Have a Great Summer! Good luck in 2nd Grade...

This is probably my last blog entry. I won't take it off, so if you want to revisit it or show grandparents, you can. We had a great last week filled with math and more math. Tuesday was Newspaper Day all morning. We sang favorite songs on the last day as well as a time to meet your new teacher. We also collected autographs in our "year book". On Wednesday, many kids showed off their talents. At the end of the talent show, some of my moms wheeled out a wagon with a 6' Apple Tree for me to plant in my yard with red paper apples with all my students' names on them. Mrs. Rebecca Martin wrote a beautiful poem for me:
The Fruits of Your Love

A teacher
plants a seed
in the soil of knowledge,
showers it with creativity,
shines on it with a smile,

until the seed grows roots.

A teacher
nurtures the seedling,
provides support,
gently prunes,
guiding its upward growth,

until the seedling becomes a tree.

A teacher
may not see the tree bear fruit,
but she continues toiling
with the hope that someday,
because of her efforts,

it will flourish.

Dear teacher,
as you care for this tree,
remember the many students
you have nurtured these thirty years.
You have not just planted a seed,

but an orchard.

I want to thank everyone for the many kindnesses, cards, presents, and hugs that I got from my last class of my career. Mrs. Elbel was especially sneaky with her kind idea and hard work.
I will never forget you. I love you, Jacque Garber

Probability Math Menu

The packet with these math games has instructions that can be played at home with some of the math box supplies (just like the geometry menu games). They can be played this summer. Pinch a Ten game just needs the bag of beans.

Exactly Ten can be easily made with cards using numbers from 0-9. Make 8 of each number as well as 8 "happy face cards" that can be used as wild cards. This game reinforces those important addition combinations that equal ten.

Runts Race is used with a spinner, but could be used with a bag of Runts. You could pull out a runt without looking and then make a graph. Predict which color is the most before you open it.

Bear Race used different spinners and predictions for the 4 colors of bears on a graph.

Travel the World uses a bean, a dice, and a north, east, south, west spinner. Follow the directions. It fun to see where you land on the world map.

Field Day Games

Thanks to our room moms for planning a great morning of fun! We walked to Flat Iron Mesa Park and rotated between 4 activities. We designed our own cups with markers and got autographs on them. We sat in a circle and passed around two balls that had water balloons with a timer. It would randomly pop as it was passed around. Lots of giggles and fun. We had a fun game passing balls back and forth. Our relay game involved running to a bucket with a wet sponge and a cup of water with a hole in it. We passed water balloons to partners and played elbow tag and then we ate our lunches at the park. It was the perfect temperature too.

Retirement Open House

The school hosted an Open House in honor of my retirement. Many of my former students came to see me and sign my yearbook. Some students were in college. (Some even went to my room to see Fluffy.) I especially loved seeing my sweet students from this class. I was so pleased to see most of my former principals, teammates, and student teachers from both schools. My family and friends shared the day with me. Thank you so much.

Math Market

Mrs. Garber's class brought items to sell at our First Grade Math Market. They earned paper coins each day and kept them by following the rules, being respectful, and responsible. Many kids had $2.00 to spend on pencils, candy, hacky sacks, chalk, jewels, and other cool things! Next week, Mrs. Day will provide the things to sell. We want to keep our money for this Friday too!

Geometry Math Menu

Our Geometry Menu reviews shapes in some creative ways that engage the students in core related activities. They took home the Goemetry packet on Monday and hopefully they will play some of the games with you. They need these items from the MATH BOX: tangrams, pentominoes, 1-100 puzzle, attribute shapes, and the 6 piece puzzle. This menu was their favorite so far! But wait until they get to do the Probability Menu this week....

Pen Pal Picnic

Our Pen Pal Picnic was terrific! We saw our buddies walking on the other side of the street and we could hardly wait to meet them. After we met, we got into our 4 color groups to rotate between friendship bracelets, buddy tag, buddy venn diagram, and pictures of our pen pals by the playground. We ate lunch and returned to school with many fun memories of a great day.

Animals, Animals, Animals

We are learning cool facts and attributes of each of the 6 main groups of animals. Each day we read, write, draw, and create an art project of the group that we are studying.

If you would like to view the video about each animal group, go to www.uen.org Then click on college media. Then click on the e media icon. Then do a basic search for the animal group (mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles) Then go to All About Animals grades K,1,2,3. They are perfect for what we are studying, and so entertaining!

Mother's Day Program

The Family book was a labor of love for six weeks. I had a little art lesson before each page, so we learned to draw people in action. Our fourth grade buddies came in to listen to us read it about a dozen times. They made comments on the Response Log. Our program was wonderful. I saw a few tears. We love our families!

Field Trip to Red Butte Gardens