In Our Classroom

On the first day of school and randomly throughout the year, I told everyone that we are a family in our classroom. We spend more time together in the classroom than we spend at home with our own families.  I want everyone to know that through all the ups and downs, we are the "Lochridge Leaders" and we will continue to lead ourselves and others to success.  This picture is a great summary of what we do in our classroom.  Don't ever forget that Ms. Laurie and I are always on your side and we want nothing but the best for you and your future.

Math and Holiday Cooking!!!

I wish every student a wonderful holiday season. When I was a kid, I always cooked with my mother, and I think her wonderful cooking of Italian food, which were recipes passed on from my ancestors from Calabria and Sicily, helped me understand proportions. Big crowd versus small, or downsize. Kids, help your families cook or fix plates this season! Believe me, you will learn!!!

How are the Leaders?

Okay, kiddos, I hope you are all taking delight in a break from school. We already miss you guys and are wondering how ya'll are and what you're doing. Why not take a moment and reflect upon the new memories of the 2011 year so far? Looking back and writing it out is expository, and I know you are all experts at it so far... :)

Season's Greetings to SASIC

Well, as much as everyone is looking forward to this holiday season, we all know (and are excited!!!) that there will be a lot of free time. Do not forget to enlighten the mind. Let us write. Let us read, and cherish classic stories of legend, celebration, and life. Each day and every minute, second and moment provides an opportunity to learn; in and outside the classroom. Happy holidays to all!!!

Words to live by...

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." Maya Angelou. Have we not all been here at one time or another?

Teamwork is a must...

Success in life, in anything,
depends upon the number of persons
that one can make himself agreeable to.
Thomas Carlyle

Think about it ... We can work together and help each other and be effective... or side against our peers. Which situation is more beneficial?

Africa Research Websites

Here is access to two website about Africa that have information to help wrtie your expository essay.


Smithsonian Africa Culture  -  scroll down to the bottom and find "Choose Your Style."  When you put the different outfits together, you will be given information about where the outfit came from.

PBS kids Africa

Plant and Animal Cells

We have been learning that cells are the basic units of life!  We can not live without them!  Watch the video about plant and animal cells.

Plant Cells

Animal Cells

Cells Alive!

Fun with Conversions!!!

The students are learning about conversions in Math. I found a website which features games that will not only be fun, but beneficial to helping new knowledge "stick."

Fun with Conversions

How Far is It?

Use mapquest to complete the math assignment today!  Find the distance between the listed cities, then convert them to either the yards, feet, or inches.  Have fun!

Map it!

Mapquest

More Cause and Effect...

Shallow men believe in luck, strong men believe in cause and effect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sixth graders, do you remember our lesson on cause and effect? How can you apply what you have learned from this quote?

Proportions in Art

Here is a website that shows how proportions have been used in some of our most treasured art from the past. Students, see how proportions play a vital role in the creation of greatness?

Proportions

Nothing but the truth..

Today we learned about two different ways of expository informational text; classification and sequential. The students wrote short paragraphs after the lesson to express their newfound knowledge in that area. I took delight in reading their passages, because their subject matter was so unique. I believe they understood the information that was presented to them, and I am so impressed in how they applied it... :)

Food Chains and Food Webs

Here is some practice with food chains and food webs.  Use what you learned in class to create some more chains and webs.

Food Chains

Food Webs

A quote worthy to inspire us all...

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

~ William Butler Yeats

Producers, Consumers, Decomposers

All living organisms fall into a category of either a producer, consumer, or decomposer.  We have talked about the different classifications in class.  Practice putting the living organisms in the right place using this game:

Producer, Consumer, Decomposer Game

Sample Spaces

We have started our probability unit in math!  We are starting with our sample spaces and making lists and tree diagrams of all of our possible outcomes.  This is a cool website that explains the concept and has practice too!

Tree Diagrams

Combinations

Tell the Truth!

On Monday, the class learned about another form of writing: expository, which is informative text. The students learned that expository writing may be found everywhere; newspapers, encyclopedias, Internet and so on... It is important for them to learn the many perspectives of text which is presented and knowledge of how to distinguish between them. I was delighted to experience their interest in a different facet of literature and how well they did on their versions of nonfiction bursting with newfound intelligence!

Great Day at the Witte!

Today was so much fun at the Witte! The students were included in a Science presentation of how chemicals mix while we discussed the properties of matter. I believe hands-on participation makes such a difference! :)

Review of Ratios, Rates, Proportions

This website has a great review for ratios, rates, and proportions:

Study Jams Help

Our Field Trips

Here are some pictures of our class during our field trips and labs.

