Technology Time's Up!

As the end of the year races towards us, students are busying working to get their projects finished so we have had to resort to special measures! It turns out that we can squeeze two classes in the Tech Lab - here you can see the 4th Graders working on their Lego Animations and 3rd Graders continuing with their English Spanish Dictionaries, while Keyon auditions for the role of Tech Teacher. Meanwhile in 2nd Grade the students have pretty much finished their Butterfly Lifecycle PowerPoints - we just need the caterpillars to get a move on so that we can include photos of the Butterfly Release Party - and 5th Graders are busy building their Kodu games!

3rd grade music: clapping games with "Green Sally Up & 4 White Horses"

 Nothin' beats a good game of clap/chants with a friend! Clap games are really fun and I enjoy working with students on these types of activities. Grades 1-4 all had a round of "Green Sally Up." Some groups who wanted a challenge tried the "4 White Horses," which is an advanced clap/chant pattern for 4 people.

Feliz Cinco de mayo!!

iii CINCO DE MAYO !!!

This week K-5th grade celebrated Cinco de mayo in Spanish class. 

We learned about Cinco de mayo's history and how it is NOT Mexico's Independence Day!

This is a common misconception in the USA! Mexico’s Independence Day is on September 16th.  Cinco de mayo (May 5th) celebrates the unity, bravery, and pride of the Mexican people after winning the battle of Puebla against the French on May 5th(Cinco de mayo), 1862.

Fourth graders made pinatas in art class (gracias Mrs. Choi) and donated their pinatas to each homeroom class. Each class broke a pinata and ate chips and salsa to celebrate. Check out the pictures below of our fun FIESTA!

2nd/3rd Grade Music: "I Let Her Go-Go"

2nd grade learned the game while 3rd grade brought back an old favorite. Students choose a partner and sing/clap various patterns, then switch places with each other. Then, they jump and switch partners, working their way around the circle. It's a fun one to watch! We are keeping up our singing with small bits of warm ups and patterns. We have a handful of 2nd graders who can sing a major scale in tune, which is exciting! Have a great weekend!

Se Vende Casa (House for Sale)

 For the past two weeks, third graders presented their "House for Sale" projects in class. They have worked really hard on their house in Spanish class and they all did a wonderful job in presenting their speeches!

Working with Reference Materials

For the past few weeks, students have been working with dictionaries and atlases.  The older students have been using almanacs and encyclopedias as well. We've had scavenger hunts, quizzed one another, and taken assessments.  By far their favorite activity has been looking through the atlases to show their friends where they have been!

 

Birthday Books

If your child has had a recent birthday or will be celebrating one soon, why not think about donating a book to the CHA Library?  I have many students who love a certain book which is not already in our catalog, and they donate it to the Library.  We usually read it aloud, and then I catalog it for check out for others to read.  If you're interested in donating a book, please let me know, and I can give you a list of suggestions.  Thanks!

Read Across America Week

Thanks to CHA's Student Council, the students have enjoyed many activities focusing around "Read Across America Week."  In Library, students had the opportunity to hear books written by Dr. Seuss and vote on their favorite out of 9 popular titles.  The Lorax was the clear winner, followed by How the Grinch Stole Christmas, then Yertle the Turtle.  Results are posted outside the Library door. 
We also discussed the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award given each year for the best children's book for beginning readers.  This year's winner was The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli.  The students enjoy hearing these books, regardless of their age.  They make wonderful read-aloud books too!

 

Another Fun Week in Technology

This week the Second Grade students who had Technology with me had fun creating whacky experiments using the Crazy Machines. The students had to either make something move or blow up and most managed both. I believe there are versions available in the Apple and Android app stores.

Third Grade students have been working on their 'Rocks and Minerals' PowerPoints. The purpose of this project is to showcase what they have learned in their science lessons with Mrs. Box. Last week they made a bare bones skeleton comprising the seven slides they will need, this week they added their fact sentences, and when we get back from break we will be adding images, transitions and animations.

Fourth Graders have been working on their Solar System Spreadsheets. Students are using the Kids Astronomy website to gather all sorts of data about the planets in our solar system. Last week they created a data table and this week they learned how to create charts. When we get back from break they will output their worksheets to a printer or PowerPoint so that we can share them with you.


 
 

Finally, Fifth Graders have been working on the Dream Houses they are designing using the 3D drawing program Sketchup. When we get back from break they will be downloading accessories form the 3D warehouse to complete their designs, and the final step will be to use Screen-O-Matic to create animated presentations so that they can share their designs with you.

3rd- Fused Glass Art

One of my all time favorite art auction project is Fused Glass Project.
We pick a theme as a class. Two students at a time, glue 15 colored glass pieces on a clear glass to create one picture. I can't wait to put this masterpiece in our Kiln.

Music: MLK songs and "Can You Hear It?" - classical music appreciation

 Grades 2 and 3 sang songs to honor Martin Luther King Jr. The songs involved a game and some various rhythms and forms, such as ABA or ABACABA (rondo) form. All grades reviewed the 4 instrument families and did some classical listening with the book "Can You Hear It?" It pairs works of art from the MET with well known classical pieces. Some familiar pieces to students were "Flight of the Bumblebee, The Nutcracker, and Spring." Some new favorites were "Fossils and Billy the Kid." 2 pieces that help with the study for younger students are "Carnival of the Animals" and Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," which are found throughout the book. We also discussed that many of today's popular artists have been influenced in some way by classical music. Pictured here, we changed pace with some impromptu performances by 3rd and 4th grade. A variety of instruments, and no practice needed!

