We're Off to See the Wizard

Wow! That was about all we could say. Friday was fun-filled from the moment we arrived to school until the moment we left. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! We could not have asked for nicer weather as we took our lunch to Sawyer Point. After lunch we enjoyed a few minutes on the playground.

We got together to take a class photo before we headed off to the theater.

The show was great! The music, effects, and actors were all fantastic. Many kids were at the edge of their seats the entire time.

After the performance, we had to wait, and wait, and wait to be dismissed. However, two of our students got to ask questions about the performance. I apologize for the quality of the photos.

You can see that all the excitement wore us out!

But we still had work to do! When we returned from our field trip, students wrote about what they enjoyed and created "The Emerald City."

It was a such a nice day together as a class. The entire week was fun as we learned about tornadoes, rainbows, and the story. I cannot wait for you to see all the work displayed at conferences.
This week is another favorite theme of mine...Harvest!

Computers Symphony and Tornadoes. Oh My!

It is only Tuesday, but we have had so much new learning that I couldn't wait to share it with you. The students arrived Monday to this morning message. We did inferring with the words in the morning message.

After our Morning Meeting we headed to Computers. Students had to use the Shapes Software to fill in one of the Pattern Block Puzzles. The challenge: Fill it with as few pattern blocks as possible. Then, fill it again with as many pattern blocks as possible.

Then students could free explore.

Today students were treated to Schoolhouse Symphony in the morning. This great program teaches students about instruments and music elements.

The students have been waiting to learn about Tornadoes. We did a minilesson to go along with our Wizard of Oz theme. It was probably the most favorite activity of the year so far. We began by reading the book It's a Tornado!

Next, we created our own tornado using two liter bottles, tape, and water. It was a HIT! It leaked a bit, but was a great visual for the students. I modeled several times. Then pulled a name to let a student try.

Next, we drew what we observed and had to write about how a tornado is formed.

I love how this student showed the water leaking from the bottles. Very detailed!

We ended the lesson by completing a Tornado Tree Map together. We wrote what tornadoes can, have, and are. Students said that Tornadoes can be dangerous and spin. Tornadoes have wind, air, moisture. Tornadoes are powerful!, strong, and big.

Now tomorrow we will learn about rainbows and do some more inferring. We are counting down the days to our field trip!