Long time, no post!

We've been so busy that I've failed to post anything for a long time!

Today, we introduced subtraction of double-digit numbers with regrouping. The kids seemed to catch on quickly. We'll do lots more practicing this week, then have a big unit test next week.

We also finished our organisms unit last week and have begun to study Colonial America. You can check out our cool "prezi" at prezi.com. Search for Colonial America by Jennifer Bruno. We learned lots and got to see cool pictures of what life back then looked like.

We've had some great parents working for two days straight on our Colonial Journals. We can't wait to see them and use them. THANKS MOMS!!!!!!!

Organisms Module

Our organisms arrived today! We have millipedes and pill bugs, better known as roly-polys. We looked at them with hand lenses, after building their woodland ecosystem. Tomorrow, we hope to build an aquatic ecosystem. When we were building the terrariums, we used rocks, soil, a woodland plant, and moss.

Thanks to Raya's mom for sending us home with Halloween goody bags!!!!

Very Crazy Week

We've had a very crazy week because of our field trip! Wednesday we headed to Golden Flake and Birmingham Southern's Environmental Center. At Golden Flake we saw assembly lines and ate yummy chips! At Birmingham Southern we learned the importance of recycling. We saw a bar graph that showed the amount of trash that has been thrown out per decade since the 1970s. You wouldn't believe how much our trash has increased in the 21st century. We made eco-art out of old telephone wire. But our favorite part might have been being flushed down the human toilet slide.

Met with Skype Contact

During Fall Break, I had the pleasure of meeting with our SeaWorld Skype contact. I gave her cards, a banner, and a Paine t-shirt from our class. We look forward to working with them again sometime. While we were at SeaWorld a new baby killer whale was born. We were so excited to be in the park the night it was born and to get to see it the next day. It was so much fun! We also got to see the anteater, Cypress, that we met during our Skype!

We've mastered our addition with branching, and we're even going to teach this concept to Mrs. Swann's class a couple of times this week! We've almost mastered subtraction with branching. Next, we'll move on to regrouping, which always presents quite a challenge. We'll work on it for a couple of weeks before we get completely comfortable with it. If you're confused by the branching concept, check out the powerpoints on our class website!

We're looking forward to our field trip Wednesday!!!! We'll post pictures at the end of the week!

Skype with SeaWorld Orlando

What better way to culminate our animals unit than to Skype with one of the most famous parks for animals . . . SeaWorld? We loved our experience seeing animals from the vertebrate and invertebrate groups we've studied during our unit. Thanks to Ms. Geni and Ms. Sandi for making it possible!!!!! Thanks for this special opportunity!!!!

Butterfly Release Day and Visit to Peachtree

We had an eventful day! Our sweet butterflies needed to be released, much to the disappointment of the students. We read them letters that we wrote to them, and then we released them to live their last few days in nature. The entire life cycle of our Painted Lady butterflies only lasts about 4-6 weeks, so they're only adults for a matter of a few days. We didn't want to keep them captive for their entire lives. Letting them go gave the classes mixed feelings.

We also visited Peachtree Assisted Living for the first time tonight. The residents were so excited to see the kids. We read them a poem and sang them a song about butterflies. We also gave them cards we'd made them. We're looking forward to our October visit!!!!