Good-bye to 3rd Quarter and Hello to Fourth Quarter

It is nearly impossible to believe it but we are nearing the end of the school year.  I know these next few weeks will simply fly by.  We have a lot of learning left as well as some big field trips!  As a matter of fact, April 30, we will join students from the Owl's Nest on a trip to Olbrich Gardens.  A permission slip will come out early next week about this trip.

We also have a several events taking place at Marquette this week.  Our Spring Book Fair will be held this week in the LMC.  Make sure you stop by and check it out.

In conjunction with the book fair, you are welcome to attend our inaugural Author Fair on Tuesday, May 16 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.  Student authors will have a chance to share their writing with others during this time.  I hope to see many of you there.

Poem in Your Pocket Day is Thursday, April 18.  The idea is that the whole school will have poems in their pockets that can be read to others upon request (ideally at recess or lunch, or at their leisure).  There will be a station at the Author Fair for families to make/pick out poems to put in their pockets on Thursday.  

Expository Writing

We have been learning about and working on expository writing for the past few weeks.  We began our unit by students writing directions for me on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Some of the directions were more detailed than others causing for some pretty crazy PBandJ creations!  

After a lot of laughter, and the suggestion that I get my own reality show, students got to work on creating a recipe for something they know how to make and writing directions to teach someone how to do something they know how to do.

Determining Area

During our math workshop students explored the area of many shapes, including their own foot!  This was a fun and challenging activity.  We also explored the area of various polygons.

 Sharing our Knowledge of Madison's Past

Miss Mimier, our practicum student from the UW, has been working with students to learn more about public services such as garbage collection, police and fire, transportation and education.  Students read about and learned how these services were offered in the past and how they are offered now.

Students selected the topic they wanted to read about.  Then they took notes about how the services were delivered in the past and how they are delivered now, and created posters with this newly gained knowledge.

Finally, students got into groups and taught others in the group about what they learned.  For example, did you know that Madison's first garbage workers were pigs?

City Council Meeting - Lily Pad Style

Students had a chance to learn about how the Madison City Council works. Students learned about a recent issue brought to the city council to convert Sherman Ave from a road with 4 lanes of traffic to a 2-lane road with bike lanes.  Students saw clips of people presenting both sides of the issue, discussed their own opinions with others in the class and then took a vote.  

The vote to convert Sherman Ave. passed in the Lily Pad with a 13 to 9 vote.  The Madison City Council also approved the vote but it was unanimous! 

Plotting our homes and other important places on our community map.

Saying good bye to our dear friend, Arthur.