Mrs. Drzayich's Class: Week Eleven

So many highlights--where do I begin?

On Monday we enjoyed a Patriot Reader assembly with some actors from UVU. They performed the play Jack Frost.

In A.P.E. we've begun a kicking unit--all the kids are excited about this because it means soccer. Test their skills at home by asking them to do a step-kick just like at school.

Our problem thermometer is really starting to generalize to the rest of the class and it is so helpful to have that kind of a reference during a crisis to help students think through their problems. If you are interested in using it at home, please see last week's post and download a personal-size problem thermometer.

Finally, after a month or so of working towards it, we reached our goal of three days with 2 or fewer red points for unkind words and actions on Monday of this week. Everyone was SO thrilled and proud. So on Wednesday, we had a small celebration watching an episode of Arthur and popping popcorn.

Here they are, enthralled in Arther and his scary school teacher.

In science we've begun group animal projects in which each student contributes to learn about an animal native to Utah. They will classify that animal, create a map to show where in Utah it lives, list some interesting facts about it and draw the animal. Once the projects are finished, we will have them share all they've learned with the rest of the class--a good chance to practice some speaking and listening skills.
As we've been working on this, we've also learned a few new science vocabulary words--two of which are deciduous and coniferous. As fall is a great time to notice the difference between these two types of trees, we've included them in our study. Today we had a cooking activity in which we made some deciduous trees: nice, rich soil out of oreos and chocolate pudding in which we planted some licorice winter trees with no leaves. The students were so good at checking off the steps and looking to see what's next. Afterwards we did a few comprehension questions to see if they knew what they had just made--they did! And they're even getting the hang of the word de-cid-u-ous. :)
Here are a few pictures of the final product:

Today we also had a homework MIRACLE--every single student in the class brought back homework! It was incredible. All were able to enjoy the break they earned throughout the day. Kudos to the students and major kudos to you parents. We so appreciate all that you do.

One last thing: I know many of you have offered to submit classroom supplies--thank you so much for this kindness! In a week or two I will post a virtual giving tree for the holidays complete with some supplies that we are running short on. If you are interested in donating, you can just email me with the item from the giving tree you would like to donate and I'll reserve it for you. Thanks again for all your generosity--it really helps our class run smoothly.

Homework Heros: