The Lucky Spoon

This week in history we started a poetry project about the 1920s! Students have to describe the 1920s through a collection of five poems! We also started to take a look at the aftermath of the Roaring 20s...the Great Depression.

In math, we began fraction operations. We threw out all our negative thoughts about fractions and replaced them with a promise from myself, "I will not let you fall." We sought understanding this week instead of answers through multiplication models! Boy did we rock them (most of us picked it up on day ONE!).

Other exciting things this week: 

• SCA fun!

• Positive office referrals! 
• More lost teeth (at least 4)!
• Snazzy new haircuts!
• Sunshine and outside SAC!

Harry Potter Pusheen!

Sweet Valentine treats!

The lucky spoon was spotted and available at lunch!

Check vs. Check basketball!

Ms. D's weekend snapshot: 

Sunshine and chaco weather in February!

Meet Phil. Phil decided he wanted to make the journey from the Wills Ridge dumpsters to a new home on the farm. Phil is blind in his left eye and partially in his right. Phil has a cauliflower ear. Phil has a cold and is taking medicine. Phil loves to be rubbed and purrs like crazy. Phil is named after Philocetes from Hercules the Disney movie. Phil likes his new farm life and friends. 

Back deck paper grading. 

Cute decorations at a sweet friend's baby shower. 

Warm weather that brings on lots of eggs!

2.5 mile hikes with your best friends, psuedo-nephew, and Danes. 

Roaring 20s

This week in history we focused on what made the 1920s roaring! We experienced many of the new arts and culture changes first hand and did some sensory work to go with it!

We also took our new vocab and wrote mini stories to use the words in different ways (these pictures won't turn again!). 

Math was all about measures of center! We did a ton of practice, including reading an article about basketball players and how mean, median, and mode helps them up their game! 

Other great things this week: 

• A boatload of talent at the PTO Talent Showcase! 
  

• One of our own representing at the showcase! 
  

• Hugs, hugs, and more hugs!
• Excited students getting 11/11 on this week's math quiz! 
• Mrs. Thomas and her hula hoop skills!

Ms. D's weekend snapshot:

I worked a wedding this weekend, caught up on Netflix, and cleaned house! :) 

Projects You DON'T Want to Miss!

This week we took a look at some inventions that made life better for Americans like the car, phone, washing machine, and many more! If students didn't think I was crazy before last Thursday, they definitely do now! We did a factory simulation where I was the Boss and students were workers in my paper doll factory. I put on my "scary" face and voice and act the part of a terrible boss on an assembly line. I yelled. I fussed. I wanted perfection. I took the electricity. I fired people. I didn't back down. I was actually told to never do that again and how intimidating I was (this girl???). Long story short, we had a fun time and really looked at the pros and cons of the assembly line based on our own experiences from our simulation.

Coordinate plane projects were due this week and they are AMAZING! Check these out! I can't get them to turn!

Other great things this week: 

• One of our 6th graders is moving on to compete in the county wide spelling bee! 
• Understanding and loving students who were the best when I was sick this week.
• Basketball games! 
  

Ms. D's Weekend Snapshot:

• As a non-Patriot fan, I have to hand it Belichick and Brady. History making game. 

THAT FACE! Hung out with this cutie of a psuedo-nephew. 

A Full Week.

The first full week since...??? I don't think any of us will lie to you and say it wasn't a little tough, but totally exciting nonetheless. 

We have continued our WWI study and took a look at what made this the most destructive war of it's time. We used a decryption grid to decode messages like the Zimmerman Telegram and made our own plans for what happened when the war ended. 

We said goodbye to the coordinate plane this week by graphing Batmans and minions, then creating our own images to write the ordered pairs for and graph. Let me tell you, these are shaping up to be quite amazing (I promise there will be pictures next week)! 

We did a shower curtain relay to practice! 

Other exciting things this week:

I'm not sure why the video won't turn, but here is a peek into our Monday Meeting on perseverance and communication. Students were in two teams and had to figure out how to put the materials given together to travel a marble from one end of the gym to another without dropping it! 

• Students really putting their respect skills into action and encouraging their classmates to do the same! 

Ms. D's Weekend Snapshot: 

Papa J put on his boogie shoes! All in all, this weekend is a lazy one filled with chores like laundry and dishes. 

Almost Full!

Finally!!! An almost full week of school! Our focus this week was respect-what it looks like, sounds like, feels like, and so on. Sometimes it is easy for us to fall out of good habits and we all (including us teachers) needed some reminders of what respecting ourselves, our classmates, our teachers, and our communities truly means.

Math has been all about the coordinate plane! This is one of my favorite units to teach as it is full of fun games and activities, and students tend to be super excited when they finally understand how to do this! My personal highlight of the week (aside from everyone rocking the coordinate plane) was our Star Wars quadrant review where we had to save the galaxy by matching the ordered pairs with the quadrant (of the galaxy) they fit in...the Imperial March may have been sung numerous times.

We made new friends and took them on a "walk" on the coordinate plane where we found different things at each location of our journey! This guy found a bed to take a nap after the exhaustively fun trip! 

This guy found a park bench to rest on and refuel for that last of the journey! Can you believe that almost all students ATE their new best friend...even after they named them...and went on a journey with them...and ate ice cream together... 

Here we are playing coordinate plane battleship...these kids are ruthless when it comes to sinking those ships!

The Great War has been our focus this week. We created a map of powers and important countries, heard the tragic story of the many failed attempts and unfortunately one successful attempt of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the new, lethal weaponry of the time, the conditions of the trenches, and the terrors that abounded.

This is a map of Europe in 1914...quiz your kiddo to see what new countries they know!
Photo Credit

Other exciting things this week: 

• Moon phase oreos! 
• How many 6th graders love classics like Star Wars and Indiana Jones (many a reference was made that blessed my heart this week)!
• Ms. Nelson picking words for English that went with out history and math studies...and students making the comparisons between uses! 
• Ms. Nelson, Mrs. Thomas, and I starting our own little book club!
• Sunshine and warm temps!
• A fun and productive SCA meeting! 
  
  
  
  
  
  

Ms. D's Weekend Snapshot: 

• My third baby shower in one week today! 
• New books. 
• New shoes.

Snow Break.

We haven't really gotten back into the swing of things for going to school like normally, so here are a few images from my house on our three days off! 

I may or may not have walked all the way around the house so I wouldn't have footprints in mt first snow picture!

It was fun while it lasted! 

I had not worked up my apples purchased from the FFA, so I took advantage of the time and made apple butter and apple sauce!

13 pints of apple yumminess! 

Perfect timing on getting my new handmade RachelRo hat! 

My cat that lives at my dad's house decided to jump in my car and wouldn't get out...so I brought him to my house for a bit! He finally warmed up to it. 

Ms. D's Weekend Snapshot

This rotten kiddo turned eight this week and is as cute as ever! 

Papa J really got into throwing snowballs at his great, great nephew's birthday party!

I had two baby showers and couldn't resist this guy with his balloons!

My family went to watch Singing in the Rain on the big screen! I grew up with this as a staple movie in our house and I can't describe how wonderful it was to see it in the theater in it's original aspect ratio just like back in 1952! None of these guys are around anymore, except for in our hearts and song.
Photo Credit