Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Shapes and Shaving Cream

We have been learning about SHAPES this week. We have reviewed some shapes that we already knew and learned some new ones. Ms. Donlin reviewed with us the following shapes: circle, square, rectangle, and triangle. We were introduced to some new shapes. We learned about a rhombus, parallelogram, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, and decagon. Ms. Donlin taught us that a pentagon has 5 sides, a hexagon has 6 sides, a heptagon has 7 sides, an octagon has 8 sides, and a decagon has 10 sides. We learned how to determine the number of corners for each shape. Ms. Donlin taught us about a rhombus. She told us that most people say that the shape of a rhombus is called a diamond. Ms. Donlin taught us that this was not correct. We learned that a diamond is a rhombus.

Brianna made a triangle, and Johnathan is making a triangle in the shaving cream.

Derrick made a triangle and a circle. Marquavius made a circle.

Tierra made a circle.

Jairus made a square.



Kenosha made a pemtagon.

As you can tell, we had a great time drawing our shapes in the shaving cream. Ms. Donlin and Ms. Strum gave everyone some shaving cream. Ms. Strum gave us specific instructions on where to keep our hands while we were doing this activity. Ms. Strum did not want us wearing it! Ms. Donlin would give us the name of a certain shape for us to draw in the shaving cream. We had to draw all of the shapes that we learned about in the shaving cream as Ms. Donlin told us the name of a shape. We really enjoyed this lesson and activity. We left our desks sparkling clean once we cleaned off the shaving cream. We had a great day!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Holiday Safety Tips from JPD


JPD came to talk to us on Career Day. While they were here, they shared with us some Holiday Safety Tips! These are GREAT Holiday Safety Tips that all of us can follow. Thank you JPD for all you do to help keep us safe!

Holiday Safety Tip

1. Always Align Leftpark in a well lit area.

2. Make sure that you don't leave items visible in your car.

(ex. money, purse, waItalicllet, phone)

3. Wrap "dummy" presents and put them under
your Christmas tree. Hide the "real" presents
somewhere else.
T

Friday, November 6, 2009

Career Day with the USDA

Today we had Career Day at our school. We had different people come and speak to us about their jobs. They told us about what they did and what they had to know to do their job!

Rogerick Thompson with the USDA Resources Conservation Service came and spoke to the 2nd graders. Mr. Thompson in a District Conservationist. A District Conservationist is someone who works with farmers to conserve their natural resources. He taught us that there are 5 natural resources. Mr. Thompson taught us the acronym SWAPA to help us the natural resources. The S stood for soil, the W for water, the A for air, the P for plants, and the A for animals. This was very helpful for us to learn the 5 natural resources. Mr. Thompson taught us that conservation is the wise use of our natural resources.

Mr. Thompson focused on soil today. He told us that soil is the outer most layer of the Earth's crust. We learned that their are many "layers" of soil. Mr. Thompson told us that soil will erode if there are no trees or grass on the soil. Erosion is the wearing away of the Earth's surface. The soil must be protected and taken care of for it NOT to erode.




Rain Storm Simulation

Rain Storm Simulation

The end result of both Rain Storm Simulations.


Mr. Thompson let us help simulate a rain storm. There were two different rain storm simulations. One was with soil that was protected with grass and the other was soil. When the rain storn happened, the soil with grass was able to filter sediment and the soil without the grass was dirty.


RICE

Mr. Thompson asked us what he was holding. Most of us answered wheat. We learned it is RICE! Mr. Thompson told us that it takes lots of water to grow rice.



SOYBEANS

We have had a lot of rain over the past two months. Mr. Thompson informed us that the majority of the soybeans that were grown this year rotted because they stayed too wet for too long. A combine is a piece of machinery that picks soybeans. It has a header in the front of it. This header runs over the soybeans and strips everything but the bean.


COTTON

Mr. Thompson taught us that cotton is used for many different things. Cotton is used to make socks, sheets, clothes, and other things.



CORN

We learned there are three parts that make up corn. Corn made up of the cob, silk, and kernel. Pollenation must occur for the seed to be produced. A kernel is produced when dust is dropped on the silk.