In Technology this week...

This week students said farewell to Type to Learn 3, next week everyone will be migrated to Type to Learn 4 as part of our campaign to make the new server happy! In Second Grade students also discussed different types of Simple Machines (technology without engines!) and played the EdHeads Simple Minds game which you can find on http://www.mrsmorlidge.com/Technology.htm

Third Grade students practiced their keyboarding and embarked on the Zoombinis Mountain Rescue Adventure - After the foundation of Zoombiniville, the Zoombinis live in peace until a small group of them get trapped inside a cave seeking shelter from a storm. They meet up with strange creatures called Boolies who occupy a city known as Booliewood. The students challenge is save the Zoombinis by overcoming various obstacles using their logic and problem solving skills.

Fourth Grade students have embarked on an adventure of a different sort - using Excel! This week we discussed the structure of a worksheet and how to navigate around one. One of our very well informed students just happened to know that the maximum column header is xfd - I set the students a little challenge to see if they could find the furthest extent of the rows! Students also decoded a mysterious  message from Harry the Hamster who has been on his travels.

Finally, Fifth Grade students started wrapping up their Guatemala web pages. They have been using Expression Web to generate the code required, although most of them would prefer to play with html! All will be revealed this time next week.

Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster

In the upcoming week in Library, students will be hearing and discussing Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster by Debra Frasier.  This book, written by the author of On the Day You Were Born, follows Sage, a fifth grader who has misheard and misunderstood her teacher's weekly vocabulary homework.  This "disaster" eventually turns into a triumph as it inspires a vocabulary parade.  CHA will be participating in a Top Hat Parade on Friday, January 31 and this book helps them prepare for the project.  Focused around Science vocabulary, the Top Hat Parade allows each child to create a top hat using a Science word that is grade appropriate.  More information about the project will be sent home soon by your child's science teacher.

Music: Puttin' the "Soul" in Solfege

Students continue to prepare for the Festival of Peace and Light next week. It's great to see students continue to improve with their pitch, while using the solfege hand chart. I wanted to give a special shout this week, to the odd-numbered grades of 1, 3, and 5! First grade improved greatly with their South African song. 5th grade- awesome job on the xylophones.

Also, congratulations to the 3rd grade on a fantastic performance at Belle Square Mall. They sang so well, and were wonderful in representing CHA. BRAVO!!

CHA Joins the Hour of Code

More than 14 million people took part in this week's Hour of Code, including all our CHA students and a number of their parents by the sound of it! Organized by the Partovi brothers and sponsored by a wide range of tech companies as well as the President, the purpose was to show students that coding can be fun and rewarding. If you want to have a got at home you can find everything you need here http://mrsmorlidge.com/Technology.htm

Sharing Folktales

One way to learn about a country's culture is to read and share folktales.  This week in Library, students have been hearing stories and facts about the countries they are studying for the Multicultural Fair. Kindergarten heard Possum Magic by Mem Fox.  First graders heard two tales from South Africa while second graders heard some animal stories from Brazil.  I found a book written from a Singapore author called The Elephant and the Tree for third grade.  In fourth grade, students heard and shared Greek myths.

Third Grade Finishing up Bedroom Unit

Third graders finished up their bedroom projects this week. Their bedroom projects turned out great!  They also played "Donde esta Nacho?" telling where Nacho the dog was located in the bedroom.  If students finished their projects they were able to play a "Pick One" game to review the bedroom vocabulary and location positions.

3rd--Chihuly-inspired Painting

This week in Art class, 3rd grade students had a great time learning about Dale Chihuly and working on the Chihuly-inspired painting.

Chihuly is well know for his glass works but his paintings and his painting style is also impressive.
To mimic Chihuly’s style of painting we layered paint on to canvas through several steps.

Each one ended up so different and the kids really enjoyed applying each different layer.

A bit of a mixed week in Technology!

As we all know, Technology is wonderful when it is working, but a little frustrating when it isn't! This weeks' plans had a to be a little flexible while we worked around a defunct network switch. Second graders are continuing to work on the KidPix Landform Slideshows that will reinforce what they have been learning in Social Studies. Third graders have been working on their 'All About Me' timelines. Using Microsoft Word and incorporating text boxes, shapes and word art students are creating a pictogram that will depict the main events in their lives so far. Fourth graders finished off their Islandwood movies and if you are a parent of a fourth grader you will be notified how you can share these videos at home. Fifth graders continued to work on their HTML pages. Usually html coding is something we only spend a little time on before I show the students how to use Expression Web to generate the code, but this class is really enjoying writing the code themselves so we are spending a bit longer on this topic! Here is a screenshot of the website Ethan and Mikio are working on!

3rd Grade Music- Ready..set...Sing...Play!

 Congratulations to our students for two fantastic assemblies this week- those who ran for Student Council and to our 3rd graders for a wonderful Veteran's Day assembly. Both assemblies reminded me of how lucky we are, both to be in America and also to be at CHA where we have such great students. 3rd grade sang the  "Star-Spangled Banner," and all students sang "You're a Grand Old Flag," from which we've been working on in class. Here, 3rd graders took a singing break and performed a few pieces they created in small groups. Pieces such as "The Lonely Owl" and "The Haunted House" were performed. It was great to hear the creativity! Bravo!!