Sharks share their Community Projects

Thank you to all the families that came out to see your Shark's wonderful project of how they are a piece of our community.  It was a great turnout and we had lots of fun!  Students from other classes also came to see our presentation and they were so positive and overall showed great interest and enthusiasm for our younger students.  Here are few pictures from that afternoon.

Seabury Students Spreading Holiday Cheer

A few weeks ago, the Seabury students gathered and made homemade holiday cards for residents at the Frank Tobey Jones retirement home.  A few sharks, as well as a few from each class joined me today as we sang carols and passed out our cards.  The students had a great time, and the residents lit up with all the young and happy faces.  Here is a few pictures of our morning.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I know all of you are probably running around more than usual, and believe, the Sharks are feeling the same way in school.  We have been doing a lot of writing around the winter holidays, and are currently publishing one piece using Microsoft PowerPoint.  Math groups are working on 2-digit addition problems with regrouping.  Reading groups are finishing up their chapter books before the holidays.  On Thursday we have our music performance and today the students travelled downtown for a dress rehearsal.  (For good seating, the Sharks will be standing to the left of the stage to sing and will be playing instruments in the middle). 

Next Friday we have early dissmissal for the Winter Vacation, and we will be having a holiday party that morning.  Please contact our class representative if you would like to help out. 

Pioneer Farms

Last Friday, the Sharks and Superstars went to Pioneer Farms, to learn how communities worked together to survive over 100 year ago.  Although it was very cold we had a great time.  The Sharks are currently working on a paragraph to describe some of the activities they did.  We started this paragraph by creating a word web.  It was much easier to organize our thoughts and we remembered several details.

 Check email for an invitation for a presentation of our culminating project on communities and citizenship with the Superstars. The Sharks have been working hard and putting several pieces together to create the final product!


The trimester ends the week after Thanksgiving break and we will be moving into a new topic of study for social studies and science.  Keeping with our theme of discovery, we will be learning about the state of Washington, as well as map skills, and learn about different weather patterns.  I hope to have some great projects and field trips for all of you to participate.

What a Busy Week!

Wow!  I can't believe all the things we have been doing this week!  On Monday, we made ice cream in a bag and observed how salt forces ice to freeze at a lower temperature.  Thursday was a great day to visit Theo's Chocolate in Seattle.  We observed how a cocao bean goes from bean to chocolate bar.  It was a very tasty trip :)  The kids loved sampling all sorts of chocolate, and enjoyed a sunny afternoon on the Burke Gilman trail for lunch.  This week we started on a culminating project what we have learned about being a good citizen in our community at Seabury and Tacoma.  We will invite you all to see the final product! On Friday, the entire school met in our classroom and the Explorers room as we made cards for the residents of Frank Tobey Jones Retirement Center. Many of these residents do not have ways to go out and purchase holiday cards, so we made some beautiful ones for the residents to send to families and friends.  A few Sharks will join me with other Seabury students as we deliver them sometime in the next two weeks.
Below are some pictures of our many events that have taken place. Please note upcoming events for no school days and other field trips coming soon!

We have to wear hairnets for the tour!

Yummy!  Peppermint Caramel squares...

How a cocao bean turns to chocolate

CS and an explorer making a holiday card together

Card making!

More card making!

The beginning of our community project.

Sharks learn about the Food Bank

Ms. Calhoun, a Beacon parent was able to coordinate a special tour of the Edgewood Food Bank today.  The students learned how food was distributed, and what kinds of food was available to needy families.  The Sharks had some great questions about how many people are served, and how much food each family gets.  This particular food banks serves 150 in the area! 

Here's what's happening in our room:
Reading:  Reading groups are still going strong.  Last week we read Hansel and Gretel as a whole group read aloud and had some real interesting discussions around the story.
Math:  We are wrapping up the first chapter of place value as we continue to work on patterns.  I am teaching lots of tricks about finding numbers quickly on a hundreds chart.
Writing:  We are ready to publish!  We just finished editing for capitals and periods.  I hope to get this done at the end of the week!
Social Studies: We have had a lot of great discussion around community service and what that means and looks like to them.  I will be shifting the topic to famous americans who helped make a change in their communites (and the country!)
Science:  We have been talking about physical changes in matter, and for the next few lessons we will be looking at how certain solids and liquids react together.

Scientists Hard at Work!

DS and GH studying the shape of salt crystals

EJ recording her observations in her science journal

NB and AD observing salt crystals with the microscope

This week the students have been observing and causing physical changes with matter.  In one experiment we dissolved salt into water and painted with it.  The result was the water evaporated and salt stayed behind, changing its shape in the process.  The Sharks were especially excited to use scientific tools like the magnifying glass and microscope to better observe the physical change.

Sharks Supporting our Community!

Thank you all of you who were able to come out or contribute in some form to the Pierce County Hunger Walk.  As a team, we raised $1427 for the Emergency Food Network!  The kids that were there had a blast walking the 5K (3.1 mile) route...with even a few runners in the mix.  The weather held out for us as well.  Since we advertised the Hunger Walk, a group of students have started their own Service Club to help out others.  They will be hosting a bake sale on Friday to help Pakistani flood victims.  Thank you for supporting Seabury kids as they become contributing members of their community.

Seabury kids with the Tacoma Rainers Moose

The runners at the Hunger Walk

In other news, here's what we are doing this week in the Shark's room:
Reading:  Reading groups are in full swing.  One group is starting a new chapter book called Half Magic, with another group finishing up Flat Stanley.  Other groups are working on fluency and accuracy skills at their level and making huge gains!
Writing:  We have been working on the revision stage: as one student put it, "re means to do again, and vision means to look with your eyes," so revision means looking at our writing again and finding ways to improve.  We will be editing our piece of work before a final copy is written out.
Math:  We are learning about place value, and different ways to represent numbers.  This week we are reviewing expanded notation (96= 90+6), and word form (ninety-six).
Science:  We are discussing physical changes with matter.  We have been experimenting with melting, condensation and dissolving.
Social Studies:  We are getting ready for a field trip to a local food bank and we will start talking about famous Americans who have contributed to their community.

All together just before race time!

Off we go, only three miles left!!

Kicking off our New Art Program



AD, CS, and MP creating a landscape portrait



On Friday, a shark parent, along with Ms. Head presented a lesson to the Sharks from our new art program.  The focus of the lesson was to express thoughts and feelings about a print, and to discuss an art element.  The art element was about landscape; identifying a foreground and background.  The students followed up the lesson by creating their own landscape painting using watercolors.  They spent a lot of time creating their piece of art, and the names of their paintings are very unique!  These paintings will be in the window on Monday so please stop by and take a look. 



EJ and JE creating a masterpiece



Other happenings in the Shark Tank:
Reading:  Reading groups are off to a great start.  Each child is recieving instruction at their level, and the focus ranges from accuracy to critical analysis of comprehension.  I am using a "CAFE" model (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary) to give the students strategies for reading and understanding.
Math: We have been learning about several addition strategies for quick recall, and all were pretested to begin studying place value.  I am using both the first and second grade editions of the math program to meet your child's needs.
Science: We are beginning our experimental stage with solids, liquids and gases.  We are using the scientific method and recording our work in our science journals. 
Social Studies:  The sharks are excited to be part of an opportunity to help our community!  I hope you can join us next Sunday at the Hunger Walk!  We are continuing to talk about what makes a community and how can we make a difference.