Gingerbread Construction Action

Santa Science

Last week, I got an unusual voicemail on my school phone. Luckily, the school voicemail automatically emails me an mp3 of every message I receive so it is to play for others, if necessary.

The class had to research what twelve different types of scientists study and use for equipment. Some of the more unusual scientists we learned about include ichthyologists,ornithologists and cytologists. 
The class did a super job with their research and were able to successfully relay the appropriate information! 

Thank you!

My thank you card image looks remarkably similar to my wonderful autographed class photo gift!

Thank you so much for all the fabulous gifts! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and I love everything I was given! The tiny tree is sitting right in the middle of my dining room table and I spent a good chunk of the day today browsing the iTunes app store. I am so lucky to have such a generous, supportive, kind group of parents. I hope everyone has a super Winter Break and a very happy 2011. Although, I am sure I will post again before then.... :) 

Thanks again!!! 

Gingerbread Lane

Artist in Residence

You may have heard that we have been dancing at school!

It's true! We have had a few classes with the current Artist in Residence at Sonoran Sky, Mr. Thom Lewis of The Thom Lewis Dance Company in Tucson, Arizona.

Students have had a wonderful time, dancing, stretching and playing rhythmic games with Mr. Lewis.

Sensational Snowflake Symmetry

We have been learning about symmetry in math. We created paper snowflakes to demonstrate symmetry.

We will wrap up our symmetry studies this week with a post assessment.

If you have heard we are doing "nothing" at school, be sure to ask your child to explain a line of symmetry, rotational symmetry, reflectional symmetry and asymmetry. 

The MIM

We enjoyed a fantastic field trip at The Musical Instrument Museum today. Our class was met at the door by a docent who showed us around all the different "countries". We were introduced to many obscure instruments including one that you do not even to touch to play! 

We wrapped up our experience in the MIM Music Theater and were treated to a private performance by the MIM's current Artist in Residence - Michael J. Miles. Five of our students were lucky enough to be called on stage to join Mr. Miles during the show. What a treat!

Thanks again to our fabulous parent chaperones for making this trip such a success and to Mrs. Woodard, for her hard work securing the grant that made this field trip possible! Click below to experience a slideshow which will give you a little taste of our unique day.

Join Us For Gingerbread House Construction - December 17

On December 17 at 10:00am everyone is welcome to join us in the classroom for our annual Gingerbread House Construction event! Students will be building "Gingerbread" Houses out of graham crackers, frosting, candy, sprinkles, sugar, etc. It will be festive, messy, noisy fun!

Rosa Parks

We studied Rosa Parks this week since yesterday was the 55th anniversary of her refusal to give up her seat on a public bus (and this topic is included in the Arizona State Standards).

Each student created a timeline of her life, we watched a brief interview with Rosa Parks from Discovery Education and then we had a class discussion. After everyone finished their timeline they had to choose a topic (the choices were civil rights, segregation, Lyndon B. Johnson, the Montgomery Bus Boycott or the United States Constitution) and do some research.

We used our brand new iPads to conduct our research and then students had to apply what they had learned into a final project. Choices included a poster, a written report, an informative comic book or a non-fiction story with at least one illustration.

We wrapped up our lesson on this historical woman with a post assessment.

What Is All This New Technology in the Classroom?

You may have heard from your children that we have recently acquired a class set of iPads, or you may have heard rumblings that self-contained suddenly has some new technology. Where did it come from? Who paid for it? Who gets to use it?

Earlier this year, the self-contained team created a technology proposal. Mrs. Woodard (3rd grade s-c) spearheaded a phenomenal written proposal which outlined exactly what the team felt would benefit the s-c students most. I created a movie, demonstrating the rapidly changing world of elementary school and the unique needs of highly gifted learners. We are incredibly lucky that our proposal was accepted and we have been granted MacBook Pros, iPads, iPod touches and iMacs.  As you can imagine, this is an incredible opportunity and a huge undertaking. We are absolutely thrilled! I actually feel like we are technology pioneers and am looking forward to designing a curriculum around this amazing new equipment.

Many of you have recently asked how you can help with resources since the 2010 tax year is coming to a close.  If you are looking to assist us with technology needs we would appreciate any monetary donations to the classroom or to the PVUSD Self-Contained Gifted Program. If you are making a donation specifically to the classroom, there is a Request for Acceptance of Donation and Gifts form in the front office.  You can also donate at the Gifted Ed Website and you may specify Sonoran Sky in your donation.     

Watch the movie below and you may see some very familiar faces...

Barnes & Noble Night - Tomorrow!

December

Wow, it's nearly December! We have only 15 more days of school before Winter Break. My focus these next three weeks will to be to keep the class in as much of their usual routine as possible. There are many special events coming up so it will be a challenge!

Scholastic Book Orders will be sent home tomorrow and are due back Friday. I will have these orders expedited so the books will be here prior to Winter Break. 

In Language Arts we are starting to prepare for the WordMasters Challenge. The WordMasters Challenge is a fun and mind-stretching classroom competition for Language Arts students in grades 3 - 12. My class is involved because we work at least two grade levels beyond. Over 4,200 school teams, from 50 states, participated last year. Unlike other language-arts contests, which emphasize grammar and punctuation, this competition addresses higher-level word-comprehension and logical abilities and helps students learn to think both analytically and metaphorically. 

Tomorrow we will review what we know about analogies and will continue exercises and strategies. The test will be given in the classroom during the school day and even though no one in my class is in 3rd grade yet, all students will be participating. I will follow up with more information about this closer to the meet. 

In math, the students are very much differentiated but we are continuing to learn about units of measure and geometry as a whole group and are also on the road to wrapping up the subtraction challenge. We will start the multiplication challenge after the New Year. 

As part of Social Studies we will be talking about customs and traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa but if your family celebrates a different holiday I would be glad to incorporate it into the unit. Please let me know! Also, you are welcome and invited to bring in an activity that shares a special holiday or tradition that your family celebrates. Learning about other families and cultures is important in our classroom.  The kids are always very excited about the holiday season and would be thrilled to have a visitor come in and share some knowledge. 

Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or if you are interesting in doing a holiday project with the class. 

Virtual Field Trip

Did you know we visited Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts earlier this week?

During this virtual trip, we learned why Plimoth Plantation and Plymouth, Massachusetts are spelled differently, what was (probably) eaten at the first Thanksgiving and details about the treacherous Mayflower journey. 

Students took notes during the webcast, marking new vocabulary. 

Blown Away

What do you get when you add...

Half of a cup of dish soap

One quarter cup of corn syrup

One and a half cups of water

And gently stir...

Stir some more

Keep stirring!

Ask your child what we did next! 

Key vocabulary we learned includes: tension, surface, flexible and elastic.

This was a very serious project and no one had any fun at all.

Bubble Window! 

Quarter 2 Book Report

Yesterday We Were In Front of the Camera...

...and today we were behind it! 

We were treated to an incredible photography lesson this afternoon. After a classroom presentation and instructions on how to use the equipment, students headed out to the school pond to practice their new skills. Click below to see a brief slideshow of our adventures in photography.

And through the eyes of a child... here are a few actual photos taken by one of the students this afternoon. Pretty great!  Thank you, Mrs. Kolker, for an incredible experience!