Class Dojo

Plants – We Eat Every Part

We just started a new chapter in science! We are learning about plants. In between learning about things like photosynthesis and pollination, we are also learning about the different parts of plants. What better way to learn about them than to eat them!

Monday we ate some seeds. Would you like to know what kind? They were yellow, but after we applied some heat, they became white and fluffy! That’s right, we had some delicious popcorn. We were able to very clearly see the seed coats after we finished, because they fell to the bottom of the bowl.

Tuesday we had stems and leaves to drink. Sugar cane stems and tea leaves, that is. The students were super excited to be trying yet another part of plants.

Tomorrow we will be having roots for an afternoon snack. What do you suppose they will be? Ask your student if you’d like to find out!

Learning about the Senses

Last week we spent time learning about the 5 senses. On the day we talked about touch, we had lots of fun exploring a box full of different items and trying to decide what we had been touching. We realized how much we really rely on our other senses to help us!

Product Review – The Quietest Classroom Pencil Sharpener

As I have been reading various teaching blogs lately, I have been seeing reviews for this pencil sharpener popping up all over the blogosphere.

With it’s retro styling, it intrigued me, but what interested me even more was the fact that all these other teachers were amazed at how quietly and effectively it sharpens pencils. As a busy teacher, I am quite made constantly aware of the noisy pencil sharpening epidemic that plagues so many classrooms. I’ve tried the electric pencil sharpeners. They dull quickly and the motors burn out easily. I’ve tried letting students use their own personal sharpeners, but that ending up with a floor that looked like the bottom of a hamster cage. So, when Troy at Classroom Friendly Supplies offered to let me try one in my classroom, I jumped at the chance.

When I opened it, my students were in awe. When I showed them how it worked, they were super impressed. As they have used it over the last week or so, I have asked them what they think about it. They say things like, “It’s the best pencil sharpener ever!” or “I like it because it gets the pencils so sharp!” or “It is so quiet it doesn’t bother me when I’m trying to work.”

You can see a video below of the sharpener in action.

It truly is quiet. It has cut down a lot of noise in my classroom. The students love it. This teacher loves it! What more can I say? Check it out at Classroom Friendly Supplies.

 

*** I received this product from Troy at Classroom Friendly Supplies in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received.

1st Day of School Activity

When students come through my doors on the first day of school, I want to be sure to give them a meaningful activity to do. This year, my idea came from here. After students put backpacks away, sharpened pencils, and did all the other things they needed to do to prepare for the day, they used the PostIt notes I had placed on their desks to answer the 6 questions from the pictures below. Later in the day, we discussed the questions, combined similar answers and a student scribe wrote the answers in a list on posters. I liked the answers and thought I would share them with you.

 

Poster #1 - What will you need to do to be successful this year?

     Be good

     Wear uniforms

     Study

     Work hard

     Listen

     Trust God

       

 

Poster #2 -  What will Mrs. Morford need to do to help you this year?

(A third grader wrote this one, and was rather uncertain about spelling.)

     Teach us

     Answer questions

     Set rules for us

 

 

 

Poster # 3 – Our classroom should be _______________ everyday.

     Quiet

     Neat

     Clean

     Good

     Fun

     Happy

     Obedient

 

 

 

Poster #4 – School is important because ______________.

(Every student answered this one with a variation of “we learn” so we discussed some more and put down a few more specifics)

    We learn about:

           reading

           behavior

           God

           math

 

Poster #5 – What do you hope to learn this year in 3rd or 4th grade?

      Math

      Art

      Multiplication

      Division

      Spelling

      Reading

      Science

     Poster #6 – What should kids in our class do to make our classroom run smoothly?

     Obey

     Listen

     Be kind

     Keep desks clean

     Write neatly

School Spirit Week: Twin Tuesday

Check out these great pictures from today's twin day!

 

 

 

 

Facts

Today we traded in our normal names for math facts. Each student was a different fact. It was challenging and fun. By the end of the day nearly every student had their facts memorized!