Sharing Our Humanity

Reflections from Mrs. Hermansen’s class

Students enjoyed the day without electricity last week. Some of the reflections they made included:
“I’m so glad today is not cloudy or else it would be very dark in the classroom.” – Andrew
“The dark is making me fall asleep while Ms. H is teaching on the whiteboard.” – Emily
“My eyes will hurt when I get outsie.” – Juniper
“We can’t check out library books!” – William
“I couldn’t find my morning work and it was right on my desk!” – Nolan
“I feel sorry for the people who can’t use electricity.” – Calynn

Overall, I believe this activity gave the kids insight to the difficulties of living without the privilege of having electricity. It even led to discussions about the fact that we are lucky to have things like whiteboards and textbooks, which don’t use electricity, but are important to our learning! Ask your child to tell you more about this unique experience.

Today is Thursday, October 7, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: Elephants are not afraid of mice. They actually can’t even see them.

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Reflective. Have you ever noticed the circle on sticks by the side of the road? They’re called reflectors. The reflectors reflect light. When you are reflective you reflect thoughts or “think back”.

Our vocabulary word for the day is: equivalent. Equivalent means equal to or the same as.

Today is Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: Instead of seeing an antelope on the way to work, Mrs. Even saw a llama!

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Reflective – when you look in a mirror you see your reflection. It’s looking back at you. Being reflective means to look back at you in your mind.

Our vocabulary word for the day is: minimum. Minimum means the least amount. For example, if you have the numbers 5, 8, 7, 2, 7, and 9, the mode would be 7 and the minimum would be 2: the least of all the numbers.

Today is Tuesday, October 5th, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: If you toss a ball from your left hand to your right hand, your memory boosts and you can remember things better.

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Reflective.
When your teacher gives you a test, it means they want you to reflect on how well you learned the lessons you were studying.

Our vocabulary word for the day is: Mode.
In math, the mode is the number that occurs most often. Sometimes there is more than one mode. For example, with the numbers 2, 5, 7, 7, and 2, there are two modes: numbers 2 and 7.

Today is Monday, October 4th, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: Horses sleep standing up.

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Reflective, an adjective. A reflective person is thoughtful. They think about what they’ve done. Are you a reflective student?

Our Spanish phrase for the week is: “Vamos a empezar”, which means “We’re going to begin!”, or “Let’s begin!”

Today is Friday, October 1st, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: Even though a tortoise and a turtle belong to the same family called “testudines”. They are very different from each other. Do you know why?

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Balanced.

Our vocabulary word for the day is: Hyperbole. Hyperbole is a double whopper of an exaggeration. For example: In the tall tale of Paul Bunyon, Paul’s great axe fell from his shoulder, gouging a jagged trench, which today is known as the Grand Canyon.

Today is Thursday, September 30, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: A cucumber is a fruit. I wonder why?

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Balanced. Yoga is a good example of a mind and body focus of being balanced.

Our vocabulary word for the day is: Charity.
Charity is a noun. It means aid or help given to those in need.

General Announcements: IB student leadership meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30am. Tomorrow is Trailbusters – remember to wear your tennis shoes!

Today is Wednesday, September 29, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: The oldest person to ever live was Jeanne Calment at 122 years and 164 days.

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Balanced. Balanced students do different activities instead of watching TV. If you watch TV all the time, you don’t do other things like read or play outside.

Our vocabulary word for the day is: dazzle. Dazzle is a verb. It means to shine brilliantly.

Today is Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: Dolphins sleep with one eye open. I wonder why?

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Balanced. There is a special quote that goes with a picture of Albert Einstein riding a bicycle. “Life is like riding a bicycle: To keep balanced, you must keep moving.”

Our vocabulary word for the day is: eagle eye. Eagle eye is a noun. It means you have the ability to see or observe with exceptional keenness.

Today is Monday, September 27, 2010.

Our fun fact for the day is: Porcupines float in water. I wonder why?

Our Anteloper focus for the week is: Balanced. Balanced means to be equal. For example if you are eating only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you are not being balanced with your food groups.

Our Spanish phrase for the week is: Hasta luego, which means “See you later!”