Owl Pellet Dissection: The Beginning

The ACES are working on becoming "Wise Owls"! We have been researching owls and completing our first Lapbook project. To get some real hands-on experience and gain more knowledge about owls, we are completing an owl pellet dissection. The 1st - 4th grade ACES got started this week. The ACES were amazed to find so many bones in their pellets. Some had one skull, some had three skulls, some had a hard time with the smell of the project! It is so exciting to see them working on this project and being real scientists as they solve the mystery of what owls are eating! We will be finishing up our study in the coming weeks and will surely have more pictures to post and even some video too!

The 5th and 6th grade ACES participated in the Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl - America Answers competition. We will let you know the results of their efforts around May 10! These students will soon have the chance to begin their dissection.

Pick and Draw

I was reading a great blog written by a homeschooling mom. She mentioned a game called Pick and Draw developed by children's book illustrator Rich Davis. He developed the game so that he can teach children about drawing. Rich Davis says, "Your ability to create is a gift from God."

I ordered Pick and Draw for my family. We received the game during Spring Break week. My children loved it! I decided it would be fun to share it with the ACES. I ordered the game from www.pickanddraw.com. Rich Davis also has a blog where he shares ideas for drawing that can be found at www.richdavis1.wordpress.com.

The following pictures were created by the 5th and 6th grade ACES. Before we started drawing, several of the students said that they didn't consider themselves artistic. When we were finished they were impressed with how well they created a character. After the drawing was finished, the ACES named their creation and decided what the character was good at and what kind of music the character enjoys. From start to finish, including naming the character, etc., we spent ten minutes on these creations. The ACES could have spent much more time and were very curious about where to find one of these games for themselves!

Name: Can Bob
Likes: Rolling and Eating
Music: Rock and Roll

Name: Boom Boom Chaka Waka
Music: Retro Hip Hop

Name: B.J. McDonald
Likes: driving his go-cart, jumping, and ice cream
Music: Jazz

Name: Mr. Bean
Likes: bean-eating contests and singing about beans
Music: Rap

Name: Billy Bob
Likes: dancing
Music: Rap

Name: Lars Mars
Likes: making people laugh
Talents: pulling pranks
Music Genre: classical

1st and 2nd Grade Leprechaun Traps

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MoNsTeR pRoJeCt

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade ACES just completed the MoNsTeR pRoJeCt!!! We began the project with the students using a graphic program called KidPix to create a MoNsTeR head. Then we had a lesson about adjectives and descriptive writing. Next, the students used a planning page to brainstorm some adjectives that they could use to describe their MoNsTeR. The ACES then used these ideas to write a descriptive paragraph about their MoNsTeR.

Possibly the most exciting part of the project was reading their descriptive paragraph to a partner as they tried to recreate the MoNsTeR using the same program, KidPix!! It was a challenge to only read what was written on the paper and not give any extra hints. The ACES also did a great job of keeping their MoNsTeR's hidden from their friends.

We hope you enjoy the results of our MoNsTeR pRoJeCt and our first attempt at using Voicethread to share our work!

St. Patrick's Day Project

The 1st and 2nd grade ACES took part in an on-line St. Patrick's Day Project. The boys and girls became "researchers". They were researching to prove or disprove the following hypothesis:

There are more clovers than any other shape in a box of Lucky Charms.

We found that there were the most hourglass shapes in our box of lucky charms. We will be adding our results along with 500 other classrooms throughout the world! After we return from Spring Break we will check the results and see if other classrooms got similar or different results.

Leprechaun Trap - Part 2

Here are the 4th Grade Leprechaun Traps!

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So Long, Farewell Flat ACES!

So sad to see them go, but I've taken down the Flat ACES to make room for the Saintly Scholars. I wanted to share them with you before they go home with the boys and girls. So . . . we hope you enjoy the Flat ACES!!