Big day!

Miss Schmidt flew home from Barcelona!

Brainiacs

This week we read nonfiction books about the nervous system.  We focused on the brain.  To end the week we made brain hats!

What is that?

Skittles + water = the "S" label floats off!

Writing

Students have been doing quick 15-20 minute "power writes" on different subjects.  Yesterday's was about Christmas.  They spent today inputting their thoughts in to our blog site and including more information about family traditions.  Check it out!
Christmas Kid Blog

Shiny Nose

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer...had a very shiny nose!

Proud kids! Which is your favorite reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh?

Red Ranger

Red Ranger Came Calling, by Berkeley Breathed is one of my favorite books!  This afternoon we viewed the amazing artwork while reading it's great story.  During the depression, a nasty little boy named Red, heads to Vashon Island, WA to spend the holidays with his aunt.  His Christmas dreams are way out of reach for his family.  He dreamed of an "Official Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime Stopper Star-Hopper Bicycle."  He meets an interesting island character and finds that he can believe in grown-ups after all.  Ask your child to tell you more!

Vashon Island bicycle

Berkeley Breathed

Eye See It!

Charlie Bone

What is your favorite moment of Charlie Bone?

Coke Eggs

Healthy teeth are essential to a healthy body! We did an experiment today with plaque (the eew gross stuff that grows on our teeth). I boiled eggs and soaked them in Coke overnight. Each child was given a toothbrush with toothpaste. The Coke is the plaque and they are challenged to brush it away. Not easy! As 1/2 of the class brushed away the plaque the others were researching teeth and dental health from our nonfiction collection and journaling their information. They should have plenty of interesting things to tell you tonight!

Healthy Habits to Avoid Plaque:

• brush regularly


• floss regularly


• visit the dentist regularly


• eat fruits and vegetables


• avoid sugary foods and drinks

Plaque = CAVITIES!!

Sneak Peak

What are we up to today? More to come....

Little Bloggers

You can access www.kidblog.org/MsLangnersClass/author/mlangner
from here or our Symbaloo. We sure had fun learning how to blog today!

Vocabulary

This week's Text Talk book is Amos and Boris. It is about an unlikely pair that become close friends. Ask your child to tell you about it.

Words we are learning from this book:

• necessities-what you really need



• miserable-feeling or looking awful



• opportunity-getting the chance to do what you really want to do



• privilege-special rights for some people



• stranded-stuck some place



• reliable-able to be trusted

Thankful

I have been thinking all month about things I am thankful for. Everyday I am lucky enough to come to a job that I love. Your kids make me laugh & cry, keep me on my toes, ask great questions and show such sympathy and support for one another. I have watched your children transform into such a support group. They pat each other on the back when having a bad day, they use kind words, and are helpful to each other. What a great group of kids. I AM THANKFUL FOR THEM! Happy Thanksgiving to all of our school families!!

Giving Thanks

Our class has been busy reading nonfiction books, organizing our findings in graphic organizers and doing "power writes" about Thanksgiving. This week, we are creating a few projects to follow up on our learning. This diorama shows how the Pilgrims and Wampanoag prepared for the great 3 day feast we call the first Thanksgiving. Look for feathered turkeys and models of the Mayflower coming home to decorate your family's table for the holiday!

Testing

Students are continuing to bring home a poem each day to read 10 times. Please ask them to share this with you. We will begin reading testing the first week of December, so any spare moments spent with their eyes in a great book will be of great benefit to your child.

Testing to start after Thanksgiving:

• Reading fluency/accuracy/comprehension


• Word Journeys benchmark


• Math benchmark


• 10 minute word write


• Writing

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This crazy Christmas Tree has joined us in the classroom. The tree dances and plays fabulous music when we achieve goals or show great character!

Retired Teacher Lunch

Our former Storm Lake Schools custodians, teachers and administrators were invited to a special Thanksgiving lunch in our gym. Students all participated to make their day fun. Placemats were colored, entertainment provided and children even served the meal. My classroom, my reading kids and Mrs. Dewerff's class spiced up the morning with some fun poetry. Enjoy!

2L You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower!

Broccoli Pie

Visualization

We are reading the exciting fiction novel, Midnight for Charlie Bone. There is challenging vocabulary and many plot twists & turns. We keep character charts, discuss the reading often and use visualization to imagine what is happening.

www.jennynimmo.me.uk

Counting a Collection

Math skills used today: counting by 2's, grouping by 10's, counting by 10's, writing numbers in expanded form, adding large numbers, estimating, place value.
Students were given cups full of Cheerios to estimate, then count in to groups.

Next they had to work with a partner to add their 2 numbers together.

When finished, they could enjoy their healthy day-after-Halloween-morning snack!

Happy Halloween!

Here are our tips for a safe evening of trick-or-treating!

• Just eat a few pieces of candy.



• Look both ways before carefully crossing the street.



• Stay with your parents or responsible adult.



• Do NOT EVER step inside a stranger's house.



• Always say please and thank you.



• Make sure you wear a costume that shines or glows...or use a glow stick.

Happy Faces

Duty teachers know how to have fun too!!

Insect Rewind

We completed our study of isopods and insects a few weeks ago. Our snack today was a perfect chance to review.
Students recieved:

• 3 marshmallows


• 2 chocolate chips


• 6 pretzel sticks


• peanut butter

Their goal was to build an insect...then eat it!

