First graders kept very busy during the month of February.  Thank you to all the parents who helped us to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  The first graders had a wonderful time playing games, opening Valentine cards, and eating yummy food.

Presidents, presidents, presidents!  Ask your son/daughter what he/she would do if they were the president of the United States of America.

We have been very busy in math.  We are telling time to the half-hour.  We are learning how to add ten to any number.  We have learned the doubles + ones math facts very well.  We are even counting by 100s!  Can you believe we are also writing our numbers to one thousand!!!!

We have been busy reading stories about Frog and Toad.  Frog and Toad are such good friends!  We wrote to our first grade friends also this month.

In science we are studying animal groups.  So far, we have talked about mammals, amphibians, and fish.

Winter Olympics have been a hot topic in social studies.  What an inspiration those athletes have on our first graders.

We would like to thank our RIF businesses for our reading books that we received.  We love to read!  Thanks to all for coming to conferences.  We are looking forward to spring as we have had so many snow days.  Have a great March!

News From the Third Grade

The third grade classes have been studying whales and dolphins this month. We researched whales and then gave a newscast on them. The students made posters and models of their mammal to share with the class. The students learned some amazing facts about their whales.

We have been enjoying keeping track of the Olympics and what countries have been medaling. We found all the countries that competed and made flags of their countries. We also had fun discussing the different sports events and what ones we would like to try.

We would like to thank the parents who volunteered for the Valentine’s Day parties. We couldn’t do it without your help.

In math we all made it into the subtraction club. We will start working on our multiplication facts. The students learned how to write out checks and are reading for their own checking accounts.

If you get to Osborne go look at the cougar. We just found out that is the animal the third grade class has adopted. Way to go third graders!

News From the Fifth Grade

If you have walked by the fifth grade science classroom lately, you probably heard something like, “The cranium’s connected to the mandible, the mandible’s connected to the clavicle…” because the fifth graders have been learning all about bones. They learned the names of 22 prominent bones out of the 206 bones in their bodies. They also learned about how bones help us, kinds of joints, ligaments, tendons, kinds of fractures, and very importantly how to keep our bones healthy by eating dairy products and exercising. Playing Simon Says, singing the bone song, and labeling bones on our skeleton whiteboards were some favorite ways to study the bones. After becoming experts on the bones, students could look at some candy skeletons in a new way. They identified the candy bones with the names we learned. Our culminating activity will be a visit from Jody Kerns when she shares her knowledge about bones as a radiological technician and shows us her wonderful collection of x-rays.  Thank you, Jody, for making science so real to our students!

Reading and social studies classes are working hand in hand and cross curricular as students learn about the American Revolution in social studies class and read  “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” in reading class. Students are creating Patriotic Journals in social studies class as they study this time period. What an exciting time in American history!

Students are anxiously awaiting their field trip to Cedar Falls to the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on Friday, February 26th. The show we will see that day is called, “Let’s Go Science Show.” We think it will be a very fun learning experience as the show will explore science topics from motion to optical illusions.

TNT NEWS

TNT small groups have been busy trying to finish projects with snow days and late starts. Every group predicted the Super Bowl winner and score. Bailey Klamfoth was the winner with the closest score! Third grade worked with Roman numerals, and looked up whale information online to go along with their class project on whales. Fourth grade finished their province posters, and are almost done with the paper. Fifth grade finished country posters and are almost done with the paper. Sixth grade finished interviews for the ancestor unit, shared with the group, and delivered a copy to the person they interviewed.

TNT large groups learned facts about groundhogs and Groundhog’s Day, the Chinese New Year, winter Olympics, and presidents of the United States. Large groups read groundhog books, Valentine’s books, president books, and Chinese New Year books.

Elementary Computer News

Kindergarten computer classes finished Mouse Practice and started Muppetville. First grade classes are working with Bailey’s Bookhouse. Second grade continues with new words, new vowels, and new keys. Third grade is really working hard with Mac Mavis and typing a poem. Fourth grade continues with Type to Learn and typed a poem about the Olympics. Fifth grade typed a poem about the Olympics. Sixth grade finished a poem about the Olympics. They typed a title page and preface for their research paper.

SCIN/ Resource Rooms

Ann Glime and Robin McCool

With the end of the third quarter quickly approaching, the students have been working hard in all of their subject areas.  We have also been working hard to keep the learning fun, yet functional, for the students.   Soon we will be looking to see how each child has progressed on the goals and objectives stated in their individualized educational plans. This will help guide our direction for instruction for the rest of the school year.

If you are looking for materials to use with your child at home, contact the Iowa Literacy Resource Center at 1-800-772-2023 or www.readiowa.org. Materials may be kept as long as needed. This organization will mail materials to you at no charge and will reimburse you for return postage.