Friday, September 26, 2014

Mrs. Reed Visits GATE!




What a treat!  4th grade GATE students had a special guest visitor this week.  Mrs. Kathryn Reed was MY preschool and kindergarten teacher at Kiddie Kollege.  The students were amazed that Kiddie Kollege was old enough for ME to have gone there!  My three years attending Kiddie Kollege were great days.  I vividly remember the 2 classrooms, many of our activities, playing outside, my fellow preschool classmates, and especially my teachers.  Mrs. Reed and her mother, Mrs. Rains, were wonderful teachers!  I think anyone who had Mrs. Reed as a teacher at Kiddie Kollege would agree!  Mrs. Reed was also a teacher at McCord Elementary, principal at Big Spring Lake Kindergarten, and worked in the central office as a curriculum specialist.  Even though Mrs. Reed is retired from the field of education, she is active with First United Methodist Church, The Greenlawn Garden Club, the Albertville Museum, and many more community groups.

Three 4th grade girls have chosen to research the history of the Williamsburg Garden located behind the Albertville Public Library.  To help with their research, we contacted Mrs. Reed.  She visited with these girls (that we now affectionately call "The Flower Girls") and provided them with a lot of information, newspaper articles, and even a map of the garden.  "The Flower Girls" will create a brochure about the history of the garden and will also include information about how a person can host an event at the garden.  We hope to be able to provide the Albertville Public Library with copies of the brochure for visitors.

Thank you, Mrs. Reed for visiting our class and sharing about the Williamsburg Garden.


What would YOU DO with lots of plastic bottle caps?



Thousands of plastic bottle caps....

...a recycling project....with a twist of art....

What would YOU create?

G.A.T.E. students will be collecting, sorting, brainstorming, planning, and creating this year...
STAY TUNED 
to see what our students will decide to create with colorful, recyclable bottle caps!



Thursday, September 11, 2014

Our latest masterpieces...Torn Paper Self-Portraits!


I love students' artwork!  I really do!  It just makes me happy!  Personalities of the students really shine through this art activity.  Students tear scraps of construction paper to create an image of themselves.  These look so much like the students!



We paint their hands in the color of their choice for the mat around the pictures and they are precious!  These portraits will decorate the hall outside my classroom for a while ... then they will come home.  I hope you will find a place for these pictures on your refrigerator, in a frame, or propped up where you all can enjoy your child's work of art!

Please enjoy this slideshow below of the creating of these self-portraits and the final product!


Word Art...Productive Thinking...TAGXEDO!


Third grade G.A.T.E. students tried PRODUCTIVE THINKING for the first time this week!  Students listed the many, varied, and unusual words to describe themselves in their journals.  I loved hearing how the students perceived themselves...great thinkers, great words, great kids!


Students logged into www.tagxedo.com to load their descriptive words.  They were able to choose the color combination, font, and shape for their word art.  These will be proudly displayed outside my classroom before coming home.  I hope you all will enjoy this keepsake of a glimpse of your child's personality and perception from 3rd grade!









AES WinSouth Credit Union to Open Soon!


Fourth grade G.A.T.E. students have been involved with "employee training" this week to become TELLERS and RUNNERS for the Albertville Elementary branch of WinSouth Credit Union.  All 3rd and 4th grade students are welcome to open a REAL savings account through WinSouth at our school.  Our business hours are Tuesdays from 7:45 - 8:30.  All AES students will receive an application to open an account and interested students and parents can fill out the paper and send it back to AES.

Students who wish to save with us can do that on any Tuesday morning.  This week our 4th grade G.A.T.E. students learned how to properly fill out a deposit slip with their name, teacher's name, account numbers (made up for practice), and amounts (play money, also for practice!).  We had a little fun by letting students make up a name for their deposits..."Elvis Presley, George Washington, and Taylor Swift" all banked with us this week! :)


In the picture above, students are lined up waiting to deposit their money into accounts.


Students will actually accept deposits and must "balance their drawers" just like tellers at a real bank!  (Again, this was play money for our practice day...we open on the first Tuesday in October for the REAL deposits!)

We hope to have great participation with our accounts this year.   This real-world learning experience teaches students how and why to save, how to fill out deposit slips, how to balance an account, and actually receive real account balances by mail.