Sharing Hurricane Experiences

This week our 5th Grade Rocketeers had a fun Mystery Skype call with Mrs. Rockwood's 4th grade class in Massachusetts. Our friends asked some very good questions to try to narrow down our location. After they guessed where we were, we found out that we had more in common than we expected. Just recently, our friends experienced Hurricane Sandy in their home state, and our Rocketeers wanted to take this opportunity to ask some questions about their experiences and offer support. We also shared our own experiences during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Isaac. We hope that things go back to normal soon for our new friends!

 

Skype Call with Alaska

This week our 4th graders had the unique opportunity to share their poems with a class in Alaska. Our friends started by sharing some stories they created for the 100 Word Challenge and introduced some interesting stories to us through book talks. Our rocketeers then shared some Animal Acrostic Poems, that were based on their research on unusual animals. We shared some of our Panamanian Molas we created on different animals as well.

The last few minutes of our call were dedicated to a Question and Answer session to learn more about where we live. We learned that it gets very cold in Alaska. In fact, we even got to see some snow in our friends' school! We also learned that there is a three hour difference between Mississippi and Alaska.

Both classes did an excellent job as audience members and presenters! We hope to continue sharing projects with our new friends. Check out our video below for clips from our call.

Having Fun with Podcasts

Have a look at some of our first podcasts we created for the novel, Holes. Our students chose a favorite character to interview for their book talk show. They enjoyed selecting a theme song for their show, background sounds, and designing a cover for their podcast. We hope you enjoy them as much as our rocketeers did creating them!

Interview with the warden. 

By: Kameron, Asma, and Clover 

Interview with Zero

By: Alex and Baylee 

Summer Learning Expo

Last week, our students participated in the First District-Wide Annual Summer Learning Expo.  Before taking off for the summer, students selected a project of their choice to continue learning during their summer break. These projects promoted engagement, literacy, and exploration. Our students worked very hard and enjoyed sharing what they have learned from their experiences at the event with family, friends, and community members. Have a look at this outstanding exhibit of student learning below!

A Sweet Surprise

Our TEA Timers were very pleased to receive a very special package from our friends in Mrs. Musone's class. We collaborated with our friends last year through various projects in our gifted class and TEA Time. When we opened the package we discovered even smaller packages with riddles. We found a variety of treats that originated in York, Pennsylvania (our friends' hometown), which included York Peppermint candies, Twizzlers, and animal crackers. Our next step was to estimate and divide the contents of each package before enjoying them. What a fun (and not to mention tasty) way to put our math skills to use!

Each package had a riddle for us to solve. 

Thanks, friends!