia!

It's October!!!  How, I'm not sure, but it is here!  The leaves are changing ladies!!!  Pictures to come of the colors, but now it's almost presentation time!

Today, my Multi-agers began their skits on Understanding (our word of the month).  We are in charge of teaching our school what Understanding is and how to show understanding!  We decided to use Amelia Bedelia-you know her, right :-)  My kiddos and I love her, plus she is a good example of someone who doesn't understand at first-takes things literally but in the end all things work out as Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers and the other characters help her put the pieces together (not literally) and understand :-)

My kiddos are going to use lines from the texts and act them out and show how they would help Amelia understand-setting an example, role modeling, and empowering.  I hope to tape them and add the production to an upcoming blog post!

Literal Smiles,