Coach BLeggett

Coach BLeggett

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Winter Holiday Party

Thank you to Erin Dedrickson for organizing our winter holiday party. Also, thank you to all the parents who sent in items for the party and volunteered to help at the party. The kids really had a wonderful time.
















Skype with Dr. Derek Burkholder-Shark Researcher

The students Skyped with Dr. Derek Burkholder, a marine researcher who studies sharks. They learned many amazing facts about sharks and what takes place with shark research.



Gifts from Taiwan Pen Pals

The students are posing with pencils they received from their Taiwan pen pals. The pencils were bigger and can be sharpened on both ends.

Pay it Forward-Christmas Ornaments



As we continue our Pay it Forward year long project that works on citizenship, the students weaved ornaments and made cards to bring a smile to residents in a local nursing home.

Blabberize Opinion Writing

We have been working on opinion writing. The students chose an item they really wanted for Christmas and wrote from the point of view of the item, giving reasons why their parents should purchase it for them. They used Blabbarize to publish their writing.

Ryan-Skylander
Jayda-Tea Cup Dog
Cassie Tablet
Rodolfo Wii U
Libby-Just Dance 2014
Ethan-Xbox 360
Lucas PS4
Jane-Kindle Fire
Madeline-Curling Wand
Natalie-Pony
Sam-PS3
Max-Microsoft 2 and 1
Sofia-Kindle Fire
Nick-Electric Bumper Car
Jack W. - Wii U
Oliver- Xbox 1
Bryce-Surface 2
Dylan-Acer
Jack G. - Skylander
Alex-Surface 2
Chloe-Wii U

















Bouncing Narrative Writing Storybirds Kansas-New Zealand

The students wrote bouncing stories with a grade 3 classroom in New Zealand. We wrote two pages, they wrote two, we wrote two more, then they ended the story. It was a wonderful way to work on writing.

Here is a video Mrs. Prabhakaran's class made for us.
Here is a video we made to introduce ourselves.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Creating Electro Magnets

We continued to learn about force last week. The students created their own electromagnets to understand how they work compared to the traditional permanent magnet.







Madeline, Team Leggett MVP Dec. 2-6

Madeline was Team Leggett MVP the week of December 2-6. She is a hard worker who loves helping others. Thanks for being a wonderful MVP, Madeline!





Skype-Grade 3 Pakistan Classroom

The students came back to school at 9:00 pm for a Skype with our grade 3 Pakistan partner classroom. We really learned a lot and are excited for our continued projects we will do together.
 







Curriculum Update December 9-13

Wow! The weather is really getting cold. I hope everyone stays warm.

Some key dates:
Dec. 19 - Winter parties (They begin at 3:00 pm)
Jan. 7 - 3rd quarter begins
Jan. 16 - Third grade field trip to School of Economics
 
ELA/SS: We will continue our economics unit in SS this week. The essential questions we will be focusing on are:
-What are the cost and benefits of spending and saving?
-What shared responsibilities in your community are met through taxes?
-How is resource use in your community impacted by beliefs and ideas of the people who lived there?
-How have goods and services in your community changed over time?
-What resources are abundant in your community, are limited in your community and how does this influence the decisions the community makes?
We will be preparing for upcoming School of Economics field trip on January 16th.
In reading, we will be reading money articles and having discussions, while incorporating the vocabulary and spelling.
 
Also, we will focus on reading fables and folktales in reading. The students will analyze the morals of the fable and compare and contrast fables written by the same author.

Spelling/Vocabulary: Here are our new words. Both tests will be on Friday.
needs: things you must have in order to live
wants: things you would like to have but do not need to live
goods: something you can touch or hold
services: something that one person does for someone else
income: payment you earn
spend: the amount of money paid for a particular purpose
borrow: to use something that belongs to someone else, then return it
lending: to grant someone the use of something on the understanding it should be returned
tax: a contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers’ income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services and transactions
economy: the way a country manages its money and resources to produce, buy and sell goods and services
interest: the fee for using someone else’s money
credit: the ability to borrow money
opportunity cost: when you have several things to choose from, you make a decision and have to give up something that was the next best thing
save: keep and store up for future use
budget: a plan for saving and spending money
Here is a link to practice the vocabulary:
Here is a link to practice spelling:

Math: We are continuing to work on division through a division project this week.

