The Place Value song

We're reviewing place value in Room 8. Today, as we were reading large numbers, I asked how many remembered expanded notation, or expanded form. Most raised their hand. Here's an example of expanded notation:

5,293 = 5,000 + 200 + 90 + 3

After we had done it a few times, Kaylin told me she knew a song about it.

"A song about expanded notation?" I asked.

This seemed sort of a strange topic for a song...

Several Room 8ers then told me they learned it in 3rd grade... so we had a performance by Terra, Aleia, Kaylin, and Dallin:

I'm not sure if this will make the top 10 songs, but it works for learning place value!

A few random shots of Room 8

Because it's Friday, I decided to post some random photos of Room 8ers. Some were taken on the playground this afternoon, and some were taken earlier in the week. I'm still limited on my group shots since I don't have all the Blog forms returned.
Tucker, Serenity, Kaylin, & Samantha
Kaylee, Jaelin (who we're devastated over not being in Room 8!), Kaylin, and AleiaAleia, Jaelin, and Kaylin
Jump roping is a popular activity during recess.
Kaylin jumping with Noah turning the ropeSerenity... I absolutely love this picture of her!Kaylin...look at that smile and those dimples!Samantha...aren't her freckles sweet? I call them 'angel kisses'...

These next photos were taken while we were working on practicing our cursive a...CharlieKaylaDallinLiamJosephJimiAJAleiaConnorBlaykeKeithKaylinKayleeTuckerSadie...unfortunately, I blurred this photo...Logan BNoah

It's always an exciting time for me...the beginning of a new year, learning all my new students, and getting to know their strengths...

and, of course, adding to the Room 8 News blog!

AJ

Today was the day for AJ to share his bag. I think Room 8 was just as excited as AJ was!He looked in his bag to decide what to share first...AJ told us he loves Legos and he likes to build with them. As he pulled out this helicopter, you could hear a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' coming from Room 8.Look at this! The propeller spins around...it's just great!I asked AJ to hold it up so I could get a good picture of it...Room 8 was definitely impressed with AJ's Lego-building expertise!

Next he told us this was his favorite game...
Super Mario Galaxy
This game is for his Wii...
AJ told us that you can win stars... I bet he wins a lot of them!
At recess today, AJ was playing a tickle-game with his friend. He told me what her name was, but I can't remember it right now. They definitely had fun together.
Seeing as AJ's teacher LOVES to take pictures...I asked them to let me take their photo...

They both were happy to let me!

Thank you, AJ...

Great job on sharing your bag!

Aleia

Aleia was our second student to share her bag today. I loved watching how much she obviously enjoyed being up in front of the class. She told me she likes to have her picture made. We all told her she was definitely in the right classroom! She has a 'loves-to-take-100s-of-pictures' teacher!

We learned that Aleia collects MOTORCYCLES! I don't know why that surprised me..but it did. She brought a little motorcycle toy to show us...I don't think she could have brought any real motorcycles!
So we can see it better, Aleia turned it around for the camera...
Aleia also brought a dragon...She really likes dragons and this one came from Reno, Nevada. I think it was her grandmother who bought it for her. I was curious if she had won the dragon, but Aleia said no, she took her to a drugstore to buy it.


We also learned that she collects dolphins...

and one other thing she brought was a little gecko...not just any gecko, but a gecko from 'Littlest Pet Shop" - which I was the ONLY one in Room 8 who didn't know what in the world "Littlest Pet Shop" was...

Now I know, thanks to Aleia!

Mrs. T

Mrs. T shared her bag with us today. Fortunately for me...and for Room 8ers, we have Mrs. T in our room during our math time. She was excited to share her bag with us. She looked inside to see what she should tell us about first.
Anyone who knows much about Mrs. T knows she LOVES penquins... she collects them. Because Mrs. T has 3 boys (Matthew, Wesley, and Ben) a lot of the students in Room 8 know her pretty well. Mrs. T even has a penquin sticker on her van!

Speaking of her sons, she told us how the reads with each of her boys every night. Then she reads her own book...which she loves to do. She also collects bookmarks!I'm not sure, but I think this photo is of Mrs. T holding a butterfly. She also collects those...and even has her kitchen decorated with butterflies.

Cooking is something else Mrs. T likes to do. She told us she was especially good at desserts...oh yum! We were all hungry after that part of her bag presentation!
This baseball card is of Mike...or was it Matt??? Piazza, who is her favorite player. He plays or either used to play for the Mets, which is her favorite team. Mrs. T loves baseball!

I told her I would forgive her for that.

We also learned that M & M's are her favorite snack; that she loves to work outside; she loves to sew, and used to sell jewelry!

Wow! We loved learning about Mrs. T!

Ms. V

Ms. V is our wonderful student teacher for the fall semester.  Today, she shared her 'bag' with us, telling us about herself in the process.  

Ms. V told us that she loves to do origami.  She learned how to do it when she was young, and she still knows how.  She even brought an origami crane to show us.  

Ms. V also told us she loves teapots...and she collects them.  She didn't bring any of her special ones because she didn't want to take a chance on one getting broken. 

She told us she likes gnomes...bringing one to show us.

Ms. V also brought a bracelet that she bought in Greece.  She traveled there one summer which was a dream come true. The bracelet has an evil eye...which she told us is suppose to protect you - IF you believe things like that!

Ms. V brought a photo of her roommate, Gabby.  I think she said they had lived together for a couple of years.  They like to watch movies and eat yummy foods!  
Ms. V also told us about her family.  She showed us a photo of her brother who is 16 years old.  He plays soccer and she enjoys watching him play when she goes home. This picture makes her feel he is closer to her.  She also talked about her mom, bringing a photo of the two of them together.  Ms. V told us her mom was very special to her.

There were other facts we learned...but the last one we learned - which surprised me - is that she is 1/4 Swiss!  

We loved learning more about Ms. V...and we're very happy she is in Room 8.