Go Team Trace!

On Thursday, October 16th our students participated in the Special Olympics Track & Field events. Everyone had a great day! They had activities for every student from sensory tents and "pint size" games to relay races and softball throws. Our older boys all participated in the 50 M dash and softball throw. Each one of them did their best and even brought back some ribbons!

We had quite the grand send off to the games with songs from the Bumpus Pep Band, cheers as we were led by the Bumpus cheerleaders and even a performance by the dance team! The students were cheered on by classmates with banners & signs. Their smiles were priceless!

Language Unit 8/18- 9/5 "Who" Questions

Over the last 3 weeks students have been working on answering "who" questions during our language time. We began by using pictures of classmates and answering the question "who is this?" Students answered in a variety of ways: verbally, 2 and 4 choice talkers, and communication devices on the iPad. We then moved into answering "who" questions about pictures of our classmates such as "who is wearing glasses?" or "who has blonde hair?" Again, students used their own mode of communication. This not only helped us to begin working on answering this type of question, but also helped to begin to get to know one another and communicate with one another.

 Different types of communication devices used by our students during language activities. 

This past week our 3rd-5th grade students worked on answering "who" questions in text that they read or was read aloud to them.

Our kindergarten- 2nd grade students continued to work on communicating as a group as well as answering "who" questions by playing cooperative group games. Students were shown a picture of a classmate who would go next in the game and the other students were asked to answer the question, "whose turn is it?" Each student took a turn working to build with blocks, stackers, or another toy. They were asked to answer questions such as "what color block will you use?" or "how many blocks do we have on our tower?" Of course, their favorite part of the activity was when our tower would get too high and the blocks would come tumbling down! 

Our book for this past week was Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses. Any "Pete" book is always a hit with our students. This one was perfect for working on "who" questions as Pete comes in contact with many different characters as the story progresses. I also love Pete the Cat books for their repetitive phrases. They allow students to easily participate in the read aloud. 

Students also made their own "cool, blue, magic sunglasses" out of tissue paper, working on their fine motor skills.

This week students will focus on answering "what" type questions during our language group.  

The Red Barn Field Trip

Last Thursday our class went on our yearly field trip to The Red Barn Foundation in Leeds. Wow! What a beautiful day and an amazing experience with our students! Our morning began with getting to greet one of our favorite horses from last year "Lena." Students learned about safety around the horses and how to greet them. 

Next, we participated in some springtime art with local folk artist She She Vaughn and had a chance to learn to groom the horses. 

After lunch & some time on the playground our day finished up with making the horses a bit more colorful with some paint!!

Such a great day to be outside & enjoy some time with the horses!

Make It Move Science/ Language Unit 3/4 - 3/14

For the past two weeks students have been studying a combined science and language Project Based Learning unit. This unit focused on how things in our world move. We began by studying the different ways we can move our own bodies and the vocabulary associated with that. (Jump, run, sit, stand, dance, etc.). We then moved into making objects in our environment move through pushes & pulls. Students completed many hands-on activities related to pushes and pulls and were assessed on on their ability to label movements as either a push or a pull. Students wrapped up the unit by creating their own marble runs!

One marble run ready to test!

March is Reading Month!

To start out the month of March in room 140 we celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America day with a study of many Dr. Seuss favorites including One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Ten Apples Up on Top. Students completed reading, writing and math activities related to these two books and even did a little "fishing" in the classroom! We ended our study with a school-wide assembly celebrating Dr. Seuss. Our class represented the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by wearing our colorful fish necklaces in the parade!

After reading Ten Apples Up On Top, students colored characters from the book and created apples to go "up on top."






Students used their own picture and chose the amount of apples they wanted to balance on their own head. They practiced counting the amount as well as writing their name and numerals.

Rules Review & Making Choices: Language Unit 1/6 - 1/10

As students return to school & we begin a new semester it is always a good time to review the rules & expectations of the classroom. During our first week back in January we focused on our rules and expectations for group instruction and reinforced those positive behaviors.

We brought back out our classroom book from the beginning of the year that goes through the expectations for group instruction & includes all the students' pictures. They love finding their picture and name in the book and modeling the behaviors shown in the book!

We also discussed choice making during the week. Students sorted pictures of students making appropriate choices in the classroom (raising  hand, cleaning up, sharing with peers) and inappropriate choices (pushing, yelling) and used the pictures to work on language skills. Our 3rd- 5th grade language group connected choice making to a Unique Learning System reading comprehension lesson on Freedom and the freedom we have to make choices.

We read the books No David! and David Goes to School and discussed the "sad" choices David makes in the books. We also read I Love You Little Monkey and discussed the ways the little monkey changed his "sad" choices into "happy" choices. We even made our own monkeys to add to our "Wild About Learning" theme for the year!