The artists are hot, I mean hard at work!

As many of you know we have been working all year on creating an "outside classroom" just outside our back door. It all started when I got sick of looking out our window and seeing dying grass and a VERY bright white wall. Over the past several months we have planted native North Florida landscaping, added a bird feeder, a rain gauge, some great life science children's books, and more. We were just waiting for the white wall to become a beautiful work of art! I wanted a mural that depicted the beautiful side of life science, but the catch was...I wanted my fifth grade students and their third grade science buddies to paint it. Well that's just what's happening! Our fabulous art intern, Miss Roccowich and a team of volunteers got busy designing and sketching out the space. Our art teacher extraordinaire, Mrs. McBride, led our team of artists to the wall today with paintbrushes! It's not quite done yet, so stay tuned!

The plan...


To paint or not to paint, that is the question...


I see you...


Oh deer it's hot out here...


Oh and I forgot to show a couple of pictures from our "Morning with the Authors" last Thursday. The science buddies pair did an amazing job researching and writing a storybook showcasing an endangered ocean animal. They shared their books with A LOT of kindergarten, first, and second graders. Bravo!

What Characters They Are!

Our school is in the midst of Spirit Week sponsored by Student Council. Today we paid homage to our favorite storybook characters. I loved the adventurous and a little bit wacky tales of Pippi Longstocking when I was growing up! So I played the part of Pippi today.

Some other characters joined me in the picture. I hope Mack likes books as much as I do!



Isn't she precious?



My mom was Little Red Riding Hood, she was minus her basket of goodies for car duty!



I could have put this little Harry Potter in my pocket and taken him home!



We are also busy with a short novel study right now. We are reading a oldie goldie, Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days (you can't underline on blogspot for some reason). Milo, the main character, is a middle schooler that is clumsy and seems to do everything wrong. He stumbles, literally, on a book that promises to make him perfect. He just has to follow a few simple steps. Today's step was for Milo to wear broccoli around his neck. We took the advice as well, but no perfection yet!

Here are some students giving broccoli a shot.

More Fun at Sea World!

5th Grade Fun at Sea World!

We had a great day at Sea World on Thursday for our fifth grade class trip! The students had so much fun that you could barely hear yourself think on the bus there and back. Honestly, I think they like the charter bus as much as an amusement park! We're slowly recovering, and hope to be back to full speed tomorrow! Only three weeks of school left to go!

Do you know your states and capitals?

Our class is packing up for a fictitious road trip and along the way we will be reviewing our states and capitals. Want to play a game to help you remember? Click here to play.

What a Week So Far!

Students have been busy researching endangered ocean animals with their science buddies. They will use their research to write a children's book to be placed in our media center for others to read. Because endangered animals have been on our mind, we've been talking a lot about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There are many ways for your family to contribute to the clean up efforts. Contact our local St. Francis Wildlife Association by clicking here for more information.

Here is a sneak peek on what we are working on for Mother's Day.



Oh and I have to brag that Mr. Whitaker graduated with a degree in civil engineering this past weekend. I'm very proud of him. He also holds a degree from the University of Georgia in crop science, he loves some soil and plants! I hope that he can find a job that combines both of these talents. As you can see the baby bump is growing! Our little boy is 20 weeks along, and doing very well!

Earth Day Everyday!

Our class is playing host to some beautiful and unique guests. Our fluttering friends are painted lady butterflies and they are living in a butterfly house on the back counter right now. One made a fast get-a-way today when Olivia opened up the home to put in some fresh cut strawberries. He didn't know how good he had it in room 16! We will be releasing them in the next couple of days.




Also, if you haven't seen the new Sun Chips bag look for the next time you are at the store. It is the first 100% compostable chip bag. What a great advancement in packaging. With each American throwing away an average of 1,200 pounds of waste and year, I say Kudos to Sun Chips for helping reduce this staggering number. I feel a little less guilty when I eat chips now!