End of School Year Tribute

Current Events

Some of our older students have been reading current events for the past three weeks. They have learned about the oil spill, the ferry crash in New York, and the supreme court judge-Elena Kagan! The students have read articles from the local newspapers, looked at online articles and watched news clips. Below are their final projects (with the limited time they had) of their current events. They decided to pretend to do news reports!

We Love Science!

We had a blast learning with Dr. Alan James, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Science at Columbia College (and Alec & Natalie's Dad!). Dr. James conducted several science experiments including electrifying a pickle! We talked about liquid nitrogen-nitrogen that is cold enough to exist in liquid form. Here are a few facts we learned and information about handling liquid nitrogen safely:

Liquid Nitrogen Facts

• At normal pressure, liquid nitrogen boils at 77 K (−195.8°C or −320.4°F).
• The liquid to gas expansion ratio of nitrogen is 1:694, which means liquid nitrogen boils to fill a volume with nitrogen gas very quickly.
• Nitrogen is non-toxic, odorless, and colorless. It is relatively inert. It is not flammable.
• Nitrogen gas is slightly lighter than air once it reaches room temperature. It is slightly soluble in water.

Liquid Nitrogen Safety

• Liquid nitrogen is cold enough to cause severe frostbite upon contact with living tissue.
• Wear proper safety gear when handling liquid nitrogen to prevent contact or inhalation of extremely cold vapor. Make sure exposed skin surfaces are covered and preferably insulated.

We'd like to send a big thanks to Dr. James!

Plans for Last Week of School Year 2009-2010

Monday: We will be Tie-Dying in the afternoon. Please send a white t-shirt with your child(ren) that morning.

Tuesday: Field trip to Creative Days Art Studio. Please send $5 for the art projects they will be participating in.

Wednesday: Please send your child to school with a water bottle, comfortable clothes, and tennis shoes. Today we will be going to the park in the afternoon to have Field Day! (Putting sunscreen on the morning would help too!)

Thursday: Our last day of school for the year!!! We invite all families at 12:00 p.m to participate in an all school picnic on the school playground. Please feel free to bring lunch or pack a lunch for your child and family to eat together. This is a great time to bring blankets and chairs and eat in the shade. Watch your children play while you get a chance to mingle with other SCCS families.
*No hot lunch provided today.
*No extended day in the afternoon.
*If it rains the picnic will be canceled.

Literacy

Some students have been participating in Readers Theater-a time for students to work in groups and act out different children's books. On Friday, they presented their play to the other students in Mulitage and preschool students from Ms. Catherine's and Ms. Michelle's class.

Then the younger students of Multiage read to the preschool students. Muliage shared their published pieces inspired by our author study of Frank Serafini and Mo Willems.

All About Me

This week we had two All About Me presentations.

First we heard from Ben. He shared with us that he has three pets at home. One Guinea Pig and two Bunnies. He also shared his favorite snacks with us. Fig Newtons and Kiwi.

On Friday, Kaitlyn brought with her to school her favorite stuffed animal, book, purse, and snacks. She shared fruit snacks with the class. She also had a few special guests in the audience. Her mom, grandma, and grandpa!

Oceans, The Movie

After school gets out, I am planning to go see Disney's new feature film, Oceans. After spending several weeks doing an in depth study on the ocean in multiage, I am excited to see a film about the beauty and wonder of our world's oceans. This would be an excellent film for the whole family to go see this summer and to extend your child's learning after our study this year. Read what movie critic Liam Lacey from Globe and Mail writes about it:

"There are two recurrent reactions in watching the new documentary, Oceans: First, how on earth did they get that shot? Second, who knew we were sharing the planet with so many beautiful and bizarre creatures?

The answer to the first question is time, technology and patience. French team of Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud (the team behind the 2001 film, Winged Migration) spent seven years, four of them in gathering footage on more than 70 expeditions. They used cameras that allowed them to move intimately among the fish and animals in the ocean, sometimes taking months to capture a brief segment.

The movie opens with children scrambling across sand dunes, and one boy stopping to look at the ocean: “What is the ocean?” asks narrator Pierce Brosnan. The answer, he says, is that you have to immerse yourself in the ocean to understand it."

Read the full review.