We Set Out Our Traps!

SATURDAY IS HERE...and so is the sleet!  Double S!

Just a quick update, we've set the traps but we haven't caught him...who is "Him"...that sneaky and silly Leprechaun!  He's been moving and hiding the traps, decorating them, writing on them, and putting little toys inside them!  Once, he even turned our science experiment green!  He's quick and smart!

Sneaky Smiles,

Sad Day but Magnet Experiments to Offer a Ray of Sunshine!

Sad day today my Blogger friends.  Our school community and village lost a dear friend of mine, a colleague, a mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and wife.  She fought hard against Cancer and never lost her smile, but now has a smile bigger than mine-She's dancing with the Lord!

On a whole different note, and putting on my teacher face, we concluded our unit on magnetism.  We questioned, proposed, and then experimented to learn what magnetism would travel through.  How about solids, liquids, or a gas?  Will it travel through my desk?  What about my hand?  How about a glass half full of green liquid; can I pull the magnet through the water? Hmmm...what about my chair? The answer was yes to all of these except one; can you guess which one?

Next unit-matter!  And yes, that does matter!
Smiles,

Lucky Charms-Is Graphing Your Charm?

HELLO OUT THERE!
I think this week might be the first full week without a 2hr delay or cancellation we have had since mid Jan.  HOORAY NO ARROWS IN MY LESSON PLAN BOOK! (do you still use one of those?)
Today we used Lucky Charm cereal to do Lucky Charm graphing!  We used a baggie full of cereal (thank you to a great helper of mine who bagged all the servings) and pulled the marshmallows out to graph the moons, pot of Golds, hearts, etc.  (is the a reason for so many of of my students lacking horseshoes?)
After charting the amount, they needed to assess, answer questions about their data, and summarize their information!  And of course, they were able to eat their servings- HOW LUCKY FOR THEM!

One from Mailbox

Tally Chart

Smiles,

Guest Readers-3 of My Former Students!

It's the eve before Dr. Seuss' birthday!!!!
Today we honored Dr. Seuss by reading a smorgasbord of his books, four poems (Poems), and had 3 Assumption alumni read to us.  Who were our guests??  Three wonderful and talented Red Raider basketball players who were also 3 of my former students-10 years ago!  WOW have then grown...yes more than 2 inches!!!  Our students loved their star reading and literally started the show with a DUNK as they shot three point shots to see what order they were going to read in!
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Smiles

Chocolate Alert-Hershey's Math!

FREE OFFER-snow just for you....how much would you like?  We have another 2 hr delay!  Ok, 51 school closings and delays in Northeast WI...can you say, "ROSE, YOU SHOULD STILL BE SLEEPING."

On to math...yesterday we used Hershey's bar to help us understand and demonstrate our understanding of fractions.  A sweet parent, donated 17 Hershey's bars and each student got one to show parts of a whole- 1/12, 12/12, 3/12, 4/12, and 1/2 or 6/12.   We used the Hershy's Bar challenge.

With the perfectly cut rectangles, my students were easily able to break the pieces into groups!  They needed to share the sections with 2 friends, 3 friends, 4 friends, and also in the end, keep the whole thing to themselves and eat 12/12!  We also incorporated measuring by measuring the length and width.  SWWEEEETTT MATH!

Smiles,

A Belated Gift from our Trucker Buddy!

TUESDAY IS HERE and with it a Valentine's gift from our Trucker Buddy!  Is it ever too late...NO!
We got our own little Valentines and a bundle of Candy Hearts.  We are so grateful to have him and in a few weeks he accepts his award for being December's Trucker Buddy of the Month.

Smiles,

M is for Measuring!

Happy Sunday!
It's in the 30's!  But, I can't toot my warm up horn too loud or often because we are expecting SNOW-yes, wish I could have typed SUN!

We have been using our rulers and measuring tools more than our pencils it seems!  Yard and Meter sticks, rulers, blocks, cubes, candy, shapes, scales, etc. have all been the items we have used to increase our understanding and experiences with measuring.  I have quickly discovered that my Multi-agers need help on how to write fractions-that tricky 1/2!  How do I write 1 and a half or other increments with a 1/2 of an inch seem to give my students a challenge-BUT, we have been practicing and are now "wrapping our measuring tools" around what 1/2 looks like when measuring!  (I just assumed they would connect what they have been learning with 1/2 of drawn shapes to our measuring experiences...but have learned that transfer did not happen). Next, measuring lines and shapes made by peers!

Smiles,