Weekly Update

Greenfield Village Field Trip:
Although our day at Greenfield Village started out rainy, it quickly cleared up so that we could enjoy all that the historic venue had to offer.  Students loved taking a step back in time and learning about life before modern-day conveniences.  (Double click on the slideshow below to see larger versions of the photos.)



Typing Camp:
Students loved learning to type last week!  While typing for extended periods of time might sound boring, we tried to make it as fun as possible by taking the class to Typing Camp.  We had campfire breaks, camp songs, and camp stories when our fingers got tired from typing.  Students loved their camp books and getting their classmates' signatures at the end of the week.  We were proud of the students' progress during the week, even while typing with speed-skins over the keys!

Hemali uses a speed-skin while she types!

Reading/Writing Workshop:
Students began the week selecting the 4 poems that they wanted to publish in their final poetry book.  They used a rubric to assess the poems and determine if each poem met enough of the criteria to be "worthy" of publication.  Students revised their poems before writing them in their final books.  They added line breaks, repetition, alliteration, similes, personification, rhyming, and other poetic devices when necessary.  Some students needed to change complete sentences to fragments to make their poems sound more poetic and have more rhythm.  We look forward to hearing the students read their favorite poems aloud at the Poetry Cafe on Tuesday, June 3rd at 6:30 pm.

Math:
We began our final unit last week on fractions.  Students spent the beginning of the week using fraction bars as models to represent parts of a whole.  The fraction bar was one whole, and students had to determine what fraction of the bar was shaded.  Students also learned how to use number lines to represent fractions.

Social Studies:
The students took their Southwest Region test on Wednesday.  The graded test was sent back home in your child's homework folder.  Below are photos from our last tour stop in Guthrie, Oklahoma.  In Guthrie, we learned about the Oklahoma Land Rush.  The students reenacted the land rush outside.  As students pretended to run into the little town of Guthrie, they picked up fate cards.  The goal was to find a card with a good fate.  If the fate was good, students kept their card and stayed on their piece of land. (Good Fate Example: You found a piece of land with great soil.  You were able to grow corn and became rich by selling it to others.)  If the fate card was bad, students threw it back on the ground and kept running to find a better fate before the time ran out. (Bad Fate Example: Your horse couldn't keep up his pace and collapsed to the ground.  You tried to run by foot, but all of the land was taken before you could find a place to settle.  You headed back to Texas.)  Check out the photos and video below of our Land Rush!

All-Star of the Week:
Devon was our awesome All-Star last week.  He started the week by sharing his favorite stuffed animals in his sharing sack and showing the class his great photos.  He loved telling the class about each photo that he brought in for his board.  The class especially loved the photos from his most recent trip to California!!  He was so lucky to have both of his parents join him as his lunch buddies!