Devin being silly!

Mia and Preston receiving a dance lesson during the Guadalupe Dance Center Program.

 We made Yucky, Ooey, Gooey Gunk in class!

Emily is learning about the forces of gravity and buoyancy at the Witte Museum.

A puppet show by J'Lee, Richard and Gavynne.

The kids are giving the weather forecast in front of a green screen.

Our class in a hot log cabin.

Overview of the week of Oct. 10 - Oct. 14

"And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." 
~Thomas Wayne from Batman Begins (2005)


It is okay to fall as long as you learn from your mistakes.  This can be applied to life, school, sports, and friendships.  If no one made any mistakes many of our greatest inventions would have never developed.  Our class is learning that the best way to learn is from your mistakes.  


Announcements:
The Grand Canyon reservation money is due by October 14th.


We are looking for volunteers to help run our booth on Oct. 28th during Harvest Fest.  You can sign up for 30 minute or 1 hour time slots.


Monday

• Begin fiction
• Story Maps
• Greatest Common Factor
• Finish Graphs from Walking Lab
• Voting in the USA

Tuesday

• Finish story maps
• Summarization/Subordinating Conjunctions
• Multiples - Least Common Multiple
• Rolling Derby Lab
• Caribbean and Mexico Maps

Wednesday

• Dialogue & Conversations
• Quotation Marks
• Multiples and LCM
• Downhill Racer
• How do you imagine the Caribbean?

Thursday

• Theme, Point of View
• Indefinite Pronoun
• Factors, Multiples, and Equivalent Fractions
• Motion and Forces Test

Friday

• Library Day - Check out a fiction book
• Factors and Multiples Test
• Get ready for food day presentation

Bill of Rights

Today we are going figure out what it means to be a true American citizen.  This privilege comes with many rights, as well as, many responsibilities.  Below are kid friendly definitions of the ten bill of rights. Use these below to match your rights to your responsibilities with your partner.

Bill of Rights:

• Congress can't make any law about your religion, or stop you from practicing your religion, or keep you from saying whatever you want, or publishing whatever you want (like in a newspaper or a book). And Congress can't stop you from meeting peacefully for a demonstration to ask the government to change something.

• Congress can't stop people from having and carrying weapons, because we need to be able to defend ourselves.

• You don't have to let soldiers live in your house, except if there is a war, and even then only if Congress has passed a law about it.

• Nobody can search your body, or your house, or your papers and things, unless they can prove to a judge that they have a good reason to think you have committed a crime.

• You can't be tried for any serious crime without a Grand Jury meeting first to decide whether there's enough evidence for a trial. And if the jury decides you are innocent, the government can't try again with another jury. You don't have to say anything at your trial. You can't be killed, or put in jail, or fined, unless you were convicted of a crime by a jury. And the government can't take your house or your farm or anything that is yours, unless the government pays for it.

• If you're arrested, you have a right to have your trial pretty soon, and the government can't keep you in jail without trying you. The trial has to be public, so everyone knows what is happening. The case has to be decided by a jury of ordinary people from your area. You have the right to know what you are accused of, to see and hear the people who are witnesses against you, to have the government help you get witnesses on your side, and you have the right to a lawyer to help you.

• You also have the right to a jury when it is a civil case (a law case between two people rather than between you and the government).

• The government can't make you pay more than is reasonable in bail or in fines, and the government can't order you to have cruel or unusual punishments (like torture) even if you are convicted of a crime.

• Just because these rights are listed in the Constitution doesn't mean that you don't have other rights too.

• Anything that the Constitution doesn't say that Congress can do should be left up to the states, or to the people.

Prime and Composite Numbers

Use the website below to practice with prime and composite numbers

Prime and Composite Numbers

Practice identifying the prime and composite numbers in the orange section.  Once you have it down, play the timed games from the yellow section.

Have fun!

Overview for the week of Oct. 3 - Oct. 7

School is in full swing and we have been having a blast.  Everyone has been working very hard, and I am proud of the effort!  We have an exciting field trip planned this Friday to the Witte Musuem.  We are going to see an exciting program called "What floats your boat?'

