The Rookery

Today's theme work was pretty related to the sun.  We read a segment of a Gail Gibbons book about the moon and then went down to the kitchen to see the moon's phases for ourselves.  It's a fun experiment and, if you've never really thought about the moon's phases, I hope…

View Larger Map As you know, we've been studying different aspects of the sun including a broader definition of "solar energy."  We've looked at how almost all of the electrical energy generated in the world comes from the sun, usually by way of fossil fuels or the water cycle.  We've…

For the past few weeks we've been working to hone our computational skills.  We want students to be proficient enough with an algorithm and operation that they use it effortlessly in problem solving situations.  For example, if multiplication is not yet second nature for you, you will probably approach a…

 About this time every year I get a back to basics itch.  Spelling word study gets renewed attention, some handwriting issues get addressed ("Top down!  Make all letters top down!"), it's time to have all of those multiplication facts mastered. With the Olympics flashing flags across the screen, it's a…

We had a short spanish class today because of our work with Malcolm but the students still had a wonderful time.  Christina, our new spanish teacher, has a great rapport with the children and many have started spanish journals independently.  They are busily filling them with useful words and Christina…

 We began our art residency work with Malcolm Potek today.  The Herons loved the   abstract drawing they created by following some simple instructions meant to give us a common vocabulary of lines and shapes.  We then created a simple bird drawing to put in our new sketch books.  After Malcolm…

 The other day when I threw out a little blurb about orbital forces ("So, you know, the earth is always trying to move straight and the sun's gravity pulls it in making a circle…if we stop orbiting, we'll be pulled straight into the sun…") the students exploded with questions.  "What…

I shouldn't have been surprised when the fifth graders begged to be able to explore the electricity activities that the fourth graders were working on last week.  We were making simple circuit boards, the basic building block of a computer, with aluminum foil, masking tape and Christmas lights.  "Please, can…

   The fourth graders had a very busy day today.  It began when each group got a battery, a lightbulb, and a paperclip.  I challenged them to make the lightbulb light.  I think they were expecting a pretty simple solution and many were a bit discouraged.  Then suddenly one group…

Here are some great shots by John Andrew.  Thanks John! John was one of the chaperones who made the trip to Wolf Ridge possible.  Scott Poncelot, Dave Cleland, Linda Gallagher, Alisa Leonard, Dan Kelley, Michele Reese, Mera Colling, Chris Sawyer, Darin Christianson and Patrick Ganey were our other chaperones this…