Second Grade in Spanish

Second grade students continued working on their Body Part Caricature Projects! They drew themselves or another person as a character, colored, and labeled the body parts in Spanish!

Middle School Spanish

Middle Schools started working on a Diamante Poem to describe themselves this week using the adjectives they have been learning in Chapter 1B.

Third Grade House Project in Spanish class

Third graders continued working on their House Project this week. They are designing their own house and then making a For Sale Poster in Spanish. This week they started creating their rough draft poster which includes the following things in Spanish: the price, how many floors the house is, the rooms in the house, where some of the rooms are located in the house, and what chores a person can do throughout the house.

MS Music- "Ohhhh the Working Gnomes"

Middle School enjoyed this pass/take game and chant! Students take and pass the stick while singing the "Working Gnome" chant. During the "tigga-tagga" portion, students drum on the floor and recover the unpassed sticks, making sure everyone has one. It's a fun game that's great for coordination, teamwork and awareness. The tune does tend to linger in one's head as well!

CHA PE: Pirates Ahoy!

Second and Third grade students had a great time playing "Scooter Ships" this past week. This very active game requires students to work together in small teams to build a ship and collect the "Pirate Booty". All classes worked hard on good teamwork skills--successfully sailing across the sea and collecting thier treasure!

Also featured, Third grade students in a huddle coming up with their strategy for Team Pin Down on the field.

MS Tech

Middle School students are going to build web pages about the Revolutionary War or Body Systems. This week the students started designing the layouts for their websites, and after a brain storming session they chose which template they will use and mapped out the content of their websites, using text text to describe color, images and content.

1st Grade Music- They Got the Beat!

First graders have been chippin' away at their musical "E-I-E-I-Oops!" The last tune, "The Whole Barnyard is Singin" has a steady beat and a country flavor. Students practiced drawing quarter notes and eighth notes. Quack, quack, oink!

PE: Team Pin Down

All classes on Wednesday had fun in the sun playing Team Pin Down. This game encourages teamwork and good sportsmanship. Also, one creative 5th grader fashions a bow and arrow out of a swim noodle and an elastic strap!

The CHA Soul Train

Fourth Graders learned how the popular television show "Soul Train" bridged the races back in the 70's and 80's. Everyone watched the dance and clothing styles as well as listened to what was hot in R&B. Fourth Graders performed their own rendition of the popular Soul Train dance line. Stay tuned for more African American History this month!

Ella Fitzgerald teaches us to SCAT!

The CHA Kindergarten SCATTERS! Today we leaned about Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Scat. We read the book "Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa". We also watched a video clip of the Queen herself.

Stay tuned for more African American History this month!

Farm Animals with the First graders

First grade students have been learning the names of different Farm Animals in Spanish. They are currently working on their very own Farm Animal Popcicle Stick Puppets and have also been learning "El granjero", a Spanish version of the Old MacDonald song.

2nd graders learning the Body Parts in Spanish

Second graders have begun learning the different body parts in Spanish. Last week they worked on their vocabulary sheets, and this week they started their Caricature Body Sketch Project. They also began learning the song "Cabeza, hombros, rodillas, pies", the Spanish version of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes (feet in the Spanish version)".

Middle School Interviews Boeing's Wendy Lacy

Middle school students did a great job with their press conference today. They interviewed Boeing Test Program Manager Wendy Lacy. They asked great questions and conducted themselves professionally. We will begin writing our news stories in the upcoming weeks.

2nd Grade Music- Sing Sing Sing...drum?!?!

Students have been hard at work for musicals. We are off to a great start! Pictured here, 2nd graders take a quick break from their songs with a quick jam on the drums. Rat-a-tat tat!

MS Tech

As part of their Web Design unit the middle school students (plus a couple of non-skiing 4th Graders) had their first go at writing html code. Some of them enjoyed the experience more than others, but I was so excited that they all managed to write enough code to create a colored page with colored, resized, italicized writing that I took a photo of the students with their pages. Many were relieved to hear that when they make their real web pages we will be using Expression Web to generate the html code! Special thanks to Jack and Cameron who got deputized as Technology Assistants and where able to help their classmates!

4th Grade Radio Shows

Fourth Graders practice their radio shows in Journalism class. Students have learned what it was like when radio was the main source of entertainment  in the USA (Golden Age of Radio).

Middle Schoolers Prepare for Press Conference

Middle Schoolers are busy at work preparing for next week's press conference with Boeing Engineer Wendy Lacy!

2nd, Picasso inspired Self-Portrait

This week at Art, 2nd graders learned about Pablo Picasso and started working on their self-portraits inspired by Cubism. We looked at examples of Picasso's paintings that he had done in different time period of his life. Some children found that cubist portraits were somewhat disturbing to look at and they couldn't understand why Cubism is significant in art history at first. However, after we learned Picasso introduced a radically different way of seeing and rendering a subject, we found his cubist portraits were more interesting and fun. We spent a lot of Art time discussing and analying Picasso's Art.

P.E.: Ready to Hit the Slopes!!