Monday

• Discussion of memories
• Draw storyboard/comic of memory
• Review of Prime & Composite Numbers
• Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures Lab

Tuesday

• How do memoirs work?
• Write rough draft of memory memoir
• Continue review of prime/composite numbers
• Factor Trees
• Rights & Responsibilities

Wednesday

• Writing with the senses
• Finish rough draft, begin editing
• Factor Trees
• Force and Motion
• Walking Lab pt. 1
• The Power to Chose

Thursday

• STAAR Practice Passage
• Peer editing of stories
• Greatest Common Factor
• Finish Walking Lab
• Alert the congressman

Friday

• Memoir Due
• Spelling Test
• Witte Museum Field Trip!

Memoirs

Writing a memoir is something that not only shares information about yourself, but can be a source for comfort, healing and revelation. Writing is one way to express any and everything you want to, but sometimes can not say. So write, write and write more... express yourself. Once creativity sparks, the mind holds no boundaries.

Overview for the week of Sept. 26

I am very excited about the progress our class is making!  We are constantly learning new information every day!  Remember to ask your child, "What is one thing you learned today?"  They should be able to tell you multiple facts......that is my goal everyday :)

Monday

• Read our biographies discuss literal, interpretive, evaluative, & universal questions
• Numerator and Denominator Relationships
• Chemical Changes and Reactions
• Yucky, Gooey, Gunk
• Social Studies Word Teach

Tuesday

• Memoirs and making personal connections
• Irregular Verbs
• Going beyond equivalent fractions
• When was that invented?

Wednesday

• Memoirs and textual & world connections
• Graffiti Wall: Predicative adj., superlatives, and comparatives
• Review for Equivalent Rational Numbers Test
• Elements, Compounds, Mixtures
• Contemporary Art and Science

Thursday

• Discuss memories -- bring picture to school
• Storyboard of memory
• Review for Equivalent Rational Numbers Test
• NAFTA & Different Economies

Friday

• How do memoirs work? 
• Begin rough draft of memory memoir
• Rational Number Test
• Food Day Lesson: Local Food Benefits

Commercial

Here is Bethany, Luis, Karyna, and Jocelyn in their commercial about the Midwest.  Great Job!

The students loved it at the art museum!  Here is a clip of them listening to the docent talk to them.

Overview for the Week of Sept. 19 - Sept. 23

Art Week was a success!  We will be filming our commercials tomorrow morning! I am excited to see what the students have been working on all week.  The poetry notebooks came out great!  I will be posting pictures of what the work online this week.

Here is an overview of this week:

Monday

• Review of Literary Elements
• Math Benchmark Make-Up
• More Equivalent Numbers (Mixed Numbers and Improper Fractions)
• Mystery Powders Experiment

Tuesday

• Literary Elements Test
• Peanut Butter Fudge Math (Decimals and Fractions)
• Complete Lab Write-up
• Discuss Disney Project
• Social Studies Vocabulary Day

Wednesday

• Intro to Literary Nonfiction
• Peanut Butter Fudge (Percents)
• Solid, Liquid, & Gases Concentration Review
• 20th Century Changing History

Thursday

• Memoirs
• More Fudge-ness
• Physical Properties, Solids, Liquids, and Gases Test

Friday

• Memoirs and Reading Techniques
• Food Day Preparation: "Real Foods"
• Political, Economic, and Cultural Differences
• Guadalupe Cultural Center Field Trip :)

Spelling Practice

I have posted our class spelling list on SpellingCity.com.  You just need to search for our class by typing in Lochridge in the search bar.  There is practice for spelling, vocabulary, and sentences.  I would like everyone to use this resource to help study for our weekly spelling tests!

Here is the link:
Spelling City Link

S-Test: Spelling Test
V-Test: Vocabulary Test
Teach: Practice - This give the pronunciation, spelling, and definition
Games: Have fun while learning your words :)

Pointillism

Matter is made up of tiny little things called molecules.  Some are close together and some are far apart; therefore, the way the molecules behave will determine what state of matter a substance is in.








Seurat was a pontillist. Pontillist painted by using dots to represent images the painting looks like only dots of color when up close, but when you stand back the dots blend together to make a picture. Newspaper print is similar. Look closely at a comic strip and you will see many dots, but back away and all you see is the images and not the dots! 

We are going to create a picture of the molecular make up of solids, liquids, and gases using pointillism.  You are free to choose any medium you would like to use.  Your picture should show what the molecules look like inside of each state of matter.  Good luck and have fun!

Tribute to America's Heros

I had a friend send this to me.  It is a nice tribute to America's Heros done by an artist who paints in front of an audience and to music.  This takes great talent and concentration to accomplish a masterpiece like this.

Idioms

Idioms are a figure of speech in which what is being said is not meant to be taken literally.  For example: "Hang in there,"  means to be patient and wait, not to actually hang on something.

