Happy Memorial Day

We spent some time learning about the origin of Memorial Day as well the history of our American flag.  God bless our veterans, both living and passed.  Unfortunately I have a commitment in Buffalo on Sunday but I hope many families make it to the Memorial Day parade at 1:00. 

We had our last reading and spelling test today.  For the rest of the year we'll be working on our end of year plays, writing, and reading activities.  There are still some grammar points I would like to review so you'll see grammar worksheets coming home but you do not need to save them to study from. 

We said goodbye to our butterflies today.  We wanted them to enjoy their freedom so we let them fly out the window to enjoy the beautiful weather. 

Butterflies!!

Our butterflies have come out of their chrysalids!  The students were able to see them in various stages of their life cycle.  It was exciting to see how they changed each day.  We viewed a great clip on youtube of a monarch butterfly metamorphosis. click here

We really enjoyed our "Best School Day Ever" today.  The students voted on things they would like to do based on their books that they made.  Some of the activities we did are: 
Morning Work: watch a movie
Math: Play Around the World with math facts and telling time. ( I also threw in a story about time)
Recess: free play and Heads Up - 7- Up
Science: We made edible slime.  It wasn't much to play with but it was gooey and sweet!  We also viewed a video on insects and learned about the Scientific Method (stating an hypothesis and planning experiments to prove or disprove it).
Snack: Ice cream and edible slime!
Reading: Read animal books with a buddy
I think everyone had a good time but also learned along the way.

This week we also finished our opinion writing.  I know I promised photos but I left my camera at home... next week. 

Our field trip is on May 30th.  If you have not yet sent in a permission slip I sent another one home today.

The book report project is due on or before May 22nd.
Have a great weekend!

Alex's Lemonade Stand

Thank you to everyone who dressed down today to raise money for Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund for Cancer Research.  One of our students has had her own lemonade stand for 4 years and has raised hundreds of dollars for the fund.  Today she did a marvelous presentation for the class, telling them all about Alex's story and challenging them to start their own stand.  Go to this link Alex's Lemonade Stand  to learn more about it.  Our presenter also had each of the students who dressed down write their first names on a lemon sticker to show that they had donated to the cause.  We also watched the video from the website and the class received a special treat (lemonade flavored Peeps!) as a thank you from our presenter. Her lemonade stand will be open on June 21st at her house on Grasmere (in the Gardens).

We invited Miss Agostini's class over to hear about Alex. 

Here are some of the centers we did today for Fun Friday.  We practiced math vocabulary about "time" with a matching game.

We used flashcards to practice our skills in time and money. 

We played "Buy It Right", a money skills game.

We used the ipads to practice our math facts- we can never get too much practice.  Don't forget- we will have a facts test every Thursday.  This week it's +8.  A student is not considered fluent with their math facts unless they memorize the facts instead of using their fingers or a number line to compute.

We researched the body parts of a butterfly and then made our own diagram labeling the parts.  We are very excited to report that all of our caterpillars are busy inside of their chrysalids, turning into butterflies!

We listened to No T-Rex in the Library, and answered comprehension questions.

This week each of the students chose an insect to research and write an opinion piece about.  Many are not finished so I will post the rest of the writings next week.  We also decorated our lockers with Hail Mary prayers to remind us that May is Mary's month.     Happy Mother's Day to everyone.  I hope you enjoyed your present that the students worked so hard on.        Tomorrow is the DeSales Fun Run and 5k.  I hope I see some families there!

The Best Day of School Ever!

This week we finished writing our "Best School Day Ever" books and presented them to the class.  We had some really creative ideas for how we should spend the school day!  Next week we will vote on a different idea for each subject and have a real Best School Day Ever based on the voting. 

We also responded to our pen pals in Maine.  Most of the students brought home their letters that they received so please check the take-home folder for those.

In Math we are learning to analyze the data from picture graphs, bar graphs, tally graphs, and line plots.  Every Thursday we will have a math facts fluency test.  Next Thursday we will test +7's.  Almost everyone got 100% on the +6 timed test.  To test for fluency students must complete 25 problems in 2 minutes. 

The students are excited that our caterpillars have arrived.  As part of our science curriculum we learn about the life cycle of insects.  In just a few days the caterpillars have more than doubled in size. 

Old Friends

     We had a quick visit from one of our old classmates and her mom.  Sarah Bandhauer and her family moved to Maine last summer but returned to say hi and deliver the newest letters from our pen pals in Maine.  She told us a little about her new school and caught up with her old friends.  I asked her what she missed most about DeSales and she replied, "My friends, my teachers, and the school."  :-)

 I am happy to report that everyone received 100% on the +5 timed test today!  Thanks for practicing at home.  If we can do the same with +6, 7, 8, and 9, we'll have a party!

     Mrs. Flynn, a reading specialist from Newfane (and a mom), came in to give us a writing lesson.  We wrote an opinion piece about a favorite story character and learned to support that opinion with details from the story.  I love inviting experts in to help me teach!  Thank you Mrs. Flynn!

    
   We compared/contrasted two versions of the same fairy tale using a Venn diagram.  We read Kate and the Beanstalk and compared it to Jack and the Beanstalk.  The students appreciated the surprise ending.

 Patricia Polacco is the subject of our author study this month.  We read and discussed my favorite book of hers, Thank You, Mr. Falker.  Please ask your child what he/she liked about the book.  

     We also got together with both of our reading buddy classes this week.  It's so nice to see these friendships grow around reading books together.  

   Please plan on attending the Challenge for Charity event to raise money for Catholic Charities on Monday, 4/28, in the school gym.  There will be a volleyball and basketball game between the 8th graders and the faculty and refreshments will be available for purchase.  I hope to see you there!