Honoring Dr. Seuss

This Saturday, March 2, marks Dr. Seuss' 109th Birthday!  To celebrate this innovative author, students discussed books that he had written.  They heard one of his not-so-popular, but still creative, Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose.  They also heard various books which have won or have been honored with the Geisel Award.  According to the American Library Association, "The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers..."  This year's winner was Up, Tall, and High by Ethan Long. 

 

 

Kindergarten and First Grade Students played on the Seussville website. 

Technology - Poster Art

This week in Technology 2nd, 3rd and 4th Grade students are creating the art work we will be using for Spring Musical Posters, Tickets and Programs. Students are using the new KidPix 3D program to create their pictures and are doing a fabulous job as you can see from this one by 2nd Grader Elizabeth K!

K Music- Yes, yes, more drums please.

Kindergarten is hard at work with their musical "3 Nanny Goats Gruff." Here, students took a hard earned break from singing, with a few drum 'interludes'. Bravo Kindergarten!

K-4th PE

I hope everyone is able to enjoy some of this beautiful spring time weather we're experiencing right now in February, what a treat!  This week in PE, we focused on some activities that promote cooperative learning.  Our K-1st graders played Scootermania, where the students split up into partners and took turns pulling their partner on a scooter across the gym to collect 10 bean bags as quickly as possible!  2nd-4th graders played a game of Foam Ball Passer, where 3 teams competed in a relay race that required them to pass a ball to one another, using only your feet.  Needless to say, our relay races got pretty interesting.  Here's a picture of our 2nd graders playing a game of Pin Down, in which one team tries to knock over all of the other team's bowling pins first!  Have a fun & safe Mid-Winter Break!

Celebrating Lunar New Years Day~!!

2nd Grade students had a great time watching a video clip of the Lion Dance Parade for the Chinese New Years day.  The lion expresses joy and happiness and is used to summon luck and good fortune.  Lion dance troupes perform throughout the two-week Lunar New Year celebrations, often going from village to village. After learning about the Lion Dance Parade, the students had a great time making their own Lion Masks.

Celebrating Lunar New Years Day

This year, Lunar New Year's day falls on February 10th. To celebrate Lunar New Years day, First Grade students made these fire breathing dragons.

They had so much fun creating different types of dragons such as flower breathing dragon, water breathing dragon, icicle breathing dragon, Lego breathing dragon and so on.

Celebrating Award Winners

The American Library Association recently announced their Newbery and Caldecott Award-Winning books.  Primary students heard This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen as well as the Theodor Geisel winner, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  Students in the third grade and older heard excerpts from Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan, this year's Newbery winner.  This story is told from the perspective of Ivan, a gorilla for many years who lived in a shopping mall.  All these books prompted discussion about what makes a "good book."

Third Grade Tech - Presidents' Day Slides

In their Technology lessons the Third Grade students have been creating slides for their Presidents' Day Assembly on Friday. Each student chose a president they wanted to research and then created a slide using two facts and a photograph. Students also choose a background and transition. The finished slides were combined to create a short movie which you can view here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70t03sp_EmE

K Music- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

Kindergarten enjoyed some instrument improvisation with the book "Chicka Chicka Boom-Boom". Students would listen to the words/beat of each page, then play/improvise on the instruments with the same type of beat/duration, then switch instruments on the cue. It was great activity for listening and awareness, and it's always fun to hit stuff!

Favorite Desserts

   

2nd Grade students had a great time creating their favorite dessert with clay inspired by Wayne Thiebaud.

1st grade music: Ta, ti-ti, ta, sing, move, Tupperware?!

1st graders enjoyed some hard earned free time today, after working on their musical "Lemonade." It fun to see their enjoyment during choice time. A couple of classes even learned that, you don't need drums to be a drummer. 1st grade has also been doing rhythm work, with quarter notes and eighth notes, or 'ta' and 'ti-ti.'

For the past two weeks, 3rd and 4th Grade students learned about a Pop Artist, Wayne Thiebaud and the children used his style to paint their favorite desserts.  I have them watch the CBS Sunday Morning clip about Wayne and his life. After watching the video clip,  students learned how to paint an object looks more realistic and 3 dimensional by adding darker shades and brighter tints.

K-4th PE

Happy February!  I decided to place the emphasis for this week on fitness as a whole.  There are so many different activities that can contribute to our overall fitness levels, whether it's skiing down a mountain or dancing at home in front of the mirror.  Our 2nd-4th graders participated in an activity called "Scooter Boats", in which students worked together to build a boat from scooters and gymnastic mats.  After the boats' construction was complete, students took turns riding on top of the boat, while the rest of their classmates pushed and pulled them along.  K & 1st graders took part in games of "Hungry Crabs" and "Hokey Pokey Aerobics" where we explored some different muscles that our bodies have.  Below is a picture of our 4th graders busy at work constructing their vessel, enjoy your weekend!