Mrs. Share's Blog

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We are really enjoying learning about rocks and minerals. This week, we learned that igneous rocks are made from cooled lava or magma. If the rocks are formed under the earth’s surface, they are made from magma. If they are cooled above ground, they are made from lava. We learned about four types of igneous rock: obsidian, granite, basalt, and pumice. Students worked in groups to describe the physical characteristics of each rock, including luster, texture, and color. We can’t wait to learn about many more types of rocks and minerals!

Obsidian: black and shiny, Pumice: light gray and lightweight, Basalt: dark gray and dull, Granite: pink, gray, and sparkly

The students have been continuing their national park research and are almost ready to start creating their iMovies! The last step in the process is writing a script! Each pair is working together to create a script as if they are “park rangers” guiding tourists through the park! Students are using the facts that they found to develop a written script that they will read into a microphone to narrate their iMovie. We can’t wait to see the national park projects come to life!

As part of our rocks and minerals study, we learned about birthstones! We found out that a birthstone is a gem which is a symbol of the month of a person’s birth. Ancient people believed that a birthstone brought good luck to the wearer. We looked up our birthstones and even made a colorful graph! It was interesting to find out that sometimes, months can have various birthstones and meanings. The students were excited to find out that the meaning of their birthstones seemed to be pretty accurate! Does your birthstone describe you? Find out below!

January – Garnet – Constancy

February – Amethyst – Sincerity

March – Aquamarine – Courage

April – Diamond – Innocence

May – Emerald – Love & Success

June – Pearl – Health

July – Ruby – Contentment

August – Peridot – Happiness

September – Sapphire – Clear Thinking

October – Opal – Hope

November – Topaz – Fidelity

December – Zircon – Prosperity

In math, we are working hard as we are learning long division. Daddy, Mommy, Sister, Brother (D-M-S-B) helps us remember the steps: divide, multiply, subtract, and bring down or bring up. These are the division steps we are practicing. We are also using lined paper turned vertically to help us line up our numbers, so that our computation is accurate. The students are working hard to learn the steps in order to divide with remainders! Check out our pictures below:

Today, we practiced writing a letter. The students wrote thank you notes to “Goldman Sachs Gives,” which is the charity that donated money to our school to fund our Month of the Military Child activities. We are practicing the format of a letter, including the date, greeting, body paragraphs, and closing. The children enjoyed typing their letters into a Google doc using their student Gmail accounts. We’re excited to continue working on our letters next week!

This week, the iRead contest winners were announced. Not only did Red Oak win the trophy, but the classes at our school that read the most were Ms. Sacay’s class and our class! Woo hoo! Way to go! I’m so proud of all the awesome readers who participated! As a reward, our two classes won a popsicle party on Wednesday! What a perfect day to cool off with a delicious treat!

On Monday, after our Month of the Military Child assembly, we were so lucky to have Mr. Denson (Kayla’s dad) come and visit our classroom. He spoke to us while we enjoyed our red, white, and blue popsicles! Mr. Denson told us what it is like to be in the Marines, and he gave us cool posters, key chains, and book covers! He answered some excellent questions from the students, and we found out that he has been to all 50 states! Wow! Thanks for visiting us and for protecting and serving our country!

Click the links below to watch our fabulous Illinois History Play! Enjoy!

Illinois History Play 1

Illinois History Play 2