Teach the Teacher

We had our first round of Teach the Teacher today!

All four kiddos did fantastic and taught us all something new.

Good work Lainie on teaching how to write in cursive! She took us through the steps, taught us the trickiest letters, then let us try our own names as practice.

Good work Emily on teaching us what a scroll saw was and how to use it! She also taught a variety of cuts with her saw and how to change a blade. Great explanation and modeling of a new skill!

Elliot taught origami and how to fold a Samuri hat. He made it look so easy, but we all thought it was quite tricky! Very cool outcome and way to go Elliot!

 

Maylin took us to the music room. Mrs. Wiliford lent us her piano for Maylin to tickle the ivories where she tuaght the song My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. Not only did she explain the keys to play, but she also play the song in full while a few began to sing along. Way to go Maylin!

Don't Yuck My Yum!!

Another courageous student! Ben tried asparagus this weekend!

Way to be brave Ben!

Don't Yuck My Yum!

Two new students tried a new and interesting healthy food!

Way to be brave Lainie and Sarah!

Lainie tried a red pepper!

Sarah tried grapefruit!

 Both LOVED! Awesome to find a new favorite food that is good for the body!

Teach the Teacher

We are beginning a new favorite activity for the end of the year. It is called Teach the Teacher! Each student gets to teach a lesson of his or her choice. Students will choose a topic that is important and interesting to them and design a 5 minute lesson to teach the class. It can be about themselves, their heritage, a hobby, language, skill, or anything else of their choosing. They can teach how to draw something specific, karate, cooking, singing/teach us a song, origami and more! There really is a lot of critical thinking involved in planning a lesson. Students will plan step by step of how they will present the material and write down the steps.

Students will have a signup sheet of when they would like to teach that gives them days and times of when they will be ready. This way they will also know when they need to be prepared and when we are going to learn something new about our classmate’s expertise talents! 
Our teaching days start Monday, May 22 in the afternoon at the end of each day.

Alternatively to teaching in front of the class, students also have the option of videotaping their lessons. This can be done at any time and then sent to me to show during our Teach the Teacher time. This option gives the students the opportunity to teach a lesson to us in the setting of the skill.

I have already spoken to the students about their teaching task and they are very excited! Please note that this is completely voluntary and no student needs to do this. It is more of a fun part to the end of each day leading up to the last day of school.   

This will really give a glimpse into the students’ personality and be a wonderful experience for us all!

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns!

Dates Available for Sign Up:

Monday, May 22

Tuesday, May 23

Wednesday, May 24

Thursday, May 25

Friday, May 26

Tuesday, May 30

Wednesday, May 31

Thursday, June 1

Monday, June 5 OR Tuesday, June 6

Don't Yuck My Yum!

Way to be brave Madisyn!

She tried a baby portobella mushroom!!

Updates

Pizza Party

Students ended NWEA testing and now we are celebrating with a pizza party! We are having lunch as a class with an added celebration on Friday, May 26th. More details to come as far as a small donation from each student.

Homework
Students are bringing home their LAST homework packet for the year!!

Spelling
Students are also bringing home a new spelling list today. All words this week are themed around the r-controlled vowels. Today we spent time on organizing our spelling words into groups of the er, ir, ur, ar, and or. You will see this on the back of all spelling lists. 
The spelling test will be on Monday, May 22.

Library News

Please make sure you turn in al overdue library books are turned in as soon as possible. If you and/or your child are certain the book was returned, please contact Mrs. Swartz. All library books are due to the Westwoods library by Friday, May 26th.

Pop Art

First Annual Student Art Exhibit

Wednesday, May 17th

Art from every 1st to 5th grade student will be framed and put on display at Westwoods. In honor of the 'Pop Art' theme there will be popsicles for all students and you may bring along a can of soup to donate to a local food bank! The even begins at 6:00 and is free to all, sponsored by Westwoods PTO.

Westwoods Fun Run and 5K

Saturday, May 20

1 mile Fun Run and 5K

Don't forget to sign up!!

Sign up now!

Bright Futures Ahead

Students sported their shades on Friday with a fun little project! We are beginning to wrap up our totally tremendous second grade year. I can't even begin to express how proud I am of all the hard working students I have been able to teach this year! They do indeed have bright futures ahead!

Don't Yuck My Yum!

In connection to keeping our bodies healthy, the students have been involved in great conversations regarding food choices that will give the most nutrients to our bodies. They have learned many new and interesting facts about what effects our bodies by what we choose to put in it. They have become more aware of what they are eating and drinking. Awesome!

I gave all students a challenge ending with a celebrity role on our classroom blog. I asked them to be brave and go out and try something new and different that is healthy and nutritional but also something they have never tried before. 

If they can, also take a picture and send it my way and I will give a HUGE applaud of way to go on our blog for all to see!

our first brave student was Griffin!! 

Way to go Griffin on trying KIWI!

Healthy Body

In class we are wrapping up our listening domain of the Human Body. Over the past couple of weeks we covered a number of topics that were of high interest to the students. Subjects included cells and how cells for the building blocks of life on Earth. Students are taught how collections of cells form tissues, and tissues form organs, and finally how organs work within the various body systems. In addition, students were taught about Anton van Leeuwenhoek and his work with the microscope and his discovery of the tiny one-celled bacteria. Students also heard about the digestive and excretory systems and learned the fundamental parts and functions of these two body systems. To wrap up the last of our domain, we focused on the importance of good nutrition and how to make good choices in order to eat a well balanced diet. We talked about the five keys to good health

Eat Well

Exercise

Sleep

Good Hygene/Keeping Clean

Have Regular Checkups

An Extra Bonus!

Andrea Wandel was in last Friday. A nutritionist from TBA and also an awesome parent of our classroom. She did a fantastic presentation to the students covering the different ways to stay healthy through the different foods we can be eating. This includes the variety of foods including all the colors that help all the different parts of the amazing human body. Not only did the students get a great lesson, but Mrs. Wandel also brought in a delicious fruit salad for all students to try and snack on. This included cantelope, blueberries, strawberries, and pineapple mixed with lime juice and small pieces of mint leaves. Everyone gave a try to something new and also might have found a new snack to love!

 

 

Reminders & Updates

NWEA Changes

As you know, our classroom was planning on testing for NWEA Reading this coming Thursday morning. However, due to a couple complications we are going to push our reading test date to the following Tuesday. NWEA Reading Tuesday, May 9th

NWEA Math Wednesday, May10th

Both tests will be that morning starting at 9:15

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. 

Homework

The students DO have a new homework packet coming home along with a new list of 20 words for spelling. I am confident, as are they, that the new addition of 5 words is going to go awesome! 

A little change you will see on the homework packet today is that students do not have a schedule. Due to out internet being down, I could not access this to print it out. However, we did talk about how by now they should have a routine and also know what my expectations are for homework. I know they will be fine without a schedule for just this week :)

Next week, we will NOT be having homework due to having both NWEA tests. I would rather the students rest and have a clear mind going into the test where homework and any other pressures are reduced. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. 

Donations

We are running low on a few items in our classroom and would LOVE any donations possible from families. 

Clorox Wipes

Pencils (the Ticonderoga brand is the best - easy to sharpen, write better and last longer)

Kleenex

Daddy Daughter Dance

Daddy Daughter Dance is this Friday evening. Please purchase tickets by this Wednesday, May3rd if you are interested in going.