The King's Bed

Did the kids tell you about our "royal visit" on Friday? It was very exciting! Read our measurement fairy tale by clicking on the link below. There is a story to read and the pictures will get larger if you click on them. You may want to push the pause button on the bottom of the page to enjoy each page at your own speed.

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The students had many questions for the king. And, the king had many questions for the students. The king said he was from Lithuania. He brought the kids treats for creating a bed that was the perfect size. Then, he had another challenge for the students. The king promised to send a surprise if they could find out the countries that border Lithuania. We got onto Google Earth and found Lithuania. We not only found the bordering countries, we also took a street level tour and found what we believe might be the king's castle because he mentioned his favorite color was red. We will see what the king says of our mini geography lesson!

Measuring

We have been working on measuring length. We have been practicing using accurate measurement techniques. Whether we are measuring with feet, hands, paperclips, or inches, the students have defined some important measurement hints.

1. Line up precisely at the beginning of the object you are measuring.
2. Measure in a straight line.
3. Be careful not to leave gaps.
4. Do not overlap.
5. Use the same measurement tool.

 

Saving Green By Going Green

We were lucky on Tuesday to have two volunteers from Stockman Bank come into our classroom and present to the children about "Saving Green by Going Green." The kids discussed and brainstormed different ways to both save their money and help the environment. For example, buying a reusable waterbottle instead of buying bottled water. Another idea was to use the library and walk or ride bikes whenever possible. At the end of their presentation, they gave each child an award and an awesome goodie bag with a waterbottle, post-its, and candy. Thank you so much Kim and Kim!

Earth Day

April 22nd is Earth Day! This week we illustrated the beautiful song "What a Wonderful World." Here is a presentation of the students' illustrations. Please forgive the hiccup at the beginning, our laptop ran out of battery and I forgot to edit the redo out! We will be doing more Earth Day activities on Monday.

Science of Light

I hope that the children have been sharing their learning with you. We have been studying light energy in science. They have been very interested in the experiments. Here is just a snapshot of our learning.

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On the News

We got a surprise visit from the Q2 news crew on Wednesday. They wanted to do a story about technology use in the elementary classroom and they found their way to the Cooperative Combo. Luckily, we were at computer lab at the time! The kids did great! They were so proud to be "famous." Click on the link below to view the story. SD2 asks for K-8 technology levy, 2nd grader asks for computers that work | KTVQ.com | Q2 | Billings, Montana

Tech Time

Good afternoon! Work your way down the list. When you get to number 6, it is free choice.
1. 2nd Grade ~Word Sort 1st Grade~Magic E
2. Word Builder
3. Count by 2's Dot to Dot
4. Hidden Picture
5. Learning Links

Science Tech Time

1. First watch the Bill Nye video on light. Write one thing you learned on a post it.


2. Then choose a Bill Nye video that interests you.
Choose a video to watch: Bill Nye

3. Free Choice on Learning Links.

Contraction Surgery

This week in spelling we are studying contractions. We had a bit of fun creating contractions by becoming spelling surgeons. Who knew spelling was so dramatic!

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"Egg"ing

The Cooperative Combo has been up to some mischief. He, he! We "egged" two classrooms. We tip-toed into their rooms and hid an Easter egg with treats inside for every student. Then, we left them this sign and the instructions to "egg" two more classrooms. The kids are loving walking down the hall and seeing more and more "egged" signs pop-up. They love the fact that they started it all!

St. Patrick's Fun

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Spelling Battleship

The kids have been having a blast with Spelling Battleship. The kids hide their spelling words in the grid then try and find where each word is hiding using coordinates. Thank you to all the parents that played Spelling Battleship with their children for homework last week. It made for a fun way to review spelling words. If you ever want more copies of the gameboard, please just let me know.

Wednesday Computer Lab

Start with a science video....then work down the list.
1. Odd Number Blaster
2. Subtraction Hidden Picture
3. Learning Links

QR Reader Book Review Project

We started a new project in the Cooperative Combo, a "QR Reader Review Project." We are beginning with our class collection of Dr. Seuss books. The students read a Dr. Seuss book and completed a book review. In the book review, they had to rate the book, pick describing words, write a one sentence summary, and tell about their favorite part.