Kindergarten and First Grade students learned (and reviewed) how to ride the chairlift. While new skiers begin on the "Magic Carpet"--all students eventually graduate to the chairlift. Today's lesson focused on proper chairlift form and safety. Students learned to keep their back to the back of the chair and their legs out straight. The student on the right (as looking at the picture) was demonstrating proper form and the student on the left was showing improper form. Students had a great time giggling up the imaginary mountain in the gym!

4th, Dragon Scrolls

For the Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year project, 4th Graders worked hard on their Dragon Scrolls and turned out amazing. During ancient times, the dragon was considered the most sacred of all animals. The Chinese Dragon meaning is also one of divine ruler of the sea, the river and the lakes. Dragons were frequently painted on the walls of early Chinese and Korean tombs to ward off evil spirits. Year of Dragon considered the year of luck because the a part of the Chinese Dragon meaning is good fortune in the areas of health, wealth and living a long, prosperous life.

Do, Re, Mi!

In music, Kindergarten students have been warming up their voices with solfege exercises. We have been practicing going up the scale (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do) and back down again, as well as some skipping around. The syllables and hand motions help the student to hear and remember pitch. Older students have also been practicing the exercises, and we'll use the system to help with songs from Musicals.

1st Grade Tech

In their Technology lessons students have started using our keyboarding program, Type to Learn 3. They are currently learning how to place their fingers on the home row keys, by locating their index fingers on F and J and feeling for the bumps. If you are interested in having the children show you what they are learning, or practicing at home, I showed them how to use the BBC’s Dance Mat Typing website which you will find a link to here http://www.mrsmorlidge.com/Technology.htm

3rd Grade Tech

To tie in with the unit they are starting in Science, students will be making a PowerPoint presentation all about Rocks and Minerals. In preparation for this, students completed a Brain Pop all about Rocks and Minerals and did really well in the activote (aka voting eggs) quiz. Brain Pop Junior is an excellent resource, which your child can use at home during school hours. There is a link on the Technology page of www.mrsmorlidge.com, the username is chatechlab and the password is chestnut.

CHA students celebrating Dia de los Reyes Magos

Last week Friday and early this week, CHA students celebrated El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos! Kindergarten enjoyed making there very own King's crowns, while first grade through Middle School tried some of the Rosca de Reyes, a traditional King's Cake eaten on this day! Students loved finding their shoes filled with goodies from the Tres Reyes Magos!

3rd, Art

This week at Art, we learned about Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year.
Lunar New year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (all months begin with a new moon). In 2012, Chinese New Years falls on January 23rd. We also learned about Chinese zodiac story. Since 2012 is the year of Dragon, we had so much fun making Dragon puppets.

Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos

This week CHA students talked about El día de los Tres Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day) in Spanish class. The main tradition discussed in class was how children living in Hispanic
countries leave their shoe(s) out on the night of January 5th so that when the Three Kings pass by their house that night, they may leave gifts, toys, or treats in their shoe. This is a Hispanic tradition that occurs in multiple Spanish speaking countries.

CHA students made paper shoes this week and are leaving them on their teacher's desks, or in the Spanish classroom to see if the Three Kings visit school the night of the 5th!

Kindergarten Tech

Kindergarten students are playing Clifford's Thinking Adventures from PBS Kids. In this game they have to solve various puzzles in order to help Emily Elizabeth organize a present and a party for Clifford. One student old me he thinks Clifford is turning 33!

CHA Music!

December was a busy time for us all! We are proud of all the students for their performances at Bellevue Square Mall and the Festival of Peace and Light. Pictured here are 4th grade and Middle School students singing at the mall, and all students onstage at the Festival. Happy New Year!

MS Tech

In the next couple of weeks students will start learning how to make their own websites. They will look at aspects of design, have a go at writing html code, and then use Expression Web to make the pages. The websites they make will give them the opportunity to showcase what they are studying in social studies. In preparation for this, the students took part in a Brain Pop all about the Revolutionary War.

4th Grade Tech

The students have set off on their Oregon Trail adventure. The bad news is that if they didn't take enough supplies or have the right skills they may not make it. The good news is that it's a computer simulation so they can always start a new game! If you would like to play with your child, there are versions available for the Wii and for mobile phones. You can find out all about it at the publisher's website.

www.oregontrail.com

2nd Grade Tech

In Technology this week students have started running their own ice cream businesses in the Ice Cream Truck simulation game. They get to decorate their trucks, choose which types of ice cream to buy at the warehouse and what price to sell it at. They are starting to experiment with purchasing different quantities and changing the price to see how that affects sales. They are also learning that it is important to know where your customers are before you set up shop. Only a few of them are in profit at the moment, but the beauty of a simulation is we can start a new game if we go bankrupt!

Loteria in Spanish!

Students got ready for the Holiday Season. They played Loteria!!! OLE!

Free Choice in Tech!

This week in Technology the students had free choice. They were able to choose any of the games and programs we have used so far this year, or they could play in my Lego box - which is always a special treat for children of all ages (and me)!