Well, I am sitting at City Brew in Laurel as my internet at home seems to be frozen. It is FREEZING outside!!!! I am a fan of snow by nature, but this is getting a little bit crazy! I am not sure about Billings, but we were totally drifted in. Zach has a 4 wheel drive truck and ended up stuck on the path up to our house last night. Now, that is deep! Nothing like checking cows for calves at 2 in the morning during a blizzard. Yesterday, when I got home, I went out and did some videos to share with the kiddos of what life on the Grewell Ranch is all about. In preparation for the below zero temperatures, we had to clear out shelters for the calves, re-straw them, and then lay down bale after bale after bale after bale of straw for the mamas so they could bed down and be warm too. It bothers me to see animals cold, so I quizzed Zach last night as to just how much they can take. I never knew that cows have double hair. The top layer is designed to keep out moisture. They have another layer under it to keep them warm. Their hide is also very warm. When they lay down, it keeps their legs and tail warm. Who knew??? I will share those videos at CC Meeting on Monday.
It is March! This means it is almost my favorite holiday!!! I am in LOVE with Ireland, and it is on my bucket list to get there one day. I am not Irish at all, but for some reason I have always been in love with it. So, throughout the month we will center our academics around a St. Patrick's Day theme. For example, this week, we will take a closer look at coordinate graphing in all four quadrants. We will also be learning the names of all our polygons and their attributes while making an Irish flag. Not to mention, turning ourselves into leprechauns and doing a wanted poster with some descriptive writing. Have you figured out yet that I am a HUGE believer in learning a lot but in a fun way. There is so much research that states that when kids connect to their learning in a meaning way they transfer it to long term memory. For kids, that means fun. Half the time they don't even realize how much they are learning until we sum it up. I thank you for trusting my style of teaching and for often complimenting it. It is so easy to get lost in academics, and there was a time I was a very academic driven teacher. Then, one day I looked up and realized that I had no clue who my students really were. That was the day I changed my style and started building relationships with each child. Once I won their trust and hearts, they would and did learn everything. The more fun or gross I could make the learning, the more they would retain it. Ever since then, I have promised myself to know exactly who I was teaching and to really, really care about each and every child inside and outside of school. And that is my job???? How lucky am I???? Super lucky!!! (Hey, maybe that is why I love St. Patrick's Day?) :0)
On Friday, we started our leprechaun learning during our hands on science day. When kids were in my class I passed out a bag of leprechaun gold dust to each child. They then had to discuss and come up with all the physical properties of the dust using all their senses except taste. Then, we discussed how we could create a chemical change. We needed to change it from a solid state to either a gas or liquid. So, we decided to add some milk and then move it around with the friction of our hands (cooking it). Therefore, we were adding heat. (chemical change component). We talked about how we could never get it back to the same powder again. Therefore, a chemical change had taken place. Now, we had a magical GREEN liquid instead of white powder, and we could see the pieces of gold really well, where they were hidden in the white powder before. I am not sure if you know but when you have a chemical change on leprechaun gold dust, it then becomes edible. Many said that it tasted like pistachio pudding. But, it is leprechaun gold dust. That's my story and I am sticking to it. :0) Those darn tricky leprechauns! Ask your child about this. If they can share it with you, write the word GOLD in the planner for $10.
Thank you to all of those that participated in the Read A Thon. What a great success. It will all go to making Arrowhead an even more amazing place to learn! Thank you!
I have seen many book orders online. Kids are loving earning their $50 for each book they order, and I am loving ordering new books for our classroom CC library. I will submit the order this coming Friday. Books should be delivered to our class shortly after that.
Next week, we will be learning a lot.
Math: Geometry continues: coordinate graphing, polygons, and a review of perimeter and area at a higher level.
Lead 21-Finishing up our leveled readers and theme book stories. We have been working hard at finding different types of figurative language and cause and effect statements. Next up, animals.
Spelling- Review week. All students will do the review work out of the book. There will be NO spelling tests this week for book or alternates.
Language-Combining sentences using conjunctions and commas.
S.S.-Test on M.W. unit, states and caps test Friday, and beginning our next region.
MT History-horse and gun influence in tribal life.
Science-Science fair is coming up soon. How are the experiments coming???
Well, I think that about covers it all. We are looking forward to seeing Riley's star of the week stuff on Monday. Have a fantastic weekend and stay warm. I will see you on Monday!
Ms. Erickson
