The Year of The Movie Star

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

~Winnie the Pooh

What a year it was! 

We went on more field trips than I have ever been on with a class, Mrs. Woodard and I put together a successful proposal which we presented to the district for INCREDIBLE new technology and 21st century learning opportunities, several students received national recognition for academic accomplishments, several more students won local and/or statewide academic contests and we all laughed, made friends, had fun and learned a lot. 

I posted 119 times on my classroom blog, which was something brand new to me this year. I was hesitant to start a website of any sort and I am so glad I did! We now have a permanent record of the amazing 2010-2011 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. Speaking of which, as I think all of you know, this will be my final year with a multi-grade class. What began as a self-contained Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade class only four years ago, now has enough enrollment to create two separate classes (both already full!), with the many gifted Kindergarten students at Sonoran Sky being serviced in a cluster class. 

The 2010-2011 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. This was the highest group of math students I have ever worked with and overall the class was incredibly tech savvy. I couldn't have asked for a better bunch! 

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

The Last Day of School

The Final Moments of The Last Day of School

We finished off the 2010-2011 school year! It was a very busy, bittersweet, emotional day and I am just finishing up so I will update again tomorrow. Our day today was exciting and fun. The kids were bursting with energy and excitement from start to finish.

The students had a fabulous time playing school wide BINGO during "Move-Up Day".  Any 1st graders (now 2nd graders!) came with me to the media center since our new classroom is not quite ready. We met a few new classmates and enjoyed talking about next year. The 2nd graders (now 3rd graders!) stayed in classroom 452, as it will be the 3rd grade self-contained room next year. Mrs. Kakkar took over for a while and the students got to know her a little bit. 

Although we did not win any of the BINGO games we still had a ton of fun! 

I've been packing up the classroom all afternoon but still have a ways to go. I'll be in tomorrow to wrap it up...

The Stock Market

What happens when it is the end of the school year and your entire class of 1st and 2nd graders becomes obsessed with learning about the stock market? And being an elementary school teacher with degrees in Communications, Elementary Ed and English, you you know virtually nothing about the stock market?!

Why, it becomes a perfect opportunity for project based learning!

The students completed a webquest in which their rich Uncle Herbert gave them $10,000 to invest. 

They had to choose stocks and follow them for a week. They charted their results in pvlearners using a shared Google Doc spreadsheet and then students worked in small groups creating stock market projects.

This group created an online Jeopardy game about the stock market.

These students wrote a book, complete with illustrations to teach their classmates about the stock market.

Some students created a Keynote presentation which was shared with the class. 

One small group put together a giant stock market board game, which many students in the class enjoyed playing. They created a game board, game pieces and wrote out rules. 

Other projects that resulted from the inquiry based learning were podcasts, research papers, iMovies, graphs made of Legos and a stock market card game. I think it is safe to say everyone, including me, learned something through this project. 

The Final Days...

The "last day of school" excitement is definitely in the air! Today we had a spelling bee with Mrs. Woodard's class. The top seven spellers from each class competed against each other. Some of the words included, "infectious", "abolitionists" and "palindrome".

Later students glued a class photo to some paper and everyone went around writing positive sentiments. It was a lot of fun and a few students mentioned they still had this project from previous years.

We're #31!

 As I mentioned today during our classroom awards ceremony, I was a little confused when I received a very official looking package in the mail last week announcing our 31st place victory in World Spelling Day. After doing a bit of research I found that 509,500 students and 19,215 schools from 212 countries competed in this worldwide competition. Besides 31st place nationally, we also placed 7th in the United States in the 8 - 10 year old category. 

So yes, I decided that 31st place was something to celebrate after all! Nice job super spellers!

Biography Book Report - Action Shot!

Solubility Testing with Peeps

A couple of weeks ago we started a Peeps science unit. Students worked in small groups to predict and then test the solubility of Peeps. Most people think that Peeps are primarily sugar. In fact, we read the nutrition label and the first ingredient was "sugar" and the second ingredient was "corn syrup". We all know that sugar dissolves in water. This means that Peeps should dissolve in water, right?

Wrong!

The solvents we used included water, salt water, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, diet soda, bleach and vinegar. We were very, very careful to keep the bleach and ammonia separate and did not even store the two sets of beakers in the same room.

What happened? Well, different things depending on the solvent. Ask your child what our results were. One thing we learned for sure, NOTHING seems to dissolve the eyes on those Peep chicks!

Introducing The New 3rd Grade Self-Contained Teacher!

