Lower El Upstairs

It has been a very busy March for the students of Lower Elementary Upstairs.

We have studied what Blue Iguanas eat and what their threats are, have attended two out of this world lectures with Mr. Guy, and even tried out Bollywood Dancing!

For St. Patrick’s Day, we learned about the history of the holiday, and then sampled three very different types of potato for snack – fingerling, purple (they were purple on the outside AND the inside!), and red.

We have also had many visitors to our classroom. Last week, Skylar brought one of her guinea pigs in for a visit. This week, Electra’s grandmother visited to tell us all what it was like growing up as a young child during world war two. For show and tell, Teaghan invited in a group of sailors from all over the Caribbean and Central America who were here for the Cayman Islands Regatta. It was interesting hearing about where they were from and about sailing.                                                                                                                                               
This week we went on a field trip to the National Gallery. We toured an exhibit called 21st Century Cayman, which was all about blending traditional and modern Caymanian culture. It was fascinating to learn about things such as gigs, catboats, yoyo patterns, and more. We even got a gig of our own to take home and decorate!

We have studied our national song and have each made a book out of its lyrics. We have also been keeping in touch with Ms. Kristina while she is on on her adventure in India. We have been reading her emails, and sending her email replies as a class using our Smart Board. We look forward to Ms. Kristina’s return to class on Monday, and we are looking forward to hearing more about her adventures in India!

Congratulations to the Lower Elementary Upstairs Classroom, for raising over $700 CI to benefit Haiti.

Students in our class worked hard doing chores around their own homes, and their friends, family, and neighbors homes, to raise money for the Red Cross to help rebuild Haiti after the earthquake.

Some students even held bake sales, popsicle sales, and lemonade stands to raise even more money.

You should all be very proud for reaching out for a neighboring country in it’s time of need – bravo everyone!

On Friday, February 5, we celebrated Helena’s 8th birthday in class. For a sweet treat, Helena’s mom, Anne, brought in “hamburgers and french fries”, made completely out of sugary treats! The bun was the top of a cupcake (and even had little sesame seeds on it), the “burger” was a brownie, and it even had “ketchup”, “lettuce”, and a side of “french fries”, all made from dessert items! What a great way to end the week! Check out some of the pictures below:

For show and tell, Electra gave a presentation on the importance of eating 5 fruits or vegetables every day.

She brought in enough delicious fresh fruit for everyone in the class to make their very own fruit kebab. The Year Threes came inside early and helped with the chopping and preparations. When everyone came inside, Electra gave her presentation, and then we all had the chance to make our very own fruit kebab. They were delicious.

Thank you Electra, and Ms. Helen!

Friday, Februay 12th was our One Hundredth Day of School! To celebrate, each student was invited to bring in 100 of the same items from home. It was amazing the variety of items that appeared – 100 grains of millet, 100 socks, 100 Q-Tips, 100 marbles…check out some of the photos below to see what everyone brought in.

For the past few weeks, our class has been learning all about the critically endangered, endemic Grand Cayman Blue Iguana. We have learned about its life cycle, labeled its body parts, and even imagined that we were the first scientists ever to describe the species. Last Friday, we went on a field trip to the Botanic Park to meet the Blue Iguanas face to face!

First, Mr. Hal showed us around the Heritage Gardens, and told us what life was like on Cayman many generations ago. He also showed us how to carve a coconut. We saw some traditional crops, and even had a chance to go inside a traditional Caymanian outdoor kitchen. Next, we were met by Mr. John with the Blue Iguana Recovery Program. We learned why the Blue Iguana is endangered, and what humans are doing to save it from extinction.

Special thanks to both Mr. Hal and Mr. John for everything you taught us during our adventure. Our studies of the Blue Iguana will continue over the next few weeks.

On Friday, November 27, Dylan Chesnut brought a very special show and tell to class – his brand new baby sister Manon! Manon is a beautiful, peaceful and quiet baby. She looked around the classroom at all of her big brother’s classmates. We had a chance to take a closer look when Sebastian walked around the inside of our circle with Manon. We also got to learn about some of the things moms and dads must carry around in their diaper bags! Thank you Dylan, Catherine, and Sebastian, for introducing us all to the newest member of your family!

Show and tell will resume in the New Year. We will email out a schedule so you know when it is your child’s week to bring something in.

For the past week or so, our class has been very busy learning how to write friendly letters. We learned the five parts of a friendly letter, and then we got to work writing letters of our very own to friends and family both on-island and far away. We wrote about loose teeth, Christmas, new puppies, new sisters, and our favorite sports!
We had a chance to learn how to get our letters from point A to point B with a trip to the Savannah Post Office. Ms. Yorsy and her team showed us around, and then we had a chance to purchase and paste our own stamps on our letters. After we’d all dropped them into the correct letter box, we got a behind the scenes tour of the post office and learned how our mail gets sorted according to its destination. We even had a chance to “date stamp” our stamps. We said goodbye to our letters a final time, and they are now on their way to South Africa, the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and other areas of Grand Cayman. Friends and relatives near and far, be on the lookout for something special coming your way!

Special thanks to Ms. Yorsy and her team at the post office for accomodating this special trip.

Monday, October 26
by Vanessa

It rained all day. We had no playtime.

Tuesday, October 27
by Jarod

Finally! Today is the first sunny day of the week so we got to have playtime.

Wednesday, October 28
by Ethan

The sun was out and I finished my best work.

Thursday, October 29
by William

Today it was sunny and we were painting boxes but we had to do three pieces of work first.

Friday, October 30
by Sophia

Today we made cupcakes. It was awesome.

(teachers note – special thanks to Ms. Helen, Electra’s mom, for coming in to make cupcakes with us today:))

Happy Friday Everyone!

We started our class diary this week. Every day, a different student records what happened in class, along with what the weather was like. They also draw a picture.

We will be posting the written component of the class diary entries here each week. Enjoy!

Monday, October 19
Written by Miss Kristina

Today it rained so much we had to go right inside for class. Everyone worked hard! Tahiti was absent.

Tuesday, October 20
Written by Electra

Today it was raining and me and Jarod did Deserts of the World. We also did Lakes of the World.

Wednesday October 21
Written by Dagon

This morning it was raining hard! I did “Who Has More?” with Electra!

Thursday, October 22, 2009
Written by Skylar

Today it is sunny and windy. Emily is coming home with us. It think it is going to be very fun. Marleigh is getting new glasses today.

Friday, October 23
Written by Daniel

Today instead of phonograms for a spelling list, it was a Halloween spelling list. It was sunny today.