#1 -My birthday is this month
#2 - Growing up in California, September was the month school started. I have always loved school; I guess that's one of the reasons why I chose to be a teacher - so I could be in an environment I enjoyed for the rest of my life.
The fifth graders started their Amusement Park unit by creating creatures that had two buttons that would create some type of amusement. The students then categorized all of the types of amusement and posted it on our new "window wall." Students then went on in pairs to brainstorming 50 things associated with amusement parks. They are in the middle of categorizing those things and creating an amusement park-related visual to display them.
Fourth graders this week started their journey into our space unit with a look at the magnitude and magnificence of the ever-expanding universe. When you see how teeny-tiny Earth is in the grand scheme of things, it's really "brings you down to Earth" (pun-intended). The students each created one headline to summarize their feelings about the universe (and our place in it). A few photos are posted at the bottom of this blog. [Check out this very cool presentation that takes you from the atom of a leaf all the way out to the farthest reach of the Universe: Power of Ten.]
The fourth graders are beginning their study of manned spaceflight. But....before there was a human in space, there were animals in space. Ask your child about the stray dogs that Russia used or the monkeys that the U.S. used. Russia beat us into space with the first satellite (Sputnik) and the first animal (Laika, the dog) AND the first human in space (Yuri Gargarin), but the U.S. did have it's "firsts" as well - first human to orbit the Earth (John Glenn) and first human to step on the moon (you-know-who, right? It's interesting how we started the Space Race as enemies of Russia and, now, they are our partners on the International Space Station.
Speaking of the Space Station, I've built a site on just that topic to prepare our students for the video-conference with three of the astronauts aboard the station on October 23. http://talktotheiss.com It is my hope that students will become familiar with the astronauts, the ISS, and more so that they can create and submit great questions. About 20 of our students will be selected to ask their questions directly to the astronauts on October 23rd. Check out the website. I'm hoping to have some exhibits and guests around the time of our video-conference, and these will be events that parents and the community will be invited to attend. IF you would like to help me in preparation for this exciting time, please send me an e-mail.