So Much Time, So Little To Do!!!!......
Strike that. Reverse it.
Things have been moving fast and furious as always here in the 5th grade, so let's get right into it so that you don't feel left out. What better place to start than with Mr. Nicholls, who stays all hours of the night just thinking of ways to challenge these boys and girls as both role models and leaders of the Lower School.
Teamwork was the name of the game here, with patience, communication, and problem solving all at a premium in order to complete the tasks he laid out for them. And of course, smiling always helps as well.
Once they conquered the gauntlet that is Mr. Nicholls teamwork unit, our 5th graders were relied heavily upon to be his assistants during our annual Lower School Spirit Day.
Every so often, one of our 5th graders would jump for joy and bellow out "pink fluffy star" with sensational excitement. As seem below, Naomi happens to have perfected both her form and rhythm. She is a guiding light for all our future "pink fluffy stars."
A large thank you goes out to Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Howell, who put on a tremendous event. It has become a sort of "kick off" to fall fair weekend. The room, as Mrs. Granados put it, was absolutely oozing with green and gold.
Students continue to be lead by Mrs. Maciorowski in exploring coding at a deeper and deeper level. They have been creating stories and phantom games through coding on the iPads. As seen below, are coding longer sequences using a program called Cody which requires several stages of planning, problem solving, and retesting to achieve a desired command.
Students have also been also learning about how our government is run, have studied the roles of the members of the cabinet, and most recently watched the electoral college process in action. We held a mock election, where despite losing California's 55 electoral votes, "Hannah Heads" defeated "Tyler Tails" 320-218 to take the presidency.
Our annual trip to the Raptor Trust and Great Swamp was a stunningly beautiful fall day. We began at the Raptor Trust, where we learned about several different types of raptors and both their behavioral and structural adaptations within their respective ecosystems.
We were even lucky enough to meet Winky, and owl who sadly has lost vision in one of his eyes. Not to worry! He is loved and taken well care of at the Raptor Trust, who help injured birds on a daily basis. It is truly a wonderful place to visit. If you have never been, I highly recommend.
Below, you can see some students observing a rescued bird in its aviary.
After our visit to the Raptor Trust, we took a short bus ride over to the Great Swamp. After a quick lunch, we were met by volunteer guides, who took us on two separate nature walks.
Both groups observed snakes, frogs, and even a snapping turtle! Students and their guides discussed all the decomposers we were seeing, swamp characteristics, animal adaptations, and seed dispersal (to name a few). As you can see below, one of our students may have discovered a new system for transporting seeds from point A to point B!
We simply could not miss an opportunity to get outside and around campus on these beautiful fall days.
Bonnie Farrell, our resident botanist, is always willing to stop by and work our flourishing
garden at the drop of a hat.
Below, you can see students learning about all the different plants that reside within the garden.
We even got a chance to do a little sweet potato plucking!
The array of colors on campus are stunning in mid-October. Below, you can see our students collecting leaf samples from around campus. They will be bringing them back to the classroom and while using the Leafsnap app, will be able to identify all the different types of trees out 37 acre campus holds.
We made sure to venture into our nature trail too, which not only serves as a wonderful nook on the far side of campus, but is also a path that has become a common place for our middle school cross country team!
It has been a wonderful few weeks here! 'til next time....
