In honor of Kindness Week we participated in some school spirit days and reflected on kindness with some classroom activities.

Monday was “Teaming Up for Kindness” day. We had the choice to wear a shirt from our favorite team or twin with someone.

Tuesday’s theme was “We Love Kindness.” We could wear red or pink.

Wednesday’s theme said “You Matter” so we got to wear our favorites…favorite shirts, hats, shoes, etc.

On Thursday we “Shone Bright with Kindness” and wore neon colors and sunglasses.

We ended the week with 100% participation for our “Share the Spirit” school spirit day.

Ms. Lauffer has been teaching our newest Inquiry Unit on Physical Science. During this week’s lessons we explored how states of matter can change if you add or remove heat.

First we experimented with adding heat to solids to see if they change their state of matter.  We used a double boiler to add heat to a marshmallow, life saver, and a chocolate candy.  The chocolate melted quickly, the marshmallow got sticky and the life saver got smoother as it started to melt. We concluded that with enough heat, most solids would change to liquid.

Next, we predicted what would happen if we put liquid (water and pink lemonade) in the fridge and freezer. Then we observed and recorded our results.  We predicted that the liquid in the freezer would change to a solid, so we poured lemonade into dixie cups with popsicle sticks in the hopes of making popsicles. We were excited to eat our results!

This week in math we started working on measurement skills to measure the mass/weight of an object. We are learning about kilograms and grams. On Friday, learners got a chance to explore these weights using digital scales. Their challenge was to find objects that weighted an amount to match their target weight (1 g, 10 g, 100 g, 1 kg). Learners rotated to each station and kept track of the objects they weighed and their weights.

Our class will be sponsoring a seven year old girl for Christmas.  You may wish to purchase something for her that you think a seven year old would enjoy. We also have a wish list of some items she needs and would like for Christmas. Please send all items into school unwrapped by Dec. 2nd. We are using this Sign Up Genius to keep track of gifts that are purchased for her to avoid duplicates. Thank you for helping with this meaningful project!

Our class filled our Dinosaur Jar! We earn dinosaurs when everyone is working quietly and on task and making good behavior choices during Special. We voted on a reward and selected Costume Day. Today learners were invited to wear a costume to celebrate. We had lots of fun!

We had lots of fun this week during the Brecknock Red Ribbon Week Spirit Days. We also learned about saying no to drugs, smoking and alcohol as part of our health unit this week. Check out some pictures from the week:

Red Ribbon Week is next week. There are some great spirit days planned. Here’s a heads up in case you want to start planning outfits!

Red Ribbon Week

Celebrate Life, Be Drug Free.

Monday, Oct. 24-  “Be Brave! Be Bold! Be You!” Wear red

Tuesday, Oct. 2-5  “We are crazy about being drug free!”  Wear crazy hair and/or socks

Wednesday, Oct. 26-  “Work it out Wednesday!” Wear your favorite workout attire

Thursday, Oct. 28- “Don’t get Mixed up in drugs!” Wear your best mixed up outfit

Friday, Oct. 28-  “Follow your dreams!” Wear your favorite pajamas

Today we wrapped up our Environment unit in Inquiry. We have been talking about how we can make small differences to reduce waste. After a class discussion we decided to do a few things at Brecknock. The students have noticed that some kids take too many squirts of soap in the bathrooms and too many paper towels. Today we hung little reminders on the soap dispensers and paper towel dispensers. We have also started recycling paper in our classroom and created a scrap paper box. Once our recycling bin is full I will take the paper to a recycling facility.

To show support for those affected by breast cancer, Brecknock had a Pink Out on Friday. Half our class wore pink to participate.

Friday was Fire Prevention Day. The Bowmansville Fire Company and Fivepointville Ambulance Company came to Brecknock. The kids were so excited to go through the “Smoke House” for the first time. It’s like a mini house on wheels where the fire fighters discuss fire safety tips. After the class goes upstairs to the “bedroom”, they fill the house with fake smoke (like a giant fog machine) and the smoke detector goes off. This gives learners a chance to practice crawling to stay below the smoke and exit.   The EMTs introduced us to the equipment they use in the ambulance and when they go out on calls. Everyone was invited to climb through the fire truck and ambulance to check them out and got to take home a key chain and fire helmet too.