PEANUTS

Mr. Thompson taught us that a peanut plant has a plant underground and leaves growing above the ground. He told us that a peanut plant is also known as a lagoon. A lagoon is a plant that produces its own Nitrogen.

Our class with Mr. Rogerick Thompson

Thank you so much to Mr. Rogerick Thompson, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and our school Career Day Committee! We learned so much and had a great time!

Career Day with JPD

Our Class with JPD

We had the BEST Career Day at our school! Today the Jackson Police Department came and talked to us today about what we need to do so that we can graduate from high school, graduate from college, and have a job.

Tyrone Lewis, Deputy Chief



Randy Averitt, Quality of Life Officer
Officer Averitt works with neighborhoods, schools, and businesses.
He works with Crime Prevention and Neighborhood Watch Programs.
Deputy Chief Tyrone Lewis, Officer Randy Averitt, and Detective James Cornelius came and asked us what we wanted to be when we grow up. Several of us told them that we wanted to be a firefighter, a police officer, a wrestler, a singer, a doctor, or a lawyer when we grow up. They told us that for us to have these jobs when we grow up that we have to come to school. When we we come to school, we must learn, listen, and pay attention. The Officers and the Detective told us that if we do all of these things, we will get a good education.

They told us to choose our friends wisely. They shared with us that we need to stay away from drugs and alcohol. The Officers and Detectives told us that everyone you surround yourselves with is not your friend. They told us in order to get to the next grade you have to stay out of trouble, maintain good grades, and do your homework!

Deputy Chief Lewis, Officer Averitt, and Detective Cornelius told us that if you wanted to be a police officer that you would have to graduate from high school. They told us that you have to qualify to be a police officer or you cannot work. Once you qualify, you must attend a 16 week academy. They train you on how to handle weapons and how to speak in public. You will also be taught how to complete reports. You must have grammar and writing skills to complete these reports.

Ms. Strum's Girls with JPD
They told us that you have to lead a GOOD, CLEAN Life to do what you want to do and be SUCCESSFUL!

Ms. Strum's Boys with JPD

Fall Festival Fun

We had a GREAT time are the Fall Festival today. There were so many different things that we could do. We went and jumped on the space jump, got our face painted, and were able to buy concessions. We were able to choose from nachos, hot dogs, candy, drinks, and other items. Mr. King came to our school and brought his animals. This was so neat!



Mr. King put the iguana on Ms. Strums's shoulder. Ms. Strum started screaming "Oh My Goodness! Get this thing off of me!" Mr. King and our class started laughing at Ms. Strum.


Mr. King took the iguana off the Ms. Strum's shoulder and put it on Johnathan's head! As you can tell, Johnathan was not scared off the iguana like Ms. Strum! Johnathan was such a good sport!

The boys having a great time together!



The girls relaxing and enjoying each others company!
We had a great time outside having a picnic and talking with each other. We have the BEST CLASS!

Monday, November 2, 2009

SUNSHINE!

Can you believe it? We actually have SUNSHINE! We went outside with Ms. Strum and Ms. Donlin. It was so much fun! We had a great time hula hooping, running, and writing with sidewalk chalk. It was great releasing all that built up energy! I can't wait to see what a beautiful November this will be!

Ms. Donlin, Kenosha, and Quaniesha having an AWESOME time hula hooping!

Tierra drawing with sidewalk chalk.

HOW SWEET! Tierra loves Ms. Strum!

Tierra, Quaniesha, Shamiah, and Kenosha having "Fun in the Sun".

As you can tell, we had a GREAT time at recess!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Red Ribbon Week Doors!



We celebrated Red Ribbon Week with lots of different activities. One activity was to decorate our door with our Drug Free Theme which was A Drug Free Life is Key! On Friday, they were judged for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. At the end of the day, Mrs. Grigsby came over the intercom and announced the winners. OUR CLASS WON 1st place for our drug free door. Mrs. Dodson's class won 2nd place, Mrs. Johnson's class won 3rd place, and Mrs. Meek's class received Honorable Mention for their Drug Free door. They ALL looked GREAT!