From Pellets to Fossils

While I wait for my laptop to be "rehabilitated", I have decided to not wait any longer and post information on my husband's computer about what my students have been doing the past five weeks while I have been without my laptop. The children ended their animal study by examining owl pellets. Using gloves and masks, they pulled apart the pellets to discover heads and other boney parts of animals that the owls had consumed. The second graders had discussed and examined the food web of owls, small mammals, and rodents, tracing the food web all the way down to the plants or decomposing matter in the ground. They used a chart that displayed the skeletons of all the animals in their food web and then determined which animal their owl had eaten. The photo above shows two children working together as they analyze the contents of their owl pellet.

After our animal study we moved into prehistoric animals which included dinosaurs. We compared the size of dinosaurs to real objects that we would find in today's world. We discovered how fossils help us learn many things about dinosaurs, such as their shape, size, the food they ate, and how they moved. We used the Internet in the computer lab and a map of the United States to locate places throughout the United States where dinosaur bones have been found. We also located the various places in the United States where we can find natural history museums that have dinosaurs and dinosaur bones on exhibit. There are two places in Ohio. One is in Cincinnati; and the other is in Cleveland. We learned a new word, too. The new word is paleontologist. Now we understand the valuable kind of work this special scientist does.

We created our own fossils using play dough, sea shells, plastic wrap, plaster of Paris, and plastic milk bottles from our lunches. You can see the results above. Like an authentic "dig", we had to brush off some of the debris (play dough, in our case) to get to the fossil. This was only after we were able to cut off the plastic milk bottle from the play dough and the plaster. We, of course, recycled the cut up milk bottles.

The fossils created such a stir in our classroom that one child brought in a museum-quality shark tooth and a mastadon tooth to share with the class. Booth can be seen above.

Christmas and Birdfeeders

We finally heard from our German friends in Erlangen again. We found out that they had a Christmas party on their last day of school before Christmas break just like we did. We played games at our party while our German friends recited a poem about a tree for other children in the Franconian dialect. They worked very long and hard to get the dialect just right. The Franconian dialect is a language that is spoken in the southern states of Germany such as in Hesse (Hessen), Bavaria (Bayern), and Baden-Wurttemberg (Baden-Wurttemberg). We then got out our political map of Germany and located all three German states.

We also found out that we shared something else with the second graders in Germany. While they were making their birdfeeders, we were making ours. We only found out about this after we wrote to each other. Isn't it amazing how we think similarly even though we are thousands of miles apart?

The German children made birdfeeders out of clay while we made our birdfeeders out of plastic water bottles. The children in Erlangen took a slab of clay, rolled it out, and cut the clay into the shape of a tree using a paper template. Then they decorated it by making impressions/marks into the clay. You can see the process in the photos above. Next, the clay birdfeeders were put into a kiln to dry. Finally, the children placed a suet cake in the center. The clay birdfeeders turned out to be gorgeous!

We used plastic water bottles to make our birdfeeders. The reason we used plastic bottles was to keep them out of the landfill. We used a nail to poke a hole through the soft plastic and then used dowel rods which were cut to a certain size to push through the holes so that the birds could use the dowel rods as perches. We also strung wire through the bottom section of the bottle so that the bottle could be hung on a limb or a post. The final step was to open the lid of the bottle and pour bird seed inside and place the lid back on. The birdfeeders were then ready to go home. But the children and parents had to do one more thing before hanging them outside. They had to use a nail again to poke holes slightly above the perches so that the birds could get the seeds. You can see our birdfeeders above, too.

A Visit From the Dentist

Local dentist, Dr. David Mays and his sister, dental hygenist, Diane Dodds, visited Mrs. Dengel's second grade class on November 20th. They not only talked to the children about the importance of good oral health and how to achieve it; but they also brought with them some of the new technology that dentists use every day and did some role playing with the children. Dr. Mays showed the children a soft, pliable, plastic material that dentists use to fill teeth. He amazed the boys and girls by using a tool that resembles a tiny blow torch with a blue LED light emitting from it. This tool (seen in the photo above) is used to harden the plastic material when a cavity is filled. The plastic material bares a remarkable resemblence to porcelain once it hardens. Dr. Mays also circulated a display of teeth that showed the different shades of white that teeth come in. He explained to the children that he uses this model to match a crown, filling, or replace a tooth. He also displayed an x-ray that revealed the upper mouth of a child and the new plastic invisible braces that snap on over the teeth.

