Art Show

A simple display of art from grade levels K-5 was put up in the cafeteria.  There were over 100 entries, and it was not easy choosing the winners.  Yet, the principal of our school was able to make some good decisions based upon composition, color, shape, and detail.

Kindergarten Winners:


 

 

First Grade Winners:

Second Grade Winners:

Third Grade Winners:

Fourth Grade Winners:

Fifth Grade Winners:

Congratulations to everyone who entered.  All students will receive a certificate of participation.  All of the art is very beautiful.  Thank-you to all who helped to make this showing possible--students, teachers, custodial staff, and administration.  .  

I would like to thank everyone for coming to Open House night.  Twenty-eight families out of thirty-two were represented on our guest list.  I hope you all enjoyed it.

After taking some pictures that night, I realized I had left the camera's memory card in my computer.  I wanted to show how the room looked in preparation for parents, but that, regretfully, did not happen.  Here are some pictures I took prior to or after the event:

Open House

Tonight is open house.  I hope all parents will be able to attend.  There is a good deal of artwork displayed in the cafeteria.  The winners for each grade level will be announced this morning.  If you would like to listen to the fourth grade chorus, they will be performing at 5:00 PM in the cafeteria.  At 5:30 PM, you may view the art in the cafeteria and visit classrooms.  Several students from our room have work on display in the cafeteria.  We took first and third place for our grade level.  I'll post some pictures soon.

When you come to class, ask your child to tell you what they learned about the plant life cycle, butterfly life cycle, and birds of prey.  They can show you their work in the classroom.  Anything on the top of their desks may be taken home (plant, plant observation writing, birds of prey folder).

There is one writing that tells about the adult butterflies we observed.  Each student was able to have a butterfly sit on their fingers.  They all agreed that it tickled.  When we released the butterflies, the first one was immediately snatched up by a bird.  Most did not want to write about that.  So, I told them they could add it if they wanted to.  While it was sad, it was a good example of the food chain as one of our students pointed out  (we have a food chain project hanging in our room). You can also view a slideshow I put together of the field trip to F.A.C.T. and the kids at work in class.

On the eastern wall is a writing that tells what each child wants to be when they grow up and how they will help our community.  This is done in preparation for our next field trip to the Lori Brock Museum.  There we will discover our community as it was in the past.  We will be able to compare the past to the present.

Hope to see you at school tonight!

F.A.C.T Field Trip

Our field trip to the Facility for Animal Care and Treatment ( F.A.C.T.)  was a success!  The students loved seeing the birds of prey that we had read, talked, and written about.  Before seeing the raptors, students gathered around a pond to view the life there at the facility.  We had reviewed facts about frogs and ponds beforehand, and the kids were able to connect what they had learned with what they observed.

After experiencing the pond habitat, the students were treated to an up close view of a baby great horned owl.  You can describe and look at pictures of down feathers, but it is not the same as seeing the fluffy stuff right in front of you.  This part of the tour was many of the students' favorite.

During open house you will be able to see the writing we made to tell about our trip.  I was very happy with how much the children remembered and wanted to share.  One interesting fact they recalled was that the baby owl fell from its nest, so the staff at F.A.C.T. will take care of it for the next four months until it is ready to be on its own.  Our guide told us that its squeaking was its "happy" sound.  Apparently, it was a hungry little owlet.

This is the owl pellet that was passed around:

Too cool.  The kids had mixed reactions.  I liked it, because it contained a gorgeous specimen of a rodent's skull.  You can see it towards the bottom of the picture.

The kestrels moved around too much for this inexperienced photographer to snap a decent photo of, but below you will find pictures of female and male barn owls, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and a golden eagle.  The golden eagle was the top favorite of the class.  When it flew across its cage and back to its perch, our guide told the students that it was the eagle's way of saying hello.  That was their favorite fact of the day.

As we were leaving, we visited the cacti garden:

It was a great day, and you will be able to read about it in your child's booklet when you come to open house.  Perhaps you would like to take your child to visit this wonderful facility again.  Here is a link to the website:   http://www.csub.edu/fact/ 


Also on display for open house will be the butterfly life cycle.  We have some special visitors in our classroom that came straight from http://www.insectlore.com/ to help us understand the life cycle in a more meaningful way.  We have been watching caterpillars grow and grow.  They are now chrysalids.  They must have been eating miracle grow butterfly food, because they changed into pupae within a week of receiving them.  It should take another seven to ten days for them to make the complete change into the adult painted lady butterflies.  So, they will probably be set free prior to open house, but here are some pictures:

Monday, April 30, 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Friday, May 4, 2012

Art will be on display in the cafeteria on the evening of open house.  I will be submitting some of our class artwork and will post some pictures once they are up, but I hope you will be able to attend and see it in person. I will leave you now with links to some of the books that we have shared in class to help us study bugs, plants, and birds of prey:



From Seed to Plant

Planting a Rainbow

Soaring with the WInd: The Bald Eagle

California Condors (True Books: Animals)

Owls (Animal Predators)


Painted Lady Butterflies (Life Cycles)

The Ladybug and Other Insects