Winter Break, Take 2

I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the snow days with your children last week! I loved hearing Dr. Tefs on Friday. Even more so, I loved the photos that you all sent me of your kids earning Friday. Thank you for sharing them with me. I will tweet them tonight but here they are for you now:

I am curious how many of my students think they only had two days of school last week since Wednesday was “Global School Day of Play...” I have not had a chance to reflect with them yet, but here are some things I saw them learning as they had the opportunity to just play with one another:

• I saw a quiet leader teaching others about her game while humbly accepting feedback on things that could be changed.
• I saw a proud student banking during Monopoly and felt pride because he knew the game rules so well he could lead others.
• I saw children struggling with the chaos learn to find safety through forts, rock-paper-scissors, and quiet time alone.
• I saw a girl step up to help others organize playing cards. She saw a need and a system unravel before her own eyes.
• I saw perseverance solving logic puzzles that would have been easy to walk away from on any other day.

And I heard a lot of laughter. I was so pleased to see the class come together and just... play.

This week we will be watching the movie Because of Winn Dixie to compare the book to the film. It will be one of the writing options during our reading journal wrap-up. Please note that the BOWD Reading Journal #2 (found in Schoolwork) is due Thursday. Students will have plenty of time in class for the last section. However, while grading this morning, I still saw some former areas that need to be completed. Please check with your child to make sure it is all done.

We are also working on a “Hero Builder” activity in small groups to help our class learn about the War of 1812. Several battles occurred, and children will be writing about their fictional characters in these real-world situations. It will be fun and engaging. The final portion of the project will be for the group to create a script that they will use to record a video about their hero. I hope they all share it with you when they are done!

Last  on my agenda this week, I want to mention that the Read-A-Thon ends Thursday, Feb. 10th. The top reader in fourth grade has read 1,130 minutes!! Our top reader, just in our class, has read 860 minutes! These are astounding numbers. More importantly, when I checked tonight, we have raised $2,050 so far!! The mind-blowing part to me is that 13 kids in the class raised this money!!! Imagine what we can do for Bath Elementary School if all 23 students participated this week! If you have not already done so, please click on this link to activate your reader’s page: https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/r/SGQEcu

Dates to Know:
February 7 - Wear OSU or "Buckeyes for Booth" Shirts
February 10 - STEM Encore starts (and goes through February 25th)
February 11 - Teacher Professional Development (no school for students)
February 14 - Valentine's Day / Random Acts of Kindness begins - Wear Red and Pink
February 15 - Wear Your Favorite Team Jersey or Bath Team Hero Shirt
February 16 - Wear Animal Print Clothes or Accessories 
February 17 - Pajama Day!
February 18 - Wear tie-dye or "peaceful" shirts 
February 21 - No School (President's Day)
February 22 - Two's Day!