WINTER PROGRAM

Our Winter Program was wonderful.  The kids sang like angels and it was wonderful to see so many family members there to enjoy it!  Thank you for making it so special.  Have a very happy holiday from Room 6.

Craft Day 08 was great!

Anna, Sam, and Angela painting ornaments.

Courtney and Amber working with Jeannette.

Grandpa and his elves.
Keisha building her stocking with Shannon.
Cayla and Sam, loaded down with goodies!

December Days

We started December off right by making our calendar days.  Aren't they cute?  Tis the season to be creative!

TIS THE SEASON...

 Of curse we have done lots of reading during ExCEL time, and we are definitely improving on our double digit division, but we have made time for fun too.  Most days we practice our program song with our second grade buddies.  This Friday we made holiday wreaths.  

On Tuesday we will have craft time.  A special thank you to parents, siblings and even grandparents who will be joining us for this.

Are YOU a scholar?

Can you identify the two bright objects in the sky close to the crescent moon?  This photo was taken last night just at sunset.

During the week the classes rotated from room to room each afternoon.  In Room 6 we did a directed draw of the Mayflower.  It was a great way to review what students had learned.  In Room 7 everyone watched the movie about Squanto and wrote a summary of his life.  He is credited with teaching the Pilgrims skills that helped them to create the very harvest they were thankful for on that first Thanksgiving.  In Room 24 each student wrote a poem of thankfulness.  It was a wonderful week!

Giving Thanks

The week before Thanksgiving the whole fifth grade class spent some time exploring the reasons why we have this holiday.  On Monday all of the fifth graders crowded in to Room 24.  It was packed!  It was also hot, stuffy, smelly and stifling.  Having about 75 students in that little space was somewhat like the conditions facing the Pilgrims on the Mayflower.  Mr. C gave a great talk on life aboard the ship and how long the travelers lived under those conditions.  Later, students filled out an information page and did a reflection on the journey of the Mayflower.  It was a kick off for a week of lessons centered around this piece of history.

Wolf Creek was the BEST!

Fun and games!

We played cards...

...and games...
and smiled a lot!
Some kids enjoyed Monopoly,
while others played Twister.  It was all great!

SKITS

Our final evening began with each cabin sharing a skit with the group.  The skits helped us learn about each cabin mascot.  They were Murrelet, Wapiti, and Sea Lion.

Streamside

At Prairie Creek we all learned what it takes to have a healthy habitat.  Students looked for food, shelter, shade to keep the water cool, and clear water.  They checked for pH level and they even measured the oxygen in the water.  What did we find?  Is this creek healthy?  Yes! 

Water Cycle Tai Chi

Have you ever seen the Water Cycle Tai Chi?  It is something else!  What a super way to learn about the water cycle.  If you ask your Wolf Creek camper they will happily show you how it is done.

OLD GROWTH REDWOOD FOREST

This is our journey to the old growth forest.  We learned how the redwoods have adapted to make survival possible.  Did you know that the tannin in their bark acts as an insect repellant?  Or that their bark is as thick as twelve inches and resists fire?  Or that they have very shallow roots BUT can send their roots out to twine with other trees?  This enables them to remain standing in some fierce winds.  

We played "Little Professor" in the redwoods and taught each other about different organisms that live in this very special forest.  Keisha makes a spectacular Marbled Murrelet, don't you think?  

Field Study with Ranger Alex

Ranger Alex and his study group are looking at the prairie ecosystem.  They sure did learn a ton and have fun too!  

Wolf Creek

Here we are on our way to Wolf Creek.  We stopped at the Redwood National and State Parks Visitor Center then walked over to the picnic area to have our lunch.  Are we excited or what?

This Friday we had great fun with math.  We did a Codecrackers activity that we call ABC Math.  Each letter of the alphabet is given a value, A is 1, B is 2, etc. The challenge Friday morning was to find the highest score for a word.  The kids worked together and used a dictionary to search.  No names or abbreviations were allowed and you could only use a word if you knew its meaning.  What fun was had!

Casey's word was skeetshooter.  Do you know why?