Coca~Cola & Pepsi Elections

We are learning about the Electoral College and Presidential Debates this week.  We have divided into two teams:  Coca~Cola and Pepsi.  The students have researched their product so they can debate this Thursday and hopefully convince our class to choose their beverage as the official beverage of the U.S.A.

The Coca~Cola Team during their meeting.

The Pepsi Team during their meeting.

More Coca~Cola vs. Pepsi updates will follow later this week!

Favorite Candy

Last week during Daily Three the students were asked to complete a writing activity about their favorite candy.  Our focus skill for the week was adjectives so I thought that allowing them to describe their favorite candy using adjectives would be fun. 
Today we began listening to each students' description.  As we listened to them describe their favorite candy we tried to guess what it could possibly be.

One of our wonderful desciptions was:
My favorite candy is sweet.  When I put it in my mouth it melts.  It has a lot of flavor.  It is pink and blue.  You can get this candy at the fair.  It is very soft.  I love this candy because it can't crack your teeth.  This candy doesn't come in a wrapper.  Some of them come on a cone or in a plastic bag.  This candy makes me very hyper.  When you ball it up it makes it a little chewable.  This candy is very popular.  It looks a lot like died cotton.

By:  Hannah Cohn

Can you guess what Hannah's favorite candy is?  We all guessed pretty quickly because of her great description.  The only adjective I could think to add would be FLUFFY!

Strong Verbs

This week we are learning about strong verbs.  We are replacing weak verbs like ate with strong verbs like gobbled, munched, and devoured. 

Today we did a fun play to get us started and help us think about our use of verbs.

Our Cast Members:

Hannah - Announcer

Lorelei - Weak Verb

Jake - Strong Verb

Kailee - Groupie Girl

Welcome To The LSMS Cafeteria

A few ladies and gentlemen preparing for lunch.

Bling Slips

Students have the opportunity to earn Bling Slips using our Clip Up, Clip Down system.  A Bling Slip can be earned by clipping so far up the chart that the student's behavior gets them "off the chart."  Additional ways to earn Bling Slips are:  having a clean desk during a random desk check, winning a game, unused Oops Passes, and even returning papers on time.  5 Bling slips can be cashed in at any time for a reward.

A few of our reward choices are:
1.)  A lunch buddy from Mr. Holmes' or Mrs. Parker's class
2.)  A big fluffy chair all to yourself during any reading time for a whole week
3.)  A free slushie
4.)  A free bag of popcorn
5.)  An extra Oops Pass
6.)  A free Homework Pass
7.)  3 show & tell items
8.)  Read to a 3rd Grade or Pre-K Class

Lorelei was the first to cash her slips in and she chose to have a friend eat lunch with her.
Alyssa was next and she chose to sit in a big fluffy chair all week.
Annalaura followed Lorelei and Alyssa by choosing a homework pass.
Sam cashed his bling slips in and chose to read Tiger Woods to Mrs. Morris' class.

Today Mary Bradford used her Bling Slips to bring in a show & tell item.  She chose to bring her dog, Henry, to share with our class.  We LOVED getting to meet Henry.  We were able to hear him talk and see him give high fives.  He ran and ran and ran some more.  I bet Henry sleeps well tonight!

Happy Birthday!

Ta'Laya celebrated her birthday last week.  She brought in cupcakes so we could celebrate with her!

Happy Birthday Ta'Laya!!

Problem Solving

Last week in math students were divided into groups and given a word problem.   The students worked together to solve and illustrate their problems.  Following their problem solving they presented their problems and answers to the class.

Sheff Cup

Last week was the ever anticipated Sheff Cup.  Sheff Cup is almost as excited and important as Turkey Bowl.  Our first game was again Mrs. Corson's class.  We came out strong and won that game 7 - 2 which moved us into the finals.

In the finals we played Mrs. White's class.  Unfortunately we came up short in that game :(.   Every student played hard though and that's all I asked for!

Montgomery

Friday morning we pulled out of the school parking lot BRIGHT AND EARLY.  As always the kids were very excited and did not go back to sleep as they thought they would.

There was a lot of game playing going on while we traveled.

We arrived safely at the capitol, listened to our instructions, and began our tour.

A few of us laying in the Rotunda.

Listening to our guide explain a few of the paintings on the walls.

Following our tour a few of us posed for a quick picture on the capitol steps and then found a spot to enjoy a quick snack on Goat Hill.

Following our visit to the capitol we crossed the street and made our way to the Alabama State House.

We climbed several flights of stairs before making our way to the house chamber.  The students got to sit at the representatives desks and vote on a few bills.

Our last stop in downtown Montgomery was Archives.  We learned about Pre-Historic Alabama Indian tribes.

We also had an opportunity to spend some time in a military room.   

Our last stop for the day was at Old Alabama Towne.  We put first things first by eating lunch and playing!

We visited a tavern which is a very old hotel where pioneers lodged along their journey.

One of the two tavern bedrooms

 Another of the tavern bedrooms.  The mattresses were supported by ropes.  We learned that the phrase "sleep tight" came from this type of rope bed because the ropes needed to be tight in order to provide support.  They would sleep a minimum of 4 people in each bed.  We also learned that you would have to sleep with strangers.

 A place setting at the tavern.  Check out that fork!

We stopped by a barn on the way to a log cabin.  Our guide taught us a little about farming.

Our final stop for the day was this log cabin.  This was a typical home in Alabama during the 1800s.  The top of the house was a loft that would sleep at least 6 children.  

We had a great trip and learned a lot!

Theme

Last week we began focusing on a new CAFE strategy.  Our new strategy is Universal Theme.  We read a few picture books to learn how to determine what the universal theme of a book is.

The first book we read was Alexander Who's Not Going To Move.  We decided that the theme of that book was moving isn't too bad.  We also learned that every book has a theme.  We brainstormed a list of possible themes.

The next day we read The Empty Pot which taught us about integrity.

Creating Arrays

Last week students were given 12 products.  They were to create an array to match each product. 

Governent Review Game

Yesterday we played a review game to prepare for our Alabama History test.  We divided up into teams to see who had the most knowledge!

Team A is having a team discussion as they prepare to answer a question...

Team B is discussing their team's answer.

The final score was Team A 11 and Team B with 12 after a tie breaker.



Moving Day

We try to change seats in our classroom on the first school day of every month.  The kids came in yesterday so eager to move to their new seat! 

Moving in our classroom isn't easy because our desks are attached.  The students have to complete clean their desks out and then relocate using their chair as their moving vehicle.

Here are a few pictures of our chaos!

Following our move we came up with new names for our tables.  We used candy bars as our name theme.

Here is what they came up with...