Lunch time socializing

Usually around 18 kids come in to play checkers, mancala, a cool pattern game; some knit while others draw--and of course a few can finish up classwork. 
Games are being brought in and it is a very comfortable place for some good fun and laughs. 

So glad to have Sarah join us and teach knitting and get to know new people!

This usually lasts through the winter and then we are ready to be outside  again!

Memorizing and racing against the clock by finding strategies to go super fast!

                                              

Sometimes checkers, occasionally chess, but these two play everyday.

                                     

Fun to hear them express delight and frustration-they are also designing patterns  and adding them to the game!

Culture...Reading and Art

Arrived right on time at the library. We looked at the "Yarn Bombs" around the library.  We were met by 3 parents-- Chesney, Curtis, and Keeahas' Mom and Traye's Dad was able to stop by. It is so fun for the kids when you attend... THANKS!!

With culture as the backdrop from what we are talking and learning about in Social Studies, last Friday we made it to the Latah County Library Moscow Branch and had the grand tour--2 hours of book hunting, and had a fantastic time with Jackie, the Youth Educator for the District, and all the other people involved there. The kids loved seeing the 'bowels' of the library and how it works! Jackie took the kids through an in depth lesson about how to use the connected library system, what resources are in the database, and how to find books using the Dewey Decimal System. The information about the history of the building was neat to learn. Our community is so full of terrific people and interesting things to learn about!

Completely Engrossed!! Imaginations in Action!!

Jackie explaining the Reference books that can be used only at the library. Good discussion about World Book...

So many options...series...sharing good reads!

Azalea was fun to watch as she went through the whole shelf to the right and then made her way over to the next stack taking in all the titles.

 

 And now to the 3rd Street Art Gallery and the 30*30*30 Show

Partners picking out favorites and finding the subjects of each series. The students counted to find all 30 of an artist.

The kids got to eat lunch in the City Council Chambers and then discovered the themes of the art done by the individual artists. We had discussed the idea of subject in class with Mr. Gregory leading the kids in a lesson. We produced pieces of art ourselves. The pieces were connected to math because the kids filled out a chart to figure out what type of subject was more common--idea or thing. Our interesting class was divided 11/11... And we collected data about color with 12 kids using color and 7 using pencil.

The kids brought home their 6x6 piece of art...be sure to ask about it...

Descending the lovely stairwell at City Hall

 

We made the front page of the paper on Saturday. The kids were excited to see and meet Geoff Crimmons of the Daily News because we read the paper each Tuesday and they know his name. Having the newspaper the sponsored subscription is such a great tool with so many skills that can be learned using it!

Appreciation of the creative subjects and mediums...

Learning about the compass with Ms. Bensen--totally classic!

Radius, Diameter, The Olympics, and donuts...the infinity of the circle is all around and today the 4th had a great time practicing and learning how to use a compass during math. They all agreed it was hard and interesting.  We figured out how to get the little plastic tools to work-- duct tape helpful to get some pencils to stay in the apparatus. :P Discussion was lively and we went to the official website for the Olympics and thought--Wow, there is nothing more classic than these games started by the Greeks in
 776 B.C.E. Now that is a negative number to remember!

Ms. Bensen, UI Student Teacher,starts a discussion in our Morning Meeting Circle

www.olympic.org

Practicing with the radius ruler- cm or inches? 

Donor's Choose Update

With only 35 days to go, pass the word and we can fund the Chromebooks to keep in the 4th grade classroom. There was a very generous donation given yesterday! 
There are so many wishing and helping our students. Check out and pass along the info on my Donor's Choose Page.

 The link is www.donorschoose.org/MsBonzo


Thank you!!!!!

Spelling Bee Club started today and every Tuesday through February

 We love the academics behind words... 3:15-4:00 is the time we are together practicing and researching words and strategies for the MCS Scripps Spelling Bee in February. This club is open to all grades.

Students can pick up words lists too.

http://www.spellingbee.com/


Use the link for lots of info and study tips.

2 on a Crayon and Mr. Helmke does awesome agricultural math with us!

The partners concentrate, smile, laugh, shrug, and look confused. The process of creating a picture sharing a crayon sounded super weird and exciting. This activity was one that them thinking...

During the Morning Meeting, the activity was called "2 on a Crayon". It is really interesting to watch and for the kids to do. Without talking or knowing what the each other wants to draw, the two kids share a crayon to draw a picture. Several minutes pass as they were all concentrating with music from the record player adding an air of mystery. When time was up, the kids came back to the circle and we discussed what happened when they were drawing, what it was like, and what they thought out it is. The partners put together were not random, I picked some personalities to see how cooperation or competition would affect the work together. We will do it again...saw them all really giving it some thought when we talked...

     

Then for Science, Social Studies and Math when

 Mr. Helmke visited!!!

 Having Parent Experts visit and talk about what they do is one of the best things for the kids to connect their learning to. Mr. Helmke explained what he does with John Deere and how things are figured for farmers. The kids looked at the costs, time, and worries. Mr. Helmke shared the joys of his job. On the whiteboard behind the kids you can see all the math (we got to work with the power of 10) when thinking about life as a farmer.  We talked about how farmers have 'adapted' to better techniques by looking at the models brought in. He even gave us the set with cool books that explain all the workings. It was such a great talk--right at their level and super interesting. THANK YOU MR. HELMKE!!!!

                          This is classic MCS and totally STEAM!