Solar S'mores

First, we put all the ingredients together in aluminum foil:
graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.

Next, we put them into the sun and let SOLAR ENERGY do its magic!

Last of all, we enjoyed them!This could be another fun summer project!

Awards Day

As I said at the program, thank you parents for the support you've given to me and our class this year...you made my job a lot easier! I also want to say again that I am SO PROUD of the boys and girls...they've worked so hard and grown up so much. I know everyone will shine next year! I already miss everyone! This class will be difficult to replace in my heart.

This is Paris...

Bayliss' dad brought Paris to us by reading the book, This is Paris by Miroslav Sasek. We learned that Paris must be one of the most exciting cities in the world! There are famous buildings, beautiful gardens, cafés, and the Parisians-artists, concierges, flower girls, and even thousands of cats. Take a tour along the banks of the Seine, through the galleries of the Louvre, and to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Bayliss and his dad recently spent a week and Paris...thanks for bringing a little back with you to share!

pencil parts

In science today we learned where on our earth the natural resources needed to make a pencil come from. Did you know the wood comes from cedar trees in California? The graphite is mined in Mexico? The eraser comes from latex found in trees in South America? The aluminum from China?

Acid Rain update

This experiment has been a visual one. The results have been dramatic. They get it. :-(

last favor EVER!!!

Sometimes it is hard to be a parent AND a teacher at the same school. The mommy in me has 2 favors to ask...these will be my last, I promise!!!

1. Maggie's Award day is Thursday, May 21st at 1:30pm. I will need an hour coverage of the class. I will provide lesson plans! update: Quinn's mom will help with this!

2. I never eat lunch with Maggie and have promised I would do so for her 10th birthday. Her lunch is at noon so I will need coverage from 12-12:30 on Wednesday, May 27th. That is EASY because we are at recess. All you need to do is come to the playground (you can eat with your child prior!) at noon and then bring them in for water and then bring them to Spanish class on the stage. I will be done in time to pick them up at 1:05! update: Michaela's mom will help with this!

Good News!!!

It was a long two days. Major problems with the IV. I'm VERY tired. Despite all that, our family rejoices over the news...cancer-free for 2 years in a row!! Thanks for your support while I was gone...it looks like everything went smoothly during my absence!

dress rehearsal

Thursday will be a dress rehearsal right after journal time at 8:30. It would be helpful to wear your costume to school and then put it in backpacks to go home for the program later that night. Remember...no hats! Sorry to miss the fun!

Super Kids!!!

We decorated our field day t-shirts yesterday. Your child will be taking them home today...so check backpacks if you didn't already take it home this morning!! It's gonna be hot so be sure to wear shorts and plenty of sunscreen on Wednesday. Please come dressed for field day and remember to wear athletic shoes/socks. I know y'all will have a great time!!

Acid Rain

In class we learned that acid rain occurs when rain mixes with gases in the atmosphere and that these gases can come from factories, car exhaust, forest fires, and other resources. We also read that they can kill or damage trees, plants, and animals. We have had firsthand experience with our acid rain experiment in class. We started with 2 healthy plants (Spearmint) and will be watering one with unpolluted rain water (bottled water) and the other with acid rain (vinegar/water solution). Sadly, we'll expect the plant to die because most plants cannot survive when the acid level in the water is high. Each week we will record our results and discuss what has happened and what we predict might happen next. I am hoping to have one Spearmint plant for my garden at the end of the year!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Summer Reading

The Millionaire Club is an effort to keep Houston ISD’s students reading over the summer months. If all students read five books this summer, HISD students will have read 1 million books!!

Besides becoming better readers, students develop a love for reading, and the entire family can benefit by making reading a family activity. Reading over the summer is the best way to make sure that students enter school in the fall with reading skills at or above the level they were at before leaving for summer break. Students who can least afford to risk the gains made during the school year in the area of reading suffer the most from summer reading loss.

Students should select and read a minimum of 5 books over the summer months. We are suggesting two fiction books, two non-fiction books and one biography. However, any five books will work! They will complete the Reading Log which they will receive in a few days. In the fall, they will return the log in order to be eligible to receive prizes for participating in the Millionaire Club.

