What is something that happened long ago?

This week the younger students interviewed each other about their knowledge of history. The interview questions were 1. What is something that happened long ago? and 2. Who is someone that lived long ago? The answers they came up with ranged from the Great Pyramid to the building of the Statue of Liberty and from Cleopatra to my Grandma and Grandpa. Next week the older students will have an opportunity to share their knowledge. The younger students went through all of their answers to the interview questions and decided what was important enough to put on a historical timeline. History can be a very hard concept for young children to grasp so, first we have asked them to construct their own personal timeline in order to help them understand what has happened "in the past". They will be constructing their timelines as homework this weekend and will bring them back to share on Monday. A letter describing the assignment will be included in the younger students' Friday Folders tomorrow, so be on the lookout!

85th Birthday Party Update

So many parties going on! The SCCS 85th Birthday Party will be Thursday, February 24th and will take place all day long! Families and outside guests will have an opportunity to learn about our school's rich history, as well as see some amazing things our students have been working on this year and in years past. We will also be showcasing the roles of our college students, student teachers, and graduate assistants in our program througout the day. The celebration will culminate with refreshments and a special presentation after school at 5 p.m. The children do not have to stay after school for this (unless your family wants to!) All of the events will take place in either the Audrey Webb building or the elementary classroom. We hope to see a lot of you there!

Valentine's Day Party!

Valentine's Day is coming up and we are going to celebrate! During our afternoon time on Monday, February 14th the children will have an opportunity to exchange Valentines, play games and have a special snack! So far, we have heard from one parent that wants to volunteer to help with this event. We would like one more parent, as well. If you can't be here that afternoon to help or to join in the fun, we will also have an opportunity soon for you to sign up to bring a snack or a drink for the party. The children are welcome to bring Valentines to exchange. They need to bring one for every student in the class (40) and they can just put their own name on them and quickly pass them out to each student. Hope to see you at the party!

Snow Day Activity Ideas

Edible Snowflakes

Fold flour tortillas in fourths and use scissors to cut shapes out pf the folds, just like when you cut a paper snowflake, Brush with melted butter. sprinkle on cinnamon sugar and bake at 350 degrees until crispy.Yum!

Snow Cream

Make this yummy treat using clean fresh snow. Fold in a mixture of vanilla, milk and sugar to taste. You have a perfect treat for a snow day at home.

Board Games

Pull out your board games and have a fun day playing them. Some good ones to play are Sorry, Monopoly and Life. If you have younger children games like Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and Memory are good choices. If all you have is a deck of playing cards bring them out and teach the kids how to play Go Fish, Slap Jack or War.

PJ and Popcorn Movie Day

Let the kids wear their pajamas all day, make some popcorn and watch movies. some good choices for a Snow Day movie marathon are Jack Frost, Snow Dogs,Snow Buddies, and Snow Day.

Snowflake Art

Put your coffee filters to good use and let the children fold them in fourths and cut small shapes from the folds to make beautiful snowflakes. You can drizzle on glue and sprinkle with glitter for a sparkly effect. Once dry use scotch tape to hang in windows and around the room.

Freeze Dance

Put on some music and let the kids get some energy out by dancing. When the music stops they have to freeze in place. Anyone who moves while frozen is out. The winner is the last person dancing.

Sock Puppet Show

Put those unmatched socks to good use by letting the kids use craft materials to turn old socks into sock puppets for a Snow Day Puppet Show. An old box can be decorated and turned into a impromptu puppet stage. Kids will enjoy putting on a show for the whole family.

Snow Painting

Kids will enjoy using spray bottles to paint on snow.Fill a few spray bottles with a few drops of food coloring and water. Bring in a pan of fresh snow and let the kids spray paint on snow. Talk about how the colors blend to make new colors and what happens when the colored mixture hits the snow. This activity is a fun art and science project rolled into one.

Indoor Picnic

Make some sandwiches and other picnic foods, bring out a blanket and have a picnic indoors. While enjoying your lunch talk about the things you like to do when its warm outside.

Indoor Scavenger Hunt

Give each child a list of common household items and have them go on an indoor scavenger hunt. so the kids aren't running all over the house limit this activity to a couple of rooms and make a no running rule. Have a small prize available for the winner.

Ideas Courtesy of Danielle Fetters of Associated Content on Yahoo Parents.

Sorting and Surveys

Mrs. Johnson and Ms. Howle's math groups working on

collecting and representing data....

Mrs. Johnson's group organized data they collected from a class survey:

How many teeth have you lost?

Brandon and Eric sort markers by color.

Katie sorts pattern blocks by shape and color.

Lindy sorts buttons by color.

Snapshots from Thursday's Showcase

Sean tells Ms. Peter about his Lego creation.

Helen shares her paper dolls with Lindy and Rebekah.

Eric shows Thomas how his Bat mobile works.

Brandon shares a semi truck carrying a bulldozer.

Rachel G. having fun with Polly Pocket.

Robin demonstrates how magnets work and explains how some materials can become magnetized by being rubbed against another magnet. Did you know that a magnet can be cut in half and become two new magnets?

Will's motorized marble run was a big hit!

Chase shows Mrs. Clifton how he builds his magnetic ferris wheel.

Clubs

Making pop-up books with Ms. Howle

Decoupage with Mrs. Clifton

Card Games with Ms. Parks

Making Thunder Cake with Mrs. Johnson

Proud Artists!

Friday is Library Day

Data and Probability

We kicked off our new math unit this week: Data and Probability. The younger students jumped write into data collection. Mrs. Johnson's group recorded the number of letters in the first name of each student in our class and analyzed the data they collected. Ms. Parks' group collected data and visible characteristics of the students in our class and compared and contrasted that. Ms. Howle's group conducted their very own surveys. The older students explored probability with questions like "How likely is it that we will have literacy tomorrow?" and "How likely is it that it will snow tomorrow?" At home, you can play sorting games with your kids or conduct surveys of family members and then analyze the data. Also, find graphs and data in newspapers and magazines and ask your child what they learned by reading them.

Rebuilding our Community

This week the younger students participated in some exciting team/community building activities. After the break, we wanted to re-establish this feeling in our classroom. It is important for young children to have experiences working with their peers to solve problems and play games. Inevitably, there will be conflicts within friends and groups, so it is important to discuss those problems and practice working through them. We read Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes and Yoko by Rosemary Wells and discuss the conflicts within those stories. Then, we played games that required the students to work within a team and cooperate. We also did some other activities that got the students working with partners and groups that they normally wouldn't choose to get to know other students and make new friends. Ask your child what they learned about during these activities!

Memoir

Our new literacy study is on memoir writing. Memoirs offer a focused glimpse into an important memory from a writer's life. Memoirs can often be therapeutic and soothing for a writer to share with others. The teachers have been reading memoirs from authors such as Patricia Polacco, Cynthia Rylant, Tomie dePaola, Patricia C. McKissack, Allen Say, and others. Many of the students have already found inspriation in these authors and written their own memoirs. The students are learning that ideas for memoirs can come out of vacations, school, new experiences, or just spending time with family and friends. Share your own special memories with your children at home and ask them what some of their favorite memories are!

Keyboarding

The older students started working on some typing activities this week during our keyboarding/computers time. We want the students to get as much practice as possible with keyboarding before they enter middle school. Several of the students expressed that they practice typing at home. Sometimes it is hard to practice keyboarding at home without buying an expensive typing program for your computer. Mavis Beacon and other programs are great, but if here are a few FREE online typing games/activities that your child can easily use at home.

www.typing-lessons.org

http://www.powertyping.com/

http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/

http://www.freetypinggame.net/play10.asp