Exploration Day

Exploration Day was last Thursday... it was an absolutely wonderful day. I've never been more thankful that I took many pictures than I am now.

Tragedy struck Room 8 Monday afternoon. Our precious Nicole was taken from us in a tragic car accident. Room 8 is devastated. I know many have been coming to Room 8 News and looking at pictures, so I decided to go ahead and put these on now.

Tuesday, as we were all talking, several Room 8ers said that Nicole was still a part of us - Absolutely! One of Kaia's responses, 'I feel like a part of me is missing.' There is... there is a part of all of us that is now missing.

As I was loading my pictures from Exploration Day onto the computer, I realized how many I had taken of Nicole that day. I'm posting them here, along with many other Room 8ers. We're all so thankful for wonderful memories!

Poetry by Orion

Room 8 is reciting poetry. Listen to Orion as he recites, The Mummy. I wonder if Orion is thinking about and looking forward to Halloween?

Create a Number

Room 8 loves 'Create a Number.' These are activites from Marcy Cook (a mathematics presenter) that are challenging, teach math language, help the students to see patterns in solving problems, and ... they are fun!

In this one, they were to create a telephone number. Can you see the clues?

There were 12 possible answers:

979-5133
979-1533
979-3155
979-1355

The last four digits were repeated with the prefixes of 997 and with 799.

Here we are working hard to figure out these numbers:Ashley and Kaia try to figure out the pattern...Isabell and Vanessa work together...Look how Max set his paper up to figure out all the possibilities!Rocky and Nicole did well together...
Can't you tell how hard Orion is thinking?Mrs. T is helping Danny and Katy with the possibilities...Vanessa tries to explain how 'Create a Number' works to Caryn...

Human Foosball

Tuesday afternoons around 2:45 p.m. will usually find Room 8 in the gym playing Human Foosball. So far, it's been a hit with everyone!Can you see that white line? That is part of the perimeter of Kaia's square. The black line is the center line in the gym...and it also is part of the perimeter of Kaia's square.

The gym is in a 3 x 8 square grid. All the lines, except the middle line of the gym, are in white. The squares are large. In the table game of foosball, the little men have only a small area they can be moved on the rod. Same here. Each student is confined to only their square. In this first picture, you can see Kaia reaching her foot across to try and grab the ball. That's fine. However, if her foot TOUCHES the ground outside of her square, she's pulled out of the game for a penalty - like hockey. Hailey has the ball now... Kaia is ready...

Now you may notice that both Hailey AND Abby are in the same square. Well, I've made the executive decision to have some squares shared by 2 people since we have 33 students...and only 24 squares.Katy is going after the ball. She is on the same team as Orion..who happens to be the goalie. Like soccer, the goalie is the only one who can touch the ball with their hands. I put that yellow paper up behind the goalie so I can hear the ball when it hits for a goal. Ashley was our other goalie. She looks a little lonely down there, don't you think?
Vanessa has the ball...notice she and Nicole are sharing a square. Unfortunately, one of them stepped out of the box, so...they were both pulled out on a penalty. Um? They don't look too upset, do they?Here's Isabell...she's new to Room 8. Kaia was helping her learn the game.Shane was yelling out, encouraging his team.
Max was stretching just as far as he could to get the ball without stepping over the line. Unfortunately, I do believe parts of his body (commonly called his 'backside') went over the line and he was called out.

When you're called out, it's only for about a minute. Your square remains empty... ohhh, that's a terrible prediciment... especially when the goalie steps out of their box!
Room 8 is definitely enjoying Human Foosball. If you're picking up your child on a Tuesday, come a little early and come watch the fun!

Scholastic News

Scholastic News is a magazine I subscribe to for Room 8. Each week, each student gets their own copy. We read it together, or they read it alone, or sometimes I let them read it with a partner. We usually have some questions to go along with it. I feel it's a great tool for teaching how to read for information. The articles aren't long, so it's easier to go back and find the information.

This year, at least until November, we'll have a lot of articles on the presidential race. We've already had some discussions...and we'll be voting soon - by secret ballot, of course!Wasey and Sam were working together.
I can't remember who Vanessa's partner was...probably Kacey since he sits next to her.
One of the weekly features is the Debate of the Week. These are great...giving a situation that 4th graders could find themselves in. This week was on students getting paid for their grades - by the school! I was impressed that most Room 8ers said, "No, students should not get paid for their grades." There was a variety of reasons.Austin J and Faith worked together.

Did you know we're losing Faith? I'm so sad...she's moving to another town... :(

A Simulation... the Bus Evacuation Drill

Room 8 learned what a simulation is.

Then we had the Bus Evacuation Drill. For most of us, it was a review of the bus rules, and a review of what to do if the bus had a problem. We loaded Bus 5 with Mrs. K's 4th grade.




One of the bus drivers talked to us about the safety of the bus...
and what to do if we have an earthquake while we're on the bus...
and we learned how to evacuate the bus. As you can see here, we're JUMPING out of the bus.
This is certainly not the recommended way to exit a bus... except in an emergency.
Come on Kaia...
After exiting the bus, we're suppose to go about 100 yards away, face the bus, and line up. We weren't too sure how far 100 yards was, so fortunately, a cone had been put there for us!