Look at the list of idioms in the website below and choose an idiom you wish to draw a cartoon about.  Leave a comment saying which idiom you have chosen.

Idioms!!!

Week of Sept. 12 - Sept. 16

Wow, last week flew by!  This coming up week is the official "Art in Education" week.  Although we incorporate art into our daily lessons, this week will be an explosion of art integrated projects!!  We will be finishing up or poetry notebooks, making our own molecular pointillism picture, and creating a commercial to explain why people should migrate/immigrate to America.  We are also going to make our first trip to the San Antonio Museum of Art :)  This trip will be to learn how to analyze and appreciate artwork.

Here is the daily breakdown:

Monday:

• Idioms - Create a cartoon
• Creating Equivalent Fractions
• Solids, Liquids, Gases: Their molecular arrangement
• Begin commercial research 

Tuesday:

• Write final drafts of poems
• Brainstorm a theme for your poetry notebook
• Different Forms of Rational Numbers
• Continue with Research

Wednesday

• Begin working on cover for poetry notebook
• Intro to % with base 10 models
• Molecular Pointillism Picture
• Start working on Commercial

Thursday

• Art Museum Field Trip!!!!!
• Work on Commercials

Friday

• Poetry Notebooks Due
• Filming of Commercials
• Spelling Test - Sentence/Vocabulary Due

Overview for the Week of Sept. 6 - Sept. 9

I hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day weekend.  I know I did.  We are going to have a few changes take place this week in our class this week.  First, we will be taking our benchmark test for reading on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It is very important for everyone to do their best because this will determine tutoring groups for reading.  Second,  we will change our library day to next Friday because of the short week.  Third, since we are very busy during the school day, we will be alternating Social Studies and Science class every other day.  This will allow for more time to have in depth lessons instead of just barely skimming the surface of our topics.

Tuesday:

• Reading Benchmark
• Equivalent Fraction on the Computer
• Density & Matter

Wednesday

• Finish Reading Benchmark
• Review of Fractions and Equivalent Fractions
• Work on USA and Canada Maps (add resources and physical features)

Thursday

• Alliteration Poems
• Fractions & Decimals
• Solids, Liquids, and Gases
• Fraction Quiz

Friday

• Idioms
• Decimals on the Number Line
• Video on USA and Canada
• Spelling Test and Definitions Quiz

On Thursday, the sixth graders had a lesson over alliteration, which is the repetition of sounds in neighboring words. Throughout the day, many of the students asked me what tongue twisters I knew after Ms. Lochridge's lesson. This website contains many of them, so here it is: http://www.fun-with-english.co.uk/p/fun-with-english-tongue-twisters.html

Language Arts Games!

I recently found this website that I think the students should look at. It is full of fun grammar games, such as "Noun Explorer," "Adjective Adventure," and "Comma Chameleon." This site also features advanced vocabulary, which is extremely beneficial not only for kids, but everyone. I encourage you to investigate it!!!

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games_vocab.htm

The six graders have been working on poetry all week. I stumbled upon this website which I thought would be fun for them to check out. It features humorous poems and fill-in-the-blank poems, which encourages kids to create poems of their own.

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/

Solids, Liquids, and Gases

Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.  This mean that matter is everywhere and we cannot escape it!  We are exploring what makes each state of matter different from each other in class.  StudyJams has a great video and song explaining all the differences.  Take a look:

States of Matter

After looking at the website, can you track the flow of a water molecule through all three states of matter in a hurricane?  

Hurricane Irene hit the east coast last week and caused major damage.  Isn't it amazing how the most important liquid we need for survival can be the same liquid that can cause major damage to our communities? 

Morning Warm-up

Happy Monday Leaders!

Take a look at the multiplication websites below, choose one game to play, and practice your facts this morning using these websites.

Multiplication Games

Multiplication Games

Parents:  Please help your student to memorize their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts!! It is very important and crucial for their success on the new STAAR test this year.

