Friday, December 15, 2017

Tour of the States

Attached is a link to the "Tour of the States" song by Renald Francoeur. I shared this song with the class earlier this year and they loved it! It's a great way to learn our country's states and capitals. I gave the class a challenge to memorize the lyrics by the end of the year.  Let's see who is up for the challenge!

https://youtu.be/_E2CNZIlVIg

I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour First, I'm gonna see Nashville, Tennessee Then Madison, Wisconsin, is where I gotta be, yeah Then I'll take a plane Well actually I'm afraid to fly, so I think I'll take the train Let's go! Going to Trenton, New Jersey; Frankfurt, Kentucky Maybe take a trip to Jackson, Mississippi Let's see what they can show me in Jefferson City, Missouri Santa Fe, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado Boise, Idaho, I love it every time that I go In 1492, he sailed the ocean blue, but next week I'll see Columbus in Ohio Grab a little sunshine in Tallahassee, Florida Take a bite out a peach in Atlanta, Georgia I've never been to Carson City, in Nevada, or Lincoln, Nebraska You can catch me in Phoenix, Arizona, or Sacramento, California, yeah St. Paul, Minnesota, maybe, Juneau, Alaska, yeah I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour Boston, Massachusetts; Concord, New Hampshire Going to Vermont for Montpelier Montgomery, Alabama, then Washington D.C., to see the nation's capital Aloha to Honolulu, Hawaii Des Moines, Iowa, so peaceful to me Going to Springfield, Illinois, to build a little house on a prairie In Little Rock, Arkansas, I love what I saw Going back to Dover, Delaware, ‘cause I want more Indianapolis, Indiana, and Hartford, Connecticut, need an encore Smelling pine trees in Augusta, Maine I like Topeka, Kansas, I'm glad that I came But I've never been to Salt Lake City, in the Utah, or Richmond, Virginia Going to see Bismarck, North Dakota, and Charleston, West Virginia, yeah Annapolis, Maryland, maybe Lansing, Michigan, yeah Helena, Montana; Columbia, South Carolina Got to go to Pierre, South Dakota, yeah, follow if you wanna I'll be eating a banana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Schedule that on my planner Friends say I gotta come sooner to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma So I guess I'm gonna But first I'm going to Cheyenne, Wyoming, then party in Raleigh, North Carolina Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, can't think of a rhyme for Pennsylvania So I'm skipping to Salem, Oregon, then Austin, Texas And then maybe Albany, New York, for breakfast Providence, Rhode Island, was a blast, and, Olympia, Washington, was just the best-est I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour

Friday, December 8, 2017

Dear Families,
     We were very busy in room 306 this week.  The class loved sharing their realistic fiction writing with parents and teachers at our writing celebration on Tuesday. Thank you for all for coming! Next week we start a new writing unit on persuasive writing.
      In math we finished unit 2 on Multiplication. We also practiced completing 50 math facts in 3 minutes. Thank you for encouraging multiplication practice at home. Those who have mastered their multiplication facts will move on to division. Next week we will start unit 3 on fractions. 
     For all of you who have students in Chorus and Orf, the winter concert is next Thursday, December 14 at 6:30 in the YES Gym.  Performers meet in the music room at 6:15.  I can't wait to hear them perform!


I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I see snow in the forecast!

Best,

Laura




Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Families,

Today we ended the day with a "Mini Mayflower" STEM challenge. The students had to design and build a ship that would float in water and carry as many pennies as possible without sinking. They could only use tinfoil, straws, popsicle sticks, tape, a flash card, and pipe cleaners.  

Here are the results:

Taylor, Katya, and Nazmiya's boat: 100 pennies
Madison, Imogen, Lizzie, and Lydia's boat: 71 pennies
Josh, Reed, and Sammy's boat: 60 pennies
Grace, Natalie, and Olive's boat: 40 pennies
Sawyer, Aidan, and Joey's boat: 40 pnnies
Sergio, Max, and Jude's boat: 23 pennies

They all worked hard and I was very impressed with their creativity.


I wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

Warmly.
Laura








Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Maine State Museum and The State House Field Trip



Hello Families,

We had such a fun day on our field trip to Augusta today. Thank you to the parents who helped chaperone the trip! I heard a few students say this was the best field trip they have ever been on.

We started our visit to Augusta with a tour of the State Capital Building. The student's enjoyed visiting the House of Representatives Chamber and actually sitting in the representative's chairs.

At the museum we listened to a presentation on the importance of iron.  The students learned what temperature iron ore must be to melt and got to help make a widget. They enjoyed viewing each exhibit in the museum and learning about Maine's history, resources, and nature. Make sure to ask your child what they learned. You can also check out their seesaw post to read what they had to say about the field trip.

Have a great night!

Best,
Laura





Thursday, November 9, 2017

Hi Families,

We had a blast in room 306 this week! Here are just a few things we worked on:

-Factor Bingo
-Area and Perimeter robots
-Reading The Young Man And The Sea
-Editing and revising our realistic fiction stories
-Explaining our thinking in math
-Veteran's Day discussion- Each students shared a Veteran they know and we discussed the reason why we have this day off from school.

Wednesday, November 15 is our field trip to the Maine State Museum in Augusta. Remember to pack your child a lunch and a snack.  If you volunteered to chaperone, please email me to confirm that you are still available. I also need to know if you're taking the bus or driving on your own.

It is getting cold outside! Now that temperatures are below 40 degrees I wanted to remind you to send your child in with a jacket or sweatshirt  and pants to school.  Students can not wear t-shirts and shorts outside for recess.  

Starting next week I will be posting homework on the classroom blog. This way you can check in with your child to make sure they're completing their assignments.

Have a fantastic long weekend!

Best,

Laura