Spring Break for 6D

Last week's sharing was to bring in something from your spring break.

This friend brought in shells from her vacation on Water Island in the Carribbean.

Here are some additional photos of her having fun in the sun!


This friend made a Star Wars book over the break. Lots of writing and colorful pictures were inside! Nice cover!

This girl played lacrosse (a spring sport) over break.

This friend brought in a cool Hawaiian box. Inside was a homemade beaded necklace and bracelet.
This girl visited Epcot in Disneyland! She brought back a mask and sweet chocolate from Italy!

This boy went to the Baltimore zoo! What a cool stuffed animal!

This boy brought in lots of shells from his trip to the beach in Jamaica!

This friend built a model airplane which was purchased from the National Air and Space Museum!

This friend brought in photos of herself on the beach in the Dominican Republic! And yes, that is a real monkey!

This friend brought back shells from the beach in Florida!

Star of the Week!

Last week's Star of the Week likes to play with his brothers (he has four); watch his older brother's football games; and play t-ball, soccer, and lacrosse. He brought in chocolate chip muffins- one of his favorite morning treats! We had fun learning about you!

I can tie my shoes!

A 6th Age friend has been practicing tying her shoes (on her own) all year. Her persistence has paid off! Slowly but surely her skills are improving. Click on the video to watch her in action!

Word Family Relay!

Today we reviewed our knowledge of word families with a word family relay! The students were split into two teams- Team 1 and Team A. Each was given a word family, /ad/ or /ap/ for example. When I said, "Ready, set, go!" the teams raced up to the chalkboard, one at a time, to fill in a word family word inside of the box on the chalkboard. Repeated words or words outside of the word family did not count as a point. At the end of two rounds, both teams tied with a total of 10. Nice job, readers!

Piggybanks

We finished our piggybanks! Yesterday we added the ears, eyes, and glued on any missing feet. Today Mrs. DeLorbe read us the story ALEXANDER WHO USED TO BE RICH LAST SUNDAY, by Judith Viorst. Judith Viorst may be a familiar name to you, as she also wrote ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY. In this story, Alexander receives a dollar from his grandmother. He does not save the money and spends it on many different things such as bubblegum, a deck of cards, a waxy candle, and a teddybear with one eye. His purchases are very impulsive! After reading the story we talked about how important it is to save your money. What would you save for? Each student received one penny, one nickel, one dime, and one quarter as a gift. The money was placed inside of their piggybanks. How much money does this equal? We used mental math to add 25 + 10 + 5 + 1. Each piggybank has 41 cents inside! Take a peak at the video (sorry for the sideways view) to find out what we are saving for!

Mrs. DeLorbe reading ALEXANDAR WHO USED TO BE RICH LAST SUNDAY

Napa Valley and Las Vegas

My vacation in Napa continued with a public tour of two vineyards on Monday: Domain Chandon and Francis Ford Coppola's Rubicon estate.
Domain Chandon is known for their sparking wine named E'toile (French for "star").

Rubicon is a large vineyard- the grounds are gorgeous! I could definitely imagine myself living here, what do you think?

The girls and I in Napa!

We left Napa on Tuesday and headed for Las Vegas! The first night my husband and I ate dinner at The Paris hotel. We had a sweet view of the city.

On Wednesday we woke up bright and early to go...SKYDIVING!

It is something I have wanted to try for awhile. What a nervous wreck we all were traveling to the tiny airport and getting suited up. Here we are on the couch, desperately waiting...

It was well worth it though, and an experience I will never forget. We all called our parents after we landed safely- they were relieved! This is a photo of my friend arching her back- a technique we were told we needed to use during the freefall segment of the skydive.

This is a photo of me with my skydive intructor, Scott. He is suiting me up before we head to the plane.

Here is the group after we safely landed! We were very excited!!

After our skydiving adventure, we were able to chill out and relax during the rest of our stay. My favorite casino in Vegas was definitely The Bellagio- the handblown flowers lining the ceiling definitely did it for me.

Tomorrow I head back to school to see all of my students. I am so excited to hear about their travels and time at home. See you all soon!

Napa Valley

My husband and I have the travel bug! We saved and planned for a spring break trip to Napa Valley with two other couples who are also good friends. Yesterday we booked a private tour of three vineyards and had a wonderful time! The weather here is absolutely gorgeous and was well needed after our rough Maryland winter. I am looking forward to the next few days in Napa before we head to Las Vegas.

