Scholastic Book Orders

Just a reminder that our Scholastic Book order is due this Friday!   

If you haven't had a chance to look at the flyer (or possibly it has been misplaced, haha) you can always browse the books online as well as other grade level books.  

The link to the online store is www.scholastic.com/readingclub  and our online access code is GV2NG
When you order online, the books will be delivered to our classroom and I'll send them home with your child.  If you have any requests on book recommendations, please don't hesitate to holler...I'd be glad to help! 

We'd Like to Introduce To You...

We'd like to introduce to you: Miss Alison!  Miss Alison is going to college at Missouri State University and has chosen our classroom to spend the next 7 weeks with for her student teaching, after which she'll graduate from MSU!

So before we end up telling you everything about her, here she is!

I am very excited to be a part of Mrs. Cantrell's classroom for the next several weeks!  I have dreamed of becoming an early elementary school teacher for many years, and my time here at Fremont is the last part of my education before I can have a classroom of my own.  My passion for working with children has grown through many experiences including working at various day camps in Springfield and volunteering at summer camps, working at a preschool, experiences in schools through other MSU courses, and various other experiences.  I also love spending time in the outdoors camping, floating, biking, and hiking.  Even though I am excited to be a teacher, I still love to learn myself, and my favorite way to learn is through traveling and experiencing new things.  I was fortunate to study abroad during my junior year at MSU to Greece for a semester, and I have also traveled to Honduras, China, and Uganda for missions.  I hope to bring these experiences into the classroom as I begin planning the "World Around Me" unit!

Thank you for welcoming me into the classroom!  Already I have enjoyed seeing all of the wonderful learning and growing that takes place everyday.  I hope to teach all of the students in the classroom even just half as much as they and Mrs. Cantrell will be teaching me!

DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.org is an AMAZING organization that allows classrooms to get much needed materials for the classroom by getting support from donors around the country.   Teachers are well known for spending their own money on classroom materials...too often the beginning of the year school supplies run out before the end of the year and need replenished.  Thanks to DonorsChoose.org, people around the city, state, and even country can make donations to the projects teachers have posted.   

I have been blessed to have had several projects fully funded with DonorsChoose.  Materials we've received just this year alone include whisper phones, self timers, stamps and ink pads, letter beads, decomposition viewer, worm farm (compost kid), and several science tools.   These materials are such a great addition to the wonderful things we are already doing in our classroom and really help enhance the learning that is happening.  

If you would like to make a donation to any of our projects or maybe you have a family member or friend that would like to help in our classroom, here is the link to our project page. 
http://www.donorschoose.org/kcantrell 

 We typically have 3-4 projects online, awaiting funding, especially as the year progresses and we discover more needs. 

Feel free to share the link with friends and family members!  

Farm Field Trip

What a GREAT Friday it was yesterday! The weather was perfect...the company was great...and we got to go on our FIRST FIELD TRIP (yay!!!)  We went to the Rutledge-Wilson Farm with all the first and second graders and I do believe they enjoyed it all.

Rutledge-Wilson Farm is a great place to see different farm animals, explore a variety of plants and gardens, as well as see the pumpkin patch right now.  We were able to see chickens, ducks, geese, a bunny, pheasants, quail, pigs and piglets, donkeys, goats, sheep, cows, and so much more!  We got to investigate the cotton plant, the fish pond, a pig sty, and of course play on the playground.   The kiddos even got to use their knowledge about weather, soil, and our Earth while there to come up with realistic explanations for why things were they way they were!

The farm is free to everyone.  Right now they do have their Fall Fest going on during the weekends with plenty of pumpkin and fall activities for families to do.   Let us know if you get a chance to go see the Farm as well!

Mr Rob -- Construction Expert

In case you haven't heard...

Fremont is building on!

We might be just a little excited around here because it means so much to our school family and it will make such a difference with our students in the years to come. 

You might remember an earlier post where we noticed the utility flags (pssst...click here to read it).   Well we have a parent in our classroom that knows a thing or two about utility flags and construction so I sneakily got him to come into our room and share his knowledge (okay, it wasn't very sneaky. I politely begged him to come and teach these kiddos more than what I could).   He graciously accepted and the kiddos seemed to soak up so much more from an Expert than just listening to me.   

