Sunday, March 25, 2012

We Love Science!

I think the best part of each day is Science!  The kids walk in each morning asking, "Mrs. Knapp, are we going to do an experiment today?"  I love this, and I have to admit, it is really fun.  We have just started a new unit in Science, Earth's Materials.  We study rocks, soil, and water.  We have been looking at the properties of rocks, and done a few experiments.  The students don't know this yet, but the best is yet to come!!!  I can't wait!!!    
One of the fun parts - we gave a name to each rock.  Before I told them the real names, we voted on our own.  We came up with :

pumice - 'light coral'                                     sandstone -  'red glitter'
granite - 'shiny brick'                                    limestone - 'gray chalk'
conglomerate - 'rocky road'                         marble - 'crystal ball'
slate - 'chocolate smoothie' (my favorite)

Below are a few pictures of the kids working on properties of the rocks.


Look at this great teamwork!  They are all working together on sorting their rocks.  Luth is using the scale.  Must be sorting their rocks by weight???



Angel is checking his 'data'.  Do his rocks in the ice cube tray look like the real one with sorted rocks?  Nice work Angel!



More great teamwork!  Jaida helps Hsa Moo with her rocks, while Emmanuel takes time for a quick pose.  :o)


Starting to use the sandpaper on the rock.  Kalany and Joey decide who gets to try it first!


Check out this video of a group showing great teamwork.  You will see them doing 4 different things to the rocks.   Viewing it with a hand lens,  using sandpaper to see if any little pieces fall off,  Putting vinegar on it to see what happens, and dropping it in water to see if it sinks or floats.   Enoy!!  


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Music Concert

ELEMENTARY MUSIC CONCERT

Students from the Storm Lake Elementary School will be presenting the concert “A World of Music” on Tuesday evening, March 13, at 7:00 p.m. in the elementary gym.  Under the direction of Pegg Havens, this concert will feature the following classes:  Kindergarten students of Mrs. Bowman, Ms. Mills, Mrs. Mortensen, Mrs. Thompson; 1st grade students of Mrs. Brashears, Mrs. Flink, Mrs. Jenness, Mrs. Lange and Mrs. Richardson and Mrs. Straw students in these classes; 2nd grade students of Mrs. Campbell, Ms. Hussey, Mrs. Knapp and Mrs. Schmidt.
The concert will begin and end with a mass choir of approximately 260 students.  One of the opening songs will feature flags representing the countries of origin of SLES students.  Each grade level will also sing several songs with an international musical theme.  All narration and small group singing will be done by select 2nd grade students.   The concert is free and open to the public.  Everyone is encouraged to view student artwork on display in and around the art room before the concert.



Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Science, Science, and more Science!!!




We are so excited about Science.  We are studying the earth, and all its materials like soil, rocks, and water.   Hmmmm..... I wonder what we are going to do with these rocks.  Can anyone identify any rocks in the picture?


Snack Time

We are so lucky to enjoy a snack everyday.  Sometimes we get apples, oranges, grapefruit, or pears.  Today we had strawberries.  They were sooooo yummy.   While I was passing out the strawberries,  Amyah got this gigantic strawberry shaped like a heart.  The class insisted I take a picture of it, and put it on the blog.... so, I did!  :o)    I love my class......

Thursday, March 1, 2012

We are BLOGGING again!!!



We got a new student this week, and are so excited.  Gracelin joined our class on Tuesday and is fitting in nicely.   Here, Amyah is helping Gracelin on the laptops.   They are blogging about school.

We started Science again, and are learning about rocks, minerals, and the earth.  Students are blogging about this.  Well, they should be blogging... Looks like they are posing for the camera.  :)
 Look how hard they are all working.  Love my class!