Sorting leaves by size

Today, I read a book about fall. Then, we did a leaf sorting activity in math. The students were given different sized leaves. They had to color them the colors that leaves turn in the fall, and then they sorted them by small, medium, and large. They are getting so good at sorting. :-) Tomorrow, I hope to add some pictures of the students working on a book they have been making in their reading groups. It's a book that has music set to it. It is a really cute book that involves colors, and I can't wait for the students to finish it and take it home to share with their families. They are very proud of the book.

Apple Tasting

Today, we read a book about a family of bunnies that went apple picking at an orchard. The book talked about the different types of apples that there are. Then, we got the chance to taste test three different types of apples (yellow, green, and red). Afterwords, the students selected their favorite apple flavor. They were given a paper apple and colored in the appropriate color. Then, they placed it on the graph. We counted how many we had for each color. Then, we discovered we had a tie. Red and green apples were both the favorites in our class!

Taste testing the apples



The apple graph

Apple Patterns and Center Fun!

Today, we made several different patterns with apples. Each child was given two apples. First, I would start the pattern. Then, I would ask students to hold up their apple if they thought there apple would be next in the pattern. They loved coming up to the butcher paper and placing their apple onto the pattern. Tomorrow, we will have another fun activity with apples that involves tasting. Now, onto the pictures. I have two pictures from the apple pattern activity, and I'm sharing a few pictures from our daily centers. In centers, we are getting so much better about working together and sharing.

A friend placing her apple onto the pattern

The finished product that is now hanging in the hallway

Fun at the sand table

Working together to put together an alphabet puzzle

They made a racetrack out of the blocks

Teddy Bear Picnic

Today was the last day of our teddy bear week. In the morning, we played a probability math game called, Pick a Bear. Students were in pairs and had a cup with two bears in it, one red and one blue. They took turns closing their eyes and pulling a bear out of the cup. Then, they colored in the square on the game board. Afterward, we discussed which colors they got the most of and the least of. We also discussed if they noticed any patterns. In the afternoon, we had our teddy bear picnic. We brought our teddy bears outside with us. We had teddy grahams, gummy bears, and fruit kabobs. Thank you to everyone who donated snacks for the picnic. We had a wonderful time!

Playing Pick a Bear

At the teddy bear picnic

Constitution Day!

Today was Constitution Day! We were decked out in our red, white, and blue. We made American flags yesterday. They did a great job coloring in their flags, considering it's not an easy flag to color. Today, we had an assembly with the whole school in the afternoon. We said the pledge of allegiance and sang the National Anthem. Our school's boy scout color guard was there. Then, the fifth graders read the Preamble of the Constitution to us. Lastly, the Topeka High School drum line performed for us. They were fantastic and the kids loved them.
For teddy bear week, we brought our teddy bears out to recess with us. All in all, we had a fun, action-packed day! Are you ready for some pictures?

With our flags we made (It's easiest to take a picture of half the class, than the whole class right now)


At the assembly

Waving their flags at the assembly

The Topeka High School drum line

Some of the students with their teddy bears at recess

Teddy Bear Size Graph

The students brought bears to school today. We decided whether their bears were small, medium, or large and then we graphed the results. If a student didn't bring a bear to school today, they thought about the size of their bear that was at home. Students will be bringing their teddy bears to school all week. Also, I am sharing pictures of some of the bears that the students decorated at home with their parents. We have a wonderful teddy bear hall display because of those decorated bears!

A picture of the students and their bears (those who brought them today)

The teddy bear graph

Some of the decorated bears

Graphing Gummy Bears

This week is Teddy Bear Week so many of our activities are centered around bears. Today, each student was given a baggy with gummy bears. They had to sort their bears onto bears we had colored earlier. Then, they counted and graphed their bears. They did a wonderful job creating their very own graphs! Of course, we ate the gummy bears after we were all finished. :-)

Sorting the gummy bears

Graphing the gummy bears

Watermelon and Grandparent's Day!

We had a very big day today. Some very generous farmers donated watermelons to our school. The farmers came and cut the watermelon, and we enjoyed it outside after lunch. Then, we had our performance for our grandparents at the end of the day. The students did a wonderful job. Here are many pictures from today:

Practice Makes Perfect

In music class, we were practicing the songs we are going to sing for our grandparents (or other special relatives) on Grandparent's Day this Friday. Mrs. Baer came up with great actions to go along with the songs. The students are having a lot of fun practicing the songs, and I'm sure their grandparents will love the performance. I will be sure to take pictures of the performance on Friday. :-)

They are pretending to sleep at the beginning of this song. (p.s. You can see Mrs. Baer in the 1st picture)

Our first birthday

Today, our first friend celebrated their birthday at school and got to wear her very own birthday crown. I plan on posting a picture of every friend in their birthday crown on the blog. I marked out her name that was on the crown with photoshop but the original will be in her scrapbook. It will be the same for everyone else. So happy birthday, M!

Fun with shapes!

Each table was given a large piece of paper cut into a shape (2 circles, a triangle, and a square). The groups had to find pictures with their shape in magazines and cut it out and glue it to their large shape. As you can see from the pictures, every group did a great job finding their shapes.

Checking Out Library Books

Today, we checked out a library book for the first time. The students listened to Mrs. Baker (the librarian) read the book, Going on a Book Hunt. This book explains the check out procedure and has fun actions to go along with it. Then, they got to select their book. They made a lot of great choices! Halloween books were a big hit. :-) I'll be sure to remind everyone the day before books should be returned.

Listening to the story


Picking out a book



Checking out their books