Grant's dad, Mr Rob, taught them more about utility flags and their purposes. He discussed why it's important to call before you dig. He showed them pictures of underground pipes that had been accidentally busted.  They saw pictures of tools used to locate those buried pipes. We all left that session knowing more about utility lines and safety than I had imagined. They even got to take home a bookmark that Mr Rob made, showing the different flags.

We love having experts in our room and I'm happy that this expert is part of our classroom family! We definitely will have Mr Rob back again as we start to see other signs of construction happening on our school grounds.


Mrs. Cantrell's Class

Exploring Dirt

This would be every little boy's dream...playing in dirt.  But yesterday in our classroom that's exactly what we did!   We didn't call it "playing" though - we explored!   Last week's homework assignment was to bring back a sample of soil from near your home. We used the 14 containers that were returned to do an exploration about soil to help lead us further into the study of our Earth.

Students got to use magnify glasses to really see the different components to soil and noticed that it's not just dirt.   They found roots, rocks, dead bugs, and grass!!

 We also used the soil to explore how soil is different every where you go.   Here is the whole collection of soils....notice the color and texture differences.

We discussed why that might be, especially since we all live in Springfield.   Some noticed the dark soil was clumpier and we figured out that that soil was more wet than the others.  Some soil was so dry it was just a pile of dust.

We will continue our study of soil and rocks and plants ... which will lead us deeper into the study of our Earth and how we can protect it.

Stay Tuned!

Mrs. Cantrell's Class
PS - Thanks to donors at DonorsChoose.org for fully funding one of our Science Projects that will help us "dig further" into this study of our Earth.

Little House and SOO MUCH MORE

Do you know the TV series Little House on the Prairie?  What about the book series it was based on?   Well I've made a few posts (here and here) and have mentioned in our last few newsletters about how we are reading The Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This story takes place before Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, and Carrie move out to the prairie. It tells the tale of them moving out to their little house, the trials they take on, and they ways of living in the pioneer days.

Mrs. Englebrecht reads little bits of the book to the classroom each day, taking time to stop and explore what's really happening in the book.  This time to really dig into the book and understand has brought about lots of learning opportunities.  They've researched black bears. They have learned about covered wagons, and how people lived and traveled back then.  They've studied Wisconsin (where the family is living) and taken that opportunity to learn about how weather is different in different locations.  They know too how the weather in Wisconsin affects life for the family and animals.   They've explored dried foods, rag dolls and why that's all they had, traps, phrases like "Saved my bacon", and so so sooo much more.

I know the kids have enjoyed the book and we're not even close to finishing it! It has been quite the learning opportunity and the kids don't even realize that we're sneaking some valuable learning time into their read aloud.  We've had several opportunities to take this learning a little bit further and give them the chance to see it in action.

After learning about how the family dried their foods and some plants they got to taste beef jerky (which got mixed reviews).  I borrowed a food dehydrator and students brought in foods to dehydrate - big success.  I'll get another post with pictures up later this week, documenting that adventure.

We had Ms Anne come in and model for us the music of those times, getting a chance to envision ourselves in that moment, doing what Laura and Carrie and Mary might have done (see that posting here).

Recently they discussed how Ma would spend an entire day doing a chore, like drying foods or making butter or mending. They thought about how it would take a whole day to make something like butter - something that we can just go to the grocery store and get when we need it.  Closer to our Thanksgiving break we'll be making our own butter...and bread!

I can't wait to see where this book and the kiddos lead our learning in the next few months.  I can guarantee you another few posts and updates as we continue this journey.  Mrs. Englebrecht and I already have a few ideas but we're waiting to see where the kids take us.

I really hope your child is talking to you about this experience as well as sharing with you their favorite key moments.  If not, use this post and the following posts to spark a conversation with your Cantrell's Class kiddo. And I also hope you continue to follow this amazing journey!

Mrs. Cantrell

Family Fun Night

Just a quick reminder that Fremont is having a CREATE & CONSTRUCT Family Fun Night tomorrow -- October 15th.   530 - 7pm....FREE PIZZA....FREE ACTIVITIES....LOTS OF FUN!  

You can travel to 9 different classrooms, creating and constructing different activities with your family.   I hope to see ALLLL my kiddos there tomorrow!  I'll be working with Ms Davis doing nature crafts in her room...come find me! 

