January 23, 2013

The students had lots of fun at the Field Museum last week! They also did a great job on their social studies tests. We'd recently talked about different ways to study, and I hope that some of these methods are working for the students.

In science, the students had a blast today participating in the "Metric Olympics." They needed to predict the volume of water in a cup, the mass of a marble, and how far Gabriel could jump, among other things! It was a great way to practice different types of measurements and using the metric system. We will have a test next week on Thursday, January 31, about the properties of matter. Next week on Friday, February 1, the Whipping Boy projects are also due. I'm looking forward to seeing all of them! Please let me know if you have any questions about them.

Catholic Schools Week begins next week as well, which is a time to celebrate all the things that make our school great! I'm sure you've seen the schedule in the Tuesday folder, but here are just a few reminders:

Monday is pajama day, and students can wear pajamas to school. They should have a book with them that they'd like to read, and they can bring a pillow or blanket, but the students cannot share anything that their head will rest against.

The Catholic Schools Week posters are due on Tuesday. Everyone needs to complete one, and the theme is "How have Catholic schools changed me?" Students can wear a shirt from their favorite team.

Thursday is the awards ceremony, which will take place in the downstairs gym right after Mass (probably around 9:30). Everyone is invited to this, then welcome to come back up to the classroom to observe a lesson. We are wearing the same color as our buddies that day, which is red.

Finally, on Friday, we'll be having our school Olympics.

January 14, 2013

Happy New Year! Above, you can see pictures our of our completed Jesse Tree and Mr. Lindo, who came in to teach a lesson on weather.

The students did a fantastic job of setting New Year's resolutions and wrote well-organized paragraphs describing their goals, with resolutions ranging from eating more fruits and vegetables to not jumping on the couch. We're working right now on verbs, and then we will be writing persuasive paragraphs.

We have a field trip coming up to the Field Museum this Friday, and a social studies test on Thursday. We are still reading The Whipping Boy, and discussing plot maps, character changes, and setting. Right now, it looks like we'll be done reading the book the week of January 28, which means the castle, rat, or simile project will be due then.

Our weather forecasts are online! Ms. Perkins is uploading them as the students complete them. To hear, go to this link, and click on the tab that says "minicasts." This month, the students are learning about matter. We did some activities last week looking at the different states of matter and how they are defined, including investigating oobleck, which sometimes acts as a liquid and sometimes like a solid! This week, we'll measure length, mass, and volume, using tools like a balance and graduated cylinder.

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