Overview for the Week of August 29 - Sept. 2

This weeks theme is "The World Around You"


Monday:

• Personification in poetry
• The Importance of Fractions
• Scientific Method
• Work on State Project

Tuesday:

• Hyperboles in Poetry
• Simple and Compound Sentences
• Similarities of Fractions and the Ruler
• Displacement Density
• Presentations of Projects

Wednesday:

• Onomatopoeia and Alliteration in Poetry
• Fractions on the Number Line
• Solid, Liquids, Gases in the World
• Migration into North America

Thursday:

• Smilies in Literature
• Equivalent Fraction Paper Folding
• Solid, Liquid, and Gases Models
• Physical Features and Natural Resources in the World

Friday:

• Metaphors in Literature
• Fraction Games
• Complete Mystery Lab
• "My Homeland" Brochure
• Equivalent Fraction Quiz
• Spelling Test
• Project Topic Due

We will be returning to the library on September 9th.  Please remember to take care of your books and bring them back to school to read during extra class time. 

I am so pleased with the new sixth graders. They are bright, curious, and engaged in their lessons. This year is off to a great start so far! Language Arts is my focus, and I am so happy these kids are so interested in Mountain Language and having fun with it. I am especially excited about the poetry projects. Just a song lyric shows a child how writing can be incorporated into anything, which relates from reading and thinking critically. The poetry projects have evoked inspiration from these students who are artistic, determined and serious in their quest for academic achievement.

Great Week!

This week is going great!  All of the students are fantastic, and I am excited about what this year will bring!  It has only been 3 days, and we have already written two poems, learned our divisibility rules, discovered physical properties, learned how to draw the continents and oceans in under 1 minute, and so much more.  Most importantly, we are learning about respect and how we can learn from each other!  I will try to remember to take pictures of the kids working hard and post them tomorrow.

On another note, the tragic earthquake in Virginia has stirred up some great scientific conversations between the students.  Even though we will do Earth science later in the year, I love that they are interested now.  I have posted a link that will explain the Earth's tectonic plates, and another link about how the plates moved in this last earthquake.

Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, and Volcanos

Animals Expecting the Earthquake

What Caused the Virginia Quake?

Overview for the Week of August 22-26

Our theme for this week is "All About You!"  We want to try hard this week to get to know each other and begin to create our family away from home. 


It is very important for everyone to return the library card registration with a parent signature by Wednesday!  This way our library trip will go smoother on Friday.


Monday: 

• First Day Paperwork
• Acrostic Poems
• Math Bumper Stickers
• Physical Properties
• Peaceable Person

Tuesday:

• Reading and Writing Journals
• Divisibility
• Seashells Physical Properties
• Continents, Oceans, USA

Wednesday:

• Fluency while reading
• Divisibility & other math games
• Matter's Descriptive Properties
• Explore North America

Thursday:

• Refrains in songs
• Diamante Poems
• Divisibility & other math games
• Displacement Density
• Adaptations of People, Begin state project
• 7 Continents / 5 Oceans Quiz

Friday

• Spelling Test
• Divisibility Quiz
• Density's States of Matter
• Continue working on state project
• Library Day! 

I am here at in-service and we are all working on our blogs. I have learned so much and am very excited about how they will help teachers can connect with their students and each other.

Get ready for fractions!!

We will be starting with fractions this year in math! I know that fractions can be very challenging for some students, but I have many hands-on activities for students practice using fractions in their own conversations and problems, as well as understand why fractions are so important in life.  Understanding that fractions represent a piece of a whole will make sense when we are done finding real examples in the community and our classroom.  Then we will be able to understand how to find equivalent fractions and how to divide one whole into different equal pieces.

For practice with fractions and to test your knowledge, try playing these games:
Jam It Fraction Games

Grammy and Grampy Fraction Games

If you like to rap....watch Mr. Duey rap :)

I would also like to add that many parents have offered to help us in many ways. I am very grateful for the SASIC community.

The sixth grade class is going o be awesome this year. They have so much to look forward to, especially working in pairs and helping each other out. I think by learning this way, the information being taught will really stick!

Hello everybody! I am here at Open House, and I am very happy about the turnout of new and reurning students! I believe today has been successful so far!

Get ready to "Move it, Move it!"

This past week has been very informative at Region 20, along with all the other classes I have been too.  I learned some great activities that we can incorporate in the classroom daily :) Students will be challenged to speak in complete sentences during class time, answer all questions with understanding instead of saying "I don't know," and be able to relay their understanding of academic concepts through kinesthetic movements!  I know this will be a challenge in the beginning, but through time and practice everyone will do great.  This is going to help students to be more aware of their bodies and space around them, as well as, practice respecting peers for their strengths and weaknesses during collaboration time.  It will also assist with the critical thinking techniques they will need to have for the STAAR test this year.  I am going to try to "wake up" their brains and make multiple neurological pathways connect to concepts that are important and usually difficult for the students to understand.  So get ready to "move it, move it!"