Fiddle vs Violin

Did you know that a fiddle and a violin are the same instrument? Honestly, I didn't!  But that was just one of the learning moments I had when Ms Anne came to our class last week.  In our classroom, Mrs. Englebrecht has been reading Little House in the Big Woods (by Laura Ingles Wilder)  and we have been using that book to learn more about our world.  They have discussed bears, rag dolls, weather in Wisconsin, and soooo much more.   I'll save THAT for another post real soon.

But a few weeks ago they read in the book that Pa was playing his fiddle for the girls and Ma.  The class realized that we had several students in our room that were unfamiliar with what a fiddle was.   It just so happens that Ms Englebrecht's daughter plays the fiddle!  *You just might see her working at Silver Dollar City sometimes too, I hear! *   So Ms Anne graciously came to our classroom to show us what a fiddle was and how it was different from a violin.  

Do you know what makes those two instruments different?  NOTHING!!  There is just fiddle music and violin music...so if you're playing violin music (think Mozart) then it's a violin...if you're playing the fiddle (think of bluegrass music) then it's a fiddle!  Amazing, isn't it?!

The class really loved hearing her play, show the instruments and stopping to visualize themselves sitting in the cabin listening to Pa play fiddle music.

Here we have our eyes closed, visualizing what it might have been like

I do believe, though, that their FAVORITE part was getting to dance, just like we envisioned the girls doing while Pa played.

Be sure to ask your kiddo about this great guest speaker we had and see if they remember their favorite parts!

Weather Unit

We have dived into our weather unit this past week.  We started off reviewing all the words associated with weather and then learned what weather is, exactly. (Weather is what the air is like outside)

 The kiddos have been busy in their Learning Logs documenting the weather each day, too!   Last week we did our first experiment, looking at temperature in the sun vs the shade.  You can bet they loved the "outdoor classroom" and getting to predict, observe, and record!

We also have had some exciting guest speakers this week.  I have had a few boys in my classroom asking everyday "when is the meteorologist coming??" so it was a great day when Dave from the Springfield NOAA station came in for a presentation.  We learned a lot about weather tools and weather safety.

On Thursday Meteorologist Abby from KY3 joined our classroom to extend our learning about weather patterns and how we measure weather.    I do believe the meteorologist visits were a hit!

Continue to include your child as you watch the weather forecasts or discuss what the weather is like today. Look for important words relating to the cloud cover, temperature, wet/dry or how windy it is.

Mrs. Cantrell's Class

Constructing Ideas

Have your children been mentioning the construction flags we've been noticing?  How about the tripods?  Well let me fill you in on what's going on in our classroom.

Last week, on our way in from recess we saw these flags.

Which lead to an investigation about what they might be used for.  We've decided that they are for construction and telling the workers where "stuff" is under the ground. Some of us are pretty certain they are building a roller coaster or train track...I'm not so sure, haha.

We also noticed tripods and construction men using them.  We took a short "field trip" to the playground on Wednesday to ask the experts what exactly they were doing.   This is what we learned.

We are continuing our investigations and observations about things happening around us.  Please continue to ask your child what new things are going on as well!

Mrs. Cantrell's Class

Fire Safety

Today the local firefighters visited our school for a presentation on Fire Safety.  Please ask your child about the important things they learned.  

Here are a few pictures of their Learning Logs where they documented their learning from the presentation!

"If there is fire you have to duck down and crawl to the door"

"I learned about leave your pets. Do not stop, crawl."

"I learned that if there were a fire you would get down and crawl."

"I learned that you have to leave your pet in side." 

Domino's Night is Tomorrow

Don't forget! 

Tomorrow is Fremont's Domino's Night!  

When you call in and place your Domino's order, be sure to mention our classroom and Fremont Elementary.  A portion of the sale will go back to Fremont.

Last month, our class won the pizza party by having the most orders out of the whole elementary! Way to go!!!  

So mark your calendars and get the word out!  

Tomorrow is Domino's !!! 

Scholastic Book Order

Just a reminder that our Scholastic Book order is due this Friday!   

If you haven't had a chance to look at the flyer (or possibly it has been misplaced, haha) you can always browse the books online as well as other grade level books.  

The link to the online store is www.scholastic.com/readingclub  and our online access code is GV2NG

When you order online, the books will be delivered to our classroom and I'll send them home with your child.  If you have any requests on book recommendations, please don't hesitate to holler...I'd be glad to help!