Thursday, March 31, 2011

History Quizlet

Our history test is coming up on Thursday! Feel free to review our quizlet! http://quizlet.com/5000964/history-39-42-flash-cards/

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Great Ice Cream Sundae Debate!

After spending all week writing about the history, ingredients, and steps making of an ice cream sundae, we had to finish off the week by creating our own!

Delicious!

We spent time in geography reviewing maps and directions from Two Rivers, Wisconsin, to Ithaca, New York. These are the locations of the two ice cream parlors laying claim to the "Sundae Creator" title, which has spawned a fierce debate! We also incorporated math by calculating travel time over the 668 miles (including two ferry rides!).

Terrific job, boys!

Reading Class Creates Prezi's!

We have been working to create "Prezi Presentations" to learn our new vocabulary words in a different way. Every student learned how to create a Prezi and then worked with a partner to add in the vocabulary words they had previously looked up in the dictionaries. The students did an incredible job!
Please check out their Prezi's below.

March Madness Basketball

The boys have selected basketball teams to cheer for during March Madness. Though some of our teams have been eliminated, our spirit has not been dampened!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Space Shuttle Expert

One of our students shared his terrific Space Shuttle/International Space Station composition.
His classmates were impressed by his facts, details and creative descriptions!
Way to go!

New March Reading Madness Challenge Winners!

We have our two newest 12-hour challenge winners!!
Great job, boys!!

Terrific job!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Reading Vocabulary Exploration

We selected several of our favorite new vocabulary words from Island of the Blue Dolphins and spent time researching the words. Check back later this week for updates on the next step in our vocabulary project!

Hoppers and Crickets Meet Again!


Student Turns into Fly!

One of our students turned into a fly!
Not really, but with his creative adjectives, it was certainly easy to imagine!
Way to go!

Sharing Compositions

We heard a student's composition on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Center. He did a wonderful job using creative vocabulary and adding terrific details!
Way to go!

Friday, March 11, 2011

March Reading Madness Party

We met with our 7th Age reading buddies this week for a March Reading Madness party! All of the students brought a book to share with the group, and did a wonderful job reading a favorite paragraph or page.
Thank you for sharing your favorite stories!

A Bug's Eye View

One of our boys shared his "When I was a Fly" composition with his classmates this week. He did a wonderful job reading it, and everyone was very impressed with his creative descriptions. We really felt like we received a "bug's eye" tour of Calvert School!

Iditarod Updates

We have been following the Iditarod throughout the week, and as recently as this afternoon, there was some very exciting changes on the leader board. I hope you are able to check the website from home (or your other fabulous destinations this spring break) to see the exciting finale!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Iditarod Maps

Today we worked on our Iditarod unit by making maps of Alaska with the Iditarod trails carefully outlined. Since it is 2011, we included the southern trail, as this is the route to be taken on "odd years".

Conflicts in Literature

Our reading group has illustrated scenes of "conflict" from Island of the Blue Dolphins. We learned that conflicts are between a protagonist and an antagonist. We discussed character vs. character, character vs. society, character vs. self and character vs. nature conflicts.
Our first four readers shared their scenes today.

12-Hour Challenge Finishers

We had our first two (hopefully, of many!) March Reading Madness competitors finish our 12-hour challenge!
Congrats and great reading!!

Bonjour!

Today is the culminating day of International week! We can not wait to see what the day brings (especially with all of the delicious French treats awaiting us in the cafeteria!).

Thursday, March 3, 2011

How to Avoid Chores

We have learned some new tricks for getting out of chores at home, thanks to our newest composition. We now know how to avoid "tough sticks" or "heavy leaf bags".
Thanks for sharing!!

"The Last Great Race" Speaker

Which U.S. state is the furthest north...and west...and east?
The answer? ALASKA!
To kick off our Iditarod unit, we were able to listen to Mr. Dent, a local, two-time Iditarod finisher, speak at Calvert school. We are so excited for the start of the race (March 5th) after learning so much from a real musher!
Mr. Dent showed us his red lantern...be sure to ask your son what that means!

A Calvert student even got to experience Iditarod Race gear!


He was VERY toasty!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Italy Comes to Calvert!

Did you know that Italians eat over 60 pounds of pasta each year?
Or that there are 350 different types of pasta?
We do, now!

Do not worry, he won't try this at home...

We had a student share his "Ten Ways to Avoid Chores" today.
His classmates loved his transition words, details and humorous descriptions.
Great job and thank you for sharing!

MRM Takes Off!

Our 12 hour challenge has taken off! Check out our 30 minute clocks below!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tuesday is Greek Day!

Today we have enjoyed experiencing Greece, the Calvert Way!
The day started with the students receiving cards featuring Greek gods and goddesses
....the hallways were filled with "yassou" (YAH-su) for "hello" and "good-bye"
....the cafeteria was filled with greek foods and interesting facts...
we met Myth-er Shep for a facinating presentation about Greek culture and
religion.


We can not wait to see what Italian day brings!