Symbols of the U.S. Project

Today students were busy researching a variety of things that symbolize the United States. They worked in pairs to learn the significance and meaning of their chosen symbols, and answer questions about them. This project is part of our unit regarding Veteran's Day. Some of the symbols being researched by students include: The Liberty Bell, Bald Eagle, U.S. Flag, Statue of Liberty, along with various buildings, monuments, and memorials. The pictures below show students engaged in their research.

Navy Birthday

Today we took a little time to celebrate the 238th birthday of the U.S. Navy (which officially was yesterday).  We learned a little about the Navy, the other military services, creeds, and oaths.  Our activities included marching, facing movements, and singing the Navy Song, which we did as we went down the hallways.  I'm not sure how much the other teachers appreciated our singing, but it was fun anyway.  The activities today set the stage for a project we will be staring soon in connection with Veteran's Day. 

5th Grade Field Trip - Ledge View Nature Center

Today we had a great field trip to the Ledge View Nature Center at Chilton with our 5th graders. Through this adventure we discovered how caves are formed, and in what type of rock most caves are found.  We were able to “unearth” information about sink holes, carbonic acid, lifelines, stalactites, stalagmites, and a little about bats and spiders as well. Most of our learning took place in the caves, where we were able to explore various caverns and crawl through the passages that connected them. This presented the students with a fun learning environment filled with great information, good physical challenges, and plenty of mud to keep things real interesting.

Our 5th grade students represented our school and community very well during this field trip by showing great responsibility and respect! We can all be proud of them!

We want to especially thank our parents who volunteered to chaperone this trip and made the day even more enjoyable!

Hands on Math

The teaching and learning of math has changed a lot in recent years.  The common core revolves around research based best practice which has shown that students need to have a more concrete understanding of math.  For instance, I was taught to multiply fractions by simply multiplying across and reducing the answer.  I was never asked to use it in word problems or create a model that shows what it means to multiply one fraction by another.  Now we put more emphasis on understanding the models and what math means than just memorizing the steps of an equation.  Below you will see student working hands on with manipulative to gain a better understanding of the order of operations. 

Reading is Fun!

 

On Friday, September 27th we took advantage of the nice weather to do some of our read-to-self outside (see pictures below).  It was great to get outside and see the students really get into their books!  We have some great readers in The LAB and we look forward to many more fun ways to read. 

 

 

Don't forget that the USBORNE Books fundraiser wraps up this week.  I hope that everyone made a good effort to get sponsors to support our reading efforts and our field trips!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Starting October 1st the school will be providing (through a grant) fresh fruits or vegetables for student snacks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. 

On these days the school provided snack is the only one allowed, so please do not send snacks with your student. 

Your student will still need to have a snack on Mondays and Fridays, so please plan accordingly.  In addition, all birthday treats will now be enjoyed on Mondays and Fridays only. 

Refer to the sheet your student brought home on September 27th for more details. 

Remember there will be no snack on September 30th due to the late start.

4th Grade Field Trip

On Thursday the fourth graders took part in Envonmental Field Day at Lake Noquebay Park near Crivitz.  This is an event that has been running for such a long time that I remember going when I was a fourth grader! 

Students rotated through 8 stations throughout the afternoon.  At each station the students learned about our local environment by local experts.  We even saw some familiar faces from Wausaukee!  So what did the students learn about?

  -Critters, students learned about critters that live in the area and their habitats such as frogs, toads, turtles and (my least favorite) snakes.

  -Forestry and forest management, students learned how to find how old a tree is, how to find the height of a tree, and why trees are important.

  -Forest Fires, students learned how most forest fires start, how they spread and how they are fought. They also learned important steps to prevent forest fires.

  -Insects of the area, students learned about the importance of insects in the environment and played a game to learn about different insects and how they survive.

  -Fish, students learned about the ways fish are caught for studies and why they are caught,  they also saw northern and a bass up close!

  -Run off pollution, students learned about the causes of runoff pollution that affects our area lakes and rivers and ways that it can be prevented.  They also looked at critters that live in our lakes and rivers and rated them on a scale for pollution sensitivity.

  -Composting, students were amazed by the easy process that turns food waste and yard waste into rich soil!

  -Animal adaptations, students learned about different birds in the area and the specific adaptations they have to get the foods they need to survive.

  The students enjoyed participating in some hands on activities at each station and learned many interesting facts about our environment.  It was a wonderful fall day for learning in the outdoors!