Our Class Pets!

I can't believe that I have not done this already but I need to introduce our class pets.

Miss Piggy (our Guinea Pig) has been with us for two years now! She loves to walk around the room as well as eat grass, carrots, apples, and Timothy Hay. The kids love to go outside and pick grass to feed to Miss Piggy. Eric especially loves Miss Piggy. He saves his apple and collects everyone else's from lunch everyday and puts them in her cage when we return to the room. It is so funny because some days she doesn't have time to eat all of the apples that he has collected for her. She ends up with a whole cage full of apples. Miss Piggy also loves participating in Reading time!

Freckles and Fifi (our finches) are new to our class this year. They have laid four eggs that we were very excited about. However, I don't think that they are going to hatch. I explained this to the class (that they do not always hatch) and we named them "baby maybes" for this very reason. Freckles and Fifi have a beautiful chirp and often participate in class discussion!

Okay, so now you have met our class pets. Now, parents, when your child comes home talking about Miss Piggy or Freckles and Fifi, you will know who they are talking about! :-)

Making Moo-shakes!

Last week we read a book titled Friends at School. In the book, the friends made "moo-shakes" in class. They gave the recipe for making "moo-shakes" so we decided to make them with our friends as well.

First, we had to peel bananas and cut strawberries. Then, we put them in the blender.

Next, we added orange juice and milk to the blender.

Lastly, Izaiah was in charge of turning on the blender so that our bananas, strawberries, milk, and orange juice could be blended together. He definately enjoyed his job!

Tradarius was our taste-tester. He said that it tasted a lot like a smoothie. We all liked the look that he had on his face after he tasted it so we decided to give it a try as well. It was very good!

Like the kids in the book, we had a great time making "moo-shakes" with our friends!

Sugar Passed her Test!

Last weekend, Sugar had to go for her Canine Good Citizen Certification test. It was a very difficult test but she passed! She can now officially be used as a Therapy dog! As you can see in the picture below Sugar is already putting her skills to use. She sits very quietly during calendar time!

She also participates in Exercise/ Fitness! Although, she does better on the "down" part of sit-ups! :-)

Amazingly, Izaiah (below) and Eric, who were deathly afraid of dogs, are beginning to go up to her, on their own, to pet her! We are very proud of them. They have definately overcome their fear, at least with Sugar.

Sugar has given our class many opportunities to learn about dog safety as well as shown the students unconditional love! They look forward to her coming each week to spend the day with us! We are truly greatful for her services!

Special Olympics Bowling Events!

For the past couple of Fridays our class has been participating in the Special Olympics Bowling events and AMF Bowling in Conyers. All of our athletes have worked very hard to improve their bowling skills in preparation for our competition that takes place tomorrow (11/16).

Below is a class picture at the bowling alley.

Lucy seems to very excited about something! She has really had a great time bowling this year and has become very good at it!

Lexi has made a friend at the bowling alley (sort of). This sweet lady is always there to help Lexi when she doesn't roll her ball hard enough and gets it stuck in the gutter! It is exhausting work but she always keeps a smile on her face!

Izaiah and Eric sit beside each other at the bowling alley and have become good friends. They are great bowlers!

Great Job to all of our students for their hard work and dedication during the Special Olympics bowling events!! We wish you the best at competition tomorrow!

D.A.R.E Graduation!

Friday, November 2nd was a very special day at our school! It was the day that our 5th graders graduated from the D.A.R.E program. D.A.R.E stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. In order to complete the program each 5th grade student is required to attend all but two D.A.R.E. classes, create a poster, complete their entire D.A.R.E. book, and write an essay. All of our 5th graders completed all of the required tasks and graduated from the D.A.R.E program.

Ms. Dubois, the school principal, came over after the graduation to congratulate our 5th graders: Tradarius, Lexi, Eric, and Tyrisha. She was very proud of them!

Tyrisha and Ms. Malcom pose with their D.A.R.E. t-shirts on before the graduation.

Ms. Malcom was also very proud of her D.A.R.E graduates. They worked very hard this semester to complete the program. Great Job Eric, Lexi, Tyrisha, and Tyrisha!!!

Reading Books with Bear!!

I had to share these pictures!! They are too cute! Ms. Stowe and Tradarius found a great book about dogs that they wanted to read with Bear when he visited our classroom last week! Bear seemed to enjoy it!

Later, I looked over to see Tradarius reading the book to Bear again!! I thought that this was such a sweet picture. Our therapy dogs, Sugar and Bear, have been a wonderful addition to our class. Our students have really enjoyed having them around and sharing their skills with them!

Pumpkin Versus Jack-o-Lantern!

Last week, we learned the similarities and differences between a Pumpkin and a Jack-o-Lantern. Each student was required to vote for their favorite face that Ms. Malcom would then cut into our pumpkin to make our jack-o-lantern.

Then, each child was given the opportunity to help clean out the pumpkin. We counted all of the seeds that we pulled out of the pumpkin!

Finally, we had our jack-o-lantern! Happy Halloween!!!

The Great Pumpkin Patch!

On Monday, October 29th our class visited the Pumpkin Patch at the First Methodist Church in Covington.

After posing for a picture with the Pumpkin Patch sign (above), each student was given the opportunity to pick out their own pumpkin. Then, we all got our faces painted and sat down to listen to a great Halloween story!

When we were finished at the Pumpkin Patch we walked to Academy Springs Park. There we played on the swings, slide, and walked around the pond.

To conclude our trip, we posed for a picture at the park with all of the pumpkins that we got from the Pumpkin Patch! It was a very fun trip!!

Special Olympics Basketball Skills!

Last week we went to Turner Lake to particpate in the Special Olympics Basketball Skills event!

Our friends in Ms. Henderson's class also joined us there!

The athletes were required to participate in several basketball skills competitions, including shooting the basketball, aiming the basketball, and dribbling the basketball. Izaiah (below) definately enjoyed the dribbling competition and happened to be very good at it!

After completing all of their basketball skills events each student was awarded a ribbon for their performance. Several of our students received 1st place ribbons! Eric (below) was very proud of his ribbon!

Ms. Malcom, Ms. Stowe, and Ms. Ford are very proud of all of their athletes for their performance in the basketball skills events! Great Job!