Class Pet: Jimmy

Well, folks, we have a new member to our classroom--Jimmy. Though he's significantly shorter than all the other students, they all love him. Unfortunately, he does not talk very much. Oh, that's right! I forgot to mention the fact that Jimmy is a box turtle. As our newest member, we want to make sure Jimmy feels welcome in our classroom. Every day a different student gets to put fresh water in Jimmy's bowl and feed him. What do box turtles eat? Well, box turtles are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and animals. We always keep a healthy amount of plants in Jimmy's large tank, and the students take turns putting other food in the tank. He likes snails, slugs, worms, crickets, grasshoppers, some berries, and even mushrooms. Once Jimmy starts to eat, the whole class watches intently. The students are really good about focusing on their work when he isn't eating, but I still have the divider to block their view of him if he becomes too distracting.

Jimmy, the newest member of Miss Miller's class

School Carnival this Friday

Coming up this Friday is our annual school carnival! The entire school is invited to attend this fun evening of games, prizes, food, and so much more. Students are allowed to bring a friend who does not attend Christenson Elementary, but must pick up a guest pass at school this week. Tickets to the carnival are $8 per student, $10 per adult and can be purchased at the door. Come for a full evening of fun and great prizes. There will even be a cake walk this year--you could go home with a full plate of baked goods or even a full cake! The doors open at 5:00pm and festivities continue until 10:00 pm. Feel free to come late or leave early. We would love to see you all there!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Reminder: Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up next week!

This is simply a reminder to all that the parent-teacher conferences will take place next week, Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13. Parents can sign up for a time on the schedule that is being sent home this week. This is a great opportunity to discuss how your child is doing in school--grades, behavior, and overall progress--as well as a chance to ask me any questions you may have. I appreciate this opportunity to get to know each of the parents of my students so please sign up as soon as you can! I look forward to meeting with you all.

Field Trip: West MI Symphony

On Thursday, March 5, all 3rd and 4th graders at Christenson Elementary will attend a West MI Symphony concert at the Johnson Theatre in Norton, Michigan. This concert starts at 11:00 am and will last about one hour. After the concert we will return to school to have a late lunch (about 1:00pm). 

This field trip includes an interactive concert with the students listening as well as singing along with the West Michigan Symphony. The symphony will even have a guest director (a student) come up onto the stage to conduct as they play one song. We have been looking forward to this trip for almost a month now--the students all seem to be very excited for the concert.

We are allowed to have only five parent chaperones with us for the bus ride and concert. If you would like to join us, please let me know as soon as possible. We will have a drawing if more than five parents are interested.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!

Ms. Miller: msmiller@christensonelementary.edu

Marshmallow and Spaghetti Towers

It's time for a fun science project. The class was divided into groups of two or three students each. I gave each group of students about one-third of a box of spaghetti noodles and 20 mini marshmallows. Then each group was given 40 minutes to plan out and then build the strongest tower they could with the materials given. It was so much fun to watch the groups talk through what structures would work well and how they wanted to go about the task. Some groups planned out how they wanted to build for at least 15 minutes while other groups began using the materials to try out different structures within seconds of my signal to begin. Every group was smiling and laughing quite a bit!

Madison, Bailey, and Erica had a lot of fun building their tower! 

Drop Everything and Read!

DEAR: Drop Everything And Read

All of Christenson Elementary is participating in a fun reading exercise this whole week. Whenever our principal, Mrs. Clark, makes the announcement over the intercom that's it's time to Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), we have to do exactly that, regardless of what we are doing. Whether I am in the middle of teaching a lesson, the students are in the middle of a quiz, or we are watching a video, we have to stop what we are doing and go find a book to read. Yes, even the teachers take this opportunity to read something! This is a fun way to have a break in our schedule every once in a while, as well as a way to promote reading as a fun break from other things.

Tuesday's Homework: Symmetry at Home!

This week in math we are in unit 10, learning about reflections and symmetry. As a way of introducing the students to the topic of symmetry, I gave them this assignment:

- On your way home, in your house, around your yard, or anywhere you go today, look for objects that have some sort of symmetry.
- Draw and label any symmetrical objects you find.
- Be ready to show the rest of the class the drawings you have and explain the symmetry.
- Try to come with at least five symmetrical objects.

Some examples are the following:
 - Butterfly
 - Soccer ball

Rocks and Minerals with Bill Nye

In the science classroom we have been learning all about rocks and minerals this week. We have been reading about them in our textbook, looking at magazine articles, playing games, and even exploring some rocks and minerals I brought in the classroom. Finally, as a way to wind down our unit on rocks and minerals, we watched a Bill Nye video about it. For any students who were absent or simply wish to watch this video again, I will post it below. Feel free to watch it with your family!

Flat Stanley's Journey

At the beginning of the year, each student has created his or her own Flat Stanley to travel with everywhere. Whenever the students travel somewhere they think is especially interesting, they will take a picture with Flat Stanley. Our most recent siting of Flat Stanley was in San Diego, by our very own Hannah Stevenson.

Flat Stanley in San Diego!

Spelling Words of the Week

Here is our spelling list for this week. I highly recommend reviewing these words with your child so that we can all do well on our spelling test on Friday.

1. cotton
2. since
3. piece
4. yourself
5. wouldn't
6. maybe
7. crowd
8. problem
9. company
10. rather
11. couch
12. community
13. ecosystem
14. organism
15. population

Feel free to make a game out of your review time! Even telling a story with these words helps the students to learn the spelling.

Student Profile: Jess Walters

This week's featured student is Jess! Born in Waco, Texas, Jess and her family moved to Christenson, MI in 2010. She has an older brother, Peter, who is 16 years old, and an older sister, Emma, who is 13 years old. On November 16, Jess will be 11 years old. When Jess isn't in school some of her favorite things to do include playing outside with her brother and sister--riding bikes, rollerblading, going to a park just outside her neighborhood, or playing soccer and badminton. Her favorite subject in school is math, and Jess says, "I love my class. The other kids are so much fun to play with and my teacher is really nice."

Jess wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up, and wants to live by a lake so she can go swimming or fishing whenever she wants.