Stop Bullying Now!

The students in Room 5 all signed a pledge to Stop Bullying Now! We were very fortunate to have a special guest speaker who spoke to us about how wrong it is to bully and how we must all make an effort to make all students feel safe, secure and accepted.

Math Investigations

The students have been playing many math games lately that reinforce their addition facts. For two of these games, Roll and Record and Five-in-a-Row, the students practiced "counting on" by using a number cube and a dot cube.

Terry Parker Traveling Pep Rally

Thanks so much to the faculty and students of Terry Parker High School for making your annual visit to our school. The students of Parkwood love watching the cheerleaders and listening to the band. Good luck TP at your homecoming game this week!! Go Braves!!

Poems and Rhymes

Poems are a large part of our literacy skills block in first grade. We learn new sight words, listen for rhyming words and identify spelling patterns. Once the students learn the poem, they are given a copy to illustrate and add to their poetry notebooks. Those poems then become part of our 'poetry center'.

The 'Big Blue Dog' Visits!

On Friday, we had a special visitor in Room 5, thanks to those who turned in their fundraising orders. Our class earned this visit by having the most orders turned in that day. He loved our listening center and our browsing area.

Taking a Closer Look

In Science we have been learning about the tools that scientists use to learn about our world. The students learned how using a hand lens lets us get a better look at the world around us.

Spirit Day!

On Friday Parkwood had their first Spirit Day of the new school year. The fifth grade students performed and the safety patrol raised the new flag. We all wore our red and tattoos. I was so happy to see Jaylah's mom and Mell's mom join us....make plans to attend our next Spirit Day on October 5th.

Turn and Talk

The students are getting to be 'pros' at using the "Turn and Talk" strategy during a Read Aloud. We use this strategy throughout the day in all subjects. All students get a chance to be heard and stay focused on the lesson. Students that tend to be reluctant to speak to the entire class find speaking to one classmate a little easier.

Resource Time!

The students are always excited for a little break in their day to move about or express their creativity. We are happy to welcome Coach Streeter to Parkwood this school year. This past week the students were learning how to use the Chinese jump rope. We are also happy to have Mr. Petry again this year for art. On Wednesday, the students learned about different kinds of lines as they created their 'cityscapes'.

Celebrating Our Writing

At the closing of every writers workshop time, the students look forward to the 'author's chair'. The students love to share their writing, and in doing so their confidence grows and they receive feedback from their classmates on how to improve their writing and grow as a writer.