Early Explorers

We have been sooo busy. For the last four weeks we have been learning about the early European explorers that set out across the ocean blue. We learned about new inventions, such as the printing press, mapmakers, navigational tools, vessels, crews, lands, peoples, and animals never before seen by European eyes. We learned about what they did and their explorations in search for cities of gold, riches, the fountain of youth, and conquering of new lands and peoples. Some major explorers such as Columbus, Cabata, Cortes, Polo, and Vespucci...just to name a few. The students found it very interesting, especially the part of planting the flag down in the ground and claiming that land for a faraway country. They were outraged at the enslavement and treatment of the natives. They were inspired by the braveness of the explorers.

To sum up their learning, they created a tri-fold presentation of one the explorers. They had to include a flag from the sponsoring country, a timeline, a journal entry, create a model of something of the time, and write a short biography with early life details, sponsoring country, what they "discovered", and any other interesting facts they deemed important. I was very pleased with the results--they learned and had fun--yippee!

 I have included a copy of the instructions that were sent home. I hope it helps. Just click on the picture below to get your copy.

What activities do you do for early explorers? 

Authors Visit our School

Today was such an exciting day! We had the amazing privilege to have author Mary Ting visit our school, talk with us about the importance of writing and reading, and have our books autographed. The best part is that Mrs. Ting is getting ready to publish her next book and our students have the unbelievable  opportunity to be the illustrators of this new book. Now that is FANTASTIC! That kind of opportunity does not come around that often (if ever).  Imagine, how the chose kiddos will feel to see their published illustrations in a book that can be read all over the world. WOW. I can't wait to see who gets chosen.

  Big Things Come in Small Packages is all about the daily adventures of Zoey and her friends Katie, Abby, Megan, and Nathan. I love that the story is told from Zoey's perspective, because children can very easily relate. Our kiddos find themselves struggling to meet our expectations and being the age they are. It is so difficult being a kid--you're not an adult and you're not a baby. This book discusses very serious issues for children from daily problems they face, how to stick up for themselves using their words, and that big things can come in small packages. The dialogue is catchy and very humorous. My kiddos were constantly cracking up. The kiddos especially loved that all the illustrations were from students at Mrs. Ting's former school. I above all love how you can use it for many reading lessons--dialogue, show not tell, plot, chronological events, word choice, humor, realistic fiction elements, etc. It is such an easy and smooth read. I highly recommend this book. 

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The week after Thanksgiving break, we had the honor of having another author visit at our school. Her name is E G Ryan

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She is the author and illustrator of some adorable children's books that have colorful illustrations, endearing characters, and great themes. She read a couple of her books to our students and talked about her routines as a writer. She talked with the kiddos about where she gets her ideas, how she incorporates her family and friends in the illustrations, and the importance of reading.

I really liked The Dreamies, because of the importance of kids to get out and play. The importance of balance in our lives is what hit home for me. As my journey with my current kiddos is slowly coming to an end this June, and as I prepare to go back down to kinder/first (?), I am definitely going to start getting my hands on her collection. It will make an excellent author study.

 

"Boogie" Juice

Halloween was a day to top it all off. We celebrated by brewing some "boogie" juice. We gathered all of the ingredients and a s a class decided on what to name our items:

• orange soda= mutant pumpkin vomit
• orange sherbet= brain swirl
• pineapple juice= moon juice
• plastic skulls= victims
• scooper= monster claw
• condensed sweet milk (I find this too sweet, so I decided not to add it)

Before you make the concoction, have some Halloween music playing in the background. It definitely adds to the atmosphere. First, place a whole can of pineapple juice in a large bowl. Second, add 1/4 of the orange soda. Third, add four or five very large scoops of the ice cream. Finally, for the grand finale, add the skulls. Swirl everything around and see it get foamy. The kids LOVED it and the aroma of the mixture is delicious. I gave every kiddo a cup with a small scoop of ice cream filled with the mixture of the bowl. They each got a skull with both a spoon and a straw.  All you kept hearing was, "This is the best!" Of course this makes me feel like I made their day!

Other years, I call this concoction the witches' brew. I place all the items in a cauldron, add gummy worms (or any other gruesome gummy I can find), and serve it in colored cups. There are many variations online, but I find this one works the best.

These are great activities that allow for writing to be engaging and meaningful. They will be adding this recipe to their 5th grade Holiday Recipes. By the end off the year, I hope to bind their recipes together like a cookbook so that they have recipes they can do again and as a nice keepsake of 5th grade.

What is your favorite Halloween activity to do with the kiddos?

Caramel Apples

Tomorrow is Halloween! Yippee! Like I have said before, I love the holidays for all the fun activities you can do. Today we made caramel apples. They were absolutely delicious.

The students were asked to bring in their favorite kind of apple washed in a baggie I provided. I brought a crock-pot from home and placed the caramel to melt on low. The room smelled unbelievably scrumptious. When it was time, we all gathered around the crock-pot. I dipped the apple in the caramel one at a time. They then rolled their apples in crushed peanuts (make sure no one has any allergies to peanuts). The echoes of "yum-yum" made me very happy. I knew they were having a grand old time. I also found out that a couple of my students had never tried caramel apples before.

This is the reason I still believe in "fun" activities. I take so much for granted, and so many of my students do not have these experiences. So if it means I have to give up my lunch to provide them with these memories, let it be.

Tomorrow we will be making "boogie juice". I know my students are eager to experience that. I know, I know, sugar overload...but lots of fun! 

Frankenstein Pudding

Some of my fondest childhood memories were the cookery activities I would do with my family and at school during the holiday season. There is so much content that needs to be covered in the day, so much more being pushed in (mind you the school-day is not getting longer), and little to no time for activities that are plain fun.

My students usually come up to the room for lunch time. With Halloween just a few days away, we decided that we would make our Frankenstein Pudding faces during lunch. We used vanilla instant pudding, 1 package of Oreo cookies, and green food coloring.

Very EASY Steps:

1. make the vanilla instant pudding in a large bowl
2. add food coloring
3. have students crush 2 Oreo cookies (without the filling) in a baggie
4. students draw a face on their cups using a Sharpie
5. fill up their cups with pudding
6. finally they add their hair (Oreos)

 Sorry about the half eaten face, I forgot to take a picture before they began to chow down.

 The faces were so cute. The "hair" on top was too funny. They really got a kick out of that.

As you can see from the photos, they had lots of fun. Many times I tend to forget that being in 5th grade doesn't mean they no longer care for silly activities. They are young children with very high expectations on them. This activity was their "massage". We are now trying to figure out an easy, yet delicious, cookery activity for November. Any ideas?