Origami and Paper Crafts: At the first Origami cluster we met everyone in our group and told about our experience with origami. We found out that Mrs. York was the expert in our group--she's created origami since she was a little girl! We saw a PowerPoint about origami made by a former LME student. We followed step-by-step directions on a website, http://en.origami-club.com/ to create a few origami pieces. At the end of our session some members of the group found stickers on the backs of their chairs. They were the lucky recipients of special origami pieces created by Mrs. York! At our next meeting we'll have more time to create origami. Several students said they would like to make penguins and fortune-tellers.
Out of This World: We set up four stations so that everyone got a chance to explore space, planets, and rockets through books, puzzles, games and sticker pictures. We talked about how we will be making our rockets in the next two weeks and brainstormed ideas for what kinds of fuel we could use!
Lion Cub Book Club: The first meeting of the “Lion Cub Book Club” enrichment cluster was a roaring success! We spent our hour exploring two of the original Curious George Adventures by Margret & HA Rey: Curious George Rides a Bike and Curious George Goes to the Hospital. We spent some time discussing the books, and decided that poor George needed a "Get Well Soon" card to help him feel better after his trip to the hospital! So each child created one and we look forward to sharing those with you at the showcase. In the next two weeks, we'll be spotlighting other authors such as Kevin Henkes and Steven Kellogg.
Clay Creations: This week we learned the coil method of making pottery. The children used the medium of modeling clay to construct coil structures. If they finished before the hour was up, they were able to make whatever they chose out of the modeling clay.
Creative Card Making: The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster is off to a great start! Mrs. Lee brought a huge basket of greeting cards in all shapes, sizes and categories. These are keepsakes she has saved through the years. As we looked at each card, we talked about the reasons for sending cards and the many techniques used to make cards. Then we researched ideas and technique tips in several card making books. We learned two techniques: layering and stamping. We also had just enough time to decorate a special bag to help keep our cards organized and ready for just that special occasion. Next week, we'll try two more techniques and add even more cards to our bags! Be on the lookout, you just might be the recipient of a very special greeting card, made with lots of love!
Out of This World: We set up four stations so that everyone got a chance to explore space, planets, and rockets through books, puzzles, games and sticker pictures. We talked about how we will be making our rockets in the next two weeks and brainstormed ideas for what kinds of fuel we could use!
Lion Cub Book Club: The first meeting of the “Lion Cub Book Club” enrichment cluster was a roaring success! We spent our hour exploring two of the original Curious George Adventures by Margret & HA Rey: Curious George Rides a Bike and Curious George Goes to the Hospital. We spent some time discussing the books, and decided that poor George needed a "Get Well Soon" card to help him feel better after his trip to the hospital! So each child created one and we look forward to sharing those with you at the showcase. In the next two weeks, we'll be spotlighting other authors such as Kevin Henkes and Steven Kellogg.
Clay Creations: This week we learned the coil method of making pottery. The children used the medium of modeling clay to construct coil structures. If they finished before the hour was up, they were able to make whatever they chose out of the modeling clay.
Creative Card Making: The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster is off to a great start! Mrs. Lee brought a huge basket of greeting cards in all shapes, sizes and categories. These are keepsakes she has saved through the years. As we looked at each card, we talked about the reasons for sending cards and the many techniques used to make cards. Then we researched ideas and technique tips in several card making books. We learned two techniques: layering and stamping. We also had just enough time to decorate a special bag to help keep our cards organized and ready for just that special occasion. Next week, we'll try two more techniques and add even more cards to our bags! Be on the lookout, you just might be the recipient of a very special greeting card, made with lots of love!
Snappy Snapshots: The “Snappy Snapshots” enrichment cluster began with an introduction into photography—why we take pictures, what we take pictures of, and how to take pictures. Students were able to walk around the room with framing mats to practice how they would frame a picture before we learned how to use a digital camera. Full of excitement and anticipation, we ventured to the kindergarten and 1st grade playground to take our very own pictures! We look forward to building our portfolios over the next two weeks, and hope to see you at the Showcase on May 3rd.
Vets and Pets: Welcome our new honorary veterinarians of Laurel Mountain from the “Vets and Pets” enrichment cluster! This week we learned about becoming a veterinarian. Dr. Cassens, a real vet, shared with us about what vets do, how to become a vet and what types of animals vets care for. She shared pictures of the animals she has helped and showed us x-rays and skeletons. We also got to meet her pet skink!
