it's a BUGZ world

What an amazing job the kids did yesterday! These bugz are too cute to squish!

It's All about the EARTH!

For months we watched the ground collapse. Today was the day that we dug up our pumpkin. Yesterday, we predicted what we would find, and then did the dirty work today! We were RIGHT! The pumpkin was absorbed into the dirt while the trash was still there. You should have heard the kids expression when the shovel hit my Diet Coke can... the crunch of all the aluminum and plastic under the dirt was like discovering a hidden treasure. Kids were able to apply what they learned with a great discussion about what we should do differently? We may be hunting a recycling bin soon.

JOBS popping up everywhere!

Today we used the Popplet app to show a little of the knowledge we have about jobs... Check out the team work and technology skills they learned while showing off what they know about which jobs produce a good or a service!

The TAX MAN comes...

When I was first putting the information on the board, I heard kids say that they were going to earn money based on what they had in their wallet. There was collective awww, when I explained that we all pay a certain amount based on what we have earned. To go with our economics lessons, today we talked about Taxes. Kids learned that they help pay for things in our community, and then the Tax Man (Woman) came to collect payment. The class was way more eager to pay up, than I was (or imagine you were!). Be sure to ask about how much they had to pay and what it will be used for...

Pictures Say it BEST!

A picture is worth 1,000 words! Can you tell we had fun.

It all goes Round and Round...

Choice is the best learning tool there can be. Today I gave kids 1 task create something to show the Human life cycle that tells what happens at each stage! They could use ANYTHING in the class and had 45 minutes. They picked a partner (if they wanted one), and went to work! WOW! These are the days that I LOVE TO HAVE!

TOO pretty to not do Math!

I know why everyone wants to live in California...if I taught there, I would never have a kid inside. The last few days have made me get the kids moving and soaking up a little sunshine. We stated math time with a warm up outside. Adding and subtracting 10, adding and subtracting 1 is an important skill. Yesterday we pretended like we were on a 100's chart and physically made the jumps to connect mind to body! We finished up the math block with a little small group problem solving, by srawing a bar model to solve for the missing part. Check out these 2 hard workers!

Art on the MOVE!

Today was a special treat for the kids and myself. HCE was treated to see some of the Art Cars as their first stop on the parade. I loved to see the kids reaction the cars, and this was a great way to be exposed to some FUNKY art! The artist that designed the cars was driving or riding in the cars. Kids got to ask questions and look at the special art. One of the artist said "my car smells purple?" The kids were quick to know that meant grade!

Planning Q&A Books

Here is a great example of planning a Question and Answer book, This is Logan using his hand motions to make sure that he had all the parts that make a great Q&A Book.

Math and beautiful days!

What goes together better than building 100's charts and a beautiful day. Today we used what we knew about numbers to build only a part of a 100's chart. Each group had to use what they know about a number being 10 more or 10 less, 1 more or 1 less. From there, we put the numbers in order! This was a huge skill, and a great way to get outside and enjoy our California like weather!