Now, we are in the process of making videos of our book reviews. Next, we will link the videos to QR codes. The QR codes will go in the book jackets of the books in our classroom library and in the school library. Once the QR codes are in place, when a student goes to check out a Dr. Seuss book, they can scan the code and get a peer review of the book.

We have finished about 5 reviews. In the next couple weeks, I hope to get at least one video review done for each student. Then, in the future, Mrs. Anderson and I hope to collaborate and expand this project to many books in our Bitterroot library. Here is just a taste of what we have been working on.

Here are a couple more codes. You can download a free QR reader for your smart phone, ipod touch, or ipad.

Our Seuss-tastic Week

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Cat in the Hat

Friday, March 2 was Dr. Seuss's birthday. He would have been 108. For the culmination of our Dr. Seuss week, we celebrated with the Cat in the Hat. The kids were invited to wear silly hats. We played Seuss themed math games, made a "Thing" craft, practiced our rhyming skills, watched a biography, and, of course, READ several Dr. Seuss books. Oh, and how could I forget, we had another guest reader....insert scream...Justin Bieber.

Green Eggs and Ham

Thursday, we enjoyed activities surrounding the story Green Eggs and Ham. The kids dressed in green. We had a team challenge for rhyming. The kids did a rewrite of the book Green Eggs and Ham. Thanks to our wonderful classroom volunteers, we ate green eggs and ham and had the cutest green eggs and ham candy. And, I can't forget to tell you...we had a guest reader: TIM TEBOW!

Fox in Socks

Wednesday was Fox in Socks day. Students wore their craziest socks. I can't wait for the next crazy sock day...I LOVE the idea of pinning socks to your shirt or the inside of your jacket. Now that is CRAZY!

Dr. Seuss warns that the book Fox in Socks is dangerous for your tongue. It didn't scare the Cooperative Combo kids from reading a few pages. Watch out for tongue twisters!

Fox in Socks with Ava by niemeyerc

Fox in Socks with Brady by niemeyerc

Fox in Socks with Sydnie by niemeyerc

A Wocket In My Pocket

Tuesday was "Wocket in my Pocket day. The kids were challenged to wear as many pockets as they could. I was amazed with how many pockets came to school. One student had 14 pockets. Another clever guy brought wockets in each of his eight pockets. We made a class graph and analyzed our pocket data. One of the interesting points that the students noticed was that most pocket numbers were in even numbers.

Here is a student book review for Wocket in My Pocket.

Dr. Seuss Tech Time

Explore and play in Seussville!

Dr. Seuss Week

We are having fun with Dr. Seuss this week. In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2, this week is Read Across America. The Cooperative Combo is putting our own twist on the special week. Everyday this week we have a special activity to celebrate reading and Dr. Seuss.
Since we will be reading lots of Dr. Seuss, I could use some help. I would love to collect as many books as possible to use this week. If you have some at home, could we please borrow them for the week? Make sure your child's name is in the book. Send books into class this week. We will read and share them, then return your books on Friday.
Today we read The Sneeches. A great story with a great lesson. Here is the youtube video.


There is much more Dr. Seuss fun to come. Check out the schedule for the rest of our week:

Tuesday ~ Wocket in My Pocket~ Students wear as many pockets as they can.

Wednesday ~ Fox in Socks ~ Students may wear colorful/ crazy socks.

Thursday ~ Green Eggs and Ham and The Lorax~ Students wear green.

Friday ~ Cat in the Hat~ Students may wear a silly hat and ~Hop on Pop~
Students may bring a pop or juice to school to drink with popcorn.

Poetry Cafe Replay

Poetry Cafe

Poetry Cafe was a smashing success. Our classroom was not a classroom last Wednesday. Instead, it was a hip, quaint cafe where budding young poets could share their latest work. We heard new poetry from our up and coming Combo poets, as well as, shared published poems from famous authors. Some poems were beautiful and touching, others were just plain funny. The hot chocolate and treats were delicious, but the best part was sharing poetry with the people we love most. Thank you all for your support. Enjoy some pics from the day!

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