Ear Care

Teams worked together using their knowledge of the ear to decide how they should best care for their ears. Here's what they decided:

-Don't put any sharp stuff (anything at all) in your ears.
-Don't clean your ears with Q-Tips because it pushes the wax down to your ear drum and you won't be able to hear.
-Do wash your ear with hot water in the shower. You may use a washcloth on your pinna.
-Don't scream in other peoples' ears.
-Think before you decide to pierce your pinna. You may pierce a nerve and it will hurt.
-You can damage someone's ability to hear if you hit them in the ear.

Naturalist

BATS! EEK!
Nope! We learned today that bats are a very important part of the food chain in Iowa. The little brown bat mainly has a diet of mosquitos. How many mosquito bites were you scratching this summer?

Conferences

Come a few minutes early to your child's conference to allow for parking and walking times. Please make use of the child care services near the front door so that we can use the full conference time to talk about your 2nd grader. I look forward to seeing you all again! I have great things to share with you about your child.

Tuesday
12:45 Aaliyah
1:30 Aldo
1:45 Ana
2 Evelyn
2:15 Alexis
3 Titus
3:30 Marcus
4 Jacob
4:15 Salomon
4:30 Elian
5 Marlene
5:15 Tyler
6 Dylan
7 Cristal
7:15 Emi

Wednesday
8:10 Maria

Thursday
12:15 Erika
2 Betsy
2:30 Nhat
4 Jet
7 Jose

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Math goals for today:
What is a variable?
How do you measure distance in centimeters?
What is a median?

What a Wonderful World

Jason Heereen and his awesome SL Jazz Band had our reading group up to the High School today to listen to some fabulous music! My small group reading kids have been enjoying A Good Night for Ghosts, set in New Orleans during the depression. We loved learning about Louis Armstrongs start in music, the famed pirate Jean Lafitte and the city of New Orleans. We even heard a rumor Louis was here once at the Cobblestone! This book really excited the students and brought to life a time in our country's history when we were struggling with many things, but life was sweet and simple.


Mr. Hereen & the SLHS Jazz Band members, thanks for bringing the music alive today!


When the Saints Go Marching In. Enjoy that VOICE!
http://youtu.be/wyLjbMBpGDA


La vie en Rose
http://youtu.be/4IH9gGywLk4


Jean Lafitte
http://jeanlafitte.net/


Official Magic Tree House website
www.magictreehouse.com

Goodbye, Miss Schmidt...

It was a real sad day here today. Miss Schmidt said her goodbye's for now. She is off on an amazing adventure to 4th grade in Barcelona, Spain. We are looking forward to seeing her again in 44 school days! All of the adults here at SLEM had figured out how exceptional she was by the way she taught and managed the students. However, we had no idea that the kids would be so attached. A sign of a great person. Thanks for the great start to the school year Miss Schmidt! We'll see you REAL SOON! Buena suerte!

If you would like to follow Miss Schmidt's blog

while she is in Barcelona follow this link:

http://beth-spain.blogspot.com/

A Grand Day Out

Buena Vista County Naturalist, Katie van der Linden, met us at Buena Vista County Park on October 7 to share her knowledge about Iowa animals. Katie's educational snakes, turtles and salamanders were there for hands on learning! We especially loved the snapping turtle! Diane Christiansen took us on a hike from 45 mile per hour winds at the top of the hill, down to tranquility at the bottom. It was raining beautiful oak leaves on our heads! We talked about prairie life, animals of the prairie & home remedies the settlers used. Amazing!

http://www.co.buena-vista.ia.us/conserv/coninfo/#..

Below are pictures of our adventure at the O'Brien County Prairie Heritage Center. It sits atop a hill overlooking a valley perfect for observing wildlife. On site is a small herd of bison. Students were thrilled to learn about & touch bones, fur & a real bison bladder! On the main floor they learned about Iowa prairie animals through interpretive displays and stuffed wildlife. They were even able to snuggle up in bison fur. Downstairs was a gigantic snake skeleton, courtesy of Iowa State University. Great hands on displays taught students all about snake movements, habits, habitats & bodies. To complete the trip was a hike in the amazingly tall prairie grass. We played a predator-prey game and absolutely lost students in the grass. This place is definetly worth a family visit!

http://www.prairieheritagecenter.org/

http://prairieheritagecenter.blogspot.com/2010/02/prairie-heritage-center.html

Aldo, just beat!

Character Counts with Dan Wardell

IPTV Kids Club celebrity Dan Wardell visited SLES today to kick off our Character Counts initiative. Dan is a dynamic storyteller to involve and excite all 850 of our little tornadoes! Visit his website to learn more about Dan.

Thanks for coming to SLES Dan! We hope to see you in Storm Lake again soon!

http://blogs.iptv.org/blogs/dantastic/

Water Treatment Plant

Waste Water Plant

This is the lab where the workers "do" great science. They test the cleanliness to make sure it is ready for the lagoon.

This is the clean water, ready to go to the lagoon. The kids are looking through a grate to see the flow.

Everyone walked the catwalk. The kids were amazed at the color of this water in comparison to the clean coming out the other end.