In case you have not heard the news, please let me announce the hiring of Mrs. Meenu Kakkar! She is currently the gifted specialist at Sonoran Sky Elementary and has experience teaching gifted students at Desert Springs Elementary, as well. She has extensive training in gifted education and is very excited about the opportunity to work with our 3rd grade self-contained gifted students and their families.
I have known Mrs. Kakkar for several years and have always found her to be a fantastic teacher and exceptionally professional. I was on the interview committee which made the decision for the 3rd grade s-c position and she is top notch! She has a wealth of experience and truly enjoys working with gifted learners. I am really looking forward to having Mrs. Kakkar be part of the Sonoran Sky self-contained team!

Teacher Appreciation Week - THANK YOU!

If the students had a "razzle dazzle year" I certainly had a razzle dazzle week! It started off by finding this adorable bulletin board decorated with personal sentiments from each student hanging outside the classroom. Tuesday I was treated to a delicious lunch from Pei Wei which contained so much food I managed to get three meals out of it! I dug in too quickly to remember to snap a picture. Whoops!

This is a photo of the lovely flowers from the class and...

...the thoughtful gift basket loaded with all my favorite candies - jelly beans, licorice and chocolate. Oh my! I loved reading all the personal thank you notes from each student as well. 

On Thursday I received an incredibly generous gift card to the Apple store and a promise for a Part II of my blog in a book. I have already been drooling over the Apple website trying to decide what to purchase.
Of course Sonoran Sky's fabulous PTO also took care of all the teachers as well with treats from Starbucks, an unbelievable homemade lunch and a really professional looking new staff shirt, which I am eager to wear!
This has been an incredible year and I am already feeling a little sad at the thought of it ending. Every single student has been special and important to the class, and I think this year was the most supportive group of parents yet! So thank YOU for all your support of me, the school and your student all year! Please don't forget next Friday, May 20 is the Volunteer Appreciation breakfast. All parent (and grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc.) volunteers are invited to the media center at 8:00am for breakfast. Childcare for current Sonoran Sky students will be provided on the Kindergarten playground during this event. I hope to see you there!

Funny Outtakes:

When I was trying to take a nice picture of this lovely gift, some of my dogs just would not get out of the way! The pictures made me chuckle. :)

Look Who Showed Up At School Last Week...

Who is that man holding Microsoft Windows with cash bursting from his shirt pocket?

Wow, an amazing artist complete with a palette of paints!

Hmmmm.... a kite with a key attached and $100 bills... 

We had  lot of fun presenting our biography book reports last week, and most of the students really got into character. Watch the slideshow below to see exactly who we had in our classroom!

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Last week we teamed up with Mrs. Woodard's class and Mrs. Flores' class (the 1st -3rd self-contained class at Desert Cove Elementary) for our annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta! After learning some Mexican History earlier in the week and completing a Cinco de Mayo webquest, we celebrated with lots of fun hands on activities and games. The two girls above are holding tissue paper flowers, which was one of our crafts for the day. We also had a Spanish speaking station with Spanish flash-cards, a Spanish word writing challenge and a Spanish memory game. Fortunately, we have a student fluent in Spanish who was able to help us with pronunciation.

Students also created paper bag pinatas, which were stuffed with candy and sent home to be smashed. 

Another fun activity was making maracas out of paper plates and dry beans. The classroom got pretty noisy when every student was shaking their handmade maracas at the same time!

Creating an Ojo de Dios is always the most popular activity of the day, although 

the students usually need help tying the yarn together. 

Towards the end of the fiesta we played Cinco de Mayo Bingo. Students had a choice of candy or a word game book if they won. Throughout the day we enjoyed a salsa tasting, listened to Mexican music, tried Mexican candy and wore sombreros. Watch the slideshow below for a pictorial recap. 

Noetic Math Contest

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Noetic Math Contest! They did very well! We had a student place first in the 2nd grade contest...

...and two others place first in the 3rd grade contest. Congratulations! We also had four second place winners. Results can be viewed here.
Please note that the Noetic Math Contest is an accelerated math contest, which requires critical and creative thinking skills. Although we competed in the 2nd and 3rd grade contests, the test consists of advanced math problems not in alignment with grade level standards. This competition is specifically suggested for gifted students. Students are allowed to compete in higher grade levels, but not lower. For example, a 2nd grade student may compete in the 3rd grade competition, but a 3rd grade student may not compete in the 2nd grade competition.