Explorers from Spain and France

What a fun day in Social Studies! Three groups presented their lessons on either Cartier, Cortes and Coronado. We learned how the Spainish mainly explored Mexico and Central America. They weren't very creative, so they called that area "New Spain." The French explored the Northern part of North America, mainly Eastern Canada. We laughed at Cartier's name for the land that he claimed for France: NewFoundLand! How funny!

In Language Arts today, we watched Owl Moon (a short children's story) and found examples of similes and metaphors. We have talked repeatedly about figurative language. This was just one more example of it!

Tomorrow, students should bring a sack lunch or money for concessions at skating. It will be a blast, but it will be cold.

Winding Down the Year

Today was the first day of the last week of the 2007 school year. Today in Social Studies, students worked collaboratively with their groups to design a brief lesson on one explorer. Some are planning on acting out the voyage and others are organizing a game show. It should be interesting when students start to present. I think we will all get a kick out their interpretations and learn a lot in the process.

Wednesday, we will be going skating. Be sure to dress warm and bring layers. I speak from experience, it gets C-O-L-D in there!

Thursday, in my Language Arts class, we will be having our first vocabulary test. I know, I'm a meanie! However, I hate to wait until after break when students have been so distant from the material.

We will end the week and year on a celebratory note. After our morning homeroom parties and specials, we will exchange white elephant gifts and play holiday bingo. After lunch, we will enjoy The Polar Express and then listen to the Intermediate Band and Choir as they perform for the whole student body.

Trying Out This Blog Thing

I have come to the conclusion that not many parents were using my webpage provided by the school. I think it was too difficult for parents to find and way too much work for me. So, I have decided to try out this blog. It is new to me as to most of you. Please feel free to ask questions often and leave comments. It is my intention to add to this regularly.