Below you will find summaries explaining some of our classroom projects. Be sure to check out the photo gallery for some highlights as well!
Classroom Economy Students are actively involved in a year-long economy unit. Click on the following link from Mrs. Newingham's Michigan classroom. Our classroom economy is based on her practices. The children will have classroom jobs while earning credits and debits throughout the day. All students will have their own credit/debit logs to manage. At the end of each pay period, I will issue checks to each student. Students will cash their checks at the Combs Classroom Bank (CCB). They will also have the opportunity to visit our class store monthly. Students will take turns serving as the class economist at our store. Throughout the year, the children will learn economic lessons that include decision making, opportunity cost, supply and demand, and inflation. Most importantly, students are learning important life lessons with money management!
Colonial Times! A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Pride and Ms. Watkins for their amazing social studies grant. We have been loving learning about the past and Colonial Times! The children have participated in video conferences with the history museum, create timelines, participated in hands-on social studies stations, discovered artifacts, written about their own, and the list goes on and on! History has come to life; Social Studies has never been so fantastic!
Science Fair This year the students wanted to do a space-related Science Fair project. We were studying Objects in the Sky. We were also getting ready to transition into our next unit of study in science called Plant Growth and Development. We found a fantastic way to combine our love of both! We participated in a virtual Science Fair experiment with NC State Agronauts! Check out the link. Now that we are growing our very own plants in the classroom, we have a lot to compare and contrast. The students are currently researching their own plants!
Fabulous Fiction - Point of View We have been having a lot of fun in Reader's Workshop with the fiction genre. The students loved creating their own versions of Humpty Dumpty with Point of View. How would the story be different when told from another perspective? Last week Mr. Tata came to read to our class for Read Across America day. He read a fantastic book called The Ride: The Legend of Betsy Dowdy. The kids got very excited b/c this combined both our fiction study and our study of colonial times. We used this opportunity to take our thinking to the next level with a BuildToExpress challenge! Stay tuned for more...