Although the weather may not reflect it, spring has definitely sprung in Room 217! The Schaab Scholars have been hard at work at so many different learning activities! One of the favorites has been studying for States and Capitals. We found an interactive way to study using Quizlet, where students are placed on teams to compete and practice their states and capitals. They LOVED this way to review and were so engaged in the practice. Using Quizlet as a review, the Scholars had the highest class grade yet! A huge kudos to the Scholars for all of their hard work and studying!
We also had an amazing open house right before break! I had a personal first, 100% of Room 217 families attended Open House! It was great to chat with everyone and to see the Scholars be proud of their hard work by showing off their floats, as well as other exciting happenings around our classroom. With all of their dedication and effort, there is a lot to be proud of in Room 217! Check out the different regions of state floats below. I know that combining our writing with research on states, in addition to our Social Studies curriculum, really gave the Scholars a deep understanding of their state and their region.
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| The Northeast |
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| The Midwest |
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The South
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| The Southwest |
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The West
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Floats on Display
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| Beautiful Stained Glass Clay Pieces |
The Thursday before break we also had an amazing visit by author,
Kate Klise. She shared many experiences with us as a writer as well as what it is like to have a growth mindset when you continuously are submitting manuscripts and getting feedback. She shared with us about her first novel, which she completed in 4th grade, about a cheetoh. She then shared with us about her dull story and what really makes a great story, "A bad decision + a little bit of time = a great story". Ask your Scholar about her haircut fail, and when she discovered the secret to great writing. Two scholars actually were chosen to help Ms. Klise with writing a story with the 4th graders. It was an excellent experience and we even got to preview her book,
Stand Straight, Ella Kate. Historical Fiction is quickly topping Room 217's chart as a favorite genre.
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| When students take photos... |
We have been working hard this week on measurement, specifically area and perimeter. The Scholars got to practice in various hands on ways learning how to find the area and perimeter of regular polygons. On Friday, we had a fun Friday Fun Game Day, where students got to choose what activity the participated in. Some students got to play a new dice game called, QUIXX, where using our problem solving strategies and fact fluency helped us be successful. One of the other fun activities was using manipulatives to find the area and perimeter of items around our classroom. The Scholars enjoyed this concrete way of seeing Area and Perimeter in action. We will continue our Fun Fridays and are looking for Parent Volunteers to come play math games with us! Feel free to sign up by clicking
here.
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| Playing Quixx |
This past week, we also had a special guest reader visit our classroom. Superintendent, Dr. Laurie Heinz came and read the book,
21 Elephants. Not only did we enjoy listening to the story and discussing bridges, and coming up with new questions to wonder about, we were excited to listen to what Dr. Heinz's job is in the school district. The "Principal of Principals" has a very important job in Park Ridge, but was most excited about her responsibility of reading to Room 217 on Wednesday. Do you want to come and read to our class? Sign up by clicking
here. We have a few parents signed up already, however, we'd love for you to come read to us! If the times I have listed do not work out for you, please contact me and we can arrange another time that works for both of our schedules.
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| Dr. Heinz shares 21 Elephants with the Schaab Scholars |
Although I had an amazing spring break with my family, I was very excited to see 22 smiling faces last Monday. I can't believe it's already April and the Schaab Scholars are almost 5th graders! Check out the photo below of my family on Spring Break. The houses behind us were NOT under water 10 years ago - CRAZY! Check out the more information
here or
here. We had to take a boat to get to this island, however, I have so many questions about these dome homes!
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| The Schaab Family in Marco Island on Spring Break |
Although the weather may not reflect it, spring has definitely sprung in Room 217! The Schaab Scholars have been hard at work at so many different learning activities! One of the favorites has been studying for States and Capitals. We found an interactive way to study using Quizlet, where students are placed on teams to compete and practice their states and capitals. They LOVED this way to review and were so engaged in the practice. Using Quizlet as a review, the Scholars had the highest class grade yet! A huge kudos to the Scholars for all of their hard work and studying! 
This past week, we also had a special guest reader visit our classroom. Superintendent, Dr. Laurie Heinz came and read the book, 21 Elephants. Not only did we enjoy listening to the story and discussing bridges, and coming up with new questions to wonder about, we were excited to listen to what Dr. Heinz's job is in the school district. The "Principal of Principals" has a very important job in Park Ridge, but was most excited about her responsibility of reading to Room 217 on Wednesday. Do you want to come and read to our class? Sign up by clicking here. We have a few parents signed up already, however, we'd love for you to come read to us! If the times I have listed do not work out for you, please contact me and we can arrange another time that works for both of our schedules. 
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