Writing: We will write from the point of view of an object the students would like for Christmas. They will give reasons why it should be purchased.

Have a fantastic week!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Curriculum Update December 2-6

Wow! I can't believe we are already in December. This school year is already almost halfway over! I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Here is the curriculum for the week:

ELA/SS: We will begin our economics unit in SS this week. The essential questions we will be focusing on are:
-What are the cost and benefits of spending and saving?
-What shared responsibilities in your community are met through taxes?
-How is resource use in your community impacted by beliefs and ideas of the people who lived there?
-How have goods and services in your community changed over time?
-What resources are abundant in your community, are limited in your community and how does this influence the decisions the community makes?
 
We will be preparing for upcoming School of Economics field trip on January 16th.
In reading, we will be reading money articles and having discussions, while incorporating the vocabulary and spelling.

Spelling/Vocabulary: Here are our new words. Both tests will be on Friday, December 13th.
needs: things you must have in order to live
wants: things you would like to have but do not need to live
goods: something you can touch or hold
services: something that one person does for someone else
income: payment you earn
spend: the amount of money paid for a particular purpose
borrow: to use something that belongs to someone else, then return it
lending: to grant someone the use of something on the understanding it should be returned
tax: a contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers’ income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services and transactions
economy: the way a country manages its money and resources to produce, buy and sell goods and services
interest: the fee for using someone else’s money
credit: the ability to borrow money
opportunity cost: when you have several things to choose from, you make a decision and have to give up something that was the next best thing
save: keep and store up for future use
budget: a plan for saving and spending money
 
Here is a link to practice the vocabulary:
Here is a link to practice spelling:
 

Math: We are continuing to work on division. We will focus on relating division and multiplication, fact families, algebraic connections, and problem-solving with multiple step problems.

Writing: We will work on point of view when analyzing opportunity cost in situations and saving versus spending.

Have a fantastic week!

Skype with Solar Cooker International Executive Director, Julie Greene


Solar Cooker International Executive Director, Julie Greene, took the time to Skype with the students about solar cooking, how solar cookers work and how they help people throughout the world. Below are photos of the Skype and of pot holders the students decorated to go with the solar cookers. They are being used in Kenya.
 

Olympic Torch Runner - John Tait Skype

We recently Skyped with UK Teacher, John Tait, who had a chance to carry the 2012 Olympic Torch. He talked about his experience running with the torch and told the students the history of the torch. They were able to look at the actual torch while Skyping. Thank you, John!





Global Relations Speaker-Dom

The students have been learning about global relations as they collaborate with students in New Zealand, China, Australia, Pakistan, Taiwan and France on different projects. Thank you, Dom, for coming in and sharing your expertise on global relationships and policy with the students.


Force and Interactions

We have been exploring how forces are always acting on an object. Our driving question was, "How do you know that forces are acting on an object?"
The students have explored this concept by building pendulums, testing the angles of flying disks, seeing the difference between forces needed to get a bouncy ball in a cup versus a tennis ball, testing air resistance and understanding how to measure distance with paper airplanes, testing speed with aiplane gliders, creating ramps to see and angles, height and friction impact the distance a car will travel and building a rollercoaster amusement park to test Newton's Laws. Here is a video of some of the investigations.

Wilderness Dave Skype



David Freeman took the time to Skype with the students about the different communities of animals he has come across while traveling the world through his ocean explorations. He also spoke with them about the forces in beaches and coastlines and different life cycles of animals. Thanks, David!

Skype with the Digits


We Skyped with the Digits. They helped the students understand how to tell time with an analog clock.

Alex, Team Leggett MVP November 18-22


Alex was Team Leggett MVP during the week November 18-22. Alex brings a lot of enthusiasm to class. He loves to volunteer and loves to take on challenges. Congrats on a wonderful MVP week, Alex!

Libby, Team Legget MVP November 11-15

Libby was Team Leggett MVP November 11-15. Libby loves learning about anything new and asking a lot of questions to "dig deeper". Congrats on a wonderful MVP week, Libby!