March Reading Madness

How many Calvert students have been reading over spring break? I have been traveling with my husband and friends but was sure to bring a good book. This is a photo of me on the plane (the window seat- the absolute coziest spot to curl up with a good read!) to California.

Lucky Charms Graphing

We graphed lucky charms marshmallows today in math. What fun!

An Irish Visitor!

Dr. Balasubramanyam visited 6D yesterday! She is originally from Ireland. She told us an Irish story and even baked us Irish "biscuits" as a treat! (A "biscuit" in Ireland is really a cookie!) Thank you for sharing this time with us! We enjoyed learning about Ireland.

A Message To Our Pen Pals!

Happy St. Paddy's Day, Pen Pals! My Sixth Age reading group has a special video delivery to our pen pals at LeithWalk! We also made you special cards. Click on the video above to listen to our message. We hope you enjoy this special holiday!

Piggybanks!

The 6th Age mathematicians are learning about coins this month! We have already learned about the penny, nickel, dime and quarter. We decided to work with Mrs. DeLorbe's math group to make piggybanks! Before creating our bank, we discussed the difference between spending and saving. Many people have piggybanks at home or use the bank as a way to save their money. Today was the first day of this project, and we will continue after spring break. What a terrific start!

Place Value

Place value can be a difficult topic to present to five and six year old children, but I came across a fun way of showcasing how to share the beginnings of this subject to my math class.
Each pair of children received a laminated place mat which was divided into three sections: two small rectangles at the top, and one larger rectangle at the bottom. Additionally, the pairs received several beans and small counting cups. I asked the children to write the word "One 1" and the word "Ten 10" on the top of the two smaller rectangles. The one's place also had 9 star stickers to further represent this space. They were then asked to place one bean on the "Ones" side of the place-value mat (on top of a star sticker), pointing to the mat and saying, "Zero tens and 1 ones." They then added a bean and said, "O tens and 2 ones." We continued in a similar fashion until children had 9 ones. When we realized the tenth bean would not have a place in the one's place, we moved the ten beans in a counting cup to the "Tens" column of the mat. Now the children said, "1 ten and 0 ones."
This group did a terrific job learning this new and somewhat challenging concept.

Katie Visits 6D!

Katie visited 6D last week! Her favorite children's book is IF I RAN THE CIRCUS by Dr. Seuss. 6D enjoyed hearing the tale of this amazing circus. Afterwards Katie treated 6D to popcorn and pink lemonade. What a special treat! Thank you for visiting, Katie! A fun time was had by all.

Brain Break!

Throughout the day 6D will frequently take a "brain break". These are activities that are used whenever the energy level of the class needs a boost or just prior to introducing an important concept. The activities are simple and short, yet succeed in waking up the brain and priming it for learning.
An example of an activity which we frequently practice is called "Pass It Along". Students stand in a circle, cross their arms and hold hands. Having students cross their arms helps them stimulate cross- hemisphere brain connections, "waking up" both sides and getting the brain more ready to learn. The group starts off by squeezing the person's hand to the right. Each person then passes the squeeze along to the next person. We will frequently try it again by sending a squeeze to the left and the right at about the same time. Another variation includes closing our eyes while passing the squeeze.
Afterwards the children are usually quite energized to continue forth in their day. Here is a video of us practicing this game. (We say "Got it!" when we have received the squeeze.)

Mr. Garliss visits 6D!

Mr. Garliss visited 6D today! He works for a recycling company. He taught us about the process of making paper from trees. He showed us many pictures of the inside of a recycling plant! We were even able to try on a jacket, vest, and glasses that a person would wear inside of the plant. We enjoyed learning from you, Mr. Garliss! Stop in again any time!

Star of the Week

Last week's Star of the Week LOVES to travel! He has been to Paris, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. He even rode the overnight train to Germany. He has a younger sister and he likes free play in P.E. Thank you, Star of the Week!

At the Table

In reading we have been reviewing the short vowel sounds in a fun activity at the beginning of class called "At the Table". The students arrive to class and stand around the table in front of their chairs.
When I say "at the table", they sit at the table and say the short /a/ sound aloud.
When I say "edge of the table", they sit on the edge of the table and say the short /e/ sound.
When I say "in the table", they scoot their chairs inside of the table and say the short /i/ sound.
When I say "on the table", they sit on the table and say the short /o/ sound.
When I say "under the table", they sit under the table and say the short /u/ sound.
The students love this quick game and it helps them refresh the vowel sounds in the morning when class begins. Ask your child at home if they can review these sounds by playing this game!