Get a first hand look how candy corn is made – CANDY CORN

Together with Mrs. Yelin’s class, the children had courage on the stage this morning and put on an awesome performance! The children taught their peers what it means to have courage and shared examples of times when they had courage. They recited a poem, Courage, and sang an adorable song! The audience learned a lot and really enjoyed the performance. Please check out the video below of our show!

This week during our lesson in the Library Media Center, the students will learn how to create a collaborative presentations using their Google Apps For Education (GAFE) account. Google Presentations allow students to work collaboratively in real time and Google Presentations save automatically!

Each student will share a slide with a partner. Partners must agree on the sentence they will write. The sentence should be one that best describes the image on their slide. Check out the class work below!

Goldstein:

Germs can cause disease and make us sick. Washing your hands is the best way to stop germs from spreading.

Watch the “The Journey of a Germ.” “The Journey of a Germ” comes from the SID THE SCIENCE KID episode “The Big Sneeze.” This song shows the journey of just one cold germ from one person to another and another and so on…. it shows the importance of protecting yourself from germs!

Take this poll:

Additional Resources:

In an effort to help elementary teachers educate their students about germs and disease prevention (and to sell product) Clorox has developed a website for teachers Clorox Classrooms. Clorox Classrooms offers ten lesson plans, four “Take Home” activities and a couple of interactive whiteboard activities for k-5 classrooms.

There is also Scrub Club. Scrub Club is a website designed to teach students why they need tow ash their hands. The Scrub Club offers videos, comics and games designed to promote healthy hygiene habits and the spread of disease.

courage (kur-ij, kuhr-ij)
(noun) The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger or pain without fear; bravery.

Of the many positive character traits addressed in a character education curriculum, courage is foundational to helping students stand up for what is right, become leaders and achieve goals. Creating, acting out, analyzing and reflecting on scenarios that require courage can help students develop skills to resist negative peer pressure, speak out against injustice and make choices based on core values. Read more: Courage Scenarios to Use in the Classroom.

Every night in the United States an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, SoulPancake and Kid President want 2 million people to prove that even the smallest acts of love, like donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless.

Socktober was launched by Kid President creator Brad Montague four years ago. It’s a movement to get kids and grown-ups to help the homeless in an easy, fun way.

Last year, more than 10,000 schools, families, businesses, and churches rallied together to bring Socktober to life. People from every state and continent have taken part in Socktober! This year, William O. Schaefer is participating and we are having a “Sock Drive” the last week in October!

All of the socks we collect as a community will be donated to a local shelter.

H/T to Ms. Kolesar!

Take the Sock Challenge. Leave your answer in the comments below!

People in every walk of life, in every kind of work, and at every age write! The very social nature of writing invites all people to make meaning through their writing. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) recognizes how important writing is and established October 20, 2014 the National Day on Writing.

This year we celebrate National Day on Writing with all the first graders at William O. Schaefer. The first graders just completed their first writing unit of study! Congratulations! The students will proudly share their work in each first grade classroom on Friday, October 17th. Please help celebrate their hard work and efforts by congratulating them when you see them!

Read: Arthur Writes a Story by Marc Brown

When Mr. Ratburn gives a creative writing assignment to the class, Arthur wonders what makes a good story. When D.W. yawns through Arthur’s first tale, he decides he needs to look a some new angles. With each new angle, Arthur’s story takes one more hilarious step further from his original idea — but is the end result really the tale Arthur wants to tell?

Watch the animation, Arthur Writes A Story, below.

Ms. Eyer and Mrs. McBride are sponsoring SOCES “Out of Box” Challenge for October. Students in grade 1-5 are encouraged to participate and use problem solving skills and creativity to design and create a masterpiece. Identify a problem and create a solution using any sized cardboard box.

The following stories can inspire you to be imaginative, think critically and creatively, be resourceful and ingenious!

Cain’s Arcade

Antoinetter Portis’ picture book, Not a Box

Hacking the book The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires.

Aarambh’s Help Desk

Follow this link to view Cottage Lane’s 2013 Participants – “Out of Box” Entries

Rules:
You can use cardboard, tape and 20% recyclable materials for your project.
You may not buy anything to add to your cardboard box.
The box can be as small as a jewelry box to as large as a refrigerator box. No boxes larger than 4ft x 4ft x 6ft will be accepted.
You can enter as a single entry or as a team. Team can consist up to 4 members.
Entries must be submitted to Mrs. McBride or Ms. Eyer by October 21st.
All entries must have submission form securely attached to project.

Download a copy of the entry form:
Cardboard Challenge Individual Entry Form
Cardboard Challenge Team Entry Form

Simple projects may take a few hours while others may take days or weeks. Problem solve, talk about what is working and what is not working. Be optimistic. You will learn to solve problems and you will tackle real-world issues.

Strap on your thinking caps and get ready to make something spectacular out of cardboard!

This week in school we read the story How Full is Your Bucket? This book encourages positive behavior. The book explains that we all carry an invisible bucket. When our bucket is full, we are happy. When our bucket is empty, we are sad. In our classroom we are striving to be bucket fillers! We can fill buckets by being kind and caring. By helping others and giving compliments. We will try hard not to be bucket dippers. Bucket dippers are rude, mean and selfish. You can listen to the story below!

The word of the month at WOS is OPTIMISM. Optimism means being positive and finding the good in something. We always try to have a positive attitude and be optimistic even when things do not go our way.

Check out the video on optimism below!
http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/99-the-greatesthttp://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/99-the-greatest