Rick and B. Ann Lattin came to teach us all about successful gardening in Northern Nevada. They had so much information and they were so kind as they interacted with the students. They brought in homemade kale chips and winter crop carrot sticks, all washed, peeled, cut and bagged, for all 40 kids! They taught us a gardening song and even a kale chant. It was truly a pleasure to have them share their knowledge with us.
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held the week of March 30, from 4:00 - 6:00 every day. Please email to schedule. jstockard@oasisacademyfallon.us.
Have a great week!
Kale Chips
Start with young kale, wash and break off any stems. Spin dry. Put in a large bowl and toss with olive oil to coat lightly. If you like salt and vinegar chips, Mrs. Mackedon recommends using apple cider vinegar at this stage as well. Lay the kale, piece by piece, in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Salt lightly with sea salt or any seasoning you like. Bake at 300 for 5-10 minutes. Watch it during baking, it should not get too dry. Pull it out and shout, "All hail kale!" Enjoy!
Monday, March 16, 2015
Monday, March 9, 2015
Plant and Garden Guest Speakers, Parent Teacher Conferences
Today started off slowly, probably due to the time change, but soon we had the energy level up in the classroom. We have a number of exciting learning activities coming up. We finished an opinion writing essay today on the growth of cities. We read both sides of the issue and chose a side for a fictional city. We will have more opportunities to write to persuade, but many of the students are really getting the hang of it. I like how they are using more complex transition words, like however, therefore, and additionally rather than first, next, and last. It is helping their writing sound more like middle school writing, which is our goal at this point in the year.
In projects, we are excited to have expert speakers coming to talk to us about plants and gardens in Nevada/ Rick and B. Ann Latin, of Latin Farms, will come to our classroom on Thursday. They will speak to us about gardening tips for Fallon. They will talk to us about what plants grow well, when to plant, and how to prepare the soil for best results. We hope to have time for them to answer our questions about our garden plans. We are excited to learn from the experts!
Parent Teacher Conferences will be scheduled on Monday, March 30; Tuesday, March 31; Wednesday, April 1 (that is no joke!); and Thursday, April 2. These are all school days, the week right before Spring Break. I can take appointments from 4:00 - 6:00 each night. If you are not free during these times, we will have to schedule after the break. Please email me your preferred time to schedule.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Plant Project
Our denim project was a huge success! The students made some really neat items and sold them to each other, for Bighorn Bucks, of course. It was a fun experience, but my favorite part was the reflection time afterward, when students thought about what they could do better or what they did well this time. It was a great opportunity to have an idea, try it out, assess how it is working, then adjust. We have some very creative minds here, both with product making and with the business side of it.
Now we are working on a gardening project with our study of plants, the water cycle and ecosystems. The students' final product is a garden design. Of course, no one has to plant the garden, but your child will be bringing home a garden design for your yard. Together, decide where you would plant, what you would plant, and how you could help your plants grow. Students will need to think about water, where it is and how the garden will get water. This can be a flower garden, herb garden, vegetable garden. We even talked about a salsa garden, growing the items needed for some delicious salsa. The point of this is to make it real, so each student will plan what is realistic to his or her gardening space. No one's garden plan will be graded on how big it is. Have fun with this. Most of the work will be done in class, but it will come home this weekend for parent approval.
Now we are working on a gardening project with our study of plants, the water cycle and ecosystems. The students' final product is a garden design. Of course, no one has to plant the garden, but your child will be bringing home a garden design for your yard. Together, decide where you would plant, what you would plant, and how you could help your plants grow. Students will need to think about water, where it is and how the garden will get water. This can be a flower garden, herb garden, vegetable garden. We even talked about a salsa garden, growing the items needed for some delicious salsa. The point of this is to make it real, so each student will plan what is realistic to his or her gardening space. No one's garden plan will be graded on how big it is. Have fun with this. Most of the work will be done in class, but it will come home this weekend for parent approval.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Blue Jean Projects
Tomorrow is our project making day with our denim! We finished the book Mr. Blue Jeans, so now we are creating a product out of denim. Your child may want to bring in some good fabric scissors for Tuesday. We have some in the classroom, but we will share those supplies. If your child's design involves a lot of cutting, it would be helpful to have an individual pair. We will take good care of them and send them home on Tuesday.
After we make our products on Tuesday, we will sell them, using our class Bighorn Bucks, to our classmates. This will be a really fun way to learn about economics. We are super excited for this week. Thursday will be the test day on this book.
