And how was your weekend?

Memorial Day is always a special weekend for me...my birthday weekend of course!  It's also rough because most people leave town.  This weekend Kris was at Sasquatch so I figured I would just relax.  Yeah right!

First I helped this guy move into his new house!

 

Next my friend Kate and I (I know, two of us!) went to a Timbers Game.   We were trying to get the scarf in the shot to prove we were there, not a very good photo.

 

 There was soooo much lightning that we had a weather delay.  The picture does not show the sheets of rain falling. 

 Then this guy and I celebrated our birthdays.  It was his first and my ____.

Finally I spent Monday resting, cooking, and cleaning.  Phew what a weekend.  Now I am refueled for the end of the year, just around the corner.  Can you believe it?

The Published Works of Room 9

Recently we did an Organization study.  Once I finally read and gave feedback on all of the stories we had a simple Publishing Party were table groups shared their work then branched out to share their stories with other classmates.  Everyone was very proud, as of course they should be because the stories were FABULOUS!

 Illustrations are so important

 Listening intently

Disappointment

Last week, lunch was supposed to come from Olive Garden because our class raised the most money in our Pennies for Patients fundraiser.  We got the room all cleaned up.  We packed up.  We waited.  We found a Discovery Streaming video.  We waited.  After 25 minutes of waiting, it became clear that the food was not coming today and we needed to eat!  We rushed to the cafeteria where the most gracious ladies in the lunch room helped to get us all fed.  Bottom line, the kids were much more gracious than the grumpy teacher.

After a lot of detective work, we found the glitch in the system and...

 Ta Da!  Finally.  Thanks for the delicious bread sticks Olive Garden.

Sorting, Talking, Thinking

We have started our tree unit.  I gave everyone a stack of tree related cards and told everyone to sort.  Two groups came up with very different ideas.

This group built a tree...

This group organized into parts of trees and things trees make.  We talked and talked about what we already knew, questions we had, and discussed what each card might mean.  A quick, easy, and very informative activity.

Helpful Hands

 

"Teacher!  This is too hard! I don't know what to do!"

I turned around to see this happening...
I love this time of year.  Everyone is so helpful!

Happy Mother's Day!

We finished our study of the writing trait Organization just in time for Mother's Day.  This year we did two amazing projects.

#1) A study of Cookbooks and some very creative homemade dishes.

#2) Thum-body Loves You! 
I found this adorable project at The Schroeder Page.  They are so perfect!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there, but especially to the best mom of them all MINE!

Surprising Sharks!

We participated in the Patricia Gallagher Picture Book Award contest this past week.  We received 5 books to read and choose our favorite.  In true Room 9 fashion the winner was....  Surprising Sharks! by Nicola Davies.  Before reading we gathered all the information we already knew about sharks (green Stickies).  Then we read the book, taking notes (red Stickies) along the way.

After reading I drew a GIANT shark from the book and we determined where our information would look best.  Then we transferred our ideas to the chart, including what we determined were opinions in the corner there.  Thanks to Debbie Miller for the idea!

 

He really has taken Non Fiction Conventions to heart.  Look at all those arrows.

Everyone got involved.

The final product is a large poster filled with facts! (and a few opinons...)

Elevate

We are so lucky!  Once a week we get some High School visitors.  They come to teach us about Character Development and Learning Behaviors.  We love when they come visit because High Schoolers are soooo Cool!

They did a lesson with everyone about things that make us the same and things that make us unique.

The concentration level was intense.

 There was a lot of talking!

And laughing!

Equilibrium...and a bit of a pest problem

I'm lost...yesterday I was happily teaching away on the carpet with my reading group gathered around me.  My favorite way to go.  I felt something crawling on my hand.  Well needless to say ALL my carpets are gone now since we couldn't be sure where they were.  

I'm having a hard time functioning.  The carpet was the focal point of my teaching, our gathering spot, the place we all meet to chat and share.  Well that's gone now.  It's a gray day for us.  We are all trying to figure out where to go when done with a Daily 5 round, or where to go when we want to work in a quiet spot on a carpet.  

We will adjust.  We always do, and it is giving everyone a chance to practice working together in table groups.  Oh, well.  Apparently next year, with the remodeled building, there will be installed industrial-strength carpet!