Meet Marshall!

I received a grant through Pets in the Classroom that allowed me to purchase a leopard gecko from PetSmart. I was also able to purchase the desert terrarium, and some desert decor.

We named the gecko "Marshall" although we think our gecko may be a girl. Marshall is 5 months old, and it is hard to tell at this age what gender she (or he) is. Marshall eats crickets and mealworms. She ate 3 crickets today, and will eat 4 mealworms tomorrow. We will alternate back and forth each day. Each student, if they wish, will be able feed Marshall. Marshall is nocturnal, but she will come out to eat her food. She needs a little bit of time to get used to being in our classroom. She had a busy weekend - leaving the pet store, moving into Mrs. Wingert's house, and then moving to the classroom. Once she is settled and feels more comfortable, we may see her more often.

I will add a few websites with information about leopard geckos to the right side of my blog. Feel free to check them out!

Marshall going after a cricket! This is so much fun to watch!

Halloween Party

We celebrated Halloween on Thursday, October 31st. The class got to dress up in their Halloween costumes and participate in the Costume Parade. Parents on the Halloween committee provided us with yummy treats and juice. The class got to play pin the face on the pumpkin. Here are the teams with their pumpkins:

Little Miss Pigtails and Friday Football Reader

Little Miss Pigtails 2013 winners Macy Sievers and Lindsay Grau visited our classroom on Wednesday, October 23rd. They should the class a variety of items that are produced from pigs. They showed the class the different foods that pigs eat as they grow. They gave each student coloring books, crayons, a new pencil, and a very fun pig eraser. Each student also enjoyed a very yummy pig cupcake! 

Connor read The Night Before Halloween to the class today. We will definitely miss our Friday Football Readers! What an awesome tradition here at Newell-Fonda! 

Blue and Silver Day

Friday was "Blue and Silver Day". Here is a picture of the class showing off their school spirit. We are cheering along with Caleb, our Football Reader. 

"Go Mustangs!!" 

To celebrate Fire Prevention Week, we were able to ride in the back of Newell's Emergency Response Vehicle. It was very neat! 

The kids had a blast making their stars and decorating their hoola hoops for the parade. Our theme was "Mustangs: Stars of the Center Ring".

What a crazy, fun week we had! 

Fantasy Day and Rainfall Simulator

Fantasy Day turned out to be a great time! Here is a picture of our class: 

We also had some visitors from the ISU Conservation Pack. They spoke to the class about soil and why it is important to conserve soil. 

Circus Day and a visit from Cy

We had some great characters today for Circus Day. Check out the pictures:

Our Circus Crew

Strong man

It isn't the circus without some cotton candy! 

Clownin' around! 

All of our beautiful acrobats, dancers, and a ringmaster.

Cy visited the school for our Fitness Walk today. The 2nd graders were very excited to have a chance to meet him!  

Senior Citizen Day

What a fun dress up day for the class! Here is a picture of our senior citizens: 

Career Day

Monday was Career Day for homecoming. In our room, we had a lot of nurses, vets, and football players. We also had a couple of moms, two coaches, and even a teacher and a pop star! Here is a picture of our class:

I'm excited to see our Senior Citizens tomorrow! 

Friday Football Reader

Brady Dicks read to How Spider Saved Halloween to our class on Friday, October 4th. 

Rocks, Rocks, Rocks!

We started talking about rocks this week. We are going to learn about properties of rocks. We will also discover fast and slow changes to the earth. We took a 'Rock Walk' so that each student has their own set of rocks to study. The students were to find 6 rocks - 1. a smooth rock, 2. a rock with two colors, 3. a rock with three colors, 4. a shiny rock, 5. a bumpy rock, and 6. a beautiful rock. Here are some pictures of the 2nd graders on their Rock Walk. 

Seed Project

We have spent some time studying seeds in 2nd grade. We gave the classes a final seed project. Each student was assigned a way that a seed travels. They then used playdough, along with any other items they could find at home to make their seed. See if you can guess how each seed travels (by wind, water, animals, or people)!

Friday Football Reader

Dillon Anderson read The Dark by Robert Munsch today. 

Science Fun

We have been working with Mrs. Freese's class on Science. We have been talking about seeds and plants this month. Here are some pictures of our classes making pumpkin life cycles. 

Isabel, Camille, Mckenna, Eli, Grace, Alex, Kiana, and Carmen

Alma and Anastacia hard at work.

2013-2014

Welcome back! 

I am very excited for the upcoming school year! 

If you have already been to our room, you will have noticed all of the wonderful changes as you walked in the door. It is hard to miss our new carpet, cabinets, and even our air conditioner! It feels like we have a brand new classroom. 

"Learning is a HOOT at Newell-Fonda"

Living History Farms

We traveled to Living History Farms on Tuesday, May 7th. We were able to observe how farming has developed in Iowa since the 1700s. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Our first stop was to the drug store. We even got to see pills being made as they did in 1875!

Traveling back in time to 1700. 

We were greeted in 1700 by an Ioway Indian. 

Jr. looking at a winter home of an Ioway Indian.

Continuing through time to 1850. The oxen in the background were a class favorite!

The inside of the 1 1/2 room cabin. 

Checking out the 1900 farmstead.

Shelby demonstrating how a cow goes to his trough.

Dakota demonstrating how a cow would eat so it could be milked. 

The class got to see the chicken coop on the 1900 farm. 

At the broom shop. 

Kirsten, Joey, Laney, and Chloe checking out the materials in the broom shop. 

Dannielle spinning wire on the broom. 

The girls spinning wire. 

Yenitza takes a turn as Braden, Belle, and Shelby look on. 

Class photo in front of the one-room schoolhouse. 

The Milliner showing us how she sews 'by foot'. 

Mrs. Wingert's class learned so much along with Mrs. Freese's class.