Today was Field Day...a day that the kids could play, complete, and relax.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day! The kids had a lot of fun!

One of the best things...we won the tug-o-war! Awesome job, Team Wandersen!

A special thanks to the SCO for organizing and to the parents who came to help!

Wow!

These kids did AWESOME! I am so proud of what they have accomplished and the skills they have shown at our presentation.

Okay, let me back up a little bit... we have been working on our last research project for the year ... a big one ... that of the Living Museum. 

During the course of our Social Studies curriculum we learn about many historical figures, so at the end of the year we have the students choose an important person from history, research them using MULTIPLE sources, and then do a presentation in first person of that person. The students embody that person by speaking and dressing like them.

We have been working on this project for more than a month. First we chose our people, then we worked with Mr. Schneider on researching that person. We looked at images, viewed videos, and looked at websites to find our information.

We even went "old school" by looking in some encyclopedias and books. :~)

No, I am not talking about the teachers at Indian Trail (although we are the best at what we do!) I am talking about the students in my room...they are great teachers to each other.

We had been doing our folktale unit, focusing on Tall Tales, when I decided to have the kids do a Jigsaw.

A Jigsaw is a learning strategy where a group of people learn a concept or activity and then bring it back to the original group, kinda like a jigsaw puzzle.

The students read a text about a specific tall tale: Slue Foot Sue, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, or John Henry and then completed a graphic organizer. They then discussed the important details of the stories and what they wanted to present. Finally, they went back to their original groups and taught the others what they had learned. We did a quick assessment to see how much knowledge they learned from each other.

One of the things we did when it was over was to discuss what went well and what was hard. They liked being able to teach others and to show others what they had learned. What they didn't like is that not everyone paid attention and some students were talking (just like real life, huh?!?) 

They got some time in the shoes of a teacher and to see what an impact you could have....
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It was a gorgeous spring day, and we walked for a great cause...The American Diabetes Association.

We walked around the school 4 times, which is one mile.

The school raised about $900 for the charity.

​Thanks to everyone who donated!