Place Value

We recently began a unit on place value and number sense.

Students created a chart listing and labeling place value.

The chart will be graded according to a rubric, which was thoroughly explained before we began the project. 

Fabulous First Week!

The week began the night before the first day of school, with students sprinkling "Planet Powder" under their pillows to get the jitters out.

On the first day of school each student participated in a scavenger hunt looking for another student in the class who...can count to 10 in a foreign language, has a dog, has brown eyes, left the country this summer, is on a team, etc. This was a fun way for students to get to know each other!

Homework the first day of school was to decorate and fill a "Getting To Know You" bag. 

Throughout the rest of the week each student got a chance to present his or her bag to the rest of the class. It was fascinating to learn about each student! This year in our class we have chess champions, math maniacs, baseball stars, rock climbers, super swimmers, amazing dancers plus lots more! 

We also worked on a glyph about pizza and a craft about apples. Along with creating the craft, each student had to scan various QR codes to learn facts about apples to include with their project. 

QR Codes are one of my favorite learning tools and we will be using them a lot this year.

On Thursday students literally clapped and cheered when I told them we would be "Buddies" with Mrs. Bird's 5/6 self-contained class again this year. Each student was matched with a buddy who they then interviewed and then later we played a game as a large group.

We wrapped up our fast paced week on Friday with a little "Mystery Science." Students worked collaboratively to create play-dough out of flour, oil, water and salt. Each team also got to choose a color to dye their dough.

Once each team was finished making their dough, they participated in some challenges like creating an animal out of dough, a musical instrument, something you eat, etc. 

We had a fabulous first week with a wonderful group of students! I am so excited about this coming week and the rest of the year!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back! As I am sure you all know, the 2014-15 school year kicks off on Tuesday, August 12. There is an open house in the classroom from 3:00 to 3:40 this Friday, followed by an ice-cream social in the cafeteria. Thanks so much for taking a few minutes to complete the form below to help me maximize the learning and potential of your child this year!

It's Summer! Now What?

Many parents have contacted me asking for ideas for activities to keep the learning flowing during summer. Here are a few possibilities:

pvLearners/Google Apps - The student pvLearners accounts remain active all summer! My class has become pretty proficient with Google apps so students can continue creating documents, surveys, presentations, etc.

Digital Storytelling - This tech savvy group could use a variety of digital storytelling tools including text, photography, video, audio and graphic illustrations to put together stories this summer. Some good digital storytelling apps include Tellagami, ScreenChomp, ThingLink, Animoto and PuppetPals.

Read - All students have access to the school's online library all summer. It can be accessed here, and the kids all know their username and password. 

Make a Movie - Movie creation is such an amazing learning experience! It would be a lot of fun to make a movie documenting the summer, a summer vacation or a topic of interest. Great movie-making tools include YouTube Editor, WeVideo and iMovie. There are lots of fun movie making apps too like Magisto or 1SecondEveryday that would activate some movie-making creativity. 

Blog - The student KidBlog accounts are still active all summer or students can set up his or her own blog using a pvLearners account and blogger. 

Foreign Language - Rosetta Stone accounts are still active through the month of June and can be extended for the rest of the summer. Just contact the PVUSD Community Ed Department to upgrade your account. 

Khan Academy - Khan Academy provides a free, world class education for anyone! It is accessible on nearly any device. 

Letter Writing - Writing is more fun with an authentic audience and a purpose. Summer is the perfect time for students to write letters or send emails to out of state relatives and friends. 

Photo Journalism- In this day and age, everyone has a digital camera in his or her pocket at almost all times. Student photography offers a unique perspective and creates a nice summer memoir.

Last Day of School

Our Final Moments
 The 2013-2014 school year was an incredible one for me, and I will never forget it. Each student played a special role and brought something important to the class. This was a class of eager learners, high achievers and students who were kind, generous, funny and sweet. Through this blog, you now have a permanent record of the amazing 2013-2014 school year. The blog will be archived so you and/or your child can look back at what we did in 1st or 2nd grade.

Bidding Farewell To The 6th Grade Class

Thanks so much to YOU, all the parents who were so unbelievably supportive all year. This is truly a year I will remember forever, with the fondest of memories. As exciting as the idea of summer break always is, I always feel bittersweet at the end of a school year. I cherish the final moments with each student, knowing the next time I will see them they will be older, wiser, taller and just a little bit different. Thank you all for an incredible school year!

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

~Dr. Seuss

Watch the video above to see 1 second every day from the last month (or so) of school.

Winners!

We entered many academic competitions and challenges this year and as is usually the case, many results are announced at the end of the year. The class once again did very well in the Noetic Math Competition. We had one perfect score and many other students finished in the top 10% nationally. 

Lots of other students earned an honorable mention, placing in the top 50% nationally. 

The class participated in the Continental Math League throughout the year and our first place winner (who earned perfect scores during all three meets) was rewarded with a trophy.

The analogy based WordMasters Challenge ended in a tie this year, with many other students doing very well! WordMasters Challenge winners each received a special medal.

 Last, but not least, the prizes finally arrived for the Be Kind People Project national writing competition! Not only did our first place winner receive a t-shirt and a gift certificate, the Be Kind People sent us goodies for the entire class! 

Congratulations to ALL students for their hard work and academic success this year! Competition is stiff in these academic competitions, and everyone performed well!

Tweeting in the Classroom

We have been using Twitter this year to follow other classes on overnight field trips, tweet to the White House, the Minnesota Zoo and a few other locations during virtual field trips, and contact celebrity scientists and authors. Most recently we have been using Twitter to communicate with some of the other classrooms we have been doing our Mystery Skypes with. A few years ago my class created a Twitter Tutorial video and my class this year decided it was time for an update. Enjoy!