Telling Mrs. Sain Goodbye

Mrs. Sain is graduating Saturday and we are so proud of her!  She has been so helpful in our classroom and we know she will be successful as a teacher.  Today was her last day so the kids made her a few cards and we had cupcakes to celebrate her success.

Good Luck Mrs. Sain!  We will miss you!

Fiddler Crabs

Tuesday we went back to the Adventure Lab to meet our Fiddler Crabs.  Each student received their own crab to observe.  

They noticed that the crab's carapace was typically a dark brown.

 They saw little feeler hairs on the crab's legs.

They learned that the crabs can only move from side-to-side.

A few other things they learned were:

Fiddler Crabs molt by their exoskeleton softening enough to grow

Fiddler Crabs have gills to help them breathe under water

Male Fiddler Crabs have one large chelae and one small chelae

Female Fiddler Crabs have two small chelae

They have two eye stalks on their cephalathorax

Meet Ginger

Molly loves horses, so naturally she chose to present her non-fiction book share on horses and ponies.  Molly chose to bring her horse, Ginger, as her something extra.  The weather wasn't the best, but the kids LOVED meeting Ginger.  Many had never seen a horse up close before, which made this a great experience!

Molly shared about Ginger's age, how she cares for her, and how she is able to get climb onto such a large animal.

Thank you for sharing with us Molly!

Dwarf African Frogs

Monday we traveled to the Adventure Lab to FINALLY meet our critters.  The first animal we had to pleasure of observing was the Dwarf African Frog.  The students were able to see just how tiny these little creatures are.  They were fascinated!

They learned that the frog's webbed feet help it as it swims.

 

The were able to see just how thin the frog's skin is.

They learned that the frogs molt, or shed their skin.

 They also saw their tiny little claws.

We had a great time observing our frogs!

Punt Zoey, Punt!

Our friend Zoey was one of the LSMS Punk, Pass, and Kick winners.  Zoey was given the opportunity to travel to Bob Jones High School to compete against other area PP&K winners.

Zoey won the Bob Jones PP&K and then traveled to Atlanta, GA to compete in PP&K the week of Thanksgiving.  Zoey received tickets to the Falcons vs. Saints game, was able to meet Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, and also played on the Falcons' field!  

Guess what??  ZOEY WON PP&K at the Falcons game.  She now gets to go to an NFL play-off game and if she wins there she's going to the Super Bowl!  We have a few very envious classmates :)

CONGRATULATIONS ZOEY!

Zoey is pictured with her 1st Place PP&K Football from the Falcons game.

Decking The Halls - Literally

We began getting in the Christmas spirit by decorating the LSMS Gingerbread House.  Each student decorated peppermints and peppermint sticks. 

 We took all of our materials and colorful cut-out circles to the house and began decorating.  It turned out so cute!

Later, each student received 3 post-it notes.  The students were asked to draw what comes to mind when they think of Christmas.  These post-its were used to form a large Christmas tree that we placed on our bulletin board in the hallway.

They also each received a coffee filter.  The students colored the coffee filters with washable markers and then sprayed them with water causing the colors to spread.  They folded their coffee filters into eights and then cut along the edges to create beautiful snowflakes.  To break things up in the hallway they also made white paper snowflakes.  Our hallway looks so festive!

The last thing we did was use snow globes to illustrate our favorite scenes from our favorite books.  I think each snow globe represents a different book.  They wrote about their scene at the bottom of the globe.  You should stop by and read some of them if you have a chance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MRS. UPTON'S CLASS!

Turkey Bowl!

In August when students check their class list for the year there are typically 3 things on their mind:

1.)  Do I like my teacher?

2.)  Do I have any friends in my class?

3.)  WILL WE WIN THE TURKEY BOWL??

The time to find out the winner for this year's Turkey Bowl finally arrived.  We traveled to Rhodes Ferry Park to play Mrs. Corson's class.

We arrived at Rhodes Ferry Park and began a little warm-up.

eye-black is a MUST

We are READY!!

 A few action shots versus Mrs. Corson's class.

 Enjoying a snack and watching Mrs. Parker and Mrs. White play while we wait for our next game

We played the winner of Parker vs. White in the championship.  Mrs. White's class won so they became our next, and final, opponent.  It was a hard-fought game by both teams.  We ended up getting the win with 1 minute left in the game.

VICTORY!!

CHAMPIONS!  Way to go guys!!

 

Thanksgiving Rotations

This past Monday the 4th grade teachers decided to create a rotation schedule for the students.  Each classroom held a special Thanksgiving activity for the students to have fun with.

They began in my classroom and created an Indian Glyph.  We were super busy cutting, coloring, and gluing so I didn't come away with a picture :(

Mrs. Parker had a butter making station.  The students used a zip-loc baggy and heavy whipping cream to create their own butter.

 They painted thankful trees in Mrs. Corson's class!

In Mrs. White's class they made Johnny Cakes and watched The Little House On The Prairie.  

The overall favorite rotation of the day was Mr. Holmes' activity.  The took the students outside to play Native American games.  They had a blast!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Nykia!  Thank you for letting us share in your special day.

Veterans Day Program

Each year our Fine Arts Department heads up a wonderful Veterans Day Program.  Each grade level sings a song and shares a piece of writing.  Center Stage also performs a medley of service hymns.  It truly is a great program!

Here are a few students waiting for the program to begin.

 This is 4th grade singing their song, Sing A Song Of Peace.

Our very own Jack Wilson was chosen to share the letter he wrote to a Veteran.