Hi Everyone!

Hey Kids,

I don't know if you are still tuning into the blog.  I haven't posted since school got out, but I thought I would say hello.  I think of you often.  I hope you are having fun this summer despite all the rain.
Make sure you keep reading!   Head over to RAZ kids and read, read, read!   I would love to hear from you by either email or snail mail.  I put both pieces of information in the last parent letter of the year.
Let your parents know I put a new tab on the blog just for them!

Miss ya!

Mrs. Hatch

Busy Week!

 Insect Research

The kids spent time on Wednesday morning typing up the final drafts of their insect research reports.  This was our first time word-processing.  I was unsure of how it would go.  It turned out to go very smoothly.  Nice job, kids!  Also, thank you to Mrs. Fisher, Mrs. P. and Ms. Jane for being great adult helpers!

Here are a few pictures of them working hard.

 Bring on the ink!

Woo Hoo!  Check out all of the ink cartridges to be recycled.  Thanks to M and his family for the many donations throughout the year.  This is just one load.

 Tally Celebration

The kids earned their 10th tally this week.  Tallies are earned by the entire group for good behavior.

After brainstorming ideas and voting, the kids opted to have treat basket store.  I gave them coins, and they shopped for items.  It was great because I was able to "treat" them for behaving and also weave in math work with coins.

This group was adding coins in order to make their purchases.

 Field Day Capes

We worked on our field day capes today and yesterday.  The kids got to pick the color paint and then fill in the Superman (woman) stencil.  They seem pretty pumped to wear them in the field day parade.  I'll try to get some group shots of them in their capes and masks Monday morning.  Thank you to Mrs. Fisher and Mrs. Grenier for their help with this project.

Little Researchers!

The kids are getting their first taste of an important skill. . . researching.  We headed to the library to learn about either grasshoppers, dragonflies, ladybugs or bees.  The kids (no exaggeration) were awesome!  Thank you to Ms. VomOrde, Mrs. Grenier, Mrs. Fisher, and Mrs. P. for their assistance.  We could not have been so successful without you.

The kids will be sharing their findings with you on Tuesday, June 11th.  We hope you can join us for our Family Event.  You can even stay for lunch bunch in the room if you would like to do so.

Here are some pictures of the kids searching through sources and taking notes.

The kids loved this song!

Quick post this week.  

     We're beginning to learn about insects this week.  The kids will start researching 1 of 4 insects tomorrow in the library.  They will become experts about bees, ladybugs, grasshoppers or dragonflies.

       Our caterpillars arrived today.  They are teeny tiny right now, but I told the kids, they will grow very fast.

     Here is a Youtube video we watched today to learn about insect exoskeletons and the three main body parts:  the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.  It will be fun to watch our little entomologists learn about these fascinating creatures.

As always, be sure to supervise your child's Youtube time.  Enjoy!

Bug Song!

Busy Friday!

     Most of these pictures were taken on Friday.  We did literacy and math centers in the morning.  We then planted our pumpkin seeds.  The kids participated in team-wide challenge activities.  Mine was marshmallow launching (catapults).   After lunch, the kids read from their book baggies.  We are practicing gaining stamina with reading.  The kids spread out around the room and read until the timer went off.  They decided to set a goal of 10 minutes of uninterrupted reading by the end of school.  I'm confident they will reach that goal.  We also said goodbye to another college helper, Mr.  Kim.  He is heading back to California for the summer.  We'll miss seeing him during math center time. 

Pumpkin Planting

 

Thank you, MHS volunteers.  We enjoyed having you!

 Marshmallow Catapults

Time to build reading stamina. . . .

Goodbye, Mr. Kim!

Gecko!

Thanks to J's mom for bringing in their new pet gecko.  

The kids were very interested in him.

Earlier in the week,  a few kids brought in books from home to share.  The rest of the kiddos were a good audience for them.

Whoa! These two girls were so proud of themselves for completing this 100 piece puzzle.  Good brain work, ladies!

Recent Events: Dinosaur Guy, Acrostic Poetry, Show and Tell, and Catapults

So much has been happening lately.  Here are pictures from the last week (ish).


Acrostic poetry
We tried a new writing style.  The kids wrote spring acrostic poems.  They did a really great job with these.  They are currently on display in the classroom.  Thank you, Mrs. G. for helping with this writing project.

We were treated to an exciting dinosaur event.  The kids got to see actual dinosaur fossils, including the baby t-rex skull shown in the picture.  We then climbed inside the inflatable dome to watch a very cool and informative slideshow.  The kids were very well behaved and engaged.

Thank you to Mrs. Fisher for organizing a fun conclusion to our study of dinosaurs.  The kids got to create dinosaur eggs with little toy dinosaurs inside.  Mrs. Fisher took the eggs home and baked them and brought them back the next day for the kids to crack open.

 Catapults

We had another team-wide Challenge Friday event.  The kids got to choose from 7 activities.  My session was Marshmallow Launching.  The kids got materials and created catapults.  Marshmallows were flying everywhere.  A few Camp Kinderponders were in my session.

Here are a few picts from the tally celebration.  The kids earned 10 ten tally marks for good behavior as a class.  They voted to bring toys to school and have show and tell.