Biographies

Time For Kids

Scholastic Biography Help

biography.com

Money! Sing-a-long!

Count your money kids!

Readers' Theatre

Thanks fourth grade for the MLK readers' theatre!  It is so fun to hear older readers set a great example for us!

Peep!

Here's the recipe!

Peep Bars

1 box chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

20-24 PEEPS candy 

1 cup speckled Easter M&M’s candies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch pan with foil, extending the sides of the foil over the edges of the pan. Mist the foil lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs + oil until well blended. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. While the bars bake, roughly chop the PEEPS into bite-sized chunks and set aside.
3. Quickly spread the chopped PEEPS evenly over the bars. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5-6 minutes or until the PEEPS are puffy and are juuuust beginning to brown a bit on the tops (you don’t want them to start toasting). Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle both chips and the M&M’s evenly on top of the PEEPS.
4. Allow the bars to cool in the pan completely before cutting into bars. I used a dampened knife to help me cut through the ultra-gooey marshmallow. These bars keep when covered at room temperature, for a couple of days.

What do our rocks do when we:
1. rub them with sandpaper
2. drop vinegar on them
3. submerge them in water

Egg Hunting for Story Starters

Today the kids entered a room full of Easter Eggs.  My son, Benjamin had a fantastic time trying to stump the class by hiding them in very tricky spots.  They found their egg, "bought" it with money from our bank, and inside was a story starter.  

Add caption

Growing Fun

Chives-Marigolds-Sunflowers are planted!

Counting the Jar

A few students put their counting skills to the test.  We had a jar full of coins this week and we were  all guessing the total.
They made like coin piles, then counted it up.  $39!

Visiting the Store

All students entered the classroom with a treat on their desk today, each with a different price.  In order to purchase that snack, they had to visit Jerson & Skyler at the "bank."  Each child asked for the correct coins, then had to count it out to me at the "store."  It was a fun way to end our money week, but kids are asking for more money activities next week!  We will see!!

Matching Money

We used coin pile cards and sticky notes with change totals in our game today.  Each were posted on opposite sides of the room.  Student pairs had to count the change, then search for the well-hidden sticky with the correct amount.  

SO MUCH FUN!  

Students watched each other and were trying to go faster than the group before them.  We will try this again soon!

Money! Money! Money!

We have a money center set up this week.  Kids are practicing identifying & counting coins.  Each day will find us singing a new song about money.  Ask your kids to sing "Coins in My Hands" for you!

P.I.E.Reader

A BIG thanks to our P.I.E.reader today, Sue Vossburg.  We listened to 2 different fairy tale knock-offs.  FUN!

Conferences

Tuesday 
8 am Skyler
12:30 Sermaya
1 Ashley
2:15 Bryan
2:30 Ximena
3 Nickolas
3:30 Dol
4 Jerson
4:30 Tracy
5 Joshua
5:30 Justin
6 Alan
6:30 Hunter

Wednesday
3:30 Oscar

Thursday
1 Alexis
2 Stefany
2:15 Josie
2:30 Hailey
5 Tammy
5:15 Benny
5:30 Raquel
6 Adrian

Rockin Time

Today we started looking at rocks.  We named the different properties of rocks that we noticed using our 5 senses.
Tomorrow we will observe 2 more.

Cake Batter Puppy Chow!

Here's the recipe!

1 box of rice chex
1 package of almond bark (melt completely)
1 1/2 c. yellow cake mix (just the powdery stuff)
1 small container of sprinkles

Melt almond bark, dump over cereal & mix completely.  Add sprinkles & cake mix.  Mix.  Let it sit...then shake it up to break it apart.  Enjoy!

Month of March: Fairness

Today, when we arrived at school from our 2 hour late start, we all headed to the gym!  Students listened to former SL teacher and school board member, Dave Skibsted talk about fairness.  He is a football referee.  Mr. Tibbetts also shared about playing fair in sports.  

Not sure what to think...

 Our class had a small platter of sushi to share today.  Seaweed, sticky rice, shrimp, crab, avocado & carrots were the main ingredients.  So many kids were willing to try this crazy new tasting food that looked so foreign to them.  I was proud of them for trying!

4 servings!

Skyler volunteered to try the wasabi with shrimp and rice.
It was not a pleasing taste. 

Keeping our Storm Water Clean

 Today we learned about all the things we can do to keep Storm Lake's storm water runoff clean.  

Pick up your grass clippings. 

Don't litter. 

Clean up after pets. 

Recycle. 

Don't get fertilizer, salt, oil or other contaminants in the storm drains.

Jake the fish in his DIRTY water!

Completed Rain Sticks!

What is a MENISCUS?

Our new unit in math began yesterday. We started by learning what scales are and how to read them.  Today kids worked in cooperative teams to read scales on cylinders.  We compared as a class and they were right on!  

Owl Pellets

What is an owl pellet?

What do they contain?

Why do owl's bodies make them?

What did WE find inside.  

These are all questions you can ask your second-grader about our experience today!

Doing Science

What is science?  What do scientists do?  

What tools do they use?

A New Month

     We have concluded our study of China and Japan.  I am a little sad.  I kept my eyes open for the sushi platters to appear at HyVee and I never was there on the right day.  If you happen to see some fresh California rolls while you are shopping soon, it would make for an interesting addition to your dinner, and I know your second grader would love to try it.

     Monday March, 4 we will begin our science unit called "Earth Materials."  Kids will read, explore and experiment while learning about different types of soil, rock and water.  If your family has an interesting rock, magazine article about any of these topics, a book, or a video that you'd allow your child to share, we would love to see it.  Kids may take time to go "rock hunt" by the lake as the weather warms and try to identify what they find.  

    Next Friday, our PIE partners, City Hall will be coming to teach us about storm water.  We will also make cool rain sticks.  

Essential questions for this unit are:

• How are soils, rocks and water useful?
• What are proprerties of earth materials?