I would like to thank Ms. Hatfield for her generous help and advice for helping the students progress in their Reading and Language Arts skills. You are awesome!

I have been at the Region 20 Education Center most of this week and have learned so much. I have really been inspired and have some great new ideas for this school year.

Today I was at SASIC helping Ms. Lochridge fix the classroom. It looks great! I am looking forward to seeing the sixth graders advance in their learning!

The New School Year is Almost Here!

Howdy!  School is only about a month away and everything for the new school year is coming together nicely!  The classroom will be ready for students at the end of this week.  The theme for the first week of school will be "All About YOU!"  We will spend the first week getting to know each other and becoming a strong team and family that will be together for the next nine months!  One of my most important classroom expectations is to respect and appreciate everyone for their differences.  We are all able to learn from each other and it is important to take advantage of every learning opportunity we can!  I look forward to meeting everyone at the open house on August 6th and August 7th!

I want to thank Richard Dougherty for all his help yesterday in the classroom. He helped me pick up tables, desks, and carry books. I think he is stronger than me even though I am about twenty years older than him! Ms. De La Rosa, your son is such a gentleman.

Ms. Lochridge filled me in on her ideas for the school year and a peek at her lessons for the kids. The sixth graders are so lucky to have such an amazing teacher!

Well, Ms. Lochridge and I were at school yesterday fixing up our room for the new school year. There were SO many wonderful books and educational games for the future kids! They have a lot ahead of them, but I know next year will be great!

While I was searching the internet today, I stumbled across another website that I found intriguing. It discusses the effects of visual art integration on reading at an elementary level. Included in this website are many related items which I found appealing.

http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED496132&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED496132

Just finished registering for my webinar on July 19. It looks to be very informative for educators.

This is a website that has many fun activities for students to learn Math through art. It features games and many other activities that can be used for other subjects.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7877990_integrate-math-art-classroom.html

I really liked looking into this site and found it inspiring. It discusses using the Internet and technology for all subjects. It also discusses transforming a classroom into a "virtual art studio and museum." Pretty cool.

http://www.cyberbee.com/intclass.html

I just was reading all the cool ideas this website has to offer about using art in all courses. It includes lesson plans and many fun activities I believe students would benefit from.

http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/teachers/lesson/visarts/visarts1.htm

Here is a website that features many links to using art with Math. It also features features fifty of the top Math blogs.

http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/library/math-art

This is a link to an article that featuring twelve ways to bring the arts into your classroom.

http://www.teachhub.com/news/article/cat/14/item/297

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/art/reading-and-language-arts/52557.html

I have been looking at this site for innovative and fun ideas for educators. It is really inspiring!

Today I had a break and relaxed by the pool. I saw a mother with her two kids playing a spelling game using spelling dice to form words and define them. Awesome!

Get ready for next year!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!  I have been busy taking classes so we can have a successful year new year. I have learned many new techniques, games, and fun activities to incorporate into the classroom next year.  I hope all the new 6th graders have their thinking caps ready for August 22nd!  If you are wondering how to prepare for next year, my best advice is to read, read, read, and practice memorizing those multiplication and division facts!!

This website talks about using popular art to teach reading and language arts. It looks like it can benefit many teachers and students at SASIC.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/art/reading-and-language-arts/52557.html

This is a powerpoint about using technology in the classroom.

http://www.slideshare.net/ashleyquark/integrating-technology-into-the-english-language-arts-classroom-128600

http://www.jstor.org/pss/3192550

This article discusses how to incorporate reading into art. I thought it would be interesting to check out.

Can't wait to greet the new sixth graders!

Looking forward to the next school year!

Having a wonderful and busy summer!

SASIC kids, have a wonderful summer! I had a great year with you guys!!!

First Week of Summer!

Our class had an amazing year!  All of my wonderful leaders have grown mentally, academically, and physically!  I am honored to have been their teacher this year.  We had many fun adventures and activities that have allowed them to become more responsible, mature, and dependable.  Below I have posted a few pictures and videos of what took place in our classroom. 

Our class room on the 1st day of school.......before all the learning began!

Solar System Hallway!  Art Appreciation Week 

Learning about the South Texas way of life at the Witte!  Dazaree is dressed like a cowgirl :)

We are too smart for drugs!!!  Nerd Day 2010

Jamie comes to visit the classroom to teach about religions around the world!

The birds LOVE Kira!!

GOOOOOO Rampage!!

Class presentation :) 

The students love music!

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!  I look forward to seeing you next year, along with the new 6th grade class!