Eagles!

Have you seen the eagles? This past weekend there were several events near Petersen and Sioux Rapids educating the public about eagles. They are back in the Little Sioux River Valley to nest.

Mr. Tibbetts shared an amazing website with us. We hope you can log in and enjoy it as a family, too! www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles

Snow!

What a crazy day! We were just getting excited about Spring. Please remember to send your child with snowpants and boots this week. More snow if forecast for the next few days.

Electricity Safety

Our visitor today was from the Science Museum of Iowa.

http://www.sciowa.org/

Students participated in hands-on activities about the different kinds of electricity, who discovered it, and safety. What a fun day! Visit the Science Museum of Iowa in Des Moines.

Recess News

Mrs. Kwikkel made the exciting announcement today that students no longer need snowpants and boots for recess! Yahoo! Please stay aware of the weather however, things in Iowa can change quickly. We may need them again!

Character Counts!

Last Friday at our all-school assembly we learned about our new "pillar" from Character Counts, RESPECT! We are always pumped to get together with the rest of our school friends, sing, dance & learn about new challenges. All students are able to earn yellow respect cards throughout the day as they show respect to others, self, and property. When the student has 10 yellow cards they are able to exchange them for a yellow bracelet from Mr. Doebel. Students who are able to earn a bracelet earn much respect from their fellow students.

We love Charlie Bone!

Our class was delighted this week to learn that Warner Bros. has purchased the rights to the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo. We immediately began imagining our favorite actors playing Grandma Bone, Uncle Patton and Charlie.

www.jennynimmo.me.uk

www.charlie-bone.com

www.scholastic.com/charliebone/index.htm

Family Fun Night

Magnetize!

What I Know About Magnets

by Alexsa

The most important thing about magnets is that they can pick up heavy things. You can make a magnet. It can only be attracted to nickel, steel, iron and cobalt. North can only attract south. A magnet is strongest at it's poles. Paper clips can stick to a magnet. The most important thing about mangets is tht they can pick up heavy things.

Chinese New Year!

Today we celebrate the year of the rabbit! Edamame, california rolls, surimi, shrimp ebi, stir-fried teriaki shrimp (we marinated it all day and stuck it out in the snow!) & wasabi peas are on the menu. Mmmmm.....

Do you Chillax?

Knowing that ITBS was coming, last week we began practicing how to relax our bodies and minds. Students are calling it "chillaxing." They chill and relax! Today before testing, we all imagined laying on a beautiful beach, feeling the sand in our hands and the sun warming our faces. A great break to take on a frigid day! I noticed that the students have much less test anxiety. We love taking 2 minutes to chillax sooo much that we may continue this on a daily basis.

Do you chillax at least once a day?

Hong Kong

Our Smartboard image has been changing daily as we've studied China. Today's image was Hong Kong. Raul and Cecilia loved their visit

Chinese New Year

While watching a video today about Chinese New Year, we learned all about the foods associated with the holiday, various traditions and the students favorite...fireworks! I snapped a quick picture of the end of our video. The students wondered if we could pull that kind of celebration off here at school? :)

Healthy Kids & ITBS

I am thrilled that we have our whole class at school today! We have Clorox-wiped down our desks and even our pencils. The news in the hallway is that many kids are coming down with coughs or the flu. Our group brainstormed ways they can stay healthy.

Some ideas were:
-go to bed at a smart time, 8:00
-wash hands often
-cover when you cough
-dispose of your Kleenex
-eat healthy, lots of fruits and vegetables

All of these are fantastic ideas! The students decided that a few of those would be smart things to remember next week while starting Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, especially the smart bedtime. We hope that all students stay healthy and come to school ready to learn every day!

2L Flash Mob

We surprised the lunchroom today with the cooking staff!

CGI Math

This morning we solved the following problem:

Ms. Langner had a snowball fight with Mrs. Kwikkel! She started the fight with ___ snowballs. She threw __ snowballs. How many snowballs does she have left?

Students solved the problem in many ways with several number choices. They used number sentences, skinnies and bits, tallies, drawings and manipulatives to solve. The following video is Nayeli solving by using a number sentence and skinnies and bits.