Our Favorite Musical Grandpa

(From my class blog)

We had another wonderful visit from our favorite musician Grandpa. He let the children play the guitar, we sang songs, we reviewed the parts of the guitar and types of music (jazz and rock).
After his last visit (Jan.), K4 began writing a few lyrics of their own. Today, Mr. W put those words to music! The children also loved playing along with some of our own instruments!

So Many Learning Levels, So Little Time

(Post from my class blog)

One way we differentiate instruction to meet students' needs is through small group instruction. Both of these groups are studying the 'in' word family, but the instructional focus is different for each (one group is reading with Mrs. Cummings, the other is spelling with me).

Collaboration!

Our wonderful PE teacher arranged for the 4th graders to help the kids practice their jump roping skills. The kids had so much fun, the learning went smoothly and the children built relationships that span grade levels. I can't say enough about how valuable this type of learning among students can be - give it a try!!

A Little Something About Art

Our school is lucky enough to have an artist coming to visit soon. (Our art teacher is beside herself with excitment!) Mark Kistler is his name and he has a great website for teaching children how to draw. It's a wonderful site to have for practice at home, if your pull-out art program has been cut, or if you have a few extra moments in the day.

The -op Word Family

We are working on the -op word family this week. We read a book about a bunny hop, so (of course) we HAD to learn the Bunny Hop. I actually own a record with the song! The kids loved it and burst into giggles every time the 'hop, hop, hop' came up. It was so funny!

More on Wood and Water

Here's a writing sample from a child's science notebook from our experiment:

"Wood + Water
I put wood in
water. The wood
sat in the water
I watched the wood
I liked it a
lot. The water
went on the tables!
It was fun!"

Science: Wood and Water

We explored wood and water today. We made predictions, used eye droppers and made a glorious mess. Here are some pictures - I'll post their writing, too.