We Read

We have a new check-out system. When a student wants to check a book out of our classroom library, they now have a system in which to do just that -- self-check-out style!

Mr. Torres, our Art Dad, came to present a lesson on Edouard Manet. He taught us that Manet was once in the hospital and received flowers as well-wishes. Manet became fascinated by these flowers and started his series of still life paintings with flowers as the subject.

Mr. Torres' Sample

Our medium was colored chalk.

Thank you, Mr. Torres, for a fun lesson.

Mr. Domingo mounted and made this display for us.

XtraMath Finishers!

I am so impressed with this class and all the smarty pants we have in here. Om has already finished the entire multiplication section, as well. I had to add division for the first year just for him! Each student should be spending 10 minutes each day at home with "Mr. C" - on the computer trying to beat him in the basic math facts tests. Check it out - XtraMath.org!

IXL Award

During the Veteran's Day Assembly, we also earned the IXL Award for the month of Oct. We had done 53 hours of IXL. Congratulations to all our mathematicians! We love math! 

Golden Sneaker Award

Yes indeed! We also earned The Golden Sneaker Award in PE at the same Veterans' Day Assembly. We earned this from Mr. Lofstrom who felt our behaviors with entering, exiting, class participation, effort and good sportsmanship were worthy of choosing us for this award. Yay us!

Golden Book Award

When we earned the Golden Dustpan Award, we also earned the Golden Book Award for our behavior in the library for the month of October. This means students used quite voices [Level 1 voices] while in the library, remembered books on library day, listened well to instruction and stories, participated well, and had overall good behavior. I want to thank Agnessa for helping us win this award. She pushes in the forgotten chairs and does a last minute check of the library before she gets in line, so that we leave the library in good shape for the next class. With her help and good student behaviors, we earned a

nod for our efforts. Yay, Team!
There is not an award for Computer Lab, but I want to thank Gurleen for being the one to follow us out of the room making the final sweep. She attends to mouse pads, mice, headphones, keyboards and machines that have not been logged off for us. Thank you, Gurleen. You are so helpful and kind.

The Golden Dustpan Award

Each month, the school hands out awards to the classes for specific behaviors. We earned The Golden Dustpan Award for the month of November for having the cleanest room in the green wing for the month of October. Congratulations to us for being so clean, but I have to give a shout-out to Aidan because he becomes a human vacuum at the end of the day when we do our three chores: clean the floor, stack our chair and go to the closet for our belongings. I can always count on Aidan for his thorough floor cleaning skills. Yay! Aidan! Your efforts helped us earn an award.

The Navigator Awards Go To...

Dharma for showing respect. Derek for acting safely. Averie for responsibility.

I am proud to announce this month's Navigator Award Winners from our class. I chose each of them because they display the Navigator qualities each day. They earned a lanyard with a personal identification.

Our Veteran: Mr. Domingo

This is the fabulous Mr. Domingo!

Yesterday, shortly before our Veterans' Day Assembly, Mr. Domingo serendipitously answered questions about being a Marine Corp soldier during the Vietnam War. He was a body guard to the General. He served for 13 months when he was 20-21 years of age. His housing was a tent in 100 degree weather with 100% humidity for many of those months. He also has memories of being sweaty or wet from the rain while in his tent. Mr. Domingo lost two soldier friends to the war efforts while serving in this term. He also told us that of the 3.5 million soldiers that served from 1065-1969, 35, ooo were killed and of those 35,000 soldiers, 60% were 21 years old or younger. That is a staggering statistic!

Mr. Domingo has been working in my classroom for too many years to remember. He saves me hours of work with his diligent service to the Emerald Park community. Our Book Room is cared for by his upkeep, students receive mentoring from him, he works with students to help with flash cards, vocabulary words, and can often be found in our work room making copies, cutting, stuffing Friday Folders, and helping prep grade-level projects. He is just the nicest man you could ever meet. His wife, Phyllis is a kick, and can be found helping out at Emerald Park in various school-wide events. Their two grandchildren were educated here at EP, but we are lucky to still have their loyal service and devotion to our students and staff.

Happy Veterans' Day to all of you who have served in the armed forces to protect our freedom and a shout-out to all of the families who made sacrifices while their loved ones served. We salute you!

Student Council Representatives: At Your Service!

Emma and Klyie inducted into Emerald Park's Student Council. After making posters and giving speeches, our class voted for these two representatives for our 2011-2012 school year. We are in good hands! Stating the School Pledge at the Veteran's Day Assembly.All the newly elected representatives in front of the student body stating their pledge.

Whooo-Whooo

We created a "whooo-tastick" art project. Here's how we did it.

Step 1 - pick a paint color for your background.
Step 2 - paint the entire paper.
Step 3 - decorate your solid colored paper.

Step 4 - cut paper into 6 inch wide strips to share. Use a template to trace and cut out the needed shapes to glue down on black paper.
Step 5 - Voila! Owls everywhere. Here are some student samples.
This art project idea came from a fabulous art teacher, Patty Palmer.

Emma: The Published Poet!

Miss Emma submitted a poem entitled "A Unicorn" to Highlights magazine when she was seven.

She recently was published in the magazine! We feel pretty special to have a published poet in our classroom. Way to go, Emma!

Werewolves by Tucker!

Tucker, my son who attends the Art Institute of Seattle, came to reward the students for earning 21 points on their behaviors in PE/Music/Computers/Library and overall school behaviors.

This is the display that Mr. Domingo, my grandparent helper extraordinaire, made for the students. Here are some close ups of the finished product.