Another New Adventure

It seems like this school year is the year for new adventures in our classroom. We've began so many new explorations, stretched our minds in new ways, and definitely learned how to adapt to having a split classroom.  It has been a great adventure so far and I know the kiddos would agree.

This past week we added something new to our learning experiences.  Skype sessions.  Thanks to a project fulfillment via DonorsChoose.org, we were able to get the technology in our classroom that would allow for us to use Skype.  Once the kids learned what it was and how we would use it, they were excited!

 I wanted to use Skype to enhance some of the learning we were doing in our classroom, with science, social studies, and even math.  There are so many different ways to use Skype in the classroom.  We first Skyped with a class of 1st graders in Massachusetts that I had recently "met."  This classroom was also using the yoga balls and we used this Skype session as a way to learn more about the balls and see them in action. It was a HUGE HIT! The Massachusetts teacher, Ms Hewitt, and I have decided to use this opportunity to allow our classrooms to continue to connect with each other in order to learn about different communities, foster relationships with peers, and build upon the sense of a bigger world.

We used Skype on Tues to connect with Dr Don (my uncle) who taught us a little about how the brain sometimes plays tricks on us and modeled that with an optical illusion.  He also taught us about being a scientist; reminding the kids that being curious and inventive is a good thing and leads to a new or expanded learning.  He challenged the class to think of some questions for our next Skype session that we would like a deeper explanation of and he would do his best to help us out.

In the upcoming weeks we have 2 other Skype sessions tentatively scheduled as well.  We will be Skyping with a friend of mine in the Middle East who also donated to the DonorsChoose projects for the Skype materials and for the yoga balls. We will be using that time to say a personal thank you as well as expand on our current Social Studies unit on cultures and communities.   We also have a session scheduled with the author of the Howard B Wigglebottom books for a lesson on listening skills where she will be reading the book aloud, do a mini lesson, and then we'll get to have a Q&A time. A REAL LIFE AUTHOR!

I'm not sure I can possibly demonstrate their excitement with this latest adventure.  I, for one, am excited to use it as a way to move the walls and take our learning outside of Fremont, to the other side of town, outside of Springfield, past the boundaries of Missouri and broaden our cultural awareness, making our children greater stewards and hopefully more understanding members of our society.  I'm eager to see where the kiddos take us on this Skype adventure.  They have mentioned using it to call upon experts; experts in space exploration, experts on different careers, experts on animals.  Again...the sky's the limit with these kiddos and I'm continually amazed.

So stay tuned for more updates on our Skype sessions.

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

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

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

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."