Week of Oct.26: Red Ribbon Week & Career Day

Red Ribbon Week was full of activities to help OES students remember to make good choices in life and choose to be drug free!
Monday: Bulldog Spirit Day
A BSHS football player, Cameron, came to speak to the class about how choosing to be drug free will help them be successful in life. The students enjoyed his visit!

Tuesday: Dress for Success Day
Don't they look fabulous?

Wednesday: College/University/Military Day
The Gamecocks were well represented in my class! Woohoo! We also had future Clemson alumni, as well as Duke, Wofford, and NC State. I know they all will have success in their future!

Thursday: Career Dream Day
LOVED seeing all of my sweet teachers! I even made nametags for them as well to make them more "official." We also had a veterinarian, baseball player, soldier, art teacher, and even a paleontologist! I hope they continue to dream big and reach their goals in life!

We learned about 4 different careers. We spoke with bakers (Tabby Cakes) and got to decorate then eat some yummy cupcakes! 

Next we heard from Mr. Snyder, who is in "Secret Security." They loved hearing him and asked him great questions to learn more about what he does. 

They were fascinated with where all he has been.

Then we visited some occupational therapists and learned how they help people of all ages.

 Finally, we saw Mrs. Bruce (aka Dr. Bruce) who is a lawyer. 

They had a great time hearing information that made them think more about their future career dreams.

Remember we "fall back" to standard time on Sundsg, so enjoy the extra hour of sleep. Also, there will be no school on Tuesday due to Election Day. Have a great week!

Week of Oct.26: The Great Pumpkin Challenge

We had some fabulous book character pumpkin creations!

Congratulations to Caroline and Grant M.. Our class voted on theirs to represent our class in the school challenge. Winners will be announced Friday.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week.  Here is the schedule of events for each day:

Monday – Bulldog Spirit Day (wear red & black)
Tuesday – Dress for Success (dress in your best)
Wednesday – College, University, & Military Day (wear a favorite college/university/military shirt)
Thursday – Career Dream Day from 8:30-10:30am (dress in clothing that matches future career)Friday – OES Spirit Day (wear an OES shirt or school colors)

We look forward to this week of encouraging the students to be drug free and make good choices!

Week of Oct.12 & Reminders

On Tuesday, the students enjoyed some luscious Thunder Cake. Thank you to Jayden's mom and Ava's grandmother for the delicious cakes! They were fabulous!

On Friday, we learned about wind and its effects. The students created their own paper airplane (choosing their own materials) to fly. They began by flying them in the room to see if they were happy or wanted to change any aspect of their plane. I think they all chose to change something, whether it was adding more tape, cutting some more off, or completely starting over with different paper or a different design. We talked about F.A.I.L and learning from mistakes. I told them they were being true engineers. At the end of the day, we went outside to fly them. They judged the direction of the wind and chose to fly their plane with the wind, rather than against it. They loved this activity, which will help them as we begin discussing severe weather this coming week. 

I sent home some information on Friday about our OES Great Pumpkin Challenge. Each student that sends in a book report (completed correctly) and a pumpkin decorated as a character, will receive a 100 Reading test grade. The class will then vote on the pumpkin that will be represent our class and be voted on for the school's Great Pumpkin Challenge. These are due Thursday. I can't wait to see their creations!
Have a fantastic week!

Boosterthon & Walk to School Events

Boosterthon has been a great success at OES this year! The students have gone above and beyond getting pledges to help our school and we've loved reaching our goals. In our class, we've earned extra recess, a day with no shoes, and a day with a furry friend. It has also been fabulous seeing Dr. Patterson and Mrs. Skinner go through with their promises of meeting the 25%, 50%, and 75% goals. We've seen them ride in a tricycle derby, dance the Whip & Nae Nae on the roof, and be duct taped to a pole! It has been very good entertainment! :) Thank you for helping to support our school in this main fundraiser of the year.

We also had Walk to School Week this week, organized by Mrs. Cabe. Wednesday was Walk to School Day, and the BS cheerleaders and football players joined us. In fact, one Senior football player, Lee, walked with us. It's great seeing the students excited about being healthy and active!

My class also performed our first science experiment, called Rain Clouds. They made a hypothesis of what would happen when food coloring was placed on shaving cream. Then they observed and wrote the results. Have them share what they learned with you! We promote a growth mindset at OES (FAIL = First Attempt In Learning) and I was able to show the students that even teachers/adults learn from mistakes. I put WAY too much shaving cream on top of the water at first, so the effect wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. Learning from my mistake of the food coloring having to go through more "cloud," I used less in a cup and showed them a better example of what it looked like. They loved it! I can't wait to perform another experiment with the class! Here a few photos:

Don't forget to visit the link in my previous post to sign up for our Parent-Teacher conference, which will be student led. Your child will be leading it and discussing their strengths, weaknesses, and goals with you, so please have them here with you when you attend. I look forward to seeing you!

Have a fabulous week!

Parent-Teacher Conferences 2015

Please visit the link below to choose a time for the upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences on Oct.20 and Oct.22. It is a quick and easy way to look at the available times and choose the spot that works best for you to meet with me.  I look forward to seeing you soon and discussing your child's progress!

http://vols.pt/PcH54P 

Boosterthon Kickoff, USC Upstate Watershed, & Chris Justus!

Oh my goodness...it just keeps getting busier around here! First of all, we had our Boosterthon Pep Rally on Wednesday. Remember to go to FunRun.com to register and enter your pledges! So far, our class has raised $410! I can't wait to see what goals we reach! We're well on our way to raising the $25,000 goal our school has set. The Fun Run is next Friday, Oct.9 at 9:30 here at OES for those of you who would like to come cheer the students on. Also, please refer to the sheet I sent home Wednesday on all of the upcoming week's activities for Walk to School Week:
Monday: Wear a bandana
Tuesday: Wear sunglasses
Wednesday: Dress Like A Pirate/Walk to School Day
Thursday: Wear all black
Friday: Boosterthon Fun Run at 9:30am (Wear the "Discover the Treasure of Learning" shirt and tennis shoes)
Thank you for your support!

Super Sabrina and Awesome Angela

USC Upstate Watershed visited us and discussed animal habitats. We do not start our animal unit until later this year, but it excited and interested them so I know they will be ready when we get to that unit! They already have wonders about animals!

Next week is Fire Prevention Week. The BS Fire Dept came to visit us today to speak about fire safety. PLEASE check your smoke detectors in your home and designate a meeting spot if you haven't already done so with your family! If you need smoke detectors, contact the fire department and they'll provide one for free!

Finally, we launched our Weather PBL (project based learning) on Thursday by having WYFF meteorologist, Chris Justus, FaceTime our 2nd graders. It was so cool and he was so informative and kind. He walked around the news studio to show us behind the scenes. We saw Dale Gilbert prior to his cut-in during the Today Show, and then watched him as he filmed it. Chris Justus then took the time to answer a lot of our students' weather wonders such as:
How does a hurricane form?
Why did you become a meteorologist?
How do you stay safe during a storm?
The students will take what they learn to create a project and he said we could share their learning with him to receive his feedback. How awesome is that?! What a wonderful learning experience this was! We tweeted him this thank you picture :)

Don't forget Fall picture orders/$$ is due Monday, Oct.5.

Speaking of weather, please be safe this weekend and take the time to really discuss with your child/children safety in these types of situations. Have a relaxing, safe weekend!