In other news, we are trying to keep our terrariums and earthworms alive with the right amount of sun and water. We are learning about the water cycle, energy transfer in organisms and photosynthesis. Trickier than it sounds. It is a fun week!
After we make our products on Tuesday, we will sell them, using our class Bighorn Bucks, to our classmates. This will be a really fun way to learn about economics. We are super excited for this week. Thursday will be the test day on this book.
In other news, we are trying to keep our terrariums and earthworms alive with the right amount of sun and water. We are learning about the water cycle, energy transfer in organisms and photosynthesis. Trickier than it sounds. It is a fun week!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Terrariums, Blue Jeans, Christmas Play Link
We had a great time building our terrariums. Thank you, parents, for sending in the supplies! The kids did really well with reading the directions, splitting the plants carefully, helping each other, and cleaning up afterwards. We are excited to observe them and see how we can help our plants thrive.
Our next request is for jeans by Feb. 2/24. We are reading the biography of Levi Strauss, Mr. Blue Jeans. We will finish this book this week. Next week we will create a product out of the denim from the jeans. Your child will use the jeans he or she brings in. It will be a fun way to imagine the process Levi Strauss went through as he came up with the idea for sturdy pants for the miners of San Francisco.
Keep your child reading for reading log at home. Just a reminder, the 20 minutes is a minimum requirement, but if your child is able, please have him or her read more!
Thanks to Cody Deegan, we have a link to view the class Christmas play. It is pretty cute. Have a great week!
http://youtu.be/F7cNIUU8t9c
Our next request is for jeans by Feb. 2/24. We are reading the biography of Levi Strauss, Mr. Blue Jeans. We will finish this book this week. Next week we will create a product out of the denim from the jeans. Your child will use the jeans he or she brings in. It will be a fun way to imagine the process Levi Strauss went through as he came up with the idea for sturdy pants for the miners of San Francisco.
Keep your child reading for reading log at home. Just a reminder, the 20 minutes is a minimum requirement, but if your child is able, please have him or her read more!
Thanks to Cody Deegan, we have a link to view the class Christmas play. It is pretty cute. Have a great week!
http://youtu.be/F7cNIUU8t9c
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Ecosystem project
We are starting a really exciting new project this week. We will be making soda bottle terrariums in the classroom as a way to learn about living things. We will learn about photosynthesis and be able to show how the sun's energy is used for producers and consumers, and that plants get what they need for growth mostly from air, sunlight, and water. Your child came home with a list of supplies they need. Each student needs a clear 2 liter bottle with the cap. Each student also has another assignment for a shared item, such as potting soil or small rocks. Our planting day is Tuesday Feb. 17, so please make sure supplies are in by that day. That is the day after a Monday holiday, so don't let that sneak up on you!
We are reading a biography in class, Mr. Blue Jeans, which is about Levi Strauss. We will make some things out of denim in a few weeks, so each student will need a pair of jeans that he or she can cut up and use the denim to make an item. It will be a fun way to put what we are reading about into practice.
Thank you for sending these things in!
Have a great week!
We are reading a biography in class, Mr. Blue Jeans, which is about Levi Strauss. We will make some things out of denim in a few weeks, so each student will need a pair of jeans that he or she can cut up and use the denim to make an item. It will be a fun way to put what we are reading about into practice.
Thank you for sending these things in!
Have a great week!
Monday, February 2, 2015
Classroom Projects
This week we will be presenting our projects on Matter to the 2nd and 3rd graders. We have rehearsed and the students have prepared some really neat demonstrations. We will end it with some homemade root beer, a solution because sugar and dry ice are dissolved in water. We will have a vocabulary quiz on our project words on Wednesday.
We are working on reviewing some language standards in Writing, parts of speech like prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, then moving into verbs and verb tenses. In Reading we are preparing to read a biography of Levi Strauss. We will be focusing on content vocabulary and creating an informal outline of facts as we read, as well as the overall structure of the text. For this book, each student will need a pair of denim jeans that he or she can cut up. Any size is fine, if you have a spare pair, please send them in.
Coming soon: Oasis Family Math Night - lots of fun learning!
We are working on reviewing some language standards in Writing, parts of speech like prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, then moving into verbs and verb tenses. In Reading we are preparing to read a biography of Levi Strauss. We will be focusing on content vocabulary and creating an informal outline of facts as we read, as well as the overall structure of the text. For this book, each student will need a pair of denim jeans that he or she can cut up. Any size is fine, if you have a spare pair, please send them in.
Coming soon: Oasis Family Math Night - lots of fun learning!
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