Art Cars

Some of the Art Cars came to school today. We were impressed with the amount of stuff people put on their cars that appeared to be reused and recycled items!

calendar of events

Get your calendar out and make note of our BUSY schedule for the last few days of school:

*** NO HOMEWORK OR GEOGRAPHY NEXT WEEK...out 3 days...not fair to the kids!!! ***

May 12 - PYP day. I will be on campus all day in a meeting with the 1st grade team
May 13 - Field Day. I will be absent. I am sorry...MDA stuff. Tennis Shoes/socks MUST be worn!!! Vi Lewis wants to provide pizza for the kids and pasta for the parents for lunch. If your child would like otherwise, they need to bring a lunch.
May 14 - 1st grade program 7:00pm. I will still be absent. I am really sorry...cannot be avoided.
May 18 - 1st grade awards 8:30am.
May 22 - waste-less picnic at McGovern Park...more information to come later.
May 25 - Memorial Day. No School.
May 26 - 1st grade end of the year party at Karl Young Park.
May 28 - Last day of school...early dismissal

I've got a migraine just thinking about it...

our new principal

Today the faculty met our new principal, Mr. John Baker. I think he was well received and let me be the first to tell you...I love him! You be the judge (and I know you will agree)... he will also be introduced to the community this evening at 6:00pm. I hope to see all of y'all there!

Our Class Landfill

Today we talked a bit about what landfills are, how long everyday items take to decompose, made our own class landfill, and started a journal to record what we see in the next few weeks. We added aluminum, paper, plastic, Styrofoam, lemons, material and lettuce to our landfill in class. We will be keeping a log documenting what we see for the rest of the school year. I'm thinking about saving it (that is a horid thought) and digging through it the same time next year with my new class!

The class was SHOCKED and HORRIFIED to find out how long stuff takes to decompose. Did you know it takes 450 years for plastic? 500+ years for glass? 100 years for tin? 350 years for aluminum? 1 year for material? 1 month for paper? Beware...the kids all wanted to make their own landfills for home! Maybe a summer project? :-)

We all wanted to know how long it took Styrofoam to decompose. We looked it up...more than 1 million years! At one point someone made the connection out loud..."OMG, Chick-fil-A uses Styrofoam cups!" SK immediately said, "I will never go there again!" The kids unanimously decided that we needed to take action and write a letter showing our displeasure and concern...

We used part of my coffee cup in our class landfill...apparently, it will be around for the next million years!

Of course, I felt like the biggest earth grinch when the kids pointed out my Styrofaom coffee cup our Junior Achievement volunteer brought me this morning and then the Styrofoam plate and cup from the teacher appreciation lunch PTO provided. Here's a heads up...all the kids said they had important things to discuss with their parents tonight at dinner...just a warning!

Teacher Appreciation

Thank you for making my day so special. I especially enjoyed the individual flowers each child contributed to the bouquet. What teamwork! I am lucky to have such a caring class. Thanks for the photos Cathie!

natural resources

Today we watched a short video on our earth's natural resources and how we use them in our every day lives. Our art today reflects what we've learned and what natural resources are important to us. Enjoy!

Bash Swim Party

Luckily, rain didn't come...what a wonderful way to end our week! The weather was gorgeous, the snacks were yummy and the kids had a fabulous time! I enjoyed visiting with everyone...thanks for supporting Mark Twain!!

buttons

Does anyone have any scrap buttons around the house? If so, bring them by the classroom...we could use them! :-) Please don't go out and buy some...we are looking to recycle!

writers

Today the children were given the assignment to compare a clean environment with a polluted environment. Because they have diligently written in their journals every day all year long... they can easily write what is on their mind! Their thoughts were clearly written and well thought out. Well done! I think I see some 2nd graders in here...

How We Share the Planet

We've started my favorite planner, How We Share the Planet...affectionately known as "The Whole World is in our Hands." The central idea is that we are all connected to the natural world and our actions affect it! We will inquire into the natural resources of our planet and how we share and use them. We will also delve into the significance of protecting our "backyard" as part of our planet.

polluted environment

Today we read Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute. Afterwards, we had a very heartwarming discussion on what happens to our earth when others don't take care of it. We learned 3 new words...ecology (how all creatures, plants and earth work together), conservation (not wasting valuable things on our earth like metal, wood, oil and water), and recycle (finding ways to use things over and over). We all agreed that each of us CAN make a difference! We'll write all about it tomorrow...be on the lookout!

Pesky Air Polluters

We learned a bit about pesky air polluters in our world as we started our new planner on ecology...more on that later! They were sad to find out that people are in the "top 10" of polluters of our earth. Sad.