After we learned from Dr. Cassens we also had the opportunity to practice some vet skills with our own furry friends. Using stuffed dogs and cats we practiced giving vaccinations to keep them healthy, wrapping hurt legs, checking their heart rates, looking in their ears and taking their temperature. Did you know that a human's temperature is normally 98.6 but a dog or cat's normal temperature is 101?
In addition to learning about vets we will be making a pet care book about all the animals we learn about during the next few weeks. We began our book today by researching different types of pets and drawing these animals in our book. We ended our time together by polling the group to see what their favorite pet was. Using an interactive chart we graphed every one's favorite pet and recreated our own graph using paw stamps. Can you guess which animal had the most votes? It was "doggone" close. The vets say they can't wait to touch the real animals as we continue learning about pets, vets and meet other people who work with animals.
Sports Fan'atics: The “Sports Fan'atics” had a sporty first day of their enrichment meeting. The students learned about sportsmanship and what it takes to be a good sport and team player. We played a name learning game and talked about our favorite sports to play. The students did soccer drills and were even helped out by some of our fifth grade buddies. After our skills drills, we broke into teams and played soccer games. The students did great and had a lot of fun today. We can't wait for next week to start our next sport.
INSTANTANEOUS EXPERIMENTS: What fun we had today as scientists experimenting with dry ice. We made a dry ice crystal ball bubble, played with dry ice in the sink, and learned there are so many more things to do with dry ice than we thought.
Dino Hunters: On Friday, our “Dino Hunters” traveled millions of years back in time to explore dinosaurs! We put together 2D and 3D puzzles, looked through books, played dinosaur monopoly and searched pebblego.com to learn more about dinosaurs. We watched a clip from “Reading Rainbow” to see real fossils being dug up and studied at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Next week we will get a chance to dig for fossils on our own!
Wild About Animals: In our first enrichment cluster meeting we discussed the various classifications that animals fit into. We found that most people in our group have an interest in learning more about various mammals. After sorting animals by their classification we used the computers to explore the characteristics of each animal classification. Next week, we will each choose an animal and begin research to find out that animal's habitat, food and life cycle.
Create a Reading Garden: Let's create a Reading Garden at Laurel Mountain. The garden will be a change of "pace and place" for classrooms to enjoy the outside and find a comfy spot to sit and read. During our enrichment cluster students will be making "flowers" for the garden out of water bottles. We will also be painting the alphabet on rocks and more. Our goal is to help create a cozy atmosphere for all to enjoy.
Amazing Castles: Our castle enrichment cluster talked about what is neat about castles, read a book about castles, and looked at some pictures of shoebox castles kids made a few years ago. Then kids chose from four activities - putting together floor puzzles, building with castle blocks, looking at castle books and making castle drawings. Finally, we started constructing castles using shoe boxes, cardboard rolls and other materials. Kids drew in where they wanted their drawbridge to be and Ms. Sen cut them out for them. Three fifth grade helpers helped with taping and assembling. We were very busy!
Games and Puzzles: The “Games and Puzzles” enrichment cluster first got to know each other's names by throwing a squishy ball to each other. When someone caught the ball they would introduce themselves. The next game we played was, "Guess Who I Am?" Each K and 1 student had the name of an animal taped on their back. They then had to ask each other questions until they were able to guess correctly. Then it was time for Simon Says! Finally, we played Freeze Dance! At the end of the cluster we brainstormed what we would like to do next week. It was agreed that we would have six stations of board games.
Amazing Animals: On Friday, we explored the wonder of reptiles. Cleo the corn snake shared her slither as she moved on the floor, through our hands and over our heads. We learned about the hundreds of ribs in a snake. If one were to break the snake might starve as they help move its food to the stomach. We also met the bearded dragons Snap and Linder. They ran across the floor, bobbed their heads and flicked their tongues. We even saw Snap’s beard go from white to black when he saw his brother Linder. We learned that bearded dragons do this as they protect their territory. All in all, we had an AMAZING time!
Music Cluster: We started “Music Cluster” by warming up our bodies and getting our "brain juices" flowing. We learned that a beat is the pulse of a song. Without it, music would just be jumbled up mess! We practiced marching to the beat of some familiar songs. We then learned that tempo is how fast or slow the music is played. We tried to dance to the beat of the song at various tempos. There was a lot of giggling when we started to get really fast or really slow. After a brief introduction to beat, rhythm, and tempo, we began learning about Classical music and all of the instruments that make up an orchestra. We read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin and listened to all of the sounds of the instruments named in that book. Mrs. Peacock then asked us if we could name any classical composers. Mrs. Peacock and Ms. Lewis performed a puppet show about the life of Mozart. After we were finished, we made powdered wigs to represent the time when Mozart lived.
