We need supplies!

The Westward Expansion group will start building their very own covered wagons next week and we would love your help with supplies! If any families have cardboard boxes, fabric or anything else that might be good for wagon building, please send it to school on MONDAY with your child! We could really use some more building supplies! Thank you in advance for your help with this project!

Science and Social Studies Fun!

This week, we began our new science and social studies topic studies. Last week, students chose which topic they wanted to study: Light and Sound, Westward Expansion, or Space. Each group has been busy researching, experimenting, and traveling West. See for yourself...

Light and Sound

Rachel G. and Molly observe a pencil in a jar of water. They noticed that the pencil looks broken at the surface of the water and bigger in the water. We found out that light travels slower in water than air, causing the distorted appearance.

Aubrielle, Konnar, and Rachel G. experiment with mirrors after a discussion about reflection and refraction. Here they are planning how to build a periscope.

Nadia and Rachel G. have fun with magnifying glasses!

Westward Expansion

Mrs. Watson's group created and illustrated timeline of the 1800's.

Students work in small groups that have become their "families" they'll be traveling with on their Westward adventure. Each group came up with a family name: Donner, Smith, and Wilson. If your child is in the Westward Expansion group, ask them which family they belong to.

Each family made their own campfire to travel with.

Space

Mrs. Clifton's group has been researching planets. Here they are creating papier mache models of planets and asteroids.

Monday's Mystery Reader

On Monday we had a mystery reader from Stephens College. Two students from the film department came to record a clip for a video project. What a fun surprise read aloud!

Looking for a family event during the week?

Here is a fun opportunity brought to you by the University of Missouri. And it's FREE! On Wednesday nights from 8p.m. to 10 p.m. in Laws, the observatory is open to people of all ages to come and look through their telescope at the sky.

Click of the hyperlink below for more information.

Laws Observatory

We love our Smart Board!

In case you haven't heard, the Elementary Classroom received their very own Smart Board last week! A Smart Board is an interactive projector that can be connected to a computer. It is also a touch-screen and is so fun to use! The students are looking forward to using the Smart Board throughout our last weeks of school! Here is a picture of Manny playing with an interactive puzzle:

Cluster Wrap-Up

Today the students wrapped up their cluster projects by sharing some highlights of their studies with their classmates!

Nicole examines a message in a bottle made by the Titanic group.

A group of students read messages in bottles.

The Games group shares the board game they created.

These gals love clusters!

Lilly, Jackson, and Miles encourage their classmates to get up and dance with them during the Blues group's presentation.

Sean shows off his guitar skills.

Bake Sale

It's that time of year again! Time to sell some goodies and make some money for our kids! The Elementary Bake Sale is being held next Wednesday, April 27th, from 9am-2pm in Stamper Commons. We already have parents scheduled to help run the booth and are looking to everyone to help provide the wonderful goods to sell! There was a great turnout for the Fall Bake Sale and I hope that everyone is able to join in and donate some yummy items to offer up for sale.

We ask that you please send baked goods with your children on the morning of Wednesday, April 27th. Please individually wrap the items and if the contents are not glaringly obvious, we would also ask that you label the items. If you can bring baked items, please email Jen Stem at nicniffer@hotmail.com.

FYI...the preschool will have their bake sale in Audrey Webb on Tuesday, April 26th.

New Science/Social Studies Topics!

The school year is quickly drawing to a close (only 5 more weeks!), and the teachers wanted to end the year on a high note with some really exciting topics for our afternoons. For the last few weeks of school, the students will be engrossed in some awesome activities and experiments stemming from the following topics: Westward Expansion, Space, and Sound and Light. Instead of trying to squeeze all three of these exciting topics into the last month of school, however, we decided to let the students choose what they wanted to study! The students thought about which topic they really wanted to know more about and the following groups emerged:

1. Westward Expansion with Mrs. Watson and Ms. Parks
Students: Nicole, Thomas, Lilly, Olivia, Robin, Sean, Alec, Holly, Rachel E., Chase, Maggie, and Brandon


2. Space with Mrs. Clifton
Students: Helen, Jeannie, Natalie, Manny, Miles, Reece, Jack, Rebekah, Savannah, Eric and Lindy


3. Light & Sound with Ms. Johnson and Ms. Howle
Students: Joey, Will, Alex, Isabel, Molly, Aubrielle, Ethan, Rachel G., Nadia, Ben, Alexis, Katie, and Konnar

The Earth Day Festival

This past weekend several of our students performed with our music teacher, Miss Violet, at the Earth Day Festival downtown. When it was their turn to take the stage at Peace Park, our students fearlessly sang loud and proud. It was a fantastic performance for the singers and audience alike!

For those of you who were unable to attend the festival, here are some snapshots of the performance...

Click here to see a photo of our performance in the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Gumball Math

Today our class put their estimation skills to the test. First, we divided the students into multi-age groups. Then, each group estimated how many gumballs they could collect from the playground in 5 minutes. Ready...Set...GO!

After time was up, the students met back with their groups to begin counting their gumballs. Each group had to work as a team to figure out the most effective strategy for counting such a large number of objects.

Here are each team's estimation and their final number:

Team

Doggie Kitty Mousie - Guess: 100, Final: 564

Pizzeria - Guess: 60, Final: 850

Spicy Kitty Nachos - Guess: 110, Final: 1, 099

The Weirdos - Guess: 200, Final: 740

Leprechans- Guess: 99, Final: 390

Hundred Puppies - Guess: 90 , Final: 687

Tigers - Guess: 90 , Final: 300

Totals:

Guess: 749

Final: 4,630

Spring Has Sprung!

We have been enjoying the beautiful Spring weather this week. After a long winter, nothing feels better than a sunny, breezy recess break!

Class Photo with Jezebell and Jujubee

Happy Spring!

College Student Clusters

Every year in the Spring, the Junior class of the Education Department designs their own 2 week unit. They do their own research, planning, and organization to prepare the unit and then come into our classroom and teach it to the students. It is great practice for the college students as future teachers and the elementary students always enjoy the creative topics. This year, the college students will be joining us starting this Thursday, April 7th from 1-3:30 p.m. From then until Friday, April 22nd, the college students will be in our classroom teaching every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-11 a.m and every afternoon from 1-3:30 p.m. Each elementary student will be placed in one of the following cluster topic groups: Film, Theater, Astronomy, The Blues, The Titanic, or Games. This is such a special time for our classroom and a unique experience for both the elementary and college students. Our daily schedule will be very different than usual, so make sure you check the blog regularly for changes and updates!