Junior Achievement

Mr. Tran came for our Junior Achievement time today. The kids have totally loved his visits. They really fit in with our career planner! Next week will be his last visit. He has reported to me that he is bringing donuts (and coffee for me!) next week. I didn't have the heart to tell him the kids will go totally wacko after ingesting a yummy glazed delight! He'll never know...he gets to leave! :-)

IMPORTANT information!!!!!

There seems to be a million things going on right now...here are a few important things to know:

1. Please bring a recycled can to school by Friday. We will be making special projects with these...no questions please. wink, wink.


2. Pictures went home today. These are not paid for. If you like them, send a check or money. If not, please send the pictures back.


3. Field day is May 13. Please bring a light blue t-shirt to school by May 8th...we will be decorating these in class.


4. Our 1st grade program is May 14th. Please help your child find a costume that suggests the job of a worker in our community...no hats.

Our crazy day started with Mrs. Franco's class hanging out in our classroom for a while. It ended with us getting an announcement at2:00 from Mrs.Dauber that all after school activities in HISD had been cancelled and that I should call all extended day parents at work in my free time to make arrangements for the kids to leave early. Oh, my...

Career Walk

We pretended to take a walk around our community and took pictures of different jobs we saw. We added words to our "photos" as we added them to our scrapbooks.

The Lorax

We concluded our Earth Day project today. On Earth Day we read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed the earth's natural beauty. Inspired by Dr. Seuss, we created our own Seusslike creatures, named them, and told if they live to save the earth like Lorax or pollute the world like Onceler. The creatures/stories will go home. Enjoy.

Shriner's Hospital field trip

Our first stop was seeing where they made all the casts and braces on site. They showed us different kinds of braces for different parts of the body.

We were curious about the casts and even got to have one made of our fingers!

We didn't go into surgery but we saw where it was. We even got a mask and hat to wear for the rest of the tour. I wonder who will wear these when they grow up?

The Motion Analysis Lab was a pretty cool place. The technology was amazing! We found out filming movies uses the same types of technology. We thought it was great that there was even a Wii...they are looking for ways to use it in their therapies.

We visited one of their physical therapy rooms. It looked like the therapists work hard to make time spent there fun. Everyone tried their hand at one of the exercises.

We went to the boardroom and saw first hand where a lot of important decisions are made. We also found out that Shriner's Hospital is free to everyone and that they don't even have a billing department. Amazing.

We stepped out for a moment onto the outdoor observation deck. The kids were amazed at the view. I heard someone say, "I can see Oklahoma!" Then I heard another say, "Oh, yeah. I can see all the way to Canada!" Well, their geography was correct...just a bit inflated. Priceless.

All 6 1st grade classes were able to eat lunch together. Their facilities were amazing and very accommodating. They even had hand sanitizer waiting for us!

We had a few moments down time and got to play on the outdoor play structure on the balcony! Next time you are driving down Main/Holcomb...be sure to ask your child to point Up where we played! The kids were VERY excited to play that high off the ground. No worries...there was no way down...even for our little monkeys!

Career Project 2

Our 2nd career project was done entirely at school. We first browsed through many books to learn about different types of jobs and then narrowed it down to a few we were most interested in. Based on book availability, a career was chosen. We learned about the services each career provided and how they interact within a community. At the end of their "research paper" the children had to tell why or why not they would consider the career studied when they were adults and why. Their answers were well thought out and wonderful!

Happy Earth Day

Today we listened to a story that I call The Starfish Story. It had no pictures...they just had to close their eyes and use their imagine! The kids did great! Afterwards, we brainstormed all the different ways we could make a difference to make our Earth a cleaner and greener place for our kid's kids! They had some great ideas!

Art a la carte # 5

Today Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Partridge and Mrs. Lang came in today to teach an Art a la Carte lesson on murals. The children created their own cooperative murals using pastels, depicting scenes about our class... school buses, cafeteria food, Mark Twain, me, Ike the Hermit Crab, flags and maps galore from our map planner. Not quite a Diego Rivera Fresco, but pretty close...he would be proud of us! Every child participated with a smile and artistic flair!

Career Projects

We completed our projects today and took pictures for our portfolios! They turned out great and I think it was a pretty enriching and fun experience. I will try to get them out in the hall after school today.

attribute blocks

Today we experimented with a new kind of block...attribute blocks. They are different because they can be sorted by color (red, yellow, blue), shape (triangle, square, hexagon, circle, rectangle), and size (thick, thin).