Mrs. Dengel's class was excited to learn that around the same time that Dr. Mays visited their classroom, their German friends in Erlangen, Germany had held a Health Fair at their school to learn about oral health, too.

Medals of Honor

This past Tuesday, November 11, was Veterans Day. The entire school celebrated and honored American veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve their country. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students braved the cold and walked over to Tracy Park to hear Dr. Terry Johnson speak to those in attendance. Dr. Johnson is a local physician and county coroner who will soon return to Iraq for his third tour of duty. The students also heard several other veterans speak and listened to the patriotic music of the West High School Band.

Mrs. Dengel's class learned about the holiday in class while parents and grandparents shared facts about veterans in the children's families or other veterans that the families knew. Children then wrote about their veterans and read their stories to the class. Individual "medals of honor" were created by each child which were displayed on the walls outside the classroom before they were presented to the veteran that they had written about. If the veteran was no longer living, the medal was presented to the individual who told the story to the child, for instance, the child's grandmother. Children also worked collaboratively (in groups of three) to design five different Medals of Honor on the computer. You can see the results of their collaborative work above.

Wallpaper For Art?

Yes, you can use any material to create art. All you need is a great imagination and not limit yourself. When you allow your creativity to take hold, you get the results that our second grade friends in Germany sent us. You can see the results of their latest art project using wallpaper scraps. Miss Billmann cut an opening in the center of each piece of wallpaper and the children were to complete the missing pattern on the sheet of paper that was covering the opening. Children had to not only match designs, but colors as well. We all agree that our Erlangen friends did a spectacular job.

Kiss the Pig! Kiss the Pig!

That's what the entire school was shouting after Father Dwayne said that he would kiss a pig if the school raised $19,500 or more with their annual fall fundraiser. Students in grades pre-school through sixth grade were busy selling to their relatives and neighbors in an attempt to see the parish priest kiss a pig. Such an entertaining exhibition had never taken place in the school's nearly 100 year old history until today. The top seller was a pre-schooler who sold nearly $1,000 worth of items. He received several prizes and $200 for his efforts.

Each classroom also had a Pig Race using battery-operated pigs. There were three heats and then the final race. Mrs. Kempf's Kindergarten pig crossed the finish line first. But the crowning glory of the fundraiser was when Father Dwayne puckered up to kiss the pig on the snout while Mr. Harting held "Wilbur the Pig" steady for the fulfillment of the promise. Although Father Dwayne thought the pig was cute, we all saw him wipe his lips immediately after snout and lips made contact.

Election Day

Today we voted. The people in our country came out in record numbers to vote for a new president. We had a mock election in our classroom this morning to help my second graders better understand how the process works and how many citizens are involved. I began by reading them a book titled WOODROOW T. WASHINGTAIL FOR PRESIDENT on Monday. The story is told in rhyme and the main character in this book is a mouse. The book expounds upon the virtues of Woodrow the mouse (qualities that U.S. citizens like to see in their president). The book takes Woodrow through the process of becoming a candidate, campaigning, the convention, more campaigning, the election, and finally Inauguration Day. What's interesting in this tale is that the main character's running mate is a female, just like the running mate of John McCain.

The social studies homework for last night was to have parents help my second graders fill out a registration form because I wanted them to understand that a citizen has to be registered before they can vote. Parents were also invited to share with their child which candidate they would vote for and explain to them why they would vote for that candidate. This morning children assumed variuos citizens' roles in our classroom polls. One group was given the registration forms to check to see if the voter was registered. (To my delight, all children returned their forms.) Another group had the voters sign in with their signatures. A third group passed out the ballots with the names of 5 candidates (the two major parties, the Constitution Party, the Green Party, and the Libertarian Party, all in alphabetical order by last name). After all the children voted in secret behind a screen and placed their ballot in the ballot box, a fourth group read the name of the candidate that was marked on each ballot. The final group made tally marks on the SMART Board to record the votes. Before voting began and before all votes were tallied, children were cautioned to respect each other's votes because each vote was right for that individual. There was no right or wrong candidate. Children were told that as a democracy we are to respect each other's beliefs, even when they are different from our own. I was pleased that the children took these words to heart since there had been arguing when they first arrived to school. After all the votes were counted, Barack Obama won by two votes in our class. We'll see